Significant cross cut splintering on the Off-cut

[rdr]

Guys

Still learning with my TS55 and I'm not sure if I've goosed my blade when I caught it on side of my trailer I was using for a table to rip down some 8x4's  [unsure]

Ive noticed the edge left on what I would call the off cut to be a lot rougher then the edge under the rail. There have been some situations today I wanted to use both pieces. Does the cut below look poorer that you would expect? its the standard blade (48t), I had the saw on speed 6 traveling at a steady cut pace.

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Any advice would be most welcome before I go off an order a new blade.

 

[live4ever]

Are you using the offcut splinterguard (little green doohickey)?  You will get splintering if there is nothing pressing down from above on your workpiece.  On the keeper side, that's your guiderail splinterguard.  On the offcut side, it's the replaceable green splinterguard on the saw.  It needs to be lowered onto the stock and gets cut into by the blade the first time you use it.  It will become less effective at different plunge depths (ex if you use it for 3/4" stock, it won't do a great job for 1/4"), which is why it's a consumable.  Good to grab a 5 pack and mark them for different stock thicknesses.

 

[Getmaverick]

That looks pretty normal to me for that blade. Is that Birch? I use mostly Birch and mine did the same thing. I started pushing the saw slower and it helped. You can run a piece of tape in the middle of your cut line and prevent that.
I eventually bought a Forrest blade for it. Now my off cuts look just as good as my keeper.

 

[rdr]

Thanks guys.

Yes I dropped the splinter guard down onto the piece and this is the resulting cut.

This isn't Birch, its some cheep B&Q ply I had lying around that I was experimenting around this issue with.

Forrest blade? Blades are next on my list. I'm kicking myself as I meant to order a selection with my machine order but forgot  in the excitement  [smile]

I will play some more with speed and maybe tape tomorrow.

 

[Getmaverick]

Forrest WW16507100 Woodworker I 160mm 50 Tooth 20mm Arbor 3/32-Inch Kerf Circular Saw Blade For Festool Saws
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OMN36W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Worth every penny.

 

[bertv]

If clean cuts are essential, try the 2-cut method:
1. Do a reverse cut toe break the surface (eg towards you with a minimal depth)
2. Cut in the normal way (from you, full depth)

Alternatively put some painters tape over the line you cut.

 

[antss]

Looks about right to me.

Not acceptable even after kissing it with sandpaper to get rid of the fuzz ?

Be aware that forrest blade is wider than Festool's normal 2.2mm kerf.  If you change blades you also have to change your splinter guard.

 

[peter halle]

That plywood reminds me of the Sandply sold by the orange big box store that is worse than the cheapest luan plywood.

In other words I suspect that you would splinter that with the world's most precise laser.  Of course I am exaggerating slightly here.

You wrote that you used the splinter guard.  Was this the first time you used it?  I ask because we have had issues in the past similar and it turned out that the splinter guard was used before on a different thickness wood before which will result in different results.

Peter

 

[rdr]

Ive ordered a pack of splinter Guards, I have been playing with the height of the saw blade which could indeed be playing against me. Rather than mark the guards with the thickness of the wood used is it better to mark with the depth of the blade? Ive been using 12mm and 18mm ply and kept the blade the same for the last 20 cuts or so with good results on the rail side so envisage I would stick to one height when switching between such sizes and then have separate guards for shallower and deeper cutting heights.

The Ply will will have been very cheap and mostly purchased for concrete shuttering.  I haven't bought any wood for woodworking projects yet just using what I have lying around for my first projects. Some of it is warped and has a lot of voids in it, the Wickes (UK DIY chain) looks to be the worst with huge voids in it.

Next job is to look into local suppliers of decent ply.

 

[peter halle]

on mine I mark the thickness of the wood and also the depth setting.  Your are correct that marking the depth setting would be sufficient.  I just happen to remember what my depth settings are each common thickness.

Peter

 

[rdr]

Thanks

Nearly through all the dodgy Plywood. I built a BETA SysPort tonight which worked out OK, I took the cross cuts really slowly which seemed to help the splintering. On a more general note, I'm loving the accuracy the saw gives.

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View attachment 1

 

[#Tee]

without modding the green guard it wont be effective until you drop the blade to its max 2.5in cut depth. they dont tell you this when its advertised.