Festool CMS plus TS55

[Jacksmydog]

I am new to this forum so hello to all!

Following retirement from a career which involved no ‘hands on’ practical skill, I am fulfilling a long held wish to take up woodworking. A few years ago, I attended some local evening classes and even spent a week at Peter Sefton’s excellent woodworking school but, as I did not have a decent workshop in which to practice what I learned, I made little progress. However, I have now converted my garage into a heated, insulated, well lit workshop with ample electrics and have been equipping it with a decent range of hand and machine tools. It measures just under 18ft x 10ft so planning layout is a bit of a challenge. I recently acquired the entire contents of a decent workshop following the sad death of a close pal who had successfully taken to woodworking in his later years. This has swollen my range of kit but, even building machine stands fitted with castors, I cannot accommodate it all if I am to retain adequate working space. Sadly, I must decide what has to go and what will stay so I would be grateful for advice before taking difficult decisions.

I have a fair sprinkling of Festool equipment including a dedicated table saw (CS70 ‘trimming saw’ in Festool language). However, when fully assembled with sliding table, front and side extensions, it takes up much needed space. I have a CMS which is currently used to accommodate a router unit fitted with a Festool OF1410 Router but, as I have a TS55 plunge saw, I am thinking of buying the CMS saw insert to accommodate my TS55. Whilst this may have limitations compared to the trimming saw, I would be grateful to hear views on the capability of this arrangement as a replacement. I do have a floor standing bandsaw, a sliding mitre saw, UJK multifunction table and a couple of Festool saw guides so it may be that the functions of a saw table can be adequately substituted.

Any comments or help if you have used (or considered using) a TS55 saw in a Festool CMS would be much appreciated.

 

[Jake]

Why not take the tables and slider off the CS70. Nice as they are, without them it is still a much better tool than a TS55 in a CMS.

 

[Adam9453]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your pal.
You've been left with an enviable selection of tools and I must admit I wouldn't recommend parting with any of them.
However if you need to sell some because of space then the first question must be, what do you intend to make?
A lot of guys make do with a track saw and no table saw but whether this is viable very much depends on what you are making.
The table saw IME is enormously quicker but whether speed is a factor is up to you. The table saw is also more versatile however i'm not very familiar with the CS70 so can't really comment on its pros/cons.
I'm sure some will say, its a nice problem to be stuck with

 

[Jacksmydog]

Why not take the tables and slider off the CS70. Nice as they are, without them it is still a much better tool than a TS55 in a CMS.

Firstly, thanks for your reply Jake. I don’t disagree in principle with the point you are making and, if I didn’t already have the CMS for routing, I would probably go along with your suggestion. Retaining both doesn’t really resolve the problem. I currently only attach which ever combinations of slider/front/side are relevant to job in hand but that leaving the saw table and CMS assembled still takes up too much space. Also, the Trimming Saw table is a fair weight to be folding and heaving around.

I think one table to do more than one task is a preferable option, particularly as I have other sawing methods for certain tasks.

But thanks again for your thoughts.

 

[Jake]

Ah sorry, I didn't read your OP with sufficient care. In that case, I don't see the CMS/TS55 combo doing anything much better than using the TS55 on the MFT copy.

 

[Jacksmydog]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your pal.
You've been left with an enviable selection of tools and I must admit I wouldn't recommend parting with any of them.
However if you need to sell some because of space then the first question must be, what do you intend to make?
A lot of guys make do with a track saw and no table saw but whether this is viable very much depends on what you are making.
The table saw IME is enormously quicker but whether speed is a factor is up to you. The table saw is also more versatile however i'm not very familiar with the CS70 so can't really comment on its pros/cons.
I'm sure some will say, its a nice problem to be stuck with

You make some very valid points Adam. For the record incidentally, my late pal did intend me to have his tools but I insisted on making a reasonable payment (albeit at 'mates rates') to his wife. Perhaps I should add that I did own a reasonable number of tools and kit myself.

As you say, I am reluctant to part with any of the machinery. I did consider temporarily storing the trimming saw rather than selling it by utilising my shed which is roughly equal in size to my workshop but this would mean connecting up electricity for lighting, heating etc. and whether the expense could be justified is a consideration.

This summer, I attended a 5 day fine box making course with Andrew Crawford in south Shropshire which was brilliant. Under his guidance, I managed to produce a lined jewelry box which earned me more brownie points from my wife than I normally generate in a year!! I really enjoyed the experience and this will form a significant proportion of my intended future activity. If that was my sole intention, I guess the lack of the trimming saw may prove relatively superfluous but I do intend to make some furniture items for myself and family. First on the list is a farmhouse table for ourselves which will be circa 2mtrs x 1.2mtrs. However, as it is unlikely that I would make many items approaching this magnitude thereafter, I would probably not dispose of the trimming saw until after that project is finished.

Speed is not a major consideration although I would not want too much hassle in assembling and dismantling heavy kit every time I wished to utilise it.

Finally, I cannot disagree with your point that my problem is preferable to deciding which kit to buy to get started so my posts are not intended as a grumble.

Thanks so much for your helpful thoughts

 

[Jacksmydog]

Ah sorry, I didn't read your OP with sufficient care. In that case, I don't see the CMS/TS55 combo doing anything much better than using the TS55 on the MFT copy.

No problem Jake. That's actually quite a helpful thought.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

If it helps, I get along without a table saw at all. The combination of TS55/MFT with various clamps and a well setup 14" bandsaw has tackled anything I've needed it to do so far in both solid hardwood and sheet materials. I know a lot of people swear by table saws, but in woodworking theres usually more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[DiscoStu]

I have a single garage and lots of kit also. For me speed is an issue because I don't have a lot of time and I want to produce results not just enjoy my time in my workshop. To speed my process along I've filled my workshop with tools to make things quicker. I have a table saw and a band saw and a Festool TS55 with various rails etc so kind of similar to the original post. Space is an issue with all of my toys but with some smart thinking it's amazing what can be achieved. I have a 2.5m long work bench with the following on top:

Belt / disc sander
Bobbin sander
Small planet / thicknesser
Pillar drill
Bandsaw

The worktop is deliberately deep so I can just pull forward the machine I want to use when I need it.

I'm 6'2" tall so I made work work bench deliberately high, this has two advantages, 1, I can work at a comfortable height and 2, there is enough space underneath for my table saw and router table. Both of these are on casters and I just wheel them out as required. The table saw has an extension table and under that is where my extractor and cyclone fit.

So before I start to look at removing tools I'd look to see if your space could be used smarter.


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[Roughcut]

Sounds like you have some very nice kit there.
If you believe that the CMS will be big enough for the future projects you have in mind (because I'm assuming that the CMS smaller size is it's limiting factor) then just sell the CS70 and buy the CMS T55 module.
I've no experience of using either, but if you're struggling for space then there doesn't seem a lot of point in keeping the CS70.

 

[Adam9453]

As speed is not an issue and based on what you want to make then I think you could get rid of cs70, don't bother with the cms insert for your ts55 and just see how you get on just using the ts55 on its own.
I built some enormous wardrobes mainly using my ts55 and it's easy, accurate but a bit slow due to needing to set each cut.
You could always buy the cms ts55 insert later if you find you miss the capability of the cs70.
As someone else has said there is always more than one way to skin a cat. A little ingenuity goes a long way lol.

 

[Jake]

You could always buy the cms ts55 insert later if you find you miss the capability of the cs70.

It hasn't got the same capabilities,or anywhere near it.

 

[Jacksmydog]

Firstly, I was away last week so apologies for not responding sooner.

Thanks for all your helpful contributions - you have certainly all given me lots to think about. Before I take a final decision on whether to sell my Festool trimming saw and attachments, I have decided to look at the possibility of putting electrics into my shed which is 12 x16 ft. I am considering moving in the Festool saw table assembly, Jet JPT 260 planer/thicknesser, Bosch 12" sliding mite (on stand) plus dust extraction. If this proves viable, I may abandon the idea of replacing the saw with the plunge saw inset. The shed is currently used for storage and is quite full as it also houses my 54" cut lawn tractor and other sizeable garden machinery/implements (I have a 3 acre garden!) but it may be simpler to find new space for these elsewhere.

Thanks again to all for your help.

 

[Adam9453]

i'd say thats got to be the best answer, over time keep track of what tools you do use and what tools just sit gathering dust, then when you're ready sell off the stuff you don't use.