TS55 REQ and general festool questions

[medelman]

I'm about to purchase the TS55 REQ and have a few questions I was hoping someone could answer.

I understand that festools prices are standardized, and discounts are mainly through sales of their own. For instance the sale on the domino's. I was wondering if a new sale is going to start anytime soon on a particular product after this current sale ends? Does the TS's ever go on sale?

I want to be able to cut the 8 foot lengths on sheet goods. Is getting an additional 55" track going to work for me as an extension to the one included? I am not sure if I can justify the cost of a full length 106" track at this time.

Is the hole drilling guide rail compatible with the standard rail as an extension?

I haven't convinced my wife (or myself) that getting a festool vacuum makes the most sense from a price perspective versus the other options out there. I currently have no dust collection other then my shop vac, but I also only have a few tools so far in my garage.  As a hobbyist most of my work will be at home and so portability isn't the most necessary feature, but at the same time we are thinking of doing some refinishing inside the house, and a festool sander coupled with one of the vacuums seems like the right combination. My question is can a festool dust collection system work as a full blown system in a shop, or would I eventually need to add a dedicated one?  I'd like to be able to tell my wife that if I buy a ct36 or something now that I won't need a dust collection system as I build out my shop in the future. I'm fine with moving the house and vacuum around to different equipment as needed.

It seems that outfitting my shopvac to safely do dust collection is going to cost a couple of hundred dollars on it's own (i.e. dust deputy, filter, bag, hosing, conversion kit, etc)? Has anyone done a price breakdown? Buying a combo kit with the track saw and vacuum will save money as well.

Thanks for your time!

Matt

 

[ElCabong]

Here's my 2 cents - certainly there are more experienced folks than I because I'm a Festool newbie as well. That said, I wish I had a crystal ball regarding Festool sales or I would have held off for 45 days when I purchased my Domino. However, the price differential versus the number of uses I have found for this jewel of a tool outweighs the savings!

As for the tracksaw and the guide rail, the hole drilling guide is compatible with all the different length rails. My neighbor got me into Festool and he has two 55" rails to break down 8' sheet goods and recommended I go a different route. The two rails equal 110" verses the full length of a 4' X 8' sheet (or 96"). This only leaves you with 14" or 7" on each side, barely enough to put the saw on the guide rail for start and stop. Is this a problem? No, just a little inconvenient. I purchased my TS-55REQ with a 75" (Retailer gave me credit for the 55" rail and added the price difference for the 75") I also purchased a 42" guide rail so when connected the full length is 117" which gives me 21" or 10.5 on each side for a more comfortable start and stop. I also like the convenience of a 42" for smaller cross cuts.

About the CT dust extractors. Get it. I have a Shop vac that I hooked up to my table saw, jointer, and router table however it is very noisy, cumbersome and didn't seal all the dust very well. The CT's are quiet, have adjustable suction and hook up to all my tools now. My shop vac sits in the corner and is used sparingly. The value is that you will find a way to buy more Festools (like a Domino or sander) and find the anti-static hose and plug-it connectors are invaluable for efficiency in your workshop. I have a CT-Midi and it serves my purpose for my little garage shop while my neighbor has the CT-36 with all the bells and whistles. Both "suck" equally as well  . Good luck with your tools!

 

[medelman]

I didn't think about using the smaller 42" with a 75" inch. That makes a lot of sense. I'm thinking about building something similar to ron paulk's bench because I am really short, and something like the MFT wouldn't work without cutting off the legs or using a stool which is too dangerous. I'm just trying to figure out how to do cross cuts in that situation then. I saw someone makes an accessory that attaches to a track in order to do cross cuts. How do you make them?

Thanks for your input.

Matt

 

[MattrYYC]

I purchased the TS55 REQ back in january with two 55" rails.  I work with 8' sheets a good bit, but I don't find myself doing a ton of ripping - mostly I'm cross cutting. The joining of the two rails works as advertised, and I haven't had many issues with overhang, a few more inches would be nice on either end, but I wouldn't say it bothers me much to be honest.  It's a trade off in space for storage and portability and I'm happy with the two 55" rails.  Make sure you ask your dealer to swap the rails for the LR32 compatible rails the 'Holey Rails' so you can use them with the LR32 if you ever go there, it's a very small extra costs, I think it was $5/rail when I did it, somewhere in that range.

The CT dust extractors are really great machines, I used my shop vac at first, I purchased the Bosch non-antistatic hose along with a cheap auto-switch and it worked. Not great - but it did the job.  I later purchased the CT26 when I got my Domino and really like it, I would have done it sooner if I could go back and do the combo deal.  I've since moved my shop vac over to dedicated duty with my mitre saw in the shop (yes, I drank the kool-aid and bought the kapex...), and now that I'm used to hearing how quiet the CT's are I am annoyed by the shop vac noise and the suction is nowhere near what I get with the CT - I would like to eventually upgrade it, probably sooner than later so I can get the full benefit of the tool attached.

I think I'm an example of sliding down the slippery green slope, be warned - but I think you'll hear others tell you that the CT is a really important and great part of the system.  If you can work it in the budget, get the CT along with one of the cleaning kits, if not your shop vac will do alright, I'd recommend a good hose and an autoswitch. If you think you'll be a long while before you get a CT, then do the dust deputy as well to help with the suction.  

The CT I use now with a lot of tools, all of my sanders (Festool and Bosch), the TS, Domino, and for general shop clean up duty. I used it to detail the cars on the weekend as well. Since I use it with almost every tool I own, and also on its own, it is the most used tool in my shop.  I think for really big machines like thickness planers, shapers, etc. if you have them the CT might not be the best solution - they really need a big 4" pipe on a 220/240v heavy collector, but for everything else it really is - and if you're doing any reno's in the home it can't be beat.

 

[grbmds]

The others who responded pretty much covered the rails. As for the CT vacs, they are great and I bought a CT48 just for the size of the bag and the fact the footpring isn't that much different than the smaller models. The Festool vacs will work great for the Domino, sanders, and routers. However, if you own or will purchase a jointer or planer (either portable or larger), it is not likely you'll be satisfied with the vac for dust collection. The bags will fill up quickly and a vac is not usually the recommended way to collect the large volume of chips and sawdust from a jointer or planer. I have an Oneida cyclone dust collector with an internal filter purchased 15+ years ago that I use for my Dewalt 735 planer and Jet 8" jointer. Because the chips from these tools are larger I think the recommended method of collection is a larger hose/duct diameter than a vacuum (4" seems to work or larger) and a collector which moves a higher volume of air rather than the greater suction produced by the vacs. I would expect that you would eventually want a true dust collector for the larger chip producers.