A little note, they don't make their own blades... They use a standard 260mm with 30 mm center bore, the blades are made by Leitz for them. It's a high quality manufacturer, so the blade price is not unreasonable.
Obviously, the gauge on the back is not in mm. It's the bevel angle and the markings are in degrees. There is also a vernier feature to get 0.5 degree angles with similar accuracy. Tilting all the way to the right requires the tall fence piece to be fully removed (unlike tilting to the left) because there is a greater distance from the blade to the right sliding support based on the mechanics of the saw carriage, motor, and drive train. It's not a mystery. Same with miter angle adjustment, it's degrees not mm.
Dust boot flips up without removal. Laser lens is removable for cleaning purposes. It's in the manual. RTFM
Regarding the dust boot, you can avoid ever cutting it if you simply cuff or fold it back when doing certain angled cuts.
Great review the good the bad and the ugly you covered the lot 😁
Thank you, much appreciated!!
I have looked at the Bosch version too.
Not sure what I will go for.
But yep, Festool is incredibly expensive.
A shame really
I’ve had mine for 11 years. It looks knackered but it’s still more accurate than anything else.
A little note, they don't make their own blades... They use a standard 260mm with 30 mm center bore, the blades are made by Leitz for them. It's a high quality manufacturer, so the blade price is not unreasonable.
How may Tim have you changed the blade?
Many times, as I use different blades for different jobs with high teeth blades doing finer work and less teeth for cutting studs etc
You need to watch the lessons produced by Festool. That would address #2 and #3 and #5 on your dislike list. Blades? How is that a Festool issue?
Obviously, the gauge on the back is not in mm. It's the bevel angle and the markings are in degrees. There is also a vernier feature to get 0.5 degree angles with similar accuracy. Tilting all the way to the right requires the tall fence piece to be fully removed (unlike tilting to the left) because there is a greater distance from the blade to the right sliding support based on the mechanics of the saw carriage, motor, and drive train. It's not a mystery.
Same with miter angle adjustment, it's degrees not mm.