TS-55 weird behavior--help please!

[johnbro]

Made a cut with the TS-55 on the MFT 1080 with the usual guide rail. Done this a zillion times before--same blade, saw, rail, table, setup. Never moved the rubber strip on the guide rail, either. For some reason the saw re-cut the rubber strip all the way down a lot closer than it was. I noticed as soon as I started the saw--little black chips flying like they do the first time you cut the strip.

I pulled the blade and didn't find anything unusual. Saw cuts fine. Strip looks "normal" on guide rail, not like it's been moved or touched in any way.

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Johnbro

 

[nickao]

Did you make a deeper cut than usual?

 

[johnbro]

Did you make a deeper cut than usual?

No, I was cutting some 3/4 ply was all. The cut BEFORE that was deeper than usual, I trimmed the end off a door (with a different guide rail). But I didn't see any black chips when I trimmed the door.

 

[nickao]

Something changed, I thought maybe a deeper cut could have been the problem. Well if it does not change again and everything works fine I think you can let it slide and chalk it up to an accidental or unknown bump. It seems if the problem still exists you may be cutting more of the black strip soon.

Let me know if you find the culprit.

 

[pteubel]

A bent blade is another possibility.

 

[roadking06]

Also check to make sure the blade bevel hasn't shifted slightly. The blade will go past 0 degrees slightly. When i first took my TS-75 out of the box from the factory, the blade was 3-4 degrees past 0. I trimmed the guide rail with the saw this way. Later on I realized I needed to move the bevel up slightly to 0 degrees, and when i next cut with the previously trimmed guide rail, i did notice it got some of the splinter guard again. Nothing to loose any sleep over, but i did notice some of the black rubber-dust.

Just a thought

 

[pci]

Hi,
or may be a longer cut ?

 

[RogerF]

Perhaps the cawls on the saw base loosened and it wasn't riding on the rail properly?

 

[Sweet]

Have you checked the tabs on the underside of your base plate? If you have the older type (without the replaceable plastic inserts) these can/will wear out over time and move the blade closer to the guide rail when you tighten the green cams.

Hope this helps?  ???

 

[Brice Burrell]

Have you checked the tabs on the underside of your base plate? If you have the older type (without the replaceable plastic inserts) these can/will wear out over time and move the blade closer to the guide rail when you tighten the green cams.

Hope this helps?  ???

That's not likely to be the issue here, the wearing of the tabs takes a lot of use, I mean a lot. The wear happens gradually over time, what happened to John was between cuts, all at once.

 

[nickao]

Does the new TS 75 even have those tabs only the 55, right? I thought the tabs were for the solid surface guys with hundreds of cuts and that's why the tabs were actually developed.

Nickao

 

[Brice Burrell]

Does the new TS 75 even have those tabs only the 55, right? I thought the tabs were for the solid surface guys with hundreds of cuts and that's why the tabs were actually developed.

Nickao

Nick, I'm not sure, maybe a dealer can answer this one.

 

[nickao]

Asking because my 75 does not have them and it is about 90 days old.

I had two 55 previously, one with the tabs one without. I noticed no difference in operation. The tabs seemed to make the sliding more quiet when on the rail, but not really smoother.

Nick

 

[Sweet]

Have you checked the tabs on the underside of your base plate? If you have the older type (without the replaceable plastic inserts) these can/will wear out over time and move the blade closer to the guide rail when you tighten the green cams.

Hope this helps?  ???

That's not likely to be the issue here, the wearing of the tabs takes a lot of use, I mean a lot. The wear happens gradually over time, what happened to John was between cuts, all at once.

Fair one Brice. I was in a bit of a Rush. However my saw is about six years old now and I am on Baseplate three. I guess I do a lot of cutting?!!! From what I remember with the first plate, the wear was slow to begin with and seemed to speed up rapidly after the paint/coating wore off.

Does the new TS 75 even have those tabs only the 55, right? I thought the tabs were for the solid surface guys with hundreds of cuts and that's why the tabs were actually developed.

Nickao

Nick, I'm not sure, maybe a dealer can answer this one.

Nick I think this has been discussed somewhere before, but I think the tabs (At the moment anyway) are only present on the TS55. In my experience they do seem to make the saw slide smoother on the guide rail even with the cams done up pretty tight. I'm also hoping that those tabs a lot cheaper to replace than an entire baseplate!!!!  ;D ;D

 

[nickao]

Those little pieces should be like 5.00! Oops Festool, I guess 55.00 then.  ;D

 

[lym]

this is the same symptom i had when my ts 55 had excessive end play.  it's easy enough to check.  just pull on the blade, in and out.

 

[nickao]

Well how  did you personally fix this excessive end play, Lym?

 

[Eli]

Does the new TS 75 even have those tabs only the 55, right? I thought the tabs were for the solid surface guys with hundreds of cuts and that's why the tabs were actually developed.

Nickao

That's what I remember...