TS55 Stalling and Burning 3/4" Hard Maple

[Alan Lightstone]

Wondering how to get around this. I was doing some long rip cuts in 3/4" Hard Maple with my Festool TS55 and the track. About 2/3 of the way through the board the saw would bog down, sometimes stall, and burn the wood.

I tried cutting only 1/3 of the way through the board each time to see if that helped (it sort of did), but that caused other problems.

How do I prevent bogging down the saw and burning the wood?

[Van Huskey]

Wondering how to get around this. I was doing some long rip cuts in 3/4" Hard Maple with my Festool TS55 and the track. About 2/3 of the way through the board the saw would bog down, sometimes stall, and burn the wood.

I tried cutting only 1/3 of the way through the board each time to see if that helped (it sort of did), but that caused other problems.

How do I prevent bogging down the saw and burning the wood?

Sharp blade? Also, even with the riving knife it may be the wood has some significant internal stress and is binding the blade.

[Jeff Duncan]

I love my Festool saw, and it works great on sheet goods. Having said that it's not the most powerful saw and I could see that happening especially if your blade is at all dull. Also make sure you have a blade good for ripping.

good luck,
Jeff

[Gary Herrmann]

Dumb question. Is the blade on backwards?

[Alan Lightstone]

Not dumb question. I have done that before when I first got a table saw. Blade is relatively new, and I think should be pretty sharp. I could try a rip blade instead of the combo blade it comes with.

The internal stress issue is interesting.

Also, how rough a cut with the 14T Panther blade make? Is it going to look like a BORG panel saw cut, or something smooth like the Festool usually produces?

[Jamie Buxton]

Get a rip blade. The TS55 ships with a 60-tooth blade designed for cutting plywood panels. It can rip solid lumber, but doesn't do it very well. Festool sells a 20-tooth blade designed for ripping, and it goes through lumber much much better.

[Russell Sansom]

I feel comfortable with this answer:
1) Use a rip blade
2) Almost certain the two sides are closing in. All the Festool tracksaws are powerful enough to rip 3/4" hardwood as if it weren't there. Equip yourself with some very thin wedges or even some slips of 1/8" plywood and put them in the kerf a foot or two behind the cut. It can be dangerous if they fall out while you're under power...if they fall out the kerf is going to close back off and pinch your blade with a vengence again. But this might solve your problem.

[Van Huskey]

I assumed you were using the correct blade, at a minimum the 28T universal and even better the 14T Panther. FYI Freud also makes blades for the TS55 with the same tooth counts which some like better and available cheaper than the Festool blades.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Good advice above about using a rip blade.

Also - refer to page 8 of the manual for setting the guide rail gib cams. They need to be snug and parallel. If you didn't do the adjustment when you got the saw, you'll have to go back and do it now. Too much side to side play can allow the blade to bind. The really bad news here (DAMKIK) is that it's probably going to mean replacing guide rail splinter guard (the black strip)..

[dana foley]

Alan, I had a similar problem with mine. It would bog down and even trip the breaker. I noticed it only happened with one of the tracks, I found I had a very small bend in one of the tracks it would cause the saw to not go straight. I don't use that track anymore and the problem is solved. HTH
Dana

[Philip Johnson]

I had the same issue with the blade it came with trying to rip some 2X4's bought the rip blade and end of problem.

[Alan Lightstone]

Sounds like rip blade it is. I've never had it bind on any other wood before, interesting.

I'll recheck the quide rail gib cams, but I believe I did do it when I purchased the saw.

I've cut multiple pieces of 3/4" plywood with it before without problems. This is the first time I've had issues.

The thin wedges is interesting, but wouldn't the quality of the cut suffer having to stop it in the middle to add the wedges?

I just checked - It was the Festool 48T blade it came with that I was using.

[Wes Grass]

Just looked at my TS75. I assume the 55 is the same. The right side of the guide notch is fixed, the cams do nothing but adjust the clearance. It looks as though the base plate may be moveable in relation to the blade, but that's not something I'd mess with unless I knew for (really) sure it was out of whack.

And it seems as though if you ran the adjustment too loose it could only move further away from the splinter strip, not cut it further back. But maybe getting the blade twisted distorts it enough that it dings the strip.

[michael case]

Sounds like you all might be better off selling this Festool toy and buying a table saw.