Festool TS 55

I’ve been talking about making some cabinets for a very long time now. I actually made plans for a big cabinet in the office in our previous house. I started pulling out the ceiling, and then we decided buy our current house (so at the same time we decided to sell the old house). Luckily I could easily put the ceiling back in, but I didn’t get to actually building the cabinets. Now, in our new house, there are plenty of rooms that need cabinets, so I’ve been creating plans again. However, when I build my own cabinet, I want it to have miter joints for the side panels and the top. And possibly for the doors (if I can achieve that kind of accuracy, I will try it…). There aren’t that many woodshops that can saw boards at an angle, and transporting panels that have been cut with an angle are easily damaged, because of the sharp angle. So I decided I was going to saw the panels myself. And some tests with my Black and Decker circular saw quickly convinced me I needed proper tools. So I bought the Festool TS 55 EBQ-Plus-FS. It came with some guide rails, that allow you to saw along the rail, ensuring a straight, splinter-free cut.

I ordered it online, at Toolmax.nl. I ordered it Saturday, after seeing that they had it in stock. Monday I got an email that the order was shipped. Tuesday I got the saw. Wednesday (today) I got the guide rails. Tonight I sawed a couple of small pieces and it works incredibly well.

I’m very happy with the Toolmax.nl store, it worked great. After only receiving the saw without the rails on Tuesday, I sent an email, and got a prompt response saying that guide rails typically come a day later (I suppose because the rails are 140cm long, probably requiring different handling). If you need to buy powertools, or other tools, I would strongly recommend them.

For a glimpse of how it works, there is a commercial at YouTube showing it in action: