TS 55 EQ Blade Alignment

[headhog70]

I purchased a second Festool circular saw and immediately noticed some problems.  The saw was slightly harder to push through a cut, blew out more dust at the end of the cut, made a little more noise, and produced a very small "snipe" at the end of the cut.  I found the back edge of the blade was skewed in toward the guide rail.  I aligned to blade so the back edge of the blade is a "papers width" skewed AWAY from the guide rail.  This made a tremendous difference.  The saw now cuts smoothly and quietly.

Just thought I'd pass this along for those who get a TS 55 EQ and wonder why it's not so great.  I should also point out that the problems were not very apparent.  Some first-time users of this saw might think that this is as good as it gets.  I knew there was a problem because my first saw was perfect out of the box.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

My TS 55 purchased Spring 2006 also came "toed out" as yours apparently did.  Festool apparently failed to train some final assembly employees in the use of their setup jig, and they got it backwards!

 

[Dan Clark]

Dave,

Someone posted a description of the process using some form of a micrometer device was that you?  (I looked, but couldn't find it.)  If so, could you post that in the How To section? 

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

It wasn't me, Dan, who posted on FOG (the old group forum) the detailed guide to setting "toe-in" adjustment on the TS 55.  But here is a simple way to get very close.  Clamp your guide rail to a workpiece.  Thicker material may be better, but 3/4" will work fine.  Make certain the guide rail follower adjusters are without any side play.  Make a straight cut with your saw using the guide rail, preferably over the side of your MFT, because it is better to set the saw to plunge deeply, and you don't want to cut through your MFT rails!  Operate the lock/latch on your saw as if you were going to change the blade.  With the saw mounted on the guide rail that is still clamped in the same position on the workpiece you just cut, check for toe-out (clearance between the leading edge of the saw blade and the workpiece) or toe-in (no clearance at the leading edge and clearance at the trailing edge of the blade), using a a strip about 1 inch wide from a sheet of ordinary computer paper.  The thickness of a single sheet of paper is about 0.003 inch.  If the strip will fit between the workpiece and the leading edge of the blade, you have the undesired toe-out.  If the strip will just fit between the workpiece and the trailing edge of the blade, you have the desired toe-in.  If the strip won't fit at either the leading or trailing edge, you have a (near) parallel blade and no toe-in or toe-out.  If you need to adjust your saw, loosen the screws that affix the base of the saw (I think there are 4 little Torx screws, and the one under the rear of the handle may be a little difficult to access with the Toolie Tool) so you can move the base relative to the upper assembly which carries the motor and blade.  With the saw on the guide rail, place your strip of paper between the trailing edge of the saw blade and the workpiece and position the base so that the paper strip is "trapped" between the trailing edge of the blade and the fresh cut edge of your workpiece.  Then tighten the screws that fasten the base to the upper assembly of the saw.  To make this easier for myself, I first fully loosened those screws and wiggled the base around, then I ever so slightly snugged up the screws so I then could gently tap the upper assembly and base portions to shift their positions.  This helped keep the base and upper assembly from moving relative to one another as the screws were fully tightened.  Be gentle, those are little screws and they don't need gorilla force to do their job.  I think I actually used two thicknesses of paper, so I could be confident that I had applied sufficient side force and still had leading edge toe-in, trailing edge toe-out as recommended.  After you have snugged up the base mounting screws, do a final check at both leading and trailing edges of your blade to ensure you obtained the setting you intended. 

 

[David Figueroa]

This topic is related to my question, so please forgive my resurrecting this thread.

I had an ATF55 which cut beautiful clean cuts.  But I have never been able to get clean cuts from my TS55 - blade marks on the finished piece, not to mention the panther blade  , the cuts look like distressed flooring... I called David at tech support and he suggested that my TS55 was not aligned, and outlined the procedure listed in the previous thread.

I spent the whole morning trying to get the blade aligned... and I made it worse.  I had difficulty getting the blade to fit the workpiece I previously cut, much less trying to get the space for a piece of paper... - and if I "pinched" the piece of paper prior to tightening the screws - that was too tight in the back.  Tried several pieces of paper - but it was still too tight.

Also found that my end result cut a new path on the rubber strip ...  So for me this method has not been bullet proof, and it is surprising as this also the recommended method to adjust a new saw an existing rubber strip.

I suspect that the force used to keep the blade down causes the blade to be closer to the work piece than during normal operation.  If this is true then there is play in the plunge mechanism.  Is there a way to adjust that as well?

Since I dont have a jointer - I really would like to have finished edges.  I know its possible, cause I've seen it.

I welcome any suggestions.

BTW - I had to remove the cover plate and dust hood to access the screws.  In addition I found the knife got in the way, so I had to remove that as well.

Thank you,
dave