New Tool Review - "Festool Circular Saw."

Well, enough planning. It is time to get started with the Festool System.    I have Karla get a feel for the Festool saw — actually, the company calls it the "Festool ATF 55 E-Plus Portable Circular Plunge-cut saw." I have brought out my trusty Porter-Cable saw so that she could see some of the differences.
	The saw comes in a "Systainer." I generally do not keep the metal or plastic "fitted" boxes that come with many power tools. I prefer to put the tool in its place in a tool crib I made. But, this Systainer part of the system is really neat and has quite a few features that make it useful.    Karla has stacked the Systainer on top of the vacuum. She is locking this stack with one of two plastic clips.    In fact, if you look closely, there is a shallow Systainer at the bottom of the stack. It is fitted for holding the guide system parts. It can stay there locked in the stack or be removed very easily.
Karla has plugged in the saw's long electric cord into the outlet on the vacuum. The dust collection hose is also plugged in. The dial in the corner has an "On, Off and Auto" setting. When she is ready to start, she will turn this switch to automatic. Then, each time she turns the saw on, the vacuum will go on as well.
	Now, Karla can place the shorter guide for the first cross cut. The guide system includes two clamps that can be inserted in a groove on the underside of the guide. The arrow points to her mark. She lines the guide so that it is just at the mark. Remember, I have trimmed both guides so that the hard rubber strip is at the exact location where the cut will be — no offset needed here! That alone makes me want to love this system.
Before Karla energizes the saw, I have her lower the blade and set the depth stop so that the blade teeth are just below the board she wants to cut.    Note, that I have placed the 4 X 8 sheet of white melamine board on top of a sheet of 1" foam insulation board. Both these sheets rest on a pair of horses.    I have used the "foam board under" method for years. The foam board keeps the cutoffs from falling away and also helps give a better cut. With the blade set just enough to cut the real sheet, little damage happens to the foam board, and it can be used over and over again.
	Now that the saw depth is set, Karla places the saw so that its base is seated on the guide properly.
She has attached the vacuum hose to the saw and has checked that everything is ready — and now turns the switch to "Auto."
	This is her first cut ever and she saws like a pro. What she did was place the saw at the start of the guide. She released the safety and turned the saw on. It is a "soft start" saw but was at speed in a flash. When it was at speed, she pushed the handle down and gently plunged the blade into the panel. When it was fully down, she pushed the saw forward and made the cut.
Midway along the cut, she had to change her position. The Festool saw makes this task safe and simple. She simply lets the saw "unplunge" and with the blade no longer in the kerf, she can turn it off and reposition herself. When ready, she turns it on, plunges and goes.    For all of you who have used a standard circular saw to make this type of cut, just think about the differences — a guide system that is positive and in control, a plunge that allows you to start and stop without binding the blade in the kerf...and many other nice differences.
	Here is another nice little feature. Since the blade is retracted, the base is always flat, and the saw can be safely put on the Systainer stack between cuts.
With the "cut-off" still supported by the foam sheet, Karla can simply measure for the next cut. The arrow is for the kerf of the cut she just made.
	She has pulled the board about 2 inches away from the mating piece and clamps the guide to the one end. There is no room to place a clamp at the other end, so this is a test to see how well the guide works with only one end clamped. I should note that the underside of the guide has three rubber strips to keep it from moving during the cut. The white melamine surface should be quite a test.
The cut went smoothly and Karla could watch the progress of the blade. She stopped the saw and unplunged as soon as the window (arrow) approached the next piece. The two inch space that she had left worked fine — as did the single clamp. The saw is so well balanced on the guide, that there is little movement laterally.