Today I had quite a tussle ripping oak. A little over 1.5 inch thick two foot board literally stopped my TS55. Acted like it was binding, even ended up with burn marks on the oak!! Never had a blade sharpened but I don't use it that often so was a little surprised. Evidently this was one tough board as it literally snapped my counter sink bit even after I "pre-drilled" the hole. I've never worked with oak that thick so I'm wondering if this is normal or maybe time for a new blade?
Ripping Oak
- Thread starter suds
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What blade were you using?
batmanrobin
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I've ripped lots of rough sawn oak with my ts55 and never had a problem original blade still going strong
Frank Pellow
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I've ripped lots of hardwood that thick, but I have a TS 75. I usually switch to a Panther blade before I do a lot of ripping.
Suds, the blade that comes with the TS55 is a Fine cross cut and sheet goods blade. It will do a pretty good job of ripping much of the time. But 1.5 oak is going to to be a different matter. Get the Panther blade for serious rip cutting. It will fly through that oak.
Seth
Seth
Frank Pellow
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There is only one.suds said:
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Actually, there are two TS 55 Panther blades.
I have a new one of the old ones on my desk, part #495372. It has a 2.5mm kerf.
The current model is part #496305 and it replaces both 495372 & 495374. 495374 was the previous "Standard" blade. 496305 is sort of a hybrid of those two and now has a kerf of 2.2mm to match the other TS 55 blades.
Tom
I have a new one of the old ones on my desk, part #495372. It has a 2.5mm kerf.
The current model is part #496305 and it replaces both 495372 & 495374. 495374 was the previous "Standard" blade. 496305 is sort of a hybrid of those two and now has a kerf of 2.2mm to match the other TS 55 blades.
Tom
I do a lot of work with oak, often 50mm (2") thick. I do not have the Panther blade but use a Universal blade which is between Panther and the Crosscut blade that comes with the saw. I use my CMS-TS for all ripping and have no problems whatsoever. The bonus is that the finished cut (ripping along the grain) does not need planing and I just give it a go with 120 grit and it is great.
Peter
Peter
I have the ATF 55 with universal blade. I have ripped 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" White oak with it. If i try to cut full thickness, i might burn the wood which does not d a blade much good. If i think i might have a problem, i make a trial cut to determine whether i can do the full cut at full depth. If I find a problem, i make a cut at 1/2 or 1/3 of the full depth and then a second cut at full depth. I have some 2" hard maple on the rack that i have done the same way. That i always make two passes, even with just sharpened blade. i don't even own a panther blade.
now i have the CMS, I might decide to get a Panther blade and make my cuts just a tad oversized and then joint the edge with the CMS. I have a couple of 3" spiral bits that should cleanup the panther blade saw cuts.
Tinker
now i have the CMS, I might decide to get a Panther blade and make my cuts just a tad oversized and then joint the edge with the CMS. I have a couple of 3" spiral bits that should cleanup the panther blade saw cuts.
Tinker
tiralie
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suds said:
Your blade is dull and the board may have a high moisture level. My bet is the blade is dull and it needs to be resharpened. If you were doing cross cuts previously you probably wouldn't notice it other than the sound of the motor slowing down (blade) and more than usual small splintering at the edge and end of the cut.
Tim
Frank Pellow
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Tom Bellemare said:
I stand corrected. :-[ [embarassed]
I'm a bit perplexed on the blade to get. My TS55 is about 4 years old. I noticed in a Review on Amazon:
"Some time ago, Festool changed the TS55 blades to use a kerf of 2.2 mm. If you bought your saw recently, the included universal fine tooth blade probably has a 2.2mm kerf (it's written on the side of the blade). They also re-released some other blades to match that kerf. Why you ask? Since the Festool guide rails use the anti-splinter strip as the measuring line, if you make cuts using two different kerfs, the edge will no longer match the blade with the smaller kerf anymore. So if all your blades match, you can keep the anti splinter strip on your guard rail much longer and the cuts will match the edge of the rail.
I write this because I actually picked up the wrong blade (495372, the item on this product page) after looking through the catalogue at my local Woodcraft. Turns out they had an older catalogue which lead me to believe my Universal Fine tooth blade had a 2.5mm kerf. When I realized my error (after reading the side of my existing blade instead of the catalogue), I swapped it for the new 2.2mm vesrion, 496305. This blade is called the "standard ripping blade" and is meant the replace this older 2.5mm kerf panther blade."
Maybe the easiest way is to just take my old one in and match it up.
"Some time ago, Festool changed the TS55 blades to use a kerf of 2.2 mm. If you bought your saw recently, the included universal fine tooth blade probably has a 2.2mm kerf (it's written on the side of the blade). They also re-released some other blades to match that kerf. Why you ask? Since the Festool guide rails use the anti-splinter strip as the measuring line, if you make cuts using two different kerfs, the edge will no longer match the blade with the smaller kerf anymore. So if all your blades match, you can keep the anti splinter strip on your guard rail much longer and the cuts will match the edge of the rail.
I write this because I actually picked up the wrong blade (495372, the item on this product page) after looking through the catalogue at my local Woodcraft. Turns out they had an older catalogue which lead me to believe my Universal Fine tooth blade had a 2.5mm kerf. When I realized my error (after reading the side of my existing blade instead of the catalogue), I swapped it for the new 2.2mm vesrion, 496305. This blade is called the "standard ripping blade" and is meant the replace this older 2.5mm kerf panther blade."
Maybe the easiest way is to just take my old one in and match it up.
nehardwoodfloors
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I often need to ripoak on my dewalt dw745 and it can bog it down at times. I also need to use the ts55 to remove boards at times or for in an inlay.
I have had the blade stop many times, I find the Panther blade to be the best at not bogging the machine down. BUT then you have a rough top edge cut, which is no good for cutting in borders and such.
I have had the blade stop many times, I find the Panther blade to be the best at not bogging the machine down. BUT then you have a rough top edge cut, which is no good for cutting in borders and such.
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This comes up pretty often here, Suds...
All of the current TS 55 blades with the exception of the one it comes with start with 496 and have a 2.2 mm kerf. The stock blade, the Fine Tooth blade, was 2.2 mm kerf and is number 495377.
495372 was the old Panther blade and 495374 was the old Standard blade. The new Panther blade (496305) is a different design and has replaced them both (sort of).
Tom
Let me add another vote for the Panther blade. I suggest you set the blade depth to about 6mm more than the cutting depth, to assist with the chip clearance. And you will have a rough cut to clean up. Straight and square, but rough. I clean it up with a hand plane--two or three passes does the trick.
waho6o9
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+1 for the Panther blade.
It'll run through lumber all day long.
It'll run through lumber all day long.
bopperontbay
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Alternatively if the saw is struggling you could do it in two cuts just plunge half the depth and then repeat at full depth. I generally do this when cutting worktops with the fine tooth bladess where I want a nice finish or for an even better cut I will do as described then move the rail just a whisker maybe 1/2 mm and do another cut leaves a very good finish, then if it's an end that needs edging with laminate just a quick rub with a sanding block and you have a perfect smooth edge.
I used to always trim ends with router but using this method eliminates the need.
I don't really like making the saw work too hard to be honest if it's labouring a lot and I can hear the motor struggling I will just make two passes I'm sure this will add to the life of the saw and also the blade.
I used to always trim ends with router but using this method eliminates the need.
I don't really like making the saw work too hard to be honest if it's labouring a lot and I can hear the motor struggling I will just make two passes I'm sure this will add to the life of the saw and also the blade.
Tinker said:
I tried shaving the mitered end of a piece of oak scrap a couple of weeks ago.
NOT a great plan. I wood not recommend to try on a project. I did smooth up the end of a squared end with no problem once i secured the wood to the fence and took very fine cuts with the CMS & spiral bit. It might work if i tried shaving even finer, but so much easier to make the miter with the saw and make it perfect in the first place.
I was making some picture frames and using my Hitachi SCMS to do the miters. I finally gave up trying to get the cuts perfect on the SCMS. Tried shaving the miter with the CMS and spiral bit and found difficulties.
I finally set up on my MFT and got the miters perfect with the first try.
Tinker
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