Festo Precisio CS70 Tips and tricks?

[klauskvik]

Hi

I just love the Festool products (have the the plunge saw, a router and sander).

Now I just bought a used table saw, the Precisio CS70. (included the extension tables and the sliding platform)

I am a newbee in woodworking, can anybody tell me if there is a website that has a describtion of use of this table. Tips and tricks, procedures and so on?

Also, is there parts I should change to prolong the life of this product?

Thanks

Klaus

[nt900]

Hi Klaus,

There is not a lot on info out there about the CS 70, but it is a great site saw.

First up, check the pleated filter over the motor air-intake, look for damage and and clean if necessary.

If the saw did not come with splinter guards, get yourself a few. These only work with the saw at 90 degrees, but help produce a great splinterfree/chipfree cut on the underside of the board.

Did your saw come with a user guide. I suggest reading it. Especially the sections on mounting and aligning the extension and sliding tables. I used my CS 70 for years without realising the sliding table (larger version) can easily be removed from the supporting frame. I always thought it awkward to remove and store until I saw another user do it correctly. :B

I built a storage box with drawer that sits on the CS 70 legs. This is where I place the extension tables, spare blades, clamps, etc when not in use. See attached.

Have you got some Festool clamps to use with the CS 70? They are handy and fit into a number of profiles and positions on the saw to hold down the workpiece.

Have fun!

[riri]

Hi Klaus,

I have a Basis which i have been using extensively for 6 years now and it is still as good as new so i imagine yours must be in pretty good shape. My advice, first check for a square angle. On my Basis i never had to fiddle with it but a friend of mine also has a Basis ( second hand ) and it was not square. I helped him with that problem and now it is perfectly square.

Also i assume you can pull the blade towards the stock on your machine. If you do so with hard wood and with a fine tooth blade sometimes the arm will move a bit due to pressure. Make sure you clamp your piece before you pull and you will have a perfect 90° cut.

riri

[Frank-Jan]

Hi Klaus,
I have my cs70 since 2003. It takes a little practice to figure everything out, but it's a joy to use for years (I don't like it very much when I have to load or unload from my van though...) I don't have a sliding table, but I do have the side- and rear extensions and the rip-fence.
If you have the accesory wheels that attach to the rear legs, make sure to install them the other way round than in the instruction leaflet (with the wheels facing backward, away from the saw) That way the saw stands steadily on it's four legs, and if you lift it at the front, the wheels lift the rear feet and you can move it around easily; and the legs fold up the way they should. If they are mounted facing inward, as was shown in the instructions, the rear legs are lifted from the ground all the time, and you cannot fold the legs in properly.

I didn't have much trouble with it sofar, but lately I noticed that the fences aren't parallel to the blade anymore (vertically) I'm sure this can be adjusted somehow, but I still have to figure that one out (blade/table angle is still 90 °). I ordered new rubber feet for the legs last week, and a new scale (left one got damaged in transport), when those arrive I'll have another go at fixing the fence problem.

[Frank-Jan]

...
Have you got some Festool clamps to use with the CS 70? They are handy and fit into a number of profiles and positions on the saw to hold down the workpiece.


Which profiles? The number I count on my saw is 1 ( the groove in the table inlay) are all the others on the sliding table, or am I overlooking some other possibilities ?

[Frank-Jan]

In case you don't have one : download link to cs70 user guide (http://www.festool.de/webmanual/images/bedienungsanleitungen/zug_kappsaegen//461001_002_precisio_cs_70_eb_e.zip)

[klauskvik]

Hi Klaus,

I have a Basis which i have been using extensively for 6 years now and it is still as good as new so i imagine yours must be in pretty good shape. My advice, first check for a square angle. On my Basis i never had to fiddle with it but a friend of mine also has a Basis ( second hand ) and it was not square. I helped him with that problem and now it is perfectly square.

Also i assume you can pull the blade towards the stock on your machine. If you do so with hard wood and with a fine tooth blade sometimes the arm will move a bit due to pressure. Make sure you clamp your piece before you pull and you will have a perfect 90° cut.

riri

I have two angle stops (one from the base saw and another from the sliding table). The first thing a did was to use both angles on two sides of the main table, set them at 90 degrees and checked that with an angle

I dont enterily understand the thing about the arm moving. Can you elaborate?

regards

Klaus

[klauskvik]

Hi Klaus,

There is not a lot on info out there about the CS 70, but it is a great site saw.

First up, check the pleated filter over the motor air-intake, look for damage and and clean if necessary.

If the saw did not come with splinter guards, get yourself a few. These only work with the saw at 90 degrees, but help produce a great splinterfree/chipfree cut on the underside of the board.

Did your saw come with a user guide. I suggest reading it. Especially the sections on mounting and aligning the extension and sliding tables. I used my CS 70 for years without realising the sliding table (larger version) can easily be removed from the supporting frame. I always thought it awkward to remove and store until I saw another user do it correctly. :B

I built a storage box with drawer that sits on the CS 70 legs. This is where I place the extension tables, spare blades, clamps, etc when not in use. See attached.

Have you got some Festool clamps to use with the CS 70? They are handy and fit into a number of profiles and positions on the saw to hold down the workpiece.

Have fun!

Yeah, I searched the internet - no hits at all

I think I will dismantle the saw and clean it. Some of the controls dont run perfectly, needs some oil. It is used and has a lot of scratches and dents on the table (also near the blade mid pos, where some of the table have been cut seriously, but that should not affect the saw in a major way.

I will buy the splinter guard, that is a good recommendation. Also the clamps, which I guess can be used for the guide rail system also

The box below the saw look great. Perhaps I will build one of those also

Regards

Klaus

[riri]

Hi,

I am referring to the arm attached to the angle bracket. It is an aluminium guide along which your stock rests.

riri

[klauskvik]

Hi,

I am referring to the arm attached to the angle bracket. It is an aluminium guide along which your stock rests.

riri

Thanks, I understand now :-)

regards

Klaus

[klauskvik]

Hi Klaus,
I have my cs70 since 2003. It takes a little practice to figure everything out, but it's a joy to use for years (I don't like it very much when I have to load or unload from my van though...) I don't have a sliding table, but I do have the side- and rear extensions and the rip-fence.
If you have the accesory wheels that attach to the rear legs, make sure to install them the other way round than in the instruction leaflet (with the wheels facing backward, away from the saw) That way the saw stands steadily on it's four legs, and if you lift it at the front, the wheels lift the rear feet and you can move it around easily; and the legs fold up the way they should. If they are mounted facing inward, as was shown in the instructions, the rear legs are lifted from the ground all the time, and you cannot fold the legs in properly.

I didn't have much trouble with it sofar, but lately I noticed that the fences aren't parallel to the blade anymore (vertically) I'm sure this can be adjusted somehow, but I still have to figure that one out (blade/table angle is still 90 °). I ordered new rubber feet for the legs last week, and a new scale (left one got damaged in transport), when those arrive I'll have another go at fixing the fence problem.

Thanks for the tips :-) I hope you figure out why it is not 100% parallel. I have a damages scale too. How much did you pay for it and don't you need a left and a right part for that scale?

Regards

Klaus

[Frank-Jan]

In my case only the left was damaged. I haven't payed for it yet, but the Dutch website had a link to the ekat website (a site with exploded views, and partnumbers for almost every festool tool )that shows the partnumbers with prices behind it.

edit/ made some time to search;)

right scale: partn° 488138 price: € 6,35 ; left scale: partn° 488137 price: € 5,66; little screws: partn° 400444 price: 0,56€ (there are 6, don't know if that price is for all six or just one)

link to ekat-websit (http://ekat.festool.de/EKAT/jsp/main.jsp?doAction=start&partLang=en&docuLang=en&locale=en_EN&viewerType=6&verticalLayout=1&HOOK_URL=&currency=EUR&filter_F_Typ1=on&filterValues_F_Typ1=NL&currencyKey=NL)e This link shows the Dutch prices, maybe you can find a link on the Danish website that shows them in your currency. (I cannot link to the cs70 directly, only to the main page)

edit2/ typo's
edit3/ You can find the cs70 on the ekat-site by clicking on the + before "trimming saws" then select "cs70 EB precisio"

[zelk]

I used to have the CS 70 with the larger sliding table until I purchased a combination panel saw. It is useful to make a sliding table platform that supports the timber up to the blade. I made the platform so that it hooks on to ( from underneath) the crosscutting fence without modifying anything, it can be removed in seconds.
The splinter guard is useful when cutting man-made boards at 90 degrees,particularly with melamine finish on both sides, but they are a nuisance when one has to change to a different cutting angle. The splinter guard also have a limited life. I have found that one can successfully cut man made boards without the guard by making two passes, the first under scores the board and the second cuts the board fully, this technique works with the slider. This method can also be used when ripping, howvever for ripping I prefer another method where the blade is raised a little over half the thickness of board, after the first pass the board is flipped over for the second pass which completes the cut, with this method I don't have to vary the blade height.

Zelk

[klauskvik]

In my case only the left was damaged. I haven't payed for it yet, but the Dutch website had a link to the ekat website (a site with exploded views, and partnumbers for almost every festool tool )that shows the partnumbers with prices behind it.

edit/ made some time to search;)

right scale: partn° 488138 price: € 6,35 ; left scale: partn° 488137 price: € 5,66; little screws: partn° 400444 price: 0,56€ (there are 6, don't know if that price is for all six or just one)

link to ekat-websit (http://ekat.festool.de/EKAT/jsp/main.jsp?doAction=start&partLang=en&docuLang=en&locale=en_EN&viewerType=6&verticalLayout=1&HOOK_URL=&currency=EUR&filter_F_Typ1=on&filterValues_F_Typ1=NL&currencyKey=NL)e This link shows the Dutch prices, maybe you can find a link on the Danish website that shows them in your currency. (I cannot link to the cs70 directly, only to the main page)

edit2/ typo's
edit3/ You can find the cs70 on the ekat-site by clicking on the + before "trimming saws" then select "cs70 EB precisio"

Hey, thats simply a great site, very easy to order parts. And whats more, the price is less than half of what I would need to pay here in denmark. Many thanks :-)

Regards

Klaus