Festool is Launching a New Track Saw in 2023 Leave a comment

Festool has announced a new track saw, TS 60 KEB, that they say is safer and “more versatile than ever before.” This is a corded saw, not cordless.

The new Festool track saw can cut deeper than the popular TS 55- up to 60mm thanks to its new blade size – and is equipped with a new and more powerful brushless motor.

In a social media livestream video – where they exclusively announced this and other new products – a Festool USA spokesperson described the saw as being “twice as fast” as any saw they’ve ever used.

It forgoes a riving knife and instead features a built-in anti-kickback mechanism that Festool says will shut down the saw in the event it senses any upwards or backwards movements. The KickbackStop can be reset in about 15 seconds.

The Festool TS 60 track saw works with a new 168mm blade size.

This gives the saw a 62mm maximum cutting depth, or ~2-7/16″. Festool describes the saw as being able to cut materials up to 60mm thick, presumably when you take their guide rail thickness into account.

In comparison, their TS 55 plunge-cutting track saws work with a 160mm blade size for a max cutting depth of 55mm, or 2-1/8″.

A 5mm difference in maximum cutting depth is ~0.197″, or a little more than 3/16″.

Festool says that the new saw is the “same size and weight as the TS 55.”

There’s a new splinter guard as well, and the saw can also be used with “all cross cutting guide rails,” such as the FSK.

The USA version will have a dual scale with metric and inch markings.

Price: TBAETA: TBA

Discussion

The Festool TS 60 track saw is said to be the same size and weight as the TS 55, but more powerful, faster cutting, “safer,” and “more versatile than ever before,” and with a slightly deeper maximum cutting depth.

Festool launched their TS 55 FEQ just last year, calling it their “new flagship track saw,” a title I suppose will now go to the new TS 60. Festool advertised the latest TS 55 as cutting twice as fast thanks to “concentrated torque.” (We asked Festool USA to explain these claims, but they never did.) It also utilizes newer “ultra-thin” blades.

The benefit of a more powerful motor is obvious. But why did Festool go with a new blade size, rather than simply upgrading their TS 55 with a better motor and the same quality of life improvements featured here, such as the dual scale depth stop markings?

Are there any reasons to buy the TS 55 instead? What about the cordless TSC 55 saw – should buyers hold off and wait for a potential TSC 60?

Something to be aware of is that the also-new Festool KSC 60 Kapex cordless miter saw does not work with this same blade size as you might assume – that tool is compatible with 216mm (8-1/2″) blades. The new Festool CSC SYS 50 cordless table saw does work with the same 168mm blade size.

It doesn’t seem especially convenient to me, for a corded track saw to share blades with a cordless table saw.

The TS 75 is a more powerful track saw with greater cutting capacity. How does the TS 60 fit in between the TS 55 and TS 75?

Are users going to benefit from less than one fifth of an inch of greater on-paper cutting capacity?