Festool Tracksaw TS-55 teardown

[mark weathersbee]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oezp-_DcUgg


Breakdown of the tracksaw TS-55, in case someone was curious as to the guts of saw.

[Kent Adams]

I saw that yesterday. You must be getting the same Youtube recommendations I am.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Same here! I love that guy's channel.

[Chris Padilla]

Seems he wasn't so impressed! I'm curious if any of his observed weak points would be borne out in a heavily used/abused one.

[Steve Wilde]

What a shame! Destroyed a perfectly good saw. Kinda cool to see the guts though, even if he isn't impressed....

[Jim Dwight]

I liked the chance to see inside the saw. The comments were a mixture of semi-nonsense and something worth listening to. I agree the rotor looked nice, makes me wonder what my DeWalt looks like. I probably won't take it apart unless I need to for some reason. I am confident I could get it back together but it would take time I'd rather spend elsewhere. It works fine. But I am a little curious if the rotor is as nicely done, the size of the bearings, and how the field coils look. The Festool did look odd but I don't see what difference it makes. A well made rotor is a lot more important than how firmly tied down the stator is. Good sized good quality bearings are also a big deal. What plastic they used does not seem to me to be worth all the discussion. I don't trust he knows what is in typical circular saws.

I don't think the guy is an engineer. He seems to have a big of experience with parts that would be common to other devices. But his apparent lack of technical background make his comments seem odd. And a test to see what temperature the plastic melts at seems to be mostly nonsense to me. It was a little interesting to know the handle is better material than the motor housing but I am not sure it matters. The loads on the handle are undoubtedly less well controlled than the loads the motor will place on the housing. That would be one valid reason to use better material in the handle. In other words, how I hold the saw is likely a little different from how you hold it. The handle has to work well for both of us. So making it stronger makes sense to me. The loads the motor housing will see are much easier to predict and design for.

[mark weathersbee]

Seems he wasn't so impressed! I'm curious if any of his observed weak points would be borne out in a heavily used/abused one.

It's not that he's isn't impressed its just for the price you expect more.

[Tom Ewell]

It's not that he's isn't impressed its just for the price you expect more.
Where is he getting the $1K cost number from? Maybe that's Canadian bucks or something he's talking aboot.

[Dennis Aspö]

I'm quite surprised at some of those revelations, the windings not being coated is by the far the biggest head scratcher. ???

[mark weathersbee]

I'm quite surprised at some of those revelations, the windings not being coated is by the far the biggest head scratcher. ???

He's not one to mince words over things. He says what he feels about things and gives an initial reaction. I'm sure there are reasons for some of the choices they made in materials but I'm surprised at a few things myself during the tear down. I can understand its not a jobsite saw that will be dropped from 10 feet or stepped on etc..

[Bob Falk]

The biggest take-away for me was the implication that there wasn't a consistent level of quality for all the components of the saw. Makes me wonder what type of track saw I will end up purchasing.

[Larry Frank]

Interesting comments....I find that my TS-55 is a great tool and very good quality. I have cut a lot of plywood with it and not one problem. It also has amazing ratings and reviews...

[Jim Dwight]

Bob,

I wouldn't be scared of the Festool because of that tear down. I don't think he identified any serious issues, just things he thinks should have been done different. The biggest advantage I see of the Festool is the availability of accessories. On the other hand, I went with a DeWalt because it was about half the price and had imperial measurements (I cannot think in metric). The Makita is similar to the DeWalt in price. The Grizzly is significantly less but also needs some tweaks based upon the reviews I've seen. That's my take on them. If you think you might buy other Festools, their slick integration of cases and vacuums is also an advantage. I am also a member on the Festool Owners Group (FOG) even though I own no Festool tools. I've learned several useful things on their forum and nobody seems to care that my track saw is a DeWalt. I see no evidence of any issue with the Festool track saws (55 or 75). They have a whole section of the forum for issues. That would be a better source of information than this tear down. People are pretty open about it when they have a problem. Kapek owners are complaining a bit but I don't remember much in the way of complaints on the track saws.

Jim

[Bob Falk]

Bob,

I wouldn't be scared of the Festool because of that tear down. I don't think he identified any serious issues, just things he thinks should have been done different. The biggest advantage I see of the Festool is the availability of accessories. On the other hand, I went with a DeWalt because it was about half the price and had imperial measurements (I cannot think in metric). The Makita is similar to the DeWalt in price. The Grizzly is significantly less but also needs some tweaks based upon the reviews I've seen. That's my take on them. If you think you might buy other Festools, their slick integration of cases and vacuums is also an advantage. I am also a member on the Festool Owners Group (FOG) even though I own no Festool tools. I've learned several useful things on their forum and nobody seems to care that my track saw is a DeWalt. I see no evidence of any issue with the Festool track saws (55 or 75). They have a whole section of the forum for issues. That would be a better source of information than this tear down. People are pretty open about it when they have a problem. Kapek owners are complaining a bit but I don't remember much in the way of complaints on the track saws.

Jim

Thanks Jim for the insight......I think you are correct. He identified issues that were flags for him....not necessarily for every user. I plan on purchasing a track saw and have read many reviews....it seems that Dewalt or Makita perform well and at significantly less cost than the Festool, though I do like the Festool sanders and vacuums so going green may make integration easier.