which TS55 blade do I need?

[MrMac]

I am cutting 3/4" walnut, on a miter. I need this to be a really sweet cut (I am showing my foreman how amazing the TS55 is) anyway I've looked up the blades, and there seems to be some choices. 48 tooth, 52, and 60.

The material will be a walnut veneer plywood.

What blade would be most suitable, giving the cleanest edge while not burning?

 

[JeromeM]

I am cutting 3/4" walnut, on a miter. I need this to be a really sweet cut (I am showing my foreman how amazing the TS55 is) anyway I've looked up the blades, and there seems to be some choices. 48 tooth, 52, and 60.

The material will be a walnut veneer plywood.

What blade would be most suitable, giving the cleanest edge while not burning?

Burning comes from going through the wood too slowly and or a blade that isn't as sharp as it can be. With 3/4" material the 60 tooth blade will be difficult to push fast enough to guarantee a burn free cut.

My choice would be 48 or less.

YMMV

 

[tbellemare]

The TS 55 comes with the Fine Tooth blade (48T). That should be the perfect blade.

Tom

 

[ccarrolladams]

In my experience the Festool Fine Tooth Blade, cat 495 377, is ideal for both rip and cross cut veneer plywood using guide rails and a TS55. In my shop we use the TS55 with rails for most of the miter and bevel cuts using the cat 495 377 blade. Over the years I have not found a more appropriate blade for sawing veneer playood, and the nature of the veneer wood makes no difference in blade selection, although some respond best to faster feed rate. I have found the TS55 has more than enough power to be fed appropriately fast sawing plywood up to 3/4" or 20mm thick. It really helps to keep the blades clean. I use CMT bit and blade cleaner. I also have my blades sharpened before they are really dull. The blades last longer with just a little grinding per sharpening, and the quality of cuts is best with a fairly sharp blade.

Currently the only blade Festool sells in NA finer than 48 tooth cat 495 377 is the Aluminum/Plastic Blade cat 496 307 which has 56 teeth. Some people do use those for cutting plywood. However my experience has been that while those are swell blades for sawing plactic sheet, they are not appropriate for plywood of any kind.

Festool's Solid Surface/Laminate Blade cat 469 309 has 48 TC teeth. I have found these an advantage when cutting Melamine using a TS55 and rail.

 

[MrMac]

Thanks all!

Ok, I haven't had time to go get a new blade yet. This aft. the super and both foremen came up onto the deck to see how the TS55 works - gulp! Ok then I was doing a test cut on some scrap 3/4 standard grade (rough) plywood - and it did great.

jumping ahead an hour or so, I set up to cut the veneer plywood. My saw did not like that! worked like a dog, growled, smoked and generally behaved badly. what happened???

I re-set the gibs, checked my depth etc. did another cut - slightly better but still working way too hard, compared to a "straight" cut.

I changed blades, but to no avail. On the way home I called my Festool dealer. He said that the blades are dull, he's seen this before.  Another clue was that the top edge of the cut had some fuzz.
Whew! that's an easy fix! I guess upon reflection that it makes sense that the saw would work harder, the blade is cutting the grain of the ply at a different angle, so I think that "sharp" is critical.

The local sharpening shops are not open on Saturdays gotta figure a work-around on that one as I'd like to get my two dullish blades sharpened. Maybe I can talk one of my kids into driving them over.....

 

[MrMac]

the story continues...  I got a new blade at my  Festool dealer (ultimate tools) and the one that is doing the job is the 28 tooth blade.  Smooth cuts, no problems.

I now have three fellow carpenters on site hooked on Festool.. Bwhahahahahaha

I think one has the bug for sure, the others are in the glazed eye stage still. Time to take in my kapex and slam a home run LOL
Seriously though, these things sell themselves, the quality is so far above everything else out there it's just no contest.

I've had to read up to be able to answer the questions that guys ask me!