TS55 and MFT/3

[Michael Kellough]

It was many years ago when Festool decided to ship a 1400mm long guide rail with a “55” plunge saw.

At that time the base of the plunge saws was made of stamped steel and had a continuous groove to ride the rail. By keeping a little lateral pressure on the saw you could keep it straight on the rail even if only one of the guide jibs was one the rail. The ATF 55 was the last saw with the steel base.

The advent of the TS version of the saws introduced the aluminum base and a wider groove that only contacted the guide rail by the jibs. Both jibs must be on the guide rail in order for the saw to track. This requires a longer guide rail if you want to fully plunge before starting to cut and to completely exit the work before un-plunging.

The 1400mm rail is a little short imo. If you’re asking in advance of making a TS 55 saw purchase I’d try to find a dealer who will give you credit for the 1400mm rail so you can upgrade to the 1900mm (75”).

 

[Mike Goetzke]

[member=72616]rinconmike[/member]  For checking square look for the 5 cut method. You keep rotating your cut putting your last cut against the fence. If your setup is perfect your last cutoff would be the same thickness at both ends. If not it is the accumulated error of the length of the perimeter of the piece.

Lots of great info here. I’ve used a track saw for many years. About two years ago I switched to Makita/Festool track saws. Took me a while to unload my old system and see how others were using the tracks and saw. Like many others I purchased a TSO GRS-16PE because my old system had a rail square that I was used to using. TSO’s TPG (parallel guide) was not offered at the time. I work out of my garage so need a system I can break down and I wanted a large work table. I looked at many DIY MFT slab tables and drew up my own and had three 32” x 48” slabs CNC machined locally. I can use one, two, or all three of them to make a 4’ x8’ workspace. I bought several bench dogs to use the MFT 20mm hole pattern for my work. Guess what - after the TSO TPG came out I exclusively use the square and parallel guide for all my work. I do have the complete TPG set and 4 different lengths of Makita rails from 39” to 118”.

Mike

 

[rinconmike]

When trimming the splinter guard, should I drop the blade full depth or just a 1/4"?  Also, over a scrap piece?  I saw this video and it notes full depth and looks like no wood under the splinter guard (1:29 in video).

 

[rinconmike]

Trimming the Guide Rail Splinter Guard:

The supplemental manual page 8 notes to "Set the blade depth very shallow (6 to 7 mm) so that the blade teeth penetrate the strip by about half a tooth, as shown." and the strip hanging over the table (opposed to a sacrificial piece).

The manual page 20 notes "Push down the power tool slowly to the max. preset cutting depth and cut along the full length of the splinterguard without stopping."

I called Festool and they said drop the blade full depth and also overhanging it over the table or work piece is what to do.

Doe is make a difference full depth or shallow?

 

[Vondawg]

“I called Festool and they said drop the blade full depth and also overhanging it over the table or work piece is what to do.”

When replacing splinter gaurd I’ve done just this except I just slowly cut at where the saw is most often around 20mm

 

[rinconmike]

Is there a recommended depth to set the blade lower than the piece being cut?  I am cutting on top of 2" rigid insulation.  Is 1/8" fine so I would set at 7/8" to cut 3/4" plywood?

thanks,

Mike

 

[lf]

Trimming the Guide Rail Splinter Guard:
[...]
Doe is make a difference full depth or shallow?

If you do it shallow you won't reach until the end unless you attach another rail at both sides?