Thread: TS 75 is worth?

i consider the festool ts-75 and ts-55 to be great tools to use when the table saw is not appropiate.
i cant imagine not having either one.

if i were trying to buy tools from a hobbyist point of view, where the tools would only be used in renovating my own home/furniture, i would definitely buy a table saw first.

i have no idea about your finances or budget per year for tool allowance, so i am trying to give you a logical answer, where you will get best bang for your buck.

i consider a tablesaw to be a workhorse, just like my makita 10inch sliding compound mitre saw.
these two tools get 75% of my work done.
the festool saws make up the other 25%.

therefor my first priorty would be a decent dropsaw.
a 185mm circular saw.
then a tablesaw,
and last but certainly not least, i would then buy the festool ts-75 or ts-55.

some people have succeeded to get rid of their tablesaw, and rely on the festool ts-75 with all the extra attachments.
personally, i dont like all the fancy attachments.
i prefer to keep it simple.
thats why the festool track saws will never replace my tablesaw.

having said all that, my tablesaw actually is a festool cms-ge with the ts-75 module!

hope this helps, justin.

I bought a 10" table saw to replace my Triton - I've still got the Triton & use it occasionally.

I then bought a 12" Hitachi SCMS, digital laser dohickeys, very nice - its really useful with a fence & stop system for repeated cut-to-length jobs and gets used a lot.

I go sick of trying to fling 8x4 foot ply sheets around the yard, so I bought a Festo Ts55 - the little brother of the TS75.

Strangely, the table saw doesn't get used except as a place to stack boxes of tools & stuff. It has some nice extras bought for it too - digital measuring, Incra sliding table & mitre gauge, but its too much trouble to get at for the jobs I am doing.

If you get a TS55 or 75, you will need an extra guide rail & some form of clamp from the Festo range. After that you will need a few saw benches & sacrificial tops or a knockdown platform - there are plans for sacrificial platforms on a few free plan sites - its not rocket science.

I use my TS55 for ripping up large sheets as well, with the latest project being a built-in cupboard for the laundry out of melamine board. It did the job fantastically and the only thing that would have made the job easier is a Walko workbench instead of a couple of saw horses. I wish somebody would have tapped me on the shoulder a couple of years ago and said to buy one of them. If I was starting out again, it would have been one of the best additions to my tool and accessories collection. Especially for reno's. Have a look at the demo videos with the TS55 saw. So versatile and packs away quite small for small work spaces (and portable). In the 18 months or so that I have had the TS55, there has been only 1 occasion that I have needed its larger brother and my work consists of home renovations and hobby woodworking. If you don't have a vac, you may want to add that to the list as well.