Simple way to zero plunge saw depth gauge

[bill-e]

Just a thin piece of plastic double stick taped to the bottom side of the depth stop.

 

[Frank-Jan]

It took me a really long time to "get" it. But it looks like a handy solution if you always cut sheetgoods of the same thickness, and want to reset it after a blade change or cutting an occasional door .

 

[thender]

The plunge saw depth scale is a curiosity to me.

Festool works very hard to provide tool "systems" -- in this case the plunge saws work with the guide rail and dust extractors to provide good straight cuts with little dust.

Clearly the primary intended use is to be used in conjuction with the guide rail. 

SO -- why on earth doesn't the depth scale indicate the depth of cut below the guide rail?  Or a dual scale -- one for the rail, and one without?

As best I can tell, the blades are all the same diameter or nearly so. 

I just add 5mm for the rail, and 10 mm for the blade gullets to the thickness of the workpiece, which seems to work pretty well.  But with the heavy emphasis on the Festool System, I would have expected to be able to directly.

-TH

 

[Frank-Jan]

Mafell has a new model plunge saw that has such a system, (the pointer for the depth guage can be set so it either shows the cutting depth with or without the guide rail).
Mafell was the company that used the springloaded riving knife first on their plungecut saw, and festool later incorporated this feature in their TS55, along with other new features of their own like the fastfix blade change and the anti-splinter guard.

With all the other brands bringing saws with different features (makita with the anti-tilt thing; dewalt with the anti-kickback, depthscale in inches for the US-market, alternative plunge mechanism,...; mafell with the unique blade-change thing, the mentioned depth guage, cool sidecover with marking tabs for the "reach" of the blade,... it will be interesting to see what festool will come up with when they will introduce new versions of their TS saws.

(Not that I personally think the TS saws really need improvement; and all the saws mentioned above are compatible with the festool rail system so it's also an incentive for festool to make more accessories for their guiderails  that improve "the system".

As for the depth setting, for me it depends on how the workpiece is supported (I don't have a dedicated cutting table for ripping ply, usually whatever's at hand on saw horses, or on the stack) Usually about 1 to 1.5 cm more than the workpiece, exept when I use the mft I got recently. When you use dustcollection I don't think it's necessary that the gullets go all the way through.

 

[bill-e]

It took me a really long time to "get" it. But it looks like a handy solution if you always cut sheetgoods of the same thickness, and want to reset it after a blade change or cutting an occasional door .

I pretty much use the same blade until it needs to be resharpened or replaced, don't swap between blades  So as long as I'm using the guide rail I don't have to reset anything.  It saves me the trouble of having to remember to add 5mm to every depth.

 

[butzla]

I  have attached this label to the side of my TS75.  I added the thickness of the guide rail to all conversions.  I don't have the exact Avery # off hand.  They are clear labels and I used a color laser printer.  An Inkjet printer smudges as I recall.   See attached file.
For those of you that don't have Word:

  METRIC CONVERSIONS:
        3/16" =   9mm
         1/4"  = 11mm
         1/2"  = 17mm
         3/4"  = 24mm
         1"     = 30mm
       1 1/2" = 43mm