Mats Bengtsson More Advanced Wood Working and Do It Yourself

The Festool CMS table saw cover is terrible

Mats Bengtsson mib over the years

The Festool CMS table saw cover is terrible

I have a Festool CMS table saw, and a Festool CMS router table. The table saw module is based on the TS75 plunge saw, and the Festool CMS router module is based on the OF1400 router. I am quite happy with them.

I have had a long struggle with the table saw cover for the Festool CMS. I am quite security consious, and I like to use the security features that is available. But for the CMS table saw module, I frequently take off the saw guard. I have many times decided I need to use it, and put it back on. Then, few usages later, it is again dismantled.

Finally, I concluded that Festool CMS table saw cover was not useful. The Festool CMS table saw guard is instead one of the worst design mistakes done by Festool for the CMS.

I finally bought an Exaktor table saw cover to instead use with my Festool CMS table saw. The disadvantages with the standard Festool CMS cover are many:

  • To mount the cover, you need to echange the standard spring loaded spacer wedge for a much higher one. This is of cource a nuicanse needing to go forth and back between two wedges when using the saw outside the CMS. Worse, when mounted on the saw, it prevents all sawing where you want to cut a dado or a notch in the wood, which is common for joinery.
  • Changing the spacer wedge is more or less impossible without taking the CMS module out of the CMS table, in order to be able to reach the screws.
  • When mounting the cover, the cover is reasonably wide, and have the mounting screw on the right side. The right side is the side where you are ripping, so the screw gets into the way as soon as you want to rip frames of any kind (having a width of 10-20 mm, the screw as well as the cover is in the way)
  • When buying the Y-hose form Festool which is needed to connect the vacuum cleaner to both the saw and the cover, it turns out the Y-hose connects porly to the cover. So porly that the hose frequently falls off when you change height settings on the saw.
  • The said Y-hose is in the way for your saw work when mounted on the CMS. One end need to mount to the saw (below the CMS table). Another end need to mount to the cover (above the CMS table). The only solution for it not being in the way is to bring it on from the side. The Y-hose then turns out to be too short to be used form the side without being in the way. Also, bringing it over to the side contributes to the hose falling off even more often. Festool does not provide any good fastening means for the Y-hose placement on the CMS.

 

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