Festool tracksaw leaving a rough edge on plywood

[Robert Mayer]

Just got an older Festool tracksaw with the track, first time cutting with it. I cut 3/4 plywood and it left some decent saw marks in the edge, way more than there should be. Blade is tight, i made sure the saw fit on the track with no play side to side. Also using a 48t blade that is nice and clean. Any ideas?

[Jim Becker]

My first thought, honestly, is the blade. But also check that nothing is bent from a drop or something by the previous owner. You really should not be getting any saw marks or chipping at all. You may also need to change the track edge if it's worn and damaged as that's an important anti-chipping consideration, too.

[Brad Schmid]

After checking what Jim has mentioned, next check blade alignment (toe-in at leading edge the thickness of a piece of paper if i remember right? But don't trust me without looking it up...). It's been quite some time since i did my TS55 and TS 75, but it wasn't difficult to find the instructions on FOG... Good luck.

edit: FYI - Peter Parfitt put together TS55 adjustment video instructions on doing the various adjustments here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qihJeoKa86g&t=6s

[Richard Coers]

If the marks are pretty course and a wider spacing, the blade probably has a bent tooth.

[Robert Mayer]

Thanks guys. i was surprised I couldn't find anything on YouTube talking about this. I will check the easy thing first..the blade. I have a spare one to test.

[Derek Arita]

I dropped my 55, but inspected it and everything seemed ok, till I made a cut and found something was off. I tried making adjustments, but nothing seemed to work. I finally sent it in to Festool and they found a very slightly bent part. When I got it back, all was well, although I did have to replace all my rubber splinter guard. Yes, I could have made an adjustment for that too, but decided I needed new anyways, so I made the change.

[Rich Engelhardt]

You mention it's an older Festool.
A bad or worn splinter guard can cause this.
https://www.festoolproducts.com/festool-491473-splinterguard-5-pack-for-old-ts-55-eq.html

As mentioned above, the strip on the track may be worn or damaged also and need replaced.

[Dave Sabo]

A clean blade doesn't mean it's sharp . :rolleyes:

Was it slow pushing through the cut ? Any burning ?

Even a new Festool blade can defective, I've got them before. I'd check saw with another blade first - Freud makes a good value blade. Maybe get a rip blade. If still having scoring then check the alignment as Brad suggests. You could of course do that first. ;)