New Festool Kapex KS 60 Miter Saw

[Eric.]

The Kapex's lack of power is compounded ten fold if it's ever kicked out of calibration by just a smidgen.  DAMHIK.

[Freddie]

I feel like the TS75 is also grossly under powered. I own the track saw and the domino. The only other tool I would consider from them is the barrel grip jigsaw because it is super lightweight and would be a lot easier to cope moulding than my heavy bosch jig saw.  I like my festool toys, but I am not a flag waver, so I proudly say out loud that I think they suck in the power dept. I got more use out of my track saw on job sites then in the shop. Portable, accurate, dust free and easy to load and unload. For that factor alone, these tools kick ass out in the field. For the shop, they have kind of become more of a fad and a status symbol than anything. Bring on the hate. 

[Pwk5017]

1 hour ago, Freddie said:

I feel like the TS75 is also grossly under powered. I own the track saw and the domino. The only other tool I would consider from them is the barrel grip jigsaw because it is super lightweight and would be a lot easier to cope moulding than my heavy bosch jig saw.  I like my festool toys, but I am not a flag waver, so I proudly say out loud that I think they suck in the power dept. I got more use out of my track saw on job sites then in the shop. Portable, accurate, dust free and easy to load and unload. For that factor alone, these tools kick ass out in the field. For the shop, they have kind of become more of a fad and a status symbol than anything. Bring on the hate. 

Yep, 2.5-3" hardwood feels like its sending the TS75 to its grave. I just trued up 4 end grain boards tonight on the MFT and it was painful with the TS75. I read on the FOG that all NA Festools suffer from the switch to 110v. Not sure if there is any credibility to it, but it is the reason many pin on the failure of so many kapex motors back in the day. 

[bleedinblue]

Is the TS55 under powered as well?

[Chestnut]

8 hours ago, bleedinblue said:

Is the TS55 under powered as well?

It doesn't cut as deep but if i remember correctly they both are rated at the same wattage.

[Eric.]

9 hours ago, bleedinblue said:

Is the TS55 under powered as well?

I say yes absolutely it is.  But again...it was designed to break down sheet goods, so complaining that it lacks the ass to muscle through 8/4 lumber is kind of unfair.  But I think it's a little underpowered for sheet goods even, so there's that.  You shouldn't feel the cut at all IMO...but there's definite resistance when you enter a cut.  I don't know why it would be so hard to put slightly more powerful motors in these tools...it's not like they can't afford it.

That said, I love mine and wouldn't wanna be without it now that I've incorporated it into my workflow.

[bleedinblue]

Interesting.  I'm probably going to buy a track saw soon, and I'm having a hard time talking myself into the TS55 when there are options for half the price.  

[Pwk5017]

2 hours ago, Mike. said:

I have only cut 4/4 cherry with my TS55 and have not had any resistance.  But I have only made like 6 cuts with it. 

I have worked with a bunch of german engineers - they tend to live in lab conditions and tend to over engineer and under build.  Its in their DNA.  I doubt they could just upgrade the motor without upgrading a whole bunch of internal components as well, because a bigger motor would like shred whatever parts they use inside.   

I also think American engineered tools often feel more powerful than they really are.  They are louder.  They have that growl when they start up.  They vibrate the crap out of your hands.  Basically you lose all sensitivity to how hard the tool is working.  

I like my festool stuff.  I am not in it for the glory of having a wall of systainers.  I think most of the benefits Freddie cites for a jobsite do apply in a shop.  Dust Collection - yes, my shop is attached to my garage so the less dust the better.  Portability?  Yes, I'd rather carry a lighter tool from one of my shop to another.   Accurate - yes, in a small shop I do need accurate hand held tools.  I can't have a stationary machine for every task.  

Festool sanders are second only to mirka, and I have not used that stuff so can not say for certain.

Bosch is frustratingly close.  They actually have all the stuff festool has (hepa vac, tools with ports, I think they have a tracksaw in europe, a 6" dual model rotex-like sander), but (at least in America) they don't have the total system down like festool does.    Good luck finding the right edge guide for a bosch router, or dust ports, etc.  

Some tasks would be near impossible to do with taking the workpiece to the tool. Truing up table top glue ups? It would be very difficult to solo lift a 40" wide table thats 1.5" thick onto a table saw. Much easier to square it up with the track saw. Same can be said for routing a dado across a large case side etc. 

 

I understand the allure of taking things to the edge of design, but i would much prefer this thing to weigh 3.5lbs more and be able to cut through 2" hardwood without a problem. I understand when you max out the cut capacity of any tool it is never going to perform at an optimum level, but it should handle the mid-range of its cut capacity with ease. Why cant the germans go back to this kind of design mentality? Well, a less fascist and destructive form of this engineering. 

[Eric.]

1 hour ago, bleedinblue said:

Interesting.  I'm probably going to buy a track saw soon, and I'm having a hard time talking myself into the TS55 when there are options for half the price.  

It's the Festool system that makes their tracksaw more appealing to me.  The MFT opens a whole can of worms.

[ben_r_]

If you havent gone and held them both in your hands, try to get somewhere that has them both in stock. I went this weekend to my local Woodcraft and played with all the Festool tools they had there. That included comparing the TS55 to the TS75 and after just one look and lift it was extremely apparent to me that the TS75 was way bigger than I wanted in a tracksaw. Fortunately for me all I ever intend to do with whatever tracksaw I own is break down sheet goods, so the TS55 should be perfect for me. But the TS75 was so much larger IMO it surprised me. Same with the OF 1400 vs OF 2200 router (sadly they did not have an OF 1010 in stock to hold), and with the Domino 500 vs 700 XL. I guess with hand power tools I just prefer them on the smaller side if they still have the power to get what I need done.

[pridmore]

I used the TS55 the other day to break down 8/4 cherry to rough length and width. It is definitely under powered for that job (and it wasn't meant to do it). But with a little patience it did the job and left a beautiful edge. At some point I will suck it up and get the MFT to really take advantage of this tool.