Tools, Power Tools & Equipment Advice
A BLADE IS JUST A BLADE… RIGHT? In the kbb industry, a one-size-fitsall approach for cutting materials generally leads to increased costs due to wasted labour, a reduction in the quality of your work and possibly, delays from either having to re-order materials or even damaging a machine. All of these create unnecessary frustrations from what should be a relatively simple task.
It’s therefore, essential to use the correct cutting consumable for the project being worked on and taking the time to understand why it this simple task should be an important and productive part of our working lives. A good example: to cut a material such as cement based board with a clean cut, whilst removing the dust as you cut and ensuring that you are going to get a generous lifespan out of the blade used could be seen as a challenge. Then consider being able to cut within the environment the board is being used and it possible that the task may not seem achievable. Special power tool manufacturer, Festool, can help solve this challenge as the company understands that cement based materials produce a huge volume of very fine dust when cut which can seriously damage the user’s long term health. Accordingly, Festool designs its cutting products so that dust is captured at source and directed to its extraction outlet, thus greatly reducing any air-borne dust. Its TS55 plunge cut saw, Diamond blade and an M class extractor with a 36mm hose is the perfect solution to cutting cement-based material within the environment in which you are working;
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another benefit is that there is less moving of materials. The TS55 R has a dust chute inside the housing that keeps the dust in line with the hose. This prevents the dust that has been collected from being thrown back to the blade, so the blade can cut efficiently. The Festool diamond blade has 4 ‘teeth’ but is part of the system as it is the same diameter as the other blades including the kerf at 2.2. It’s important that a consumable like a blade, is made for a machine where the two work in unison and are literally made for each other. If they do, they perform much better, resulting in a higher quality of work and importantly for kbb installers, quicker. www.festool.co.uk
