The FS-WA might be my favorite Festool of 2022

bwehman

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
Messages
353
The addition to my shop has nearly eliminated table saw use for what I’ve been building lately. What a wonderful bit of kit they made with this one.

 

Attachments

  • 06BC2AA0-CE78-4B65-AF65-A94AF5EC2626.jpeg
    06BC2AA0-CE78-4B65-AF65-A94AF5EC2626.jpeg
    352 KB · Views: 486
bwehman said:
The addition to my shop has nearly eliminated table saw use for what I’ve been building lately. What a wonderful bit of kit they made with this one.

I was on the fence about FS-WA since I already have TSO's.

If you were list out top 2 things about it, what would they be?
 
1. The system integration is real nice. I also have the extender bit with the flag stop that's fantastic. I have the kit, so everything kept tidied up in a systainer is great.

2. Build quality is incredible. Solid detents, zero slop, heavy for its size.

I don't know what the TSO is like. I'm sure it's great, but can't speak to how this might compare to it.
 
How does it compare with the TSO MTR-18?

Festool’s and TSO’s build quality seem to be on par.  TSO has come up with some fairly elegant track mounting solutions so I am curious.
 
I know I have posted this in multiple threads, so will try being short:

The FS-WA is a flexible tool which can (and must) be calibrated to provide precision.

The TSO GRS16 (and its FS-WA/90 variety) is a fixed tool which is itself made exact. That makes it excellent tool for quick use while a bit limited if the rail is not absolutely precise as it cannot compensate for it. It also cannot do non-square angles.

Having two FS-WA/90 (GRS 16) and one FS-WA:
- I consider the FS-WA the more universal and thus the first tool to get.
- GRS 16 (FS-WA/90) is a good second investment especially for the pros. It can be an efficiency boon for tasks which suit it.
 
I've had a Woodpeckers adjustable track square for a year and a half or so. It is fantastic, but has its limitations, mostly in the fact that it only moves one direction from square. If you can turn the part over, you can get past this, but that isn't always an option. It is "portable", which is handy in that respect.
I recently purchased, but have yet to receive, the multifunction triangle set. This will be used with my table top cutting station, which now only cuts square. We'll see how it works out, my first TSO product, other than some dogs and clips.
 
Crazyraceguy said:
I've had a Woodpeckers adjustable track square for a year and a half or so. It is fantastic, but has its limitations, mostly in the fact that it only moves one direction from square.
...
This is one of the things some hate (no preset 90° position) while I believe it is the best feature of the FS-WA. One can use it on either side of the rail since it goes with a full range of 30˚-150˚ *). No need to think about the limitations of the tool. The ability to calibrate 90° comes as a bonus there.

*) fixed, thanks Michal K, no idea why I had the "full 0-180 range" in my mind ...
 
The Woodpeckers square does have a positive stop at 90 degrees. It also has a pawl mechanism of very fine teeth, though I don't remember the increments off hand. Those teeth make it very repeatable.
It is great for most cuts, but does have its limits. The FS-WA didn't exist at the time, or I would have gone with it for that very reason.
I'm thinking the TSO unit will have its limitations too and hopefully they can work together to cover everything.
 
mino said:
I know I have posted this in multiple threads, so will try being short:

The FS-WA is a flexible tool which can (and must) be calibrated to provide precision.

The TSO GRS16 (and its FS-WA/90 variety) is a fixed tool which is itself made exact. That makes it excellent tool for quick use while a bit limited if the rail is not absolutely precise as it cannot compensate for it. It also cannot do non-square angles.

Having two FS-WA/90 (GRS 16) and one FS-WA:
- I consider the FS-WA the more universal and thus the first tool to get.
- GRS 16 (FS-WA/90) is a good second investment especially for the pros. It can be an efficiency boon for tasks which suit it.

The MTR-18 can cut any angle.  I think both systems cost about 180.00.

The video I posted is quite brief and seems to show that it does all the same cuts as the Festool system.  Once again, they came up with a super quick way to attach to the rails—advantage TSO.

But no Systainer-advantage Festool.

I have a pair of their squaring arms and parallel measuring bars and they seem to be excellent.  No fancy-ass case though.

So, it appears that both sy
 
There is almost always a workaround.

I mean my table saw tilts only to the right.  Others tilt always to the left.  We all seem to make it work though.

I would imagine that turning the stock around would solve the +/- issue.  I don’t see that as a major consideration.

The ability to almost instantaneously mount the device on the rail, on the other hand, is a feature you would use each time you pick it up.

I’m not in the market for either, but this conversation is interesting.
 
Packard said:
The MTR-18 can cut any angle.  I think both systems cost about 180.00.

The video I posted is quite brief and seems to show that it does all the same cuts as the Festool system.  Once again, they came up with a super quick way to attach to the rails—advantage TSO.
...
MTR18 is a great concept. And I have no doubt it works extremely well for what it is designed for - aka work on a flat work surface.

But I would not see it as a (general) alternative to the FS-WA  nor GRS 16(FS-WA/90). Those are mobile tools which are infinitely useable with just the rail and saw, no supporting devices needed. While the FS-WA is going on the heavy side, they both are *sufficiently light* that one can manipulate the rail with them attached with no concern. This is not so with MTR18.

So, to me, the FS-WA can do a superset of tasks the GRS16 can do. While the GRS16 can do the tasks it does well more efficiently/conveniently than the FS-WA. Aka it is a more specialised tool. But still these are tools of the same type.

The MTR18, on the other hand, while having some overlap with both tools is really a very different tool. One cannot cover the tasks MTR18 can handle with the FS-WA, not even close. But, at same, the tasks the FS-WA excels at - those where portability is key - cannot really be done by the MTR18 either.

The new MTR-X, can be seen a "solution" to that "problem" of having one universal tool for squaring/angling the rail. But it still does not handle the "quick&reliable" attach to the rail tasks. And that is absolutely fine. Tools can be flexible, but shall not be too flexible to jeoperdize their primary purpose.

For a practical example:
These days, one frequent use of my GRS 16s (both of them) is attached on a short 600 rail in close proximity, so they squeeze some aluminum or steel profile which I am cutting with my (non-Festool) tracksaw.
Often this is done "in the air" - like when repurposing some older steel furniture or when cutting up a 6 meter steel profile that cannot be placed on the metal chopsaw.
 
festal said:
How does one properly check and calibrate FS-WA?

I referenced something I knew was dead square. If you have that, loosen the two Allen bolt and move the cursor to 0 degrees. Mine was accurate out of the box.
 
Back
Top