TS 55 rough edges after cut

[mwbrewster]

I'm getting awful edges after ripping with my TS 55 and looking for advice:

1.  Just installed new splinter guard on rail
2.  Using Universal Blade, 496304
3.  Blade was cleaned 1 month ago and not used much
4. Material is 12mm pre-finshed maple ply

Here's a picture of the keeper piece.

[attachimg=1]

Thanks in advance for comments

 

[semenza]

Have you had the problem using the Universal blade before?  If so I would suggest that is the cause and try the Fine blade for cross cuts in plywood. Universal is a "combination" blade,  i.e.,  pretty good at ripping and pretty good at cross cuts but not the best for either.

Seth

 

[Sanderxpander]

There isn't real ripping in plywood. You can use the 48 tooth "fine" blade, that should help. FWIW, my cuts with thr universal do look a lot better than this but maple plywood is probably harder than what I normally use.

 

[fshanno]

Could be the plywood.  Looks like the fuzzy is on more than just the veneer.

 

[lunchman]

I'd attribute it to the blade. I've cut a lot of 3/4" maple plywood with my TS55 and the stock 48 tooth fine blade,  always get perfect cuts. Make sure your splinter guard is down on the surface and the bottom of the piece is also supported (not hanging off the edge of your work surface).

 

[sancho57]

You said you just cleaned the blade last month. How old is the blade? how many times have you used it prior to cleaning. Maybe it needs sharpening. Have you checked the TS 55s toe in?

 

[mwbrewster]

Have you had the problem using the Universal blade before?  If so I would suggest that is the cause and try the Fine blade for cross cuts in plywood. Universal is a "combination" blade,  i.e.,  pretty good at ripping and pretty good at cross cuts but not the best for either.

Seth

Thanks Seth.  I've had a fine tooth blade for a while but didn't see much difference.  A little better maybe, but not much.

 

[mwbrewster]

I'd attribute it to the blade. I've cut a lot of 3/4" maple plywood with my TS55 and the stock 48 tooth fine blade,  always get perfect cuts. Make sure your splinter guard is down on the surface and the bottom of the piece is also supported (not hanging off the edge of your work surface).

That pictured cut was using the standard mft crosscut setup.  No matter how many times I check/mess with my setup, the buisiness side of the rail lifts off the piece about 1mm.  The weight if the saw presses the splinter guard to the material through the cut.  Not toi happy with that but i guess its unavoidable.  All of the problems with the mft/3 support brackets have been covered ad nauseum on this forum so there's no need to reopen that discussion but, in short - me too.

 

[mwbrewster]

You said you just cleaned the blade last month. How old is the blade? how many times have you used it prior to cleaning. Maybe it needs sharpening. Have you checked the TS 55s toe in?

The blade is less than a year old. couldnt guess about how many times it was used prior to cleaning.  Im going to send all my blades out to get sharpened soon.  suspected toe-in issues about 6 months ago, adjusted it myself a few times and ultimately sent it back to festool to be re-calibrated.

Ive had to do a lot of fiddling with the majority of my festools to get them working to my level of accuracy.  Frustrating.

 

[Sanderxpander]

I'd attribute it to the blade. I've cut a lot of 3/4" maple plywood with my TS55 and the stock 48 tooth fine blade,  always get perfect cuts. Make sure your splinter guard is down on the surface and the bottom of the piece is also supported (not hanging off the edge of your work surface).

That pictured cut was using the standard mft crosscut setup.  No matter how many times I check/mess with my setup, the buisiness side of the rail lifts off the piece about 1mm.  The weight if the saw presses the splinter guard to the material through the cut.  Not toi happy with that but i guess its unavoidable.  All of the problems with the mft/3 support brackets have been covered ad nauseum on this forum so there's no need to reopen that discussion but, in short - me too.

I'm unaware of these apparently ubiquitous issues (I don't have an MFT), but are you saying that when you flip the rail over your workpiece, it isn't actually resting on it? Because I can definitely see that causing this problem. Do you get the same issue if you cut a piece without the MFT system? Just laying the rail on the workpiece?

 

[eddomak]

Do you get the same issue if you cut a piece without the MFT system? Just laying the rail on the workpiece?

I can understand how the OP might sometimes get these issues, as when I cut unfinished 12mm birch ply sometimes there is a miniscule (0.5mm?) gap between rail and splinter guard on the far side of the cut, as the rail cannot descend lower than the fence extrusion. My guess is that this is due to the batch of plywood.

I would second that you see if cutting a test piece with the rail directly on the piece, separate from the MFT would give you a different result, to at least try and rule out one of the factors.

 

[sancho57]

I'd attribute it to the blade. I've cut a lot of 3/4" maple plywood with my TS55 and the stock 48 tooth fine blade,  always get perfect cuts. Make sure your splinter guard is down on the surface and the bottom of the piece is also supported (not hanging off the edge of your work surface).

That pictured cut was using the standard mft crosscut setup.  No matter how many times I check/mess with my setup, the buisiness side of the rail lifts off the piece about 1mm.  The weight if the saw presses the splinter guard to the material through the cut.  Not toi happy with that but i guess its unavoidable.  All of the problems with the mft/3 support brackets have been covered ad nauseum on this forum so there's no need to reopen that discussion but, in short - me too.

I'm unaware of these apparently ubiquitous issues (I don't have an MFT), but are you saying that when you flip the rail over your workpiece, it isn't actually resting on it? Because I can definitely see that causing this problem. Do you get the same issue if you cut a piece without the MFT system? Just laying the rail on the workpiece?

Sharp blade makes a big difference. have you replaced the green splinter guard on the side of the saw?