TS 55 vs TS 75 EQ Dilemma - Help Please!

[dbworkshop]

Ken I can't help with your selection of saw seeing as I am currently trying to make the same decision.  However, when I was at my dealer the other day, he showed me a memo from Festool about their upcoming April/May promotion.  10% of TS 55, TS 75, and all accessories.  I haven't seen anything else concrete about this though.  Would any dealers like to comment?  Shane?  The memo said there would be more to come about what accessories were included in this.  So, I guess for now you might want to hold off.  As for me, I am leaning towards the TS 55/MFT combo.  Come on tax man!

Dan

 

[mouppe]

I heard the same today. Discounts on saws.

 

[JohnDistai]

But were there discounts on things other than saws, such as the parallel guides?  I need them to keep my saw from tipping over.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

However, when I was at my dealer the other day, he showed me a memo from Festool about their upcoming April/May promotion.  10% of TS 55, TS 75, and all accessories.  I haven't seen anything else concrete about this though.  Would any dealers like to comment?  Shane?  The memo said there would be more to come about what accessories were included in this.

Dan, welcome to the forum.  There will be an official announcement soon regarding our Spring promotion and a few other exciting things that are in the works for the coming months.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

That's why all my other 'tools' go in systainers.

Grab one stack and have everything.

It is nearly impossible to carry two paslode cases with one hand/arm.

 

[morogue]

75 all day long, unless you have pipe cleaner arms.  [wink]
I have used mine to trim installed eaves (yes, upside down at a 30 degree angle), trimmed up two installed gates (vertically), surgically opened a wall, trimmed the guts of a mantle, all cuts done it situ, vertical, up down and sideways. I just went around the homestead looking for things to trim or straighten. It worked flawlessly, but I was careful. I gained enough confidence to use it for client work. I I I find the power useful when cutting multiple sheets of 3/4 ply.
I would say that the bevel adjustment is a cruel joke. So, precise, so well built, but the saw is so huge that it just can't stay on track... So, yeah it's big, but it's America and everything is better bigger.

 

[JohnDistai]

I have pipe cleaner arms surrounded by a large layer of fat.

After rethinking my earlier post, it doesn't matter if you use the MFT or not.  If you do several short cuts on a piece of plywood you have to pick up and move that saw several times as you reposition for each cut.  The weight can become noticeable fast.

 

[allen r austin]

go with the 75 its the standard size , the 55 is great if all you are doing is sheet goods. the first job I did with the 55 was 1/4 inch short of the depth I needed,
and April it will be less anyway

 

[Tinker]

I just went to shop and measured a thick piece of spruce i have started to work on.
It is a full 2" thick and I still have more depth capacity that I could let out my saw.
I have, in the past, worked with 2"+ hard maple for both crosscut and ripping as I mentioned in an earlier post.
The saw has done ok with the thick maple and even 1-1/2" quarter sawn white oak.  If the saw is to work on post & beam timbers, I guess you need the 75.  For almost anything you will be tackling as a hobbiest, I think the 75 is just overkill.
When I was cutting the 2" maple, i was using the 48 tooth blade.  I have since gotten the 24 tooth and have found it goes thru heavy rips with less slow down and I can do deep cuts with one pass where before, I needed two passes.
Tinker

 

[bhendrix]

My first TS purchase was the 75.  I assumed it would do everything as well as the 55, just deeper cuts.

At the Festool training in Lebanon, we used the TS55 to cut all our sheet goods.  Hmmmm, something was different . . . .and better.  What could the difference be?

FASTER - A little calculation in my room at night revealed an interesting difference I hadn't previously considered.  The TS55 operates at 5,200 rpm.  With the standard 48 tooth blade, that's 4160 teeth per second through the material.  The TS75 operates at 3,550 rpm.  With the standard 36 tooth blade, that's 2130 teeth per second, nearly half of the teeth per second as the TS55.

EASIER - The TS75 weighs 13.6 pounds.  The TS55 weighs 9.92 pounds, 27% lighter.

SMOOTHER - When cutting 3/4" material at minimum depth on the 75, the splinter guard doesn't quite cover the blade.  At 3/4" with minimum depth, the splinter guard is fully engaged with the 55.

RESULT -  The TS55 is FASTER, EASIER, SMOOTHER than the TS75, at least when cutting sheet goods, and especially when cutting cross-grain.

I now own both the TS75 and the TS55.

Curse Rick and Brian and Shane and the blasted training class.  It cost me more $$$$.   ;D, but boy I am having more fun.

COLLECT THEM ALL - IT'S A SYSTEM.

 

[JohnDistai]

Tinker - I couldn't tell from your post whether you were using the 55 or 75.  Which were you referring to for the scenario you described?

 

[busybeaver]

Start with the TS55 -- unless you fully expect to be using the full capabilites of the TS75.

Keep in mind that if you don't have dust collection now, you will need it (Note: not want, need!).

They are both nice saws, but the TS55 is more than adequate for most jobs.
My dad has the TS55, and I own the TS75, both are very good saws, but  they are targeted for different purposes.

I had specific needs which, in my brain, warranted the TS 75 (i.e. being in the fortunate position of having a sizeable stock of rough-cut hardwood at my disposal)

If you can't specifically sort out which to use, go with the TS 55, and put the remainder  towards a suitable dust collection system, or other tools.

The TS55 is a very high quality, all-around circular saw performer that leaves a beautiful cut.
Eighty-percent or more of the work that you would expect to do regarding cabinetry saw cuts is well within the capability of the TS 55.
Its considerably lighter than the TS 75, and saw blade manufacturers, such as Freud, are starting to target the TS 55 Festool saw blade market.

The TS75  seems to be targeted as a near-replacement for a contractor table saw. It's weight, though very well-balanced, goes with the territory.
I say near-replacement, because each has its place. The TS 75, for example, can be used to cut sheet goods on top of a couple of sawhorses with a guide rail. Try horsing around a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 ply onto a contractor table saw [eek], and let's just leave it with the phrase "just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should"

Also, you don't want to try cutting 2" wide moulding with the TS 75 and a guide rail [blink]. See the above italicized, quoted phrase.

Each saw is a pleasure to use, and have plenty of capability for their targeted market.

And no, I don't work for or sell Festool products, I'm just another owner who is very happy with their products.

 

[Tinker]

Tinker - I couldn't tell from your post whether you were using the 55 or 75.  Which were you referring to for the scenario you described?

John, When I ordered my 1st Festoy, i ordered the ATF 75.  By time my dealer got it for me, he also had the ATF 55 in stock.
When i hefted the 55, I decided immediately that would be the better saw for me.  Almost all of my previous (carpentry) had been in construction where I had found the only circular saws that would stand up to the abuse of working on concrete forms and scaffold construction were Milwaukees.  i had both the 8-1/4 and 7-1/2 inch mil's.  The large one, i had used almost exclusively for cutting brick/block/stone/concrete.  That was a bear, but for long days, a killer from the heft.  I'm only a little guy and when much of the materials I was handling weighed nearly as much (more when doing stonework) as I, that extra heft was not very desirable when I was making cuts into lumber all day long. 

What had, at first drawn my attention to the ATF 75 was the depth of cut.  It was comparable to the depth of cut for my Mil 7-1/2" saw.  The 75 I thought was about the same depth.  The 55 I was told would compare to a 6-1/2" blade.  I had used a 6-1/2" saw of another make (borrowed on job >> so I don't recall the brand) and had found it very poor on torque and less desirable for depth of cut in rough lumber.

Any how, (and sorry to answer your question with such long report, but hope this is all helpful to others with same questions we have seen here), my friendly dealer discussed with me and I indicated my own concerns about blade size.  It did not take me very long to decide the 55 would probably be adequate to my uses.  He did not have a problem with getting rid of the 75 I had ordered.  I have been very happy with my change of attitude and find I can handle just as deep cuts with the 55 as with my old Mil 7-1/2 incher.  I don't think i could put either Festoy thru anywhere near the abuse those Milwaukees went thru, but for what I now use them for, the Milwaukee just gathers dust until I need to make only a couple of cuts outside of my shop  >>> or cut into a board that might have a few nails imbedded.

So after all of that longwinded report, I do not own a 75.  All of the cuts mentioned above were with the old ATF 55.  There are some features on the TS models I like even better and hope to eventually invest in an upgrade.  For me, upgrade will mean going from ATF 55 to the TS 55.
Tinker

 

[garnet_steen]

Great reply with useful information and a valuable perspective on the relative merits. Thank you for posting it.

My first TS purchase was the 75.  I assumed it would do everything as well as the 55, just deeper cuts.

At the Festool training in Lebanon, we used the TS55 to cut all our sheet goods.  Hmmmm, something was different . . . .and better.  What could the difference be?

FASTER - A little calculation in my room at night revealed an interesting difference I hadn't previously considered.  The TS55 operates at 5,200 rpm.  With the standard 48 tooth blade, that's 4160 teeth per second through the material.  The TS75 operates at 3,550 rpm.  With the standard 36 tooth blade, that's 2130 teeth per second, nearly half of the teeth per second as the TS55.

EASIER - The TS75 weighs 13.6 pounds.  The TS55 weighs 9.92 pounds, 27% lighter.

SMOOTHER - When cutting 3/4" material at minimum depth on the 75, the splinter guard doesn't quite cover the blade.  At 3/4" with minimum depth, the splinter guard is fully engaged with the 55.

RESULT -  The TS55 is FASTER, EASIER, SMOOTHER than the TS75, at least when cutting sheet goods, and especially when cutting cross-grain.

I now own both the TS75 and the TS55.

Curse Rick and Brian and Shane and the blasted training class.  It cost me more $$$$.   ;D, but boy I am having more fun.

COLLECT THEM ALL - IT'S A SYSTEM.