anyone tried a slightly larger blade in a Festool 55 tracksaw?

[pgrbff]

I have the TSC 55 KEB and wanted to buy a cheap blade for those rough cuts that don't necessarily need a perfect finish.
Has any one tried a wider blade? a 165mm maybe?

 

[ChaiLatte]

You are asking two different questions.

A wider blade is one question. A larger diameter is the second question.

A wider blade will trim the anti-splinter strip, so you will either have to keep using that blade forever or put a new strip on the track when you go back to the standard width. Or use the saw trackless, clamping the guide rail to the item and running the saw alongside the rail rather than on top of the rail (but one day you will forget and trim half the strip before you swear...).

Make a 165mm diameter circle with a 20mm central hole out of corrugated cardboard. Install and see if it touches anything it should not.

Verify by actual measurement any 165mm blade you do buy - very embarrassing if the number is a nominal measurement and the actual item supplied is 167mm and cuts into the saw body.

 

[pgrbff]

You are asking two different questions.

A wider blade is one question. A larger diameter is the second question.

A wider blade will trim the anti-splinter strip, so you will either have to keep using that blade forever or put a new strip on the track when you go back to the standard width. Or use the saw trackless, clamping the guide rail to the item and running the saw alongside the rail rather than on top of the rail (but one day you will forget and trim half the strip before you swear...).

Make a 165mm diameter circle with a 20mm central hole out of corrugated cardboard. Install and see if it touches anything it should not.

Verify by actual measurement any 165mm blade you do buy - very embarrassing if the number is a nominal measurement and the actual item supplied is 167mm and cuts into the saw body.

I would have said thicker, but sorry to have been so imprecise. I'll try harder next time.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Actually, I think a thicker blade should be fine - it sits on a flange and the extra width moves it away from the track, not towards it. So the anti-splinter strip remains untouched. Even the splitter should not be affected (it will simply ride inside the kerf.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Windows]

Actually, I think a thicker blade should be fine - it sits on a flange and the extra width moves it away from the track, not towards it. So the anti-splinter strip remains untouched. Even the splitter should not be affected (it will simply ride inside the kerf.

Regards from Perth

Derek

If the new blade has a difference between kerf width and plate width that is greater than the old one, won’t the cut move towards the track by half the difference?

 

[ChaiLatte]

I would have said thicker, but sorry to have been so imprecise...

But do you understand that the standard blade for the machine is quoted at 160mm diameter?

Hence, the 165mm you state in your opening post is larger in the dimension that is neither thick nor wide (and will be newer in the fourth dimension of time).

As above, you need to verify both the overall kerf and the plate thickness to determine if the strip is affected or not.

Edit: as an alternative to measuring, you could make a visual determination of whether the two blades differ. Use a straight edge and cut maybe 1/2 way through a piece of MDF. Leave the straightedge clamped to the work and change to the other blade. Start maybe 100mm from the start of the first cut and cut only 1/4 way through, stopping maybe 100mm from the end. Your eyes would detect any offset in the two cut lines.

 

[AJB Temple]

In my experience - if you are using a tracksaw then you might as well use the correct blade for it, rather than something that is a bit cheaper but the wrong size and puts the saw or track potentially at risk. The OEM blades are not crazy expensive and they do re-sharpen very well. I can't think of a single instance of any work ever, including timber framing, where I've thought "I could have done that a bit rougher". Rougher than a tracksaw is a circular saw.

 

[Spectric]

Maybe this will help

 

[porker]

I tend to agree to use decent blades but I have had cause to use my TS55 to plunge cut into floorboards and was concerned about hitting something hard and taking a tooth off. In this case I found a cheap blade with the same diameter and kerf and used this.

Also a bit surprised that a wider kerf blade wouldn't cut the strip. I thought the blades are registered off the plate and half of the kerf would go towards to strip as pointed out above

 

[Etaf]

I now use saxtonblades - for all my saws, Mitre and Circular - I used to have Freud and Sharpen - BUT the cost to sharpen was more than buying from saxtonblades and i found the finish to be fine

I dont know how much your "cheap" blade is - compared to
https://www.saxtonblades.co.uk/tct-...product-category=160mm-blades-85-160mm-blades
Unless the rough cuts include nails etc, just use the same blade

 

[Blister]

I would proceed with caution as both would add extra load on the motor and could cause problems.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

If the new blade has a difference between kerf width and plate width that is greater than the old one, won’t the cut move towards the track by half the difference?

To repeat ...

The blade cannot move further inward than the inside flange permits. As long as the set of the teeth is the same, the blade cannot cut further inward. A thicker blade will increase the kerf width, but towards the outside.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[ChaiLatte]

To repeat ...

Except you are not repeating. Repeating means saying the same thing again, and you are not doing that. You are adding extra information to your first answer "should be fine", which qualifies and puts bounds on that answer "As long as".

You are now in exactly the same position as the post with which you appear to be attempting to correct.

In the diagram, in order for there to be no effect on the strip, the 0.3mm measurement has to be constant between blades. That is something either to look up from the manufacturer's data or to measure yourself.

 

[porker]

I checked my saw, the plate is the reference but as stated above the cut will be half the increase in kerf width. The teeth have equal clearance either side of the plate.

 

[pgrbff]

In my experience - if you are using a tracksaw then you might as well use the correct blade for it, rather than something that is a bit cheaper but the wrong size and puts the saw or track potentially at risk. The OEM blades are not crazy expensive and they do re-sharpen very well. I can't think of a single instance of any work ever, including timber framing, where I've thought "I could have done that a bit rougher". Rougher than a tracksaw is a circular saw.

I have 4 Festool blades but the other day I had to cut the top of a barn door, full of nails. A Saxton or Rennie blade in the UK costs less than what I have to pay to resharpen a 42 tooth Festool blade, 28.00 euro with postage.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Except you are not repeating. Repeating means saying the same thing again, and you are not doing that. You are adding extra information to your first answer "should be fine", which qualifies and puts bounds on that answer "As long as".

You are now in exactly the same position as the post with which you appear to be attempting to correct.

In the diagram, in order for there to be no effect on the strip, the 0.3mm measurement has to be constant between blades. That is something either to look up from the manufacturer's data or to measure yourself.

I think that you need to re-read my posts.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

I have 4 Festool blades but the other day I had to cut the top of a barn door, full of nails. A Saxton or Rennie blade in the UK costs less than what I have to pay to resharpen a 42 tooth Festool blade, 28.00 euro with postage.

I’ll have to check, but I’m pretty sure North London Saws charge about £7 to sharpen a Festool 55 blade. This goes up if they have to replace any teeth, if too many teeth are unsharpenable they let you know. I don’t have to pay postage because they are local to me.

 

[TomGW]

I’ll have to check, but I’m pretty sure North London Saws charge about £7 to sharpen a Festool 55 blade. This goes up if they have to replace any teeth, if too many teeth are unsharpenable they let you know. I don’t have to pay postage because they are local to me.

I'm fairly sure that what I pay too and Mason Saw Services is only 1.6 miles away - within walking distance. I think I got 6 blades sharpened the last time, which was only a few months ago.

 

[squib]

I have only ever used festool blades in mine except when I bought a diamond blade and plunge cut through 20mm slate to make some worktops! Worked a treat....
I have the Festool blades sharpened regularly but just checked my latest bill and it's not itemized,£72 for 2x12" blades, one fine one rip and two festool.