Power Tools: Calibrating Festool Table Saw to Absolute Accuracy

Adjust Festool CSC SYS 50 - the blade angle, the slider and the fence to absolute accuracy. The slider was already calibrated so it's perpendicular with the blade (not in this video), now I wanted the fence to be perpendicular to the blade as well.

[@LDBecker]

Very helpful! I also found on mine that the measurement on the fence was off by 1/16". It was simple to adjust with the screws holding the strip down. I wish someone would develop a micro-adjustment knob and/or a digital readout for the fence. So far, the fence is the part of the saw I like the least, but it is workable.

[@peternatoli2555]

Hi Hans. Thank you for two of your anti frantic videos in a half hour. Good work!

[@HansMasterCraft]

And thank you for watching. You gave me more motivation to make more videos like these.

[@MichaelMcGrathAICP]

Fence is TOED (slightly) on purpose - safety. All the European saws I use are adjusted in that way. Does NOT affect accuracy since only the leading teeth do actual cut.

[@HansMasterCraft]

Thanks. That's good to know

[@steven_vogt]

Good tip - thanks!

[@MattLitkeRacing]

Sedge talks about this often

[@jchan0425]

my sliding table was higher than the main table to the point that i had to send it back to festool for repair. ultimately they had to replace the sliding table completely. and it had to be sent from germany.

[@LDBecker]

Working on the adjustments now - at about 1:00 in the video, on adjusting the slider, your captions say use a T5 screwdriver - mine took a T20 (Edit: T20 is correct). Also, how much did you turn the adjustment screws on the side? The screws seem very loose, and I don't see any change. Did you turn it a LOT? Thanks -

[@HansMasterCraft]

Hi @LDBecker, thank you for watching my video. Under the slider, there is a wedge on both sides, the adjustment screw is to pull or push the wedge to lower or lift the slider, once you tighten up the screw on top of the slider, the adjustment screw is no longer relevant, you can just tighten it back a little to secure it so it wont loose. As for the caption, I might have miss-typed the screw driver size in the caption. Thank you once again.

[@LDBecker]

@@HansMasterCraft I finally got mine dialed in. I had to shim the black adjustment plates UNDER the sliding table to make the sliding table level. It, like some have found, was sloping down a bit on the side. With that done, and redoing all the other adjustments (height of sliding table to be just a HAIR proud of the table so the miter fence doesn't drag on the stationary table), rechecking the rip fence to make sure it's parallel, and making sure the blade was at 90deg). It's great now! I also added the Benchdog miter fence - what a nice addition to the CSC SYS 50. Thanks again for posting this. It got me motivated to get it dialed in.

[@HansMasterCraft]

@@LDBecker I'm glad it works out for you. Benchdog miter fence is one of the accessories in my shopping list. Happy woodworking!

[@MichaelMcGrathAICP]

Fence on European saws I have and use are ever so slightly “toed” to clear the blade teeth at the rear, Safety feature (reduces binding) that DOES NOT affect cutting accuracy since ONLY leading (nearest) teeth do the cutting.

[@teslapunk67]

⁠@@LDBeckercan you please describe the shimming of the black plates under the slide table? I have the same issue :(

[@chrisdalby4953]

Is your slider flat across its width I've looked at 5 new saws now. and they have all been concave about 19 thou...

[@HansMasterCraft]

Thank you for watching my video. The slider on this table saw has a little concave, I dont know how much, but it doesnt seem to impact the accuracy of the cut at all, as long as the slider is level to the table top.

[@user-qh3zd8ym8k]

Please dont adjust the fence to 90°!!! its slightly off by design in order to keep wood from getting stuck and kickback between fence and blade. This is dangerous.

[@HansMasterCraft]

Thanks for the comment. That was just for the alignment, when I rip cut, I use the rip fence (not together with the crosscut fence) and Microjig gripper to minimize the kickback.

[@danthechippie4439]

Why on earth would you adjust the fence to suit the sliding table, you dont use the two together? The fence and slider should be calibrated from the blade,

[@HansMasterCraft]

Thanks for the comment. The slider was already calibrated with the blade, so I wanted the fence to align with the blade as well. For this particular saw, if you know any trick to calibrate the fence perpendicular with the blade, please let me know.

[@danthechippie4439]

@HansInstruments same as any table saw. Choose a tooth on the blade, move the fence to a random distance away from the blade and measure the distance between the tooth nearest you and the fence. Move that tooth to the back and measure again. If sized match, you good to go. If not adjust the fence till measments match

[@Alex-oz6sf]

Mickey Mouse Table Saw...SMH