What a Difference a Blade Makes! 

I have two festool track saws. one has the 48 tooth blade which I use for composite boards and the other has a 20 tooth for ripping and end cuts like you did in solid timber The 48 tooth you will find, if it came with the saw, has a negligible or even negative tooth hook angle which is great for composites as it produces negligible tear out in that material, whereas the ripping blade should be at least 5 deg hook angle. I went through the same experience as you many years ago. Now the saws are a dream. Try using lacquer thinners to clean your blade. I put my blades in the round lid of a plastic bucket you find on building sites. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Been using my Festool tracksaw for so long now, I've lost count of the years. But I'm ashamed to admit it's still on its original blade. I think you have forced me into for a well earned replacement . . .

Wasted so many hours over the years using the wrong tools or bits etc false economy 🙈

The 48T blade would likely come back to new with a clean. Trend blade cleaner and a toothbrush has proved great for me and brought a Festool crosscut blade back from the grave.

Was wondering what subconscious image flashed on the screen 'corsa' lol

this is something I need to get to grips with too...changing blades a little more often and according to the type of wood or the type of cut i'm doing. thanks for sharing this. really helpful :-)

The panther blade on the TS55 is fantastic for ripping. Worth every penny. Using a crosscut blade is dangerous for ripping as it can kickback - even with the riving knife. BTW its very unlikely you will need to resharpen your universal blade from a few dozen hot cuts - they can take a lot of abuse and burning wont dull it - that's not how carbide tipped blades work, they aren't honed to sharpness as such they are just microgranular and so stay sharp as they are used up - hard to explain briefly. Its easy to test the sharpness of a circular blade, run the back of a fingernail across the tip of a tooth and if you feel it scraping/shaving your fingernail its plenty sharp. When they are dull they dont catch your nail and need to be resharpened which you can usually do just once. Was told that on my cabinetmaking apprenticeship 25 years ago and its always served me well. I have festool blades Ive used daily for 2 years and they are still good.

Yep, took me a while work that out as well, but you learn. Same applies to porcelain tiles - right blade for the job makes a world of difference! Enjoy watching as you are presenting a lot of the tips and tricks I had learn myself over time. Great to see!

Hi, cheers for that. I would be interested in a follow up video on how you get on with resharpening the other blade plus any previous experience with resharpening blades, router bits etc.

I have a rip blade and I'm too lazy to use it, but after watching this I think I'll start swapping. Where do you send your blades for sharpening?

The 48 tooth blade probably doesn’t need sharpening, you just need to clean the burnt up residue off it. Oven cleaner and a tooth brush does the trick

I too have foolishly not changed blades. Really helpful Tim. Another really helpful video. Thanks for producing all this content, it really helps me in my job.

I have a joiner friend who carries two Festool saws, one with a cross cut blade and the other with a ripping blade. He reckons its more time / cost / finish effective than switching blades 10 times a day. Of course that's not appropriate for a DIYer. but it illustrates the pro's approach to cutting (no pun intended!) non productive time and effort to the minimum. He also has a small workshop with a semi permanent table saw and semi permanent festool cross cut saw. He says having both allows him to put a high quality ripping and crosscut blade on each unit respectively, as opposed to compromising with a dual purpose blade on the table saw.

Just a remark on depth of cutting. The sawblade should protrude from the material as much as the height of carbide on tooth. Proper protrusion means proper blade cooling thus no burn marks. Do not let the teeth to stick out to much, because it makes them to hit the material instead of smoothly plunging into the wood. Also its good to have at least 2 or 3 teeth plunged into the material - these are the actual cutting teeth.

If you clean your 48T blade a resharpening might not be needed. I send my blades back for resharpening when needed (rarely) and it only cost around 10 pr blade. I do send a few at a time since the shipping is almost as expensive.

Really helpful vid 👍I'd never really given the blade much thought on my cheap circular saw! Now I know why it was hard work and a poor finish when I used it! Thank you 😊

Like the jacket

Key blades and fixings saw blades are top quality.

Good video as always - my number one recommendation with a ripping blade is be really careful if your plunging into the material and take it nice and slow as they love making the saw jump back at you which isn’t fun and leads to ruined rails of which I now have a few!

I’ve used the Key Blades with my Mafell MT55 and not really been that impressed. They aren’t as cheap as some and aren’t aren’t as good as genuine. I tend to use trend ones for every day stuff - they’re about £12 and OEM ones when I need a perfect finish.

What a difference a blade makes 24 tooth Erbauers Dinah Washington knew but they edited her song!

Yep - I'm also a bit of a newbie in these matters - I did a 45 deg cut through 36mm solid birch ply on top of an MDF spoil board... horrible burning and then the TS55 did its "thermal cutout" thing after about 2 meters - thought I'd killed my favourite toy! Thanks for the blade links: Festool's prices are "challenging" ;-)

where do you get does brown replacement plastic slide things? whatever they're called :)

At least your honest we all make mistakes that how we learn

I have two circular saws... different blade in each..... yep initial cost is high but time saved on job easily makes up for it

👍Try a Festool Panther blade.👍

Vauxhall Corsa! Very funny

Buy a grands worth of tools then find out how to use them,shit I wasted five years on low pay doing an apprenticeship.

Thank for the video i have a Mafell MT55 i had the same problem definitely i will be ordering more blades !!!

Corsa made me laugh ;o)

Before sending off your blade for sharpening, try cleaning it by soaking it for a few minutes in Cillit Bang Power Cleaner Floor and Grease (i know, but it works). You can buy fancy resin cleaner too but it's expensive. It's surprising how much a dirty blade will degrade performance and contribute to burning. Of course, if it needs sharpening then get it sharpened but I think folk tend to send them off for sharpening too often when all is needed is a good clean. Oh, and spray some WD-40 on the blade after rinsing off the Cillit Bang.

The right blade will also keep you from burning out the motor on that saw. Different cuts in different materials also require different tooth counts and tooth angles. I probably kept 4-5 different blades with me on jobsites. I had the same saw for many years before it finally burnt out and wasn't worth fixing.I have the larger version now and it cuts slabs like butter. Also don't knock your blades about. The carbon teeth can be very brittle and break off, leading to poorer cuts.

Clean blades, correct material, and a layer of bladecote. Much of this just requires a bit of research. If you are burning material you are probabaly doing it wrong or taking too aggressive cuts (speed or/and depth).

I had watched your ‘review’ of the Cheap Lidl track saw just before watching this. That is quite a step up to a Festool, probably the Rolls Royce of track saws. Have you had a win on the lottery ?

Freud blades are the best I've come across in my time. I have two blades for each of my saws, a 24 tooth rip blade and 40/48 tooth cross cutting blade. I have my eye on the Festool T75 tracksaw.

I put a DeWalt 16 tooth thin kerf blade on my el cheapo Titan track saw and it utterly transformed it. (And it was only £12 delivered from FFX.) It's now become an incredibly versatile tool.

I had the opposite problem today using a circular saw to cut through 18mm pine board. Too few teeth on the blade to give me the tidy edges I was looking for and leaving me with some finishing to do. Fortunately the edges aren't really on show but if I'd had a finer cutting blade it would have saved me a lot of time and been much more pleasing. We live and learn :). Thanks again

Festool saw are severely underpowered and there blades are to fat the difference .4 of a mm makes I have t55 about 4 years 110v do not buy any 110 v fesstool

As always, informative and educational. Every day is a school day!

Send off the blade to be resharpened ?? If you can, DIY; if you can’t, learn from RU-vid. 😂😂😂

Trend do a resin cleaner for the blades. Leave them to soak for a while then scrub them off and as long as the carbide teeth aren’t damaged it will feel almost new.

very good demo of your point! I have had a lot of those problems myself

i take it you gave up on that Lidl tracksaw😊😊

Did he just say cross cutting is easier than ripping? Lolz I'm either hearing that wrong or Maybe I should start wiping my ASS BEFORE I TAKE A DUMP?🤔

Great video. Was ripping 40mm Oak counter top last week with my TS55 and was having to push the saw. Lots of burning and overload on the saw. Need to get myself one of those 12T blades. Same kerf as the Festool as well so no issues with the splinter strip.

Easiest way to get clean cuts on oak worktops I found is to template it and use a 1/2" router with a sharp bit. Do all my cut outs on oak and timber worktops with it, clean and simple with no burn marks.

You mentioned dialing down the speed a couple of times. Most circular saws I have worked with have only two speeds: full speed and off. Is there an adjustment I'm not aware of? Thanks for the video.

How do you find you cordless erbauer saw? mine struggles to trim the bottom off solid pine doors which I thought it would manage with ease, I can hardly put any pressure on when cutting or it will cut out, little bit disappointed in it ☹️ I have the impact driver (older style battery, none xtr) too and it’s fantastic.

I need new blades on my tablesaw, circular saw & mitre saw oh & bandsaw

Thanks for taking the time to educate me. Great video.

Great timing as just about to take on an old large slab for my bathroom sink work tops. Looking forward to desk build and already like look of edge finish 👍🏼

Do me a favour wash the blade you took of with some acetone or degreaser as I doubt you have damaged or dulled that blade at all you have just gummed up the carbide teeth it makes a huge difference.

Every day is a school day. Thanks for sharing.

Would using the Festool setting the depth for half the stock thickness and taking two passes be a better approach?

Very helpful - thanks.

Thank you 🙏

Cut to depth in incremental passes, no need to change blades 👍👍

Great Video 👏👌🏻👍

Great info - many thanks 🙏🏼

Slightly off topic what tracks are you using for the festool

KeyBlades for the win👍

Proper job

Z

Get down lidl when theyre on offer, buy a few then throw them away.👍

What blades do you use on your evo mitre saw?

👍👍👍

Is it ok to use a circular saw to cut a tree branches?

Yay, notifications worked for once!

Thanks for sharing this.

Well that explains a lot.