My first (and probably last) drink from the green well

[Mike Dowell]

DISCLAIMER: This is more or less a rant.

A little over a year ago, I purchased my first Festool - a TS55 track saw. I have only used this saw about 7 or 8 times since then. The second time I used it, it bogged down cutting through some 1" pine stock - I know, weird... Anyhow, since then, the TS55 has never impressed me. I buy the most expensive tools for my shop because I don't want problems, but this tool just doesn't measure up. My PM2000 and Ceros impress me(for reference). Anyway, fast forward to last week. I was trimming a rustic table top to size, and the top was made from 100 year old Poplar which is 7/8" thick. The saw bogged down, and then quit running. I called Festool and spoke to their tech department. The guy first asked which blade I was using, to which I replied "the one you shipped the saw with", and I read off the part number. He asks how long the board was, and I told him 7ft. At this point, I could only describe the next part of the story as a fountain of B.S. spewing from his mouth. He first tells me that this is the wrong blade. Then, he proceeds to tell me that with this blade, I can only rip 4ft or so of stock, and that I need -wait for it.....- a different blade! Yep, I need a 12 tooth ripping blade for any rip over 4ft long. After that, he then tells me that the saw has a thermal overload protector, and that it shut itself off by design. He says that in 15 minutes, it will come back on. Well, it had already been almost an hour, so I plugged it in, while on the phone, and nothing. He tells me to plug it into a different receptacle(like I'm an idiot), and so I did - nothing. At this point, he informs me that the motor must be burned up. OK, well so much for a "thermal overload protector". While he's giving me instructions to send the saw in for repairs, he mentions that.... OK, this one is going to BLOW your minds. He proceeds to tell me that "you should never have this plugged into and extension cord if you want full power. It must be plugged directly into the wall outlet". HOLY SMOKES FOLKS! Well, there you have it Ladies and Gentlemen. Be sure not to plug your portable circular saw into an extension cord. Are you serious? Are you kidding me? Alright. Now it's time to be completely fair. Let's just saw that I rewire my entire shop so that there is a receptacle every 12 inches around the perimeter of the room. What do you suppose those yellow romex wires have in common with extension cords? They're both just wire? The hell you say.

OK, I'm going to take a breath.

So, I ended up finishing the table using my $60 refurbished Hitachi Circular saw(with original blade from 5 years ago), plugged into an extension cord. If that isn't pathetic enough, allow me to inject this anecdote into the story. 6 Months ago, I replaced my kitchen floor with hardwood. To get rid of the multiple layers of subfloor and linoleum, I went to Home Depot and purchased a throwaway saw. I bought a $39 Ryobi corded circular saw. Then(with an extension cord) I sliced my kitchen floor, cutting through staples and cleats, from left to right over and over until I had 1ft thick strips. Then, I cut them the other direction, essentially making 1ftx3ft strips of flooring which I could pull up and discard. The saw was literally smoking at times as I rammed it through the nails. I never ended up throwing the saw away, because it still works fine.

On the other hand, I have a $660 "best tool money can buy", and it has to have a special blade to cut poplar and can't be plugged into an extension cord. Why did I buy this saw again?

OK, my rant is done. I'm ready for the support of those who have had bad Festool experiences, as well as the thrashing from the loyal Festool enthusiasts.

[Mike Cutler]

Mike

Hopefully when you get it back it works properly. It sounds as if it never was working correctly.
There is an element of truth to the extension cord part of your rant, but it's not just as simple as the tech rep was detailing. If an extension cord is undersized, awg
, or too long, it's amapacity ability to carry current, is diminished. and the apparent voltage at the end of the extension cord will be less than the beginning. Translation the device being used, your saw, could potentially see a lower voltage, and higher current, to operate. You would have had to have a pretty light duty extension cord for this t have had an effect.
That being said, I still think something was wrong with your TS55 from the beginning. I had my TS75 plugged into a 100', 10awg, extension cord to cut panels and 2x10's for a run in shed for horses in the paddock and it never caused me any problems. We were out there for a couple of days. ( I don't buy my tools to baby them. They can see some extremes during use.)

As I said, I hope everything works better when you get it back. Tools break, even the best of them.

I do like the 4' cut limit part of the story. I'll have to use it on my wife.

Cut 4', have a beer.
Cut 4', have a beer.
"But honey, that's what they said I was supposed to do"

[Mike Dowell]

Mike

Hopefully when you get it back it works properly. It sounds as if it never was working correctly.
There is an element of truth to the extension cord part of your rant, but it's not just as simple as the tech rep was detailing. If an extension cord is undersized, awg
, or too long, it's amapacity ability to carry current, is diminished. and the apparent voltage at the end of the extension cord will be less than the beginning. Translation the device being used, your saw, could potentially see a lower voltage, and higher current, to operate. You would have had to have a pretty light duty extension cord for this t have had an effect.
That being said, I still think something was wrong with your TS55 from the beginning. I had my TS75 plugged into a 100', 10awg, extension cord to cut panels and 2x10's for a run in shed for horses in the paddock and it never caused me any problems. We were out there for a couple of days. ( I don't buy my tools to baby them. They can see some extremes during use.)

As I said, I hope everything works better when you get it back.

I do like the 4' cut limit part of the story. I'll have to use it on my wife.

Cut 4', have a beer.
Cut 4' have a beer.
"But honey, that's what they said I was supposed to do"

That last part was funny. I do understand the part about the extension cord, but I think the tech guy should have been more specific, because making a blanket statement as he did, is idiotic. I have wondered if this saw ever worked properly to begin with myself. I have heard folks getting the ts75, but that's because the 55 would bog down on 8 quarter Rock Maple or something. This thing bogs on everything - except 3/8" plywood.

[Darcy Warner]

The 48t blade it comes with is not a blade made for ripping solid stock, it's a ply sand cross cut blade.

[Robert Engel]

Sorry about your experience. It sure does sound like BS. Was the wood burning? That would also tell you you're using the wrong blade. I've build a lot of cabinets with just a circ saw and homemade guide with 0 problems so I've never bought a track saw for the exact reason it will spend 90% of its life on a shelf. Too expensive a tool for that IMO.

My 2¢ worth I have no problem buying the best tools for a job but for the life of me I can't think of anything so special about a tool that I would spend $6-800 for a router or $1500 for a miter saw.

The only Festool tool I would buy is a Domino. I prefer to spend my money on nice lumber.

[Mike Dowell]

Sorry about your experience. It sure does sound like BS. Was the wood burning? That would also tell you you're using the wrong blade. I've build a lot of cabinets with just a circ saw and homemade guide with 0 problems so I've never bought a track saw for the exact reason it will spend 90% of its life on a shelf. Too expensive a tool for that IMO.

My 2¢ worth I have no problem buying the best tools for a job but for the life of me I can't think of anything so special about a tool that I would spend $6-800 for a router or $1500 for a miter saw.

The only Festool tool I would buy is a Domino. I prefer to spend my money on nice lumber.

No, the wood did not burn, to answer your question. I'm going to have to agree with you on not buying stuff that sits on the shelf. I must admit though, that I'm sort of a tool enthusiast, and if money allows(which it did at that time), I like knowing that everything on my shelf is on the 'top shelf' - just a thing with me. I've replaced all of my tools with high end stuff. Well, my drill press and edge sander are made by JET, and they are OK. Definitely higher quality than a lot of stuff, but they aren't super high end.

[Mike Dowell]

Guess we will just have to see what comes back to me from their work shop. Before I sell this saw, how can I determine if it is in fact a lemon? I don't want to pass a known problem on to a fellow unsuspecting woodworker. For those of you with this saw, what can I do to test if the performance I'm getting is what I should be getting?

[Tom Levy]

Not defending Festool, I own none and that won't likely ever change. But you do need the correct blade for what you are attempting. Reading the following or a similar guide will likely be helpful to your future projects.

http://www.rockler.com/skill-builder.../saw-blade-101

[Joshua Bass]

You need the right blade for the job. Lots of reviews have stated the TS55 is not as powerful as the competing track saws (Makita/Dewalt/etc), but it is more refined in other areas. I have one, and I do feel it slow down trying to rip thicker stock.

Also, ripping pine can be a problem as it usually has a lot of stress and can pinch the blade.

[Bernie May]

Pinch the blade? It has a riving knife on it to prevent that. I have both Festool circular saws. Both work great. One is just bigger and heavier. I think the poster got a lemon.

[Mike Dowell]

Pinch the blade? It has a riving knife on it to prevent that. I have both Festool circular saws. Both work great. One is just bigger and heavier. I think the poster got a lemon.

I'm going to have to start subscribing to this theory. I would say that it is "nice" to have different blades for different jobs, but with high end equipment, that shouldn't be necessary. I needed to rip an inch off this table top, so that comes down to 14' of 7/8" Poplar. I just honestly believe that is not asking very much of a $600 saw with what was basically a brand new blade. I realize tooth count comes in handy, but this was a quick task and should have been done in 2 minutes. On my PM2000 I use one blade for 90% of my cuts. It's a 50 tooth combo atb from Carbide Processors. That saw will rip 8 quarter maple without even breaking a sweat. One day, if I get into more building, I will likely buy a dedicated rip blade which I'm sure would be even more impressive.

[Tom Levy]

I'm going to have to start subscribing to this theory. I would say that it is "nice" to have different blades for different jobs, but with high end equipment, that shouldn't be necessary....

No amount of money spent on tools will allow you to avoid the basic physics of how the tools work. I'd highly suggest reading a guide on types of saw blades and how saw blades work. The other blades on your cheaper circular saws are mid-range tooth count general purpose combination blade vs. the high quality crosscut/ply blade that came with your tracksaw. If you want to test it, take some veneer ply and make cuts with both tracksaw and your circular saw. You'll find the difference.

If you spend the time to understand how the tools work and how to use them correctly you could do more without buying/replacing everything you own with "top shelf" versions.

The analogy I think applies best would be someone buying a range rover, but refusing to get snow tires or chains and then complaining when they slide into a ditch in a snowstorm.

[John Lanciani]

[QUOTE=Mike Dowell;2731032} I would say that it is "nice" to have different blades for different jobs, but with high end equipment, that shouldn't be necessary... I just honestly believe that is not asking very much of a $600 saw ...[/QUOTE]

This is a rediculous comment. High end or low end is irrelevant to your problem, you were using the wrong blade for the task, regardless of how expensive or new it was. All the saw does is spin the blade, the blade does all the work.

[glenn bradley]

Pinch the blade? It has a riving knife on it to prevent that. I have both Festool circular saws. Both work great. One is just bigger and heavier. I think the poster got a lemon.

I'm going to have to start subscribing to this theory.

Believe me, it happens. I was never impressed with my Forrest WWII. Everyone (including folks who I respect the opinions of) loved them. Mine just never worked anywhere as good as my Freud's or Amana's. I tossed it in with a batch going out for sharpening and it worked as good as any of my upper end blades when it got back.

Lesson learned, when things aren't doing what you think they should, call the maker right off. Don't wait a year and grouse about the thing like I did. Give them a chance to make it right early on.

[Victor Robinson]

3 somewhat ordinary things will make the saw bog down. I have experienced all of them on my TS55 over the years:

1) A dull/dirty blade

2) Too many blade teeth for the application. If you plan on ripping a lot of solid lumber, definitely add a 28T (also good for fast non-finish plywood cutting e.g. sheathing, subfloors, etc.), if not a 14T to your kit. Freud makes good quality, cheaper-than-Festool blades. Oshlun makes even cheaper blades that are fine for infrequent use.

3) Long extension cords

That being said, Festool does certainly set itself up for this kind of expectation/dissatisfaction paradigm with the premium price they charge. I hope you're able to get the problem resolved and find peace with the saw.