Purchased the TS 55 REQ

[David2T370]

Good morning...

Purchased the TS 55 REQ last night and can't wait for delivery - well, I guess I kinda have to.  Anyway, This will be my first track saw purchase.  Are there any words of wisdom or do's and don't's that people have experienced with this saw?  It comes with a 55" track, so will that be enough overhang front and rear to cut a 4' x 8" sheet of plywood (on the 48" side)?  What additional track sizes are best recommended for sheet goods?  Has anyone used the Betterly Straight Line Connector the their tracks?

Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David

 

[L.J]

Plenty of videos on YouTube,next up I predict an MFT/3 in your future !!!! Good Luck

 

[Vanquish]

Congrats, that's a great saw. The track it comes with is just long enough to cut all the way through on the 48" side of a sheet of plywood. If you cut a lot of sheet goods, consider getting the FS2700 rail. It's 106 inches long. I went that route instead of buying another 55" rail and joining them with the connectors.

If you want to rip any solid lumber, get the 12 tooth Panther blade or the 28 tooth universal blade. The 48 tooth blade it comes with is great for sheet goods, but not so great for ripping lumber.

 

[Ed Bray]

I have the Betterly connector, only used it once and it works well (but not cheap although is also a good straight edge), but there is not much point getting one if you don't have more than one rail. I have 3 rails, 2x 1400mm and 1x 800mm.

The 1400mm will easily crosscut a 4ft width.

Make sure you follow the instructions when you set up both your saw (take out the wiggle) and the track to make sure you get the splinter guard cut properly.

 

[grbmds]

If you are going to buy more rails with the intent of joining them for longer cuts (because you have no good way to store or just don't need the longer ones a lot), I'd try joining them using a good straight edge first. I'm sure the Betterly connector is quicker and maybe more certain, but I have not had trouble joining two rails using a Woodpecker straight edge. Plus, the straight edge is used for many other measuring and straight edge checking also. Once you do it a few times, you would have a better feel for whether you want the Betterly depending on how often you do it and how big of a problem you find the task.

 

[mike_aa]

A lot of people here recommend the Makita two piece guide rail connectors.  They have two pieces of metal so the screws expand the metal in the slot making for a secure connection.

Mike A.

 

[RALPH WERNETT]

The 55 track saw was my first Festool purchase with a CT26 last August. My first of about 7 purchases since. It's a sickness!  I had about 18 sheets of plywood to cut up for cabinets I was building and you just can't go wrong with it. You can cut 48" with the 55"rail, but you can't use the plastic end to keep your hose/cord from hanging up, it's about 2-3" to short.  With that said if you get another rail, get it with the indexing holes in it for when you buy one of their routers....
It is a sickness - that doesn't get any better.

 

[Doug S]

If you want a long rail for ripping sheets get the 3m

 

[David2T370]

A sickness...yes I can see that.  I know exactly what you mean as my collection is growing.  I now will have 4 tools and my systainer stack on top of my CT26 is getting taller and taller!  Now, I am going to have to build something just for all of those the systainers.  The saw is supposed to be delivered by the end of today sometime!

 

[ripperj]

I bought mine last winter I think. Best tool I ever bought-period, I am scratch building a truck camper with very little room,so cutting sheet goods on a table saw is not an option. You can also do some seriously crazy things by drilling holes in the track and screwing it to vertical surfaces. I have two 55 and a 30 and that's what I would replace them with if I had to start over.

 

[RALPH WERNETT]

As much as the track is the beauty of the saw, so is the dust collection of it. Old school you would be 3-4" deep in saw dust cutting 18 sheets up. Now you will be hard press to find any dust to sweep up.

 

[JimB1]

Congrats, I just got mine a few weeks ago with the MFT (Great addition BTW). I am going to say the one thing I need to get are some more of the zero clearance inserts so I can make different plunge depth cuts and just mark them for the depth and swap them out as needed. They only give you one with the saw…

It's not completely dustless, there's usually a little that blows out the front at the end of a cut but I'd say maybe 95% of the dust is caught. If you aren't using the zero clearance insert, make sure to pull the view window down to the height of the cutoff, it helps catch more of the dust.

I have only done one 8' rip in ply so far and used the 55 it comes with and just moved it halfway though. It was a little bit of a pain but not a show stopper. Eventually I'll get another track. I bought the connectors figuring if I was doing it a lot I'd grab the track from the MFT and connect it but so far I haven't had to…

The only other tip I have is velcro the DC hose and power cord together for a few feet at least. If you don't they both try to go different directions behind the saw and one invariably gets stuck on something which is annoying.
Good luck with it.
-Jim

 

[ripperj]

My only gripe with the saw is the vac hose on the CT26, it's too stiff and the ribs on it catch on everything including the bench and guide rails, I am extremely impressed with the dust collection

 

[David2T370]

Yup - all sounds good!  Today I am going to fit the saw to the rail and cut the plastic strip.  Then, I will have to find some wood to rip up - this new saw is gonna be great!  I can't wait to use it for a project!

 

[David2T370]

OK - well, I broke in the TS 55 this afternoon.  To sum it up - "awesome tool"!  I wish I knew about this saw when it first came out.  After seeing how easy and accurate it was to use, after seeing the quality of the cut - you know, it makes me want to throw my Bosch circular saw in the trash and never look back.  Oh, yeah, and also throw away the Kreg circular saw guide as well. 

Now that I can cut my sheet goods and get them "spot-on", I need a way to connect everything on my projects, so, I think my next purchase will be the DF 500 domino cutter and a systainer of dominoes and bits!  After watching Peter Parfitt's videos on the 2 domino cutters - looks like the 500 will be perfect...

 

[Klamp]

I'd recommend checking to make sure the blade is perpendicular to the sole.  There's no easy adjustment system for the REQ, but you can easily use an M4x25mm screw to make an adjuster.  There's a post on here somewhere about how to do it.  The hole exists, you just need to thread it in carefully. 

When you make the test cut and flip to check for 90, use a long, thick piece of wood or mdf.  I made test cuts on scraps of hard wood and mdf but they were only about 2 inches long (when parallel to the track) and they seemed fine, but when I cut stock that was 18" long, it showed the blade was way off.

After much aggravation I figured out that my sole is about 1.5 degrees off.  I don't know why Festool changed that from the EQ to the REQ.  I think that's the one thing they made a step backwards.  Or maybe mine is a fluke, as I bought a recon. 

 

[mark60]

The tracksaw is the gateway drug. I got mine during the recon sale and have since added a DF500, CT Mini (should have gotten a midi), an OF1010, 118" rail, MFT top with Parf dogs, rip guides with Incra track. I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of and I'll have an ETS 150/3 with some other goodies before the end of the month.

Festool dust collection is more than awesome!