Festool table saw TKS 80 EBS 230v
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Against_The_Grain
Established Member
That’s a bit of a vague question isn’t it? Are we talking 5mm thick strips of hardwood or 75mm thick planks of hardwood?
It’s grossly overpriced for what it is, I can tell you that much, “finger saving” technology or not.
It’s grossly overpriced for what it is, I can tell you that much, “finger saving” technology or not.
It is priced for people who cannot be trusted with a real saw and might be clumsy or adverse to working safely in which case it is worth it because our fingers do not regrow once removed unlike a lizzards tail.
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Friend of mine has one. It has an 80mm maximum capacity, but you have no chance of doing much ripping of hardwood at that depth. I've seen him use it to rip 40 mm deep strips of seasoned oak to make edgings and it coped OK but slowed as we pushed the stock through.
The saw stop is great technology and I would buy that. But....for £1700 (inc VAT) I can get a much more powerful table saw with bigger capacity and a better top. The clear plastic blade guard is ridiculous at this price level.
As a portable site saw it probably has a place as it is far more likely to avoid accidents through inattention or distraction. As a workshop saw it's not powerful enough, the table is not big enough and you will break the blade guard after clouting it with a plank a few times.
So - the saw stop is great, Festool warranty is great, their build quality is usually very good, but it has limitations and you pay a premium for this brand.
Edit: you can buy table extenders and special fences, but that pushes the price to £3k. Silly money for a small portable saw.
The saw stop is great technology and I would buy that. But....for £1700 (inc VAT) I can get a much more powerful table saw with bigger capacity and a better top. The clear plastic blade guard is ridiculous at this price level.
As a portable site saw it probably has a place as it is far more likely to avoid accidents through inattention or distraction. As a workshop saw it's not powerful enough, the table is not big enough and you will break the blade guard after clouting it with a plank a few times.
So - the saw stop is great, Festool warranty is great, their build quality is usually very good, but it has limitations and you pay a premium for this brand.
Edit: you can buy table extenders and special fences, but that pushes the price to £3k. Silly money for a small portable saw.
Sorry about the vague question on hardwood, I wondered if there is a limit to its rip cutting capacity. I already own an Axminster APT254TS table saw but I'm building a house on site and need the portability. Not really bothered about the saw stop facility.
Yes, you're right, my question regarding hardwood rip cuts was a little vague. What I should have asked is, has anyone experienced difficulties or limits in ripping, say, 2" thick hardwood with the TKS 80? I already own an Axminster AP254TS table saw but I need portability: we are in the process of building a Passiv Haus on site.
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Those saws are not on this side of the pond but most saws can cut hardwood when a rip blade is put in it rather than using the combination blades people tend to use. Any way one of the dealers of the saw will demo the cutting abilities if you brought a board or two to put through it?
Pete
Pete
AJB Temple
Finely figured
If you are using it to rip lengths of cladding etc such as larch, or oak or cedar, at the typical thicknesses of those materials with a rip blade and extraction it will be totally fine. But....if you don't care about the saw stop, why pay the large premium for that? Just buy a heavy duty site saw and sell it on again when your house build is finished.
Against_The_Grain
Established Member
Scheppach HS120 or the older TKU model with a decent blade, that’s all you need. Easy two-person lift, powerful, and 1/4 the price of the Festool.
Doug71
Established Member
For a few years my only table saw was an Elektra Beckum TKHS 315 which is the same kind of thing. I bought it second hand for about £100, used it for a few years and sold it on for the same. This style of saw seems out of favour but I would have another, the induction motors just seem so smooth compared to the smaller compact type site saws.
Ollie78
Established Member
This is so true, a proper rip blade is miles better than a universal.
I might be an outlier here but I very rarely do anything except rip cuts on the table saw, most crosscuts are done on the mitre saw which is easier and better for the job in my opinion. Sheet goods get done with a track saw.
I have often wondered why we can`t buy the proper big Sawstop cabinet saws in the UK I am sure they would sell well. Now festool are coming out with these mini ones, it must be some licencing problem or something or maybe they didn`t want to put it through TUV / CE testing.
So if we want our fingers protecting we can have the mini festool or a £30K Felder, nothing in between.
For the OP I would look for a secondhand Dewalt flip over saw bench, very useful and pretty cheap, I think metabo did one as well.
PS. what about the Mafell Erika (sorry)
Ollie
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Probably as much to do with compliance to your various guarding and electrical regulations and the price is in the neighbourhood of £4,000 plus whatever taxes would be added making it a hard sell. The parent company of Festool bought SawStop so the brakes going into Festool offerings are the same. Festool is a small tool, job site supplier so wouldn't be playing with the bigger saws. Perhaps the SawStop machines will be made available down the road.
Pete
Matt@Nearfield
Established Member
I'd buy an Erika 80 then. 3hp and will chomp through most tasks you ask of it.
thikone
Established Member
Isn't it more about blades than saws, really? I rip with TS55 beech and oak of 50 mm thick just fine. I only have to change the blade to one with less teeth - 20 teeth for 160 mm disk in my case. And if saw starts to tilt during cut no power will help.
The same goes about bandsaws. I see people complaining about motor being too weak and that one needs at least 3HP to be good to rip anything substantial. But I manage to cut 120 mm thick beech with 1/2HP on my Record Power BS250 just fine. Again, right bandsaw blade and slow feed.
The same goes about bandsaws. I see people complaining about motor being too weak and that one needs at least 3HP to be good to rip anything substantial. But I manage to cut 120 mm thick beech with 1/2HP on my Record Power BS250 just fine. Again, right bandsaw blade and slow feed.
Recky33
Established Member
Yep, everyone seems to want to cut at 100mph with standard supplied blades, shame really
I am both a mafell and feestool user and mostly I prefer mafell … I was in the market for a table saw and had to decide between an erika and TKS 80 surprisingly i ended up with the TKS 80 and it has been fine .if you are ripping over 50mm you maybe better with the large mafell 85 rip saw on the rail which is what I use for heavy ripping as I already have the mafell 55 rail system and the 85 fits it ..so both saws on the same rail ..for heavy ripping both the TKS and Erika suffer from poor stability when pushing through thick timber motor size makes no difference it’s simple the weight and relatively small footprint when compared to a proper panal ripp saw !
