New Festool TS 55 vibration?

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

After posting a thread yesterday about whether to get the Makita or Festool track saw, I purchased the Festool at Woodcraft today.

When firing it up I hear and feel a pronounced vibration. It goes away at full speed (for the most part) but I thought Festools were supposed to exceptionally smooth running machines. Is this normal?

This feels worse than the cheapo Skil I had years ago.

[Sam Murdoch]

NOT NORMAL - don't give up on the TS55 but after replacing the blade (your blade might be wacked) if you still get the vibration do take that saw back. There will be no argument.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Do you know if a different Woodcraft will take it back like the BORGs? The closest WC that had one in stock was about 45 minutes away - used the purchase for a little day trip with the family.

My local one is 5 minutes away.

[Sam Murdoch]

I believe that any FESTOOL dealer must take it back to honor the FESTOOL, 30 day no questions asked trial period.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Thanks Sam, I will give them a call tomorrow.

[Tom Ewell]

Be sure you're not confusing the soft start semi "grinding" feel when you first start the saw, that is normal.

[Jack Lemley]

After posting a thread yesterday about whether to get the Makita or Festool track saw, I purchased the Festool at Woodcraft today.

When firing it up I hear and feel a pronounced vibration. It goes away at full speed (for the most part) but I thought Festools were supposed to exceptionally smooth running machines. Is this normal?

This feels worse than the cheapo Skil I had years ago.

Diddo what Tom says.... Odds are it is the vibration (more of a grinding actually) feel that I get when I pull the trigger on my TS55. Has to do with the computer circuitry and is normal. If you have never used a festool saw it seem like a vibration.

Jack

[Scott T Smith]

Diddo what Tom says.... Odds are it is the vibration (more of a grinding actually) feel that I get when I pull the trigger on my TS55. Has to do with the computer circuitry and is normal. If you have never used a festool saw it seem like a vibration.

Jack

+2. When I bought my first T55 I had the same concern. The dealer let me know that it was "normal". No problems in several years with it.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

+2. When I bought my first T55 I had the same concern. The dealer let me know that it was "normal". No problems in several years with it.

Yeah... It is definitely more like grinding vs. vibration. Thanks for the tip everyone.

And yes, this is my first Festool, but my last last?.......

[Craig Michael]

Bring it into your local woodcraft andtalk to the guys there. Also, try their demo saw along with yours, they will have a demo for you to try. I think it's the soft start.

[Ellen Benkin]

Ditto Craig. Take it to the local WC dealer and talk to them about it and try any demo models they might have.

[Mike Henderson]

When I talked to Festool, they warned me about the sound of the track saw starting up. They said they get a lot of buyers who come back complaining about the sound, but that the sound is not a problem - it's just the way the thing works.

I'll bet they're sorry they didn't do something to eliminate that sound before they shipped the product because it causes a lot of questions and returns, but that's the way it is and it's not a "problem" in the usability saw.

Mike

[Sam Murdoch]

Well, we are (I am) curious to what you are experiencing. Your description -"When firing it up I hear and feel a pronounced vibration." - especially of the pronounced vibration thing is something I have never experienced in 4 years of using my TS 55. Used it today and had no sense of your issue. Maybe my machine is the one with the problem :). Sorry if I steered you wrong Cyrus.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Well you know that every festool is hand assembled by women in germany so there is always a chance there could be a flaw. because a human assembles it. :) Festool said it uses women because they have smaller hands and can be more efficient during the assembly process.

My TS55 has a mild grind feeling to it on startup which is perfectly normal. At a good speed it should not have any vibrations.

My suggestion is to make some cuts with it and let the results show you if there's anything wrong. If it's a psychological thing then try another unit in the store and see if it feels the same way. The unit should have a blade in it when you try it out.

Oh and now that you have a rail, you should look at the festool router which can fit on the track for perfect dados and straight line inlays, etc. :)

[Matthew Hills]

When firing it up I hear and feel a pronounced vibration. It goes away at full speed (for the most part) but I thought Festools were supposed to exceptionally smooth running machines. Is this normal?

Mine definitely starts a bit rough, and I had a similar reaction. Between that and the extensive use of plastic (anyone like the depth stop on the TS55?), Festool is an aesthetic failure for me.

Don't get me wrong, the cut is very clean and I like having a track saw...

...but just simply not in the same league as some of the LN hand tools or well-maintained, old-iron stationary tools.

Mat

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Well, we are (I am) curious to what you are experiencing. Your description -"When firing it up I hear and feel a pronounced vibration." - especially of the pronounced vibration thing is something I have never experienced in 4 years of using my TS 55. Used it today and had no sense of your issue. Maybe my machine is the one with the problem :). Sorry if I steered you wrong Cyrus.

I talked to the guys at WC today and they echoed what has been said here. They said the "grinding" at start up is normal.

I made a couple of cuts with no problems. The "grinding' does go away, after start up, when full speed is achieved. It is, however, light and sporadic at speeds less than '5'. I will have to check cut quality at various speeds tomorrow.