I’m curious about the protractor mechanics that was introduced with the TKS 80.
Does this with the wheels along the V profile work as a small slider? I haven’t checked the price, yet, but wonder if I shall order one to go with the CMS and CS 50 as a compact more versatile slider.
That's correct. I haven't tried it in that configuration myself as I opted for the set version, but to my knowledge that's the way it's designed to be used, with a locking option for the clamp being used to secure it to the slider instead in my case. The wheels on the protractor clamp are then redundant.
Fair comments and certainly not trying to make this in anyway a mafell vs festool thing I use both !…… however I am sure we can all agree that both companies made a major oversight by not providing t slots in either tables which really is a pain ! with Erika users having to by 3rd party rails and festool users having to utilise the sliding table to be able to use sleds jigs ect ….
No worries - I know this is 'just' a discussion between some folks on the pros and cons as we each see it, and I mean no kind of confrontation in what I've written.
Having looked at the construction of the TKS 80 table top in detail, it's clear to see how the addition of regular miter slots would be pretty much impossible/incompatible with the saws structure. I think rather than an oversight, it's a design decision and one I can't completely fault either. I can only imagine it's the same with the Erika saw, as the available fences, sleds and so on are likely to satisfy the requirements of the core market for such tools.
With that said, on the TKS, the CS70 and also on the CS50 and CMS, it's still possible to build a simple crosscut sled that will straddle the outer vertical edges of the saw table frame, with or without using the possible facility of the v profiled upper surface of the frame rails. There are a few pictures of such a sled on the internet. Here's one example from Pinterest:
The construction of a more typical format sled is also a relatively straightforward task if that's preferable, for box joints or smaller parts etc. While I haven't a clue what this particular gentleman is saying, the video is pretty self-explanatory, and you'll see that he has combined the use of the slider with additional registration/support of the right hand side in that v profiled top section of the saw frame. This shows the CMS, but the other saws will work the same way due to using the same type of profiles in the build:
Nonetheless, with a slider equipped saw and an accurate protractor fence which can be easily fine-tuned/calibrated, such fixtures are probably not particularly needed by the majority of target customers when these particular saws are designed and brought to market. It's good that solutions can be build around them anyway, but at least when looking at the TKS 80, I don't see a simple way for Festool to have integrated miter slots without requiring compromises in other areas when it comes to the structure of the saw. I think it's likely the same with the 70/50 saws and almost certainly so for the CMS TS55/75 options, although I haven't looked at the former in any great detail and the latter is something I've never seen in person at any time.
But I take your point. It would be nice to be able to use more familiar ways of mounting sleds and jigs, all other things being equal. Still, there are useable ways to achieve the aim of using a sled if that's important to the way you'd like to work with the tool.
