TS55 purchase advice

[woodshopdoc]

I am planning to purchase a TS55 and would appreciate advice on any accessories and blades.  I will be working with 4 x 8 3/4 " birch and oak plywood primarily.  I can't manage these sheets on my table saw.  I would like the capability of splitting the 8' sheets as my next project will be some closet shelving.  Thanks

 

[peter halle]

Doc,

[welcome] to the forum.

You are in a common situation and will surely get many different replies.  If I was in your situation I would consider the following items:

A longer rail to make cuts in the long length easier.  Either the 2700 mm or the 3000 mm.
A set of clamps.  Either the screw type clamps or the quick clamps.
A package of the green splinter guards that attach to the saw.
A fine tooth plywood blade.

Those are Festool basics in my mind.  Other than that, a pair of saw horses and a sheet of 2 inch thick pink foam to cut on.

Many a great project has been built and displayed here with just these items.

If you want to go further, a Festool vac, and a set of the parallel guides.

Soon you will find projects to do just so you can acquire and use new tools.

Peter

 

[Brice Burrell]

Welcome.

I like what Peter posted.  I'd look closely at a vac and saw package to save a few extra bucks.  And, remember you have until the end of the month the take advantage of the 10% off TS saws and accessories.

 

[tbellemare]

A fine tooth plywood blade.

That saw comes with the fine tooth blade so, unless you want to cut other materials or rip fast, you're set.

If you commonly break down sheets, I'd recommend the Paralled Guides. They are also 10% off until the end of the month.

Tom

 

[mosez]

definitely go for that plastic thingie that attaches to the end of the guide rail that prevents the hose and cable from getting caught on the aluminium.

i love my 800mm rail, but you have a table saw, so u might not need it unless u work off-shop (if that even is a proper word).
same goes for the angle-unit (not that i love it so much, but when not in reach of a proper table for angle cuts, it might be useful.

these might not be basics anymore, but a nice vac and a good cutting table (if not the mft/3) are pretty essential.

 

[JEP]

Here's some observations from a couple of years of use out of my TS55/CT22 in breaking down sheet goods.  My general practice is to cross cut sheets to finished size with the TS55, then make rip cuts on the table saw.  This method ensures me of like widths for all parts of the same width.  (It's important to have a method for ensuring a square first cut, but that's another subject.)

If you layout your cross cuts first, you can nearly eliminate a need for a 3000 long rail.  It's great to have a long rail, but some pre-planning is friendlier to the wallet for most situations. 

A bungee from the ceiling can keep the vac hose from catching on the edge of the ply. 

If you're not planning on getting a vac with the TS55, then save some $ and use a regular circular saw and a straight edge.  Half the reason to have a Festool saw is the dust colection. 

The foam insulation board is invaluable as a spoil board for cutting, in combination with a couple of 2x4s and a pair of saw horses.

The parallel guides are nice, but limit you to about 24" capacity.  Hence they won't be helpful for repetive cross cuts that will yield cabinet sides.  Your table saw will still function to make repetitive rips of like width, such as shelves, cabinets sides/tops/bottoms.

Most of the time clamps aren't needed to secure the rail to plywood.

A good sheet good optimizer will layout your parts to make cutting much more organized. 

Hope this helps.  Good luck with your new saw.

Joe