TS55EQ Rip cuts

[10digit]

I recently purchased the Festool TS55EQ plus an additional track to cut down sheet goods.  Saw works very well for this application.  I then used the saw to straighten out rough lumber.  Much easier than trying to do on a 6" short bed jointer.  Again worked very well if you are only removing a minor amount of material necessary to establish a straight line.  Finally I used the saw to rip 4/4 white oak and found the saw's shortcoming - it is underpowered for this operation compared to my tablesaw.  It is rated at 10 amps I believe.  The saw labored through the cut and took much longer than anticipated.  All of these cuts were made with the standard blade.  I suppose I could have installed my Panther rip blade (haven't tried it yet) but this compromises the track's accuracy as it will cut away more of the track's rubber registration strip which is used to align the system to the track.  Switching back to the standard blade would introduce a slight offset that would have to be allowed for - this defeats the purpose of the track system.  I was wondering what others have experienced in ripping hardwoods with the '55'.

 

[richard.selwyn]

For shortish cuts, I've got 4 1400mm rails.  I try to keep them dedicated to the 55 and 75 saws and to 2 different blade wdiths, but as with all of the best laid plans, that lasts about a week.  I can generally live with the mm or so inaccuracy, but if I am trying to do some more refined woodbutchery, I pull off the rubber strip and glue it back on a bit further out,(or eventually put on a new strip) then make a first cut to remove the waste (having adjusted the saw to the track)  That generally seems to work until the next time I mix them up.
Hope that helps.

 

[Daviddubya]

Using the Fine Tooth blade for ripping hardwoods is not the best choice.  You will find the saw performs better if you use a blade with a lower tooth count, like the Panther or Universal blades.  Some folks feel the Panther cut quality is not as good as other choices, so try it for yourself and see how it works for you.  I have used my TS55 to straight-line 4/4 hardwoods with the Panther blade with results that are fine for my eyes.  I use my table saw for finish quality rip cuts in hardwoods.

 

[romlee]

I used the TS55 with the 48 tooth blade for several months to rip and crosscut 4/4 and 6/4 hardwood for custom tables.  The cuts were nice and clean if I took my time.  The Panther made for a quicker albeit rougher cut.  The Universal 28t was a good compromise.  I could use it for crosscuts and rips for most of the cuts (switching between the Panther and the fine tooth saw blade depending upon the thickness and length of cut).  The Universal is $40.  You might try this blade.

I just purchased the TS75 and ripped over 70 total feet (8 planks, 8 ft.+ each) of 8/4 zebrawood.  The 75 did it all with ease.  The stock blade on the 75 is the 36t Universal.  Cuts look smooth enough to go directly to glue up but I'll probably lightly plane the edges.  My work has shifted from smaller, lighter jobs to larger and heavier pieces so the 75 is a better fit to the job.

I use the TS75 (and formerly the TS55) instead of a table saw (I have a Powermatic 2000) simply because it's easier for me to take the saw to the work rather than the work to the saw.  Alot of the wood I cut are heavy and unwieldy (I work usually by myself).  I think it's really tough to beat guide rails and the Festool saws for this kind of work.

The TS55 is a great saw.  I sold it to buy the 75.  I may end up buying another 55 for its light weight and ease of handling.  For the cutting work I do now, the TS75 is the right tool, IMHO

 

[semenza]

I recently purchased the Festool TS55EQ plus an additional track to cut down sheet goods.  Saw works very well for this application.  I then used the saw to straighten out rough lumber.  Much easier than trying to do on a 6" short bed jointer.  Again worked very well if you are only removing a minor amount of material necessary to establish a straight line.  Finally I used the saw to rip 4/4 white oak and found the saw's shortcoming - it is underpowered for this operation compared to my tablesaw.  It is rated at 10 amps I believe.  The saw labored through the cut and took much longer than anticipated.  All of these cuts were made with the standard blade.  I suppose I could have installed my Panther rip blade (haven't tried it yet) but this compromises the track's accuracy as it will cut away more of the track's rubber registration strip which is used to align the system to the track.  Switching back to the standard blade would introduce a slight offset that would have to be allowed for - this defeats the purpose of the track system.  I was wondering what others have experienced in ripping hardwoods with the '55'.

Welcome

      What you have said here is all correct.    The TS55 rips lumber with ease if using the right blade for the job. The Universal blade gives a surprisingly good cut, and will rip very well.  It is probably the best way to get the most  wide range of use from the saw while maintaining the guide rail accuracy.  The Fine blade is simply not designed to rip hardwood lumber. The Fine blade is designed for smooth , chip free crosscuts, and sheet goods. If the TS55 came with the Panther (a dedicated ripping blade) it would make lousy cross cuts.  I have the 55. I was using the parallel guide (rip guide, not guide rail) to rip some PT lumber. I didn't want to bother changing blades - so I gave the Fine blade a try- burning, and it almost wouldn't cut after the first few inches.  Swapped to the Panther blade- cut it so fast you would have thought it was a 15amp worm drive!    Give the Universal a try,  I have that too and it also rips very well.
       
Seth

 

[rodwolfy]

I had the same question before I bought the TS55. I decided to get it anyways. I got it with the free Panther blade. I didn't want to chew up my guide rails, so I bought the Parallel Guide (#491469). Most of the rips are on stock that's under 10" wide, so you can just get a spare piece of wood to hold up against the left side of the work piece, then rip it down with the Panther blade.

Rod

 

[Loren Hedahl]

I'm not sure why no one is putting a thin washer on the arbor before installing the Panther blade.

You just need to offset the blade enough to accommodate one half the increased tooth width between the Panther blade and the regular blade.  Then for ripping, remove the little green plastic splitter guard on the right side of the blade.  You don't need it anyway, for ripping.

This way you don't skim off the edge of your guide's rubber strip and it is still accurate for your fine tooth blade.

For a washer, I just found one in the junk drawer about the correct I.D. that just happened to be about the right thickness.  Once I found it worked, I attached it permanently to the blade with a bit of epoxy.  I haven't needed to send the blade out for sharpening yet, but plan to pop the washer off before hand and reinstall it when I get the blade back.

 

[Charles Wilson]

I had the same question before I bought the TS55. I decided to get it anyways. I got it with the free Panther blade. I didn't want to chew up my guide rails, so I bought the Parallel Guide (#491469). Most of the rips are on stock that's under 10" wide, so you can just get a spare piece of wood to hold up against the left side of the work piece, then rip it down with the Panther blade.

Rod

Are the any videos of the Parallel Guide in action?  If so, could you provide a link?

Chuck

 

[10digit]

Thank you to everyone who has provided suggestions to my inquiry.  Last night I experimented with the Panther blade running the saw against a 2X4 so as not to alter the guide's rubber strip dimension.  I ripped some 4/4 white oak with this blade and it cut like butta'.  Only problem was, as many of you have noticed, the surface left by this blade is full of swirl marks, but one pass on my jointer cleaned this up.  With the correct blade the saw can rip lumber without laboring.  I think I will purchase the universal blade and am considering Loren's suggestion of using a washer as a shim to preserve the cut line that was established with the blade that came with the saw.

I really appreciate the level of cooperation and consideration that members provide to each other on this site.  Thanks again!

 

[greg mann]

I'm not sure why no one is putting a thin washer on the arbor before installing the Panther blade.

You just need to offset the blade enough to accommodate one half the increased tooth width between the Panther blade and the regular blade.  Then for ripping, remove the little green plastic splitter guard on the right side of the blade.  You don't need it anyway, for ripping.

This way you don't skim off the edge of your guide's rubber strip and it is still accurate for your fine tooth blade.

For a washer, I just found one in the junk drawer about the correct I.D. that just happened to be about the right thickness.  Once I found it worked, I attached it permanently to the blade with a bit of epoxy.  I haven't needed to send the blade out for sharpening yet, but plan to pop the washer off before hand and reinstall it when I get the blade back.

I suggested a washer as a solution a while back but no one commented until now. Glad to know it works for you. Of course it is possible you won't need it after a blade re-sharpeining or two.

 

[Blouis79]

Having read about kerf width issues with the splinterguard, I got Freud blades which have the same kerf for different tooth counts.

 

[jakiiski]

Having read about kerf width issues with the splinterguard, I got Freud blades which have the same kerf for different tooth counts.

That seems like the perfect solution - the Freud blades are of good quality and they are actually significantly cheaper (at least in Europe) than the respective Festool originals.

For TS75 the blade LP20M 018 seems to match the Panther ripping blade, LP40M 018 a more finer cut version.

- J

 

[Steveo48]

Having read about kerf width issues with the splinterguard, I got Freud blades which have the same kerf for different tooth counts.

Which Freud blades do you use?

Thanks!

Steve

 

[10digit]

I e-mailed Freud Tool and asked about saw blades for the TS55 giving them the following dimensions in millimeters:  160 X 2.5 X 20.  Their reply was that they do not have a blade for this saw.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Having read about kerf width issues with the splinterguard, I got Freud blades which have the same kerf for different tooth counts.

How it works with the splinter guard depends on the blades's blank thickness being the same.

 

[nickao]

Thank you to everyone who has provided suggestions to my inquiry.  Last night I experimented with the Panther blade running the saw against a 2X4 so as not to alter the guide's rubber strip dimension.

I do not suggest this turn into a Eurkeozone vs Festool thread, I have both. And do not want to break the following rule:

And now, even more specific...
8. Topics dealing with "Festool versus EZ Smart" will be closely monitored.  Honest questions by curious customers are fine, but promotion of EZ Smart over Festool (or vice versa) will not be tolerated, nor will purely negative comparisons between Festool and EZ Smart for the purposes of promotion.  If you do wish to raise this subject, please do so only in the "Off-Topic" area.


But this goes to the rubber edge and kerf width discussed in this thread and another way to go about it rather then Festool leaving us to are own devices using a washer. I am not promoting one over the other, but I do think Eurekazone has the better solution as far as the kerf discussion goes.

One thing Eurekazone does have that I think is better then Festool is that the "guide's rubber strip" slips on and off and a different one can be used with each blade. It takes about 30 seconds to switch it out. If Festool could develop a removable rubber strip that can quickly be taken off and and on, it would make the system more  versatile.

I have noticed that making really deep cuts does not effect the alignment quality's of the rubber strip on the Eurekazone, but does seem to effect the rubber strips alignment to the blade on the Festool. I guess that can be attributed to the saw and not the guide, I am not quite sure why that is, other have suggest Toe in of the Festool saw.

Nickao

 

[Michael Kellough]

Thank you to everyone who has provided suggestions to my inquiry.  Last night I experimented with the Panther blade running the saw against a 2X4 so as not to alter the guide's rubber strip dimension.

I do not suggest this turn into a Eurkeozone vs Festool thread, I have both. But one thing Eurekazone does have that I think is better then Festool is that the "guide's rubber strip" slips on and off and a different one can be used with each blade. It takes about 30 seconds to switch it out. If Festool could develop a removable rubber strip that can quickly be taken off and and on, it would make the system more  versatile.

I have noticed that making really deep cuts does not effect the alignment quality's of the rubber strip on the Eurekazone, but does seem to effect the rubber strips alignment to the blade on the Festool. I guess that can be attributed to the saw and not the guide, I am not quite sure why that is, other have suggest Toe in of the Festool saw.

Nickao

When you have some toe in (front of the blade closer to the rail than the back) you need to bevel the blade a little (lean the saw over) to compensate for the arc the teeth make through the workpiece. It's hard to explain but the teeth at the bottom of the cut are closer to the vertical axis than the teeth at the top of the cut so the additional wood removed by the toed blade is greater at the top of the cut than at the bottom. That is why the blade has to be beveled, so the upper and lower teeth (at the front of the saw) are in a plane that is perpendicular to the wood.

If you have toed the blade in but haven't adjusted the bevel, more rubber will be cut from the splinter guard when the blade is plunged deeper. As far as adjusting the bevel goes all you need to do is just re-trim the screws (after the toe-in adjustment) so the cut at 90 degrees is dead square (no daylight).

 

[nickao]

Thank you to everyone who has provided suggestions to my inquiry.  Last night I experimented with the Panther blade running the saw against a 2X4 so as not to alter the guide's rubber strip dimension.

I do not suggest this turn into a Eurkeozone vs Festool thread, I have both. But one thing Eurekazone does have that I think is better then Festool is that the "guide's rubber strip" slips on and off and a different one can be used with each blade. It takes about 30 seconds to switch it out. If Festool could develop a removable rubber strip that can quickly be taken off and and on, it would make the system more  versatile.

I have noticed that making really deep cuts does not effect the alignment quality's of the rubber strip on the Eurekazone, but does seem to effect the rubber strips alignment to the blade on the Festool. I guess that can be attributed to the saw and not the guide, I am not quite sure why that is, other have suggest Toe in of the Festool saw.

Nickao

When you have some toe in (front of the blade closer to the rail than the back) you need to bevel the blade a little (lean the saw over) to compensate for the arc the teeth make through the workpiece. It's hard to explain but the teeth at the bottom of the cut are closer to the vertical axis than the teeth at the top of the cut so the additional wood removed by the toed blade is greater at the top of the cut than at the bottom. That is why the blade has to be beveled, so the upper and lower teeth (at the front of the saw) are in a plane that is perpendicular to the wood.

If you have toed the blade in but haven't adjusted the bevel, more rubber will be cut from the splinter guard when the blade is plunged deeper. As far as adjusting the bevel goes all you need to do is just re-trim the screws (after the toe-in adjustment) so the cut at 90 degrees is dead square (no daylight).

I am having trouble wrapping my head around that. It seems to me if it is to in the bottom teeth would be closer to the strip because the bottom of the blade is "toed in" toward the rubber. Am I not understanding the definition of two in.

Please define tow in. Is it like beveling the saw to the right so that the bottom of the blade moves to you left? It must not be or the top of the blade would be away form the initial cut, not making contact with the strip as the saw comes down.

Sorry if I sound dense. Am I understanding toe in exactly opposite as it really is?

Nickao

Light bulb just went on. This is about the blade front to back and  NOT side to side , I get it!

Thanks Michael.

 

[Blouis79]

Having read about kerf width issues with the splinterguard, I got Freud blades which have the same kerf for different tooth counts.

Which Freud blades do you use?

I have presently:
LP20M007 12 tooth rip blade; 160x2.4x20
LP40M007 40 tooth alt bevel crosscut; 160x2.4x20

I think they make a few in-between tooth counts. LP30M007 24 tooth is listed here:
http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/browse.php/section/6233/level/4

I think Freud has some cataloging issues - things in print catalog aren't online and vice versa.
I also have a few larger Freud blades for a small non-Festool slide compound saw.

Alternatively, I read on another forum AKE blades are very good - they make 12,24,30, and 48 teeth with 2.6 kerf - AKE Blueline catalog extract:
Sawbaldes for portable saws [9147]
160 1,8 1,2 20 24 ATB 10112030
160 1,8 1,2 20 32 ATB 10112032
160 2,6 1,6 20 12 ATB 10040990
160 2,6 1,6 20 2/6/32 24 ATB 10040991
160 2,6 1,6 20 30 ATB 10040998
160 2,6 1,6 20 2/6/32 48 ATB 10040999