I bought it on launch day, and have no regrets. In an apartment in a city with a shared garage, everything else is too big. Having a table saw wasn't an option at any price point. The ability to use this indoors with stellar dust collection is revolutionary for the hobbyist limited by space.
@@jonreeves3993 It's quieter than the CT26 at full suction, so unless it's late at night I honestly don't think you'd get any complaints. My neighbors are definitely having louder parties than my woodworking.
I run a 10' box truck with a bulkhead (service body) so I can fit sheet goods, every tool... stuff for different jobs etc. But I also keep a storage unit where I have light and power the size of a one car garage. I have had a folding Ryobi 10" on wheels for ever. Usually it's been easier to break out the Makita 18v and a track. If I did picture frames or more small stuff I'd still be happy with my cheap table saw. This stuff looks like it belongs in an operating theater! Obviously I want all the stuff they make but I do very well with what I have working like the uban gorilla that I am.
I know this is a job site table saw but I wish they would make a corded one so I don't need to purchase 2 batteries with it. On the other hand this is an amazing saw with lots of options to make your work easier.
A corded solution for making this saw plug to mains is coming (think along the lines of the plug-it for the cordless sanders, but different - saw a picture of it out there).
@@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1 That's exactly what it needs. There is honestly no excuse for not offering this as a possibility, from any of the tool manufacturers. I remember when DeWalt released the Flexvolt they claimed they couldn't do an adapter. Well if Hikoki/Hitachi can make it happen for 36V, clearly they could make it happen for 60V.
The smallest SawStop 10” compact would be the best choice for a small shop. But this would do for sure. This Festool would be so good for any travelling work. The smallest compact table saws are still quite large to take in and out of the truck/van all the time. This Festool would be epic for any cabinet installation onsite.
This is exactly what I use this saw for, millworker installation. Perfect for cutting filler pieces and misc trim. Was using a Milwaukee cordless before this but the way this packs down makes it my preferred saw since I have limited space in my truck. If you’re looking for a saw for a shop there are better options for much less money.
Love mine! As far as battery-life, I recently made a small bookcase out of Australian hardwood and had plenty of life for the whole job. I'd estimate probably about 60mins of cutting time ( I had a lot of dado's to cut and rebates). I've got a few other batteries so it was never an issue to keep a couple on the charger JIC.
A cool feature worth pointing out: You can pull back the rip fence so it is in front of the blade and use it as a stop for the cross cut fence. This way you have precise, repeatable cuts that don't bind up and kick back on you. There are also third-party flip stops for the slider fence that will allow repeat cross-cuts from the other direction. When you combine that with the side support provided by the hand truck, you have preempted the need for a miter saw in many (but not all) scenarios faced by a cabinet maker or trim carpenter.
I just got this with 4x 8.0Ah and table. Extremely impressed so far. Mine has given me really accurate cuts and it’s been such a pleasure to use. This and the TS 60 K make for a formidable duo.
I can easily see this as the go-to saw for the trim carpenter. As well as the answer for the tiny, power-challenged shops. Combine this with the track saw and you have a complete system. Great video, Bent. Thank you.
Well said! I have the CSC and Kapex 60 because my shop has limited power. I also have the track saw (powered) MFT and I find the combination of these tools offers me limitless cuts. So much so that I gave away my other table saw to reclaim much needed space. So, a weekend woodworker warrior in a shed with limited power the battery platform is definitely the way to go. BTW the batteries last all day for most any project.
Literally every feature on this silly but very desirable little saw should exist on "big boy" saws. Literally every one. Sliding table. Dual-lock fence. Electronic angle and height adjustment, with return to presets. What a well thought-out package. Goodness, I just wish it came in real size, too.
Purchased to replace my job site table saw. Great product and quickly added the bench dog fence, which I strongly recommend for anyone needed to make measured or repeat crosscuts.
I like it & think it’s worth the price when they hybridize the power, like on their cordlesss sander which I purchased & am pleased with. If you have a readily available outlet & it’s known to you unlike a job site outlet that trips & then having to reset the breaker but where is it, you should have the option to plug it in. Same with the cordless dust extractor: I’ll buy it when it’s hybridized.
Great review, I just used mine for the first time today and it is very smooth to operate. The dust collection is good and I noticed how quite the saw is when running it. Works nicely with the festool work app . Over all very satisfied with my purchase.
I'd love to see Milwaukee come out with a direct competitor to this that fits in the packout system. A benchtop sliding table saw is just such a cool idea. Tools like this keep me having a look over the fence at Festool, but their prices bring my ambitions back down to earth. I'd love to see a more reasonably priced tool from Milwaukee that a DYIer can still justify.
As always, a great review Jason. When they lunched it in Europe and Peter Millard demo it, I went to my local highend wood shop that are Festtool dealer as well, and asked them about it. I was told that this saw is European release only and it will not be sold in US. I end up buying Dewalt DWE7485 which I regret it fully. And then this saw became available in US. Talking about being pissed, Yes I am 😖
Can't wait to get mine. It's been 2 weeks since I ordered it and am chomping at the bit to get it. I currently live in an apartment but also have the ability to cut on job sites and at my storage shed. I am only tinkering making small boxes and furniture and the size is perfect. Will eventually get back into a house where I'll invest in a bit saw once I have the space. Being Festool I know it will be good, but saying that they did make a mistake with their cordless rotary hammer drill by not including the chisel function. Really want the Conturo next.
I can the need for this...along with tracksaw, and Kapex...along with systainer hepa vac with dust chamber...and all store nice and neat! I just might be a future Festooler!
Hi Brent. I would like to say I love the way you present your videos. I also like the look of your workshop. Festool are a wonderful make of tool but I find them to expensive here in the UK. I still love watching your videos though. Yours with kind regards, Wayne.
First... this was a nice, well-done review. Thankyou for posting. But - The first and last question I always ask about ANY table saw is - _Is the fence square to the blade?_ This festool fence seems to use the front/rear grip that my Grandad's 60 year old Craftsman uses... and that's nowhere near square or consistent. You have to check at the blade (bump bump), check at the front (bump bump), check at the rear (bump bump), then go back and check at the blade again (bump bump). Rinse & Repeat. So I am surprised that checking the squareness of the fence & miter gauge never even seemed to occur to you.
it depends for someone in the trade probably...hobbyists maybe not.....carpenters were fine without this saw for decades or hundred of years how did they cut wood? and were able to make fine furniture without this ? more of skill and good old hand tools.
Cool saw, awesome engineering, too small, only battery powered, higher quality than needed on most jobsites, stuck in a stupid systainer box. I would much rather have a normal size plug-in contractor saw from festool with the sliding table. Something with a 25-32" rip capacity and doesn't unpack like a clown car.
This is pretty cool for people who need to save space and still have lots of capability. Not for me, I have the space and power for a full size saw. But I’m Sure lots of people will enjoy it.
Wow, what a cool little table saw! Love the controls and table slider; makes my DeWalt look archaic. I'm hoping festool brings some of these high-tech features to a future kapex. Great review! New subscriber here.
I don’t currently own any Festool products but you sir are slowly converting me into making the plunge. Top notch videos and you answer all the questions I usually have.
With all the features that this saw has I am really surprised that they didn’t use a rack and pinion fence design. That being said I love everything about this saw especially for someone like me that does a lot of finish work on job sites.
I thought the same thing about the fence when I first saw it. I think I read somewhere that it’s due to the fold down table or sliding mechanism. I’ve told myself I’d never buy a table saw again without a rack and pinion fence but damn do I really want this saw.
@@NickFrongillo The fence is actually stellar mate. And absolutely spot on to the mm out of the box. Only had to calibrate the zero height and zero tilt.
Haven't seen a review on this but have seen it in action and it's awsome...you could case a window and trim it out with just the saw..super nice saw...
Great review. Thank you so much! I think you might have helped me decide to buy this saw. And, I bet if you had the blade guard on, it would catch a little more of that dust.
Great video and awesome looking portable tablesaw system. I'm not in the Festool ecosystem but this product could get their toe in the door. Being cordless, does the saw have some way to signal the dust extractor to turn on and off?
Cutting is cool, but what I wanted to see is if that computerized control unit on the front was capable of switching between metric and imperial units. That info has been hard to find, at least on the first 10 pages of googled results I found. Just because that control unit is software based, I've been around long enough not assume tool designers and programmers understand how software can make a tool really customizable.
@@bentswoodworking I did see that. I posted before I watched your presentation. You're the first to talk about it, but even then, you have to look into the video (understandable - your workflow) to see that. And thanks again for showing that feature.
You say that like Saw Stops aren’t over priced. You can get better Tablesaws minus the Saw Stop technology for a better price. Saw stops are good tablesaw’s not great.
@@AaronGeller I’m not knocking anybody that wants to purchase a SawStop but if you feel that you absolutely need one in order to use a tablesaw or to feel comfortable using a table saw you probably should be using power tools in the first place. For those that purchase one because they have children around I 100% get it. If you’re getting it because you’re afraid of chopping your own finger off, I can tell you after doing this professionally for 25 years a majority of the time not all the time but a majority these aren’t accidents it’s carelessness or inexperience.
So, digital height and angle- but not fence position! Big minus. I fitted a digital fence (own design) to my table saw and it is a game changer. MUCH more important than blade height.
Today was the debut. I had my extractor synced, had it on the stand, all is good. Only thing is, I was getting low battery indicator, meaning on the screen it shows both batteries icons with only the last one illuminated but in red. Then I finish my cut and hit the indicator on the battery and it reads 2/3 full. These are 5.0 batteries not the 5.2 like they used to have or even the 6.2. The 5.0s came in the kit. Very first charge and run of those batteries. Im trying to remember if lithium ions need to be charged and discharged a few times to get peak efficiency and/or if that has anything to do with it. 🧐. Other than that it runs great
I know this saw tilts a little to the left, but most of the bevel angle adjustment leans to the right (towards the fence). Most of the better table saws (cabinet saws, at least) today lean left, away from the blade. I understood this left lean was safer. Is the right lean a European/German thing or an intentional decision by Festool to achieve some benefit I can't fathom or were they just stuck with a right leaning blade because of where they placed the motor and other internal parts? I'm leaning towards the third explanation but I'm wondering if anyone knows.
I drank the Koolaid for sure. Just got the ts55 AND cordless MIDI. Just came so have not been able to try them out just yet. Yesterday I went to purchase the mitre saw and was just not ready to pull the trigger. Good thing because after watching this video I am thinking this will do what a mitre saw can do. If I had to choose just one I am struggling with my choice.
I feel like that motor will go out soon as it makes micro adjustments when you change the angle to compensate for the height. Why not just make the angle then set the height. That is a cool saw!
To me the 45 degree towards the fence is a whole way to screw up my table saw thoughts. I am so use to the blade tipping left not right. Any advantages?
It's got some clever features, but at the price you're almost at PCS level. I like it for a trim carpenter or for installs where you may need to make adjustments on site if that's your full time job.
I want to like the saw, but it strikes me as a toy. Very small capacity, so small as to not really be useful in my opinion. The sliding table capacity is a good example. The slider is so small as to be less than most sliding miter saw, and the fence looks toy-like and doesn't appear to have the ability to attach a stop to the fence.
@@davids8493yes, sawstop needs to be grounded to work. At that point, you would just make it a corded tool, since you’d need at least a ground/dummy plug to use it anyway. A corded alternative to using batteries is coming, though. Does not add sawstop functionality, but does allow their dual battery tools to function on a plug, similar to how their cordless sanders can with that optional part.
I've felt like I've gotten my monies worth out of every piece of Festool gear I own. This price however is just too high for the tool's capabilities, at least in my opinion. The small SawStop at half the price is what I'd go for if I worked in the field. Even with the Festool saw I wouldn't cut inside a client's house, so the noise and dust collection aren't a valid enough selling point for me.
I own a lot of Festool and I believe the corded tools are the way to go….what do you do when the batteries are toast? Buy new ones? Most of the cost is battery
Without batteries the system is 1500 and with the batteries it adds about 300 so I don’t think the majority of the cost is in the batteries. If it falls under warranty, then they will be replaced. Otherwise, you buy new batteries. But lithium batteries should last for several thousand cycles before dropping to 80% capacity.
@AaronGeller Seems like it would have been a good idea to make it both battery and AC compatible. Then again, when I think of Festool, I don't think of value!
Years ago we had a video camera which came with a battery-sized transformer gadget which meant we could use the camera with batteries or plugged in to the mains. Something like that would be very useful for this.
Cool saw, but despite the digital adjustment on the blade you're stuck with the tried and true tap and pray method of fence adjustment. Also no Sawstop safety feature. Rip capacity is not ideal but anyone even considering this definitely owns a track saw. I'm not sure who this is geared towards. Some guy doing filler strips all day in high rises I guess. I'll stick with the DWE7485 for $300 in someone's driveway and the PCS in my shop.
While a good review the fence can be locked down is it super precise and square? the sliding table has a little bit of deflection which can be an issue for superfine and accurate cuts using it also Festool have shown they can build tools that can give you the flexibility of powered and portable batteries in a single tool as in some of their sanders. They should think about developing this capability for this table saw a mechanism for dialing in the fence to super accurate levels would be another improvement - for me an 8/10 for this portable table saw with the said improvements it has the potential to be a straight ten.
That’s a great precision table saw, too bad it’s ridiculously small, and cordless table saws just don’t have the power yet, how many sheets of 3/4” ply do you think you can run through the Festool , before it bogs down, great for homeowners and flooring guys, not contractors
Is there a way to make or convert the saw feet to fit into the 20 mm/96 oc. bench top holes? I have the saw and liking very much, I do wish it was lighter
I can see this saw being really helpful to me in my small garage shop. I do have a question…why do you say that this saw is for folks that already have festool products? Is that just because of the batteries? I have no festool products at all. Additionally, I have no climate control in my garage. How do hot and cold temps affect the unit, if at all. Thanks so much for the info.
It is primarily because of the batteries. Festool is designed to be a part of a system. Accessories, storage, clamping, dust extraction and mobility are all part of this system.
The saw looks great, lots of features that go above and beyond other saws. I don't really understand the stand though. The top of the stand seems well thought out and functional, but the legs are kinda jenky in my opinion. A gravity assist setup is much easier to use and seems more in line with Festool quality. I owned a cheap HF stand with these types of legs and I do not like the style. The Bosch table saw or Rigid miter saw stands with gravity assist are so much easier to use - especially if you keep the tool attached.
The name of the stand has “Kapex” in it, too. I am not sure about it, but two things: I wonder whether the KSC 60 can sit on it as well (it should fit the dog holes), plus, with the legs closed it can be on the floor, for another height, especially for floor and trim carpentry. Add to the fact that it functions as a systainer dolly to load up sustainers on it, it makes it make more sense that they went this route.
@@phantomviewer it’s more expensive in Europe, actually. It’s not meant to break down a full piece of plywood, so comparing it to a large saw doesn’t make sense. It has its strengths and is aimed at a particular type of work.
