Ultimate Review: Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI Table Saw - Unboxing, Setup, and Testing
This comprehensive video review looks at the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI table saw. Explore this product here t.ly/GpOqt
We explore the buying options, unbox the table saw, commission and calibrate it for optimal performance, and put it to the test.
From setup to testing, we provide a detailed walkthrough of each step, ensuring you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
We look at the precision and quality of the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI table saw in action as we demonstrate its capabilities and share our honest feedback.
Whether you're a woodworking enthusiast or a professional, this review will give you valuable insights into this powerful tool. Don't miss out on this in-depth review that covers every aspect of the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI table saw.
The video is time-stamped, so you can quickly find the essential information you are looking for.
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Buying options for the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
02:29 Unboxing the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
13:47 Commissioning the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
17:10 Calibrating the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
23:07 Testing the accuracy of the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
26:32 Using the Festool CSC SYS 50 EBI
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Hey all, So bought a new tool - it’s only manners to share the joy. Let the abuse begin :-) Cheers Andy
Sir Andy, I’m far from a finger pointer, my sense of humor usually lets me sit back and watch the mayhem. But I will admit you stressed my pucker string, every time you fingered the blade with the batteries in and the power button on.
That is an excellent point, and worthy of note. I consider myself safety shamed…..: Remember everyone, always disconnect the tool from the power source BEFORE you touch the moving parts. It’s easy to forget on a battery device. 😢
Watching a few more minutes in, can you use the control panel with only one battery installed and the motor not start? That would be a nice bonus piece of German engineering.
@@nutsmcflurry3737 that would be awesome, but sadly no. Cheers Andy
Thanks for a great review - where would you recommend looking for best prices?
The only Festool item that I can afford is a ruler, but I still watch these videos 😂
lol, Sadly the ruler is nothing special :-)
Was the "first on my block" to get one of these... it is indeed excellent and punches WAY above its weight category! Super accurate, super smooth, and perfect for the smaller-gauge projects I encounter. A delight to have in the shop.
100% agree, The next video is a very simple picture frame build - I relieved 100% on the accuracy of the machine to make it. No measurement, no angle finders - just the saw. I couldn’t believe how accurate this is. A joy to use. Andy
Least I can do your tips over the years are invaluable Steve
Excellent Review, best I've seen for CSC SYS 50 - Thanks!
Thank you for the feedback.
The, beautiful shots! have a good one. 😯
Thank you, Cheers Andy
Very nice! I see you've updated your intro video
Cheers Sam, Yes I have, I will be updating again soon as changing my editing software. The current has become unstable :-( Cheers Andy
Another great video Andy, thank you. I would get one of these if I didn’t already have a Shopsmith.
Thank you Kyle, How does the shop smith compare ? Cheers Andy
Great tutorial!!
Thank you,
best review, thanks sir!
Thank you, Very kind. Cheers Andy
Great review!
Thank you.
Excellent overview. You may want to try the dust collection again with the blade guard on. I would imagine it’s better.
Hi, Yes it does improve with the guard in place, but I expected more :-) Cheers Andy
Great review, clear explanations as always. Thanks Andy! BTW, would be great if someone could measure the height of the cutting table (distance from the base to where the wood is laid)? I plan to modify my workbench and put a recess to place the CSC SYS 50, the out-feed being flush with the MFT top. Thanks!
Thank you for the feedback, Table height is at 280mm, I would set your inset so the top sits ever so slightly higher than your bench. So a recess of around 278 would work well. I will be building an extension for my bench to hold this, so if you are not in a hurry that may trigger some ideas. Cheers Andy
Good review..... I wonder how it would cope with hard wood...... Is the fence adjustable (?), for improvements on accuracy.
It ripped some 25mm oak no issues, the fence and the mitre gauge are adjustable. Cheers Andy
Hi Andy did you set the blade to the Change Blade option in the menu? Steve
Hey Steve, I just put it into the park position - seemed to work OK and everything lined up. To be honest, I didn’t notice a change blade setting :-( Cheers Andy
Looks an awesome table saw.
It certainly does the job, with a high level of accuracy. Can’t complain:-)
@TheWoodgrafter Looking round for a table saw. Shame that one doesn't have enough depth of cut for what I need and it's not compatible with a dado stack.
@anthonygreen5160 Agree depth of cut is not the greatest, and you would not be able to convert this to take a dado stack. Cheers Andy
Good job.
Cheers Ralph
You can use the aluminum extrusion from the rip fence to get a longer miter fence and that will also give you access to t-slots to add a stop.
Thank you for this. Yes, you can. I still think it is an omission to not use the same extrusion on the mitre fence. Cheers Andy
Nice one Andy.... Peter Millard has been gifted a nice mitre gauge fence, have you seen his video?
Hey Paul, yes I have seen that - another great invention from Benchdogs. Cheers Andy
GREAT IT HAS A POWER PLUG ! GREAT TO SEE !
No it doesn’t have a power plug, but would be great to see :-) Battery only I’m afraid
yeah i wont by purchasing but thanks for taking one for the team. @@TheWoodgrafter
lol, thank you.
Great video. I love this saw with one exception, it's exclusively battery powered. I want the reliability of a corded version and not have to replace batteries every few years plus dealing with the batteries needing charged before use. I get it, the corporations want subscribers not buyers. If they ever make a corded version I would be very interested in getting one. If you have access to the suits at Festool it would be appreciated if you could pass this opinion on.
Hi, You are not the first to say that, it is a discussion on the forums. Festool is really pushing the cordless range at the moment so I don’t think it will be in the near future. But you could well see the digital controller appearing in the Sawstop range in the future. Fingers crossed Andy
What were the main reasons for moving to this from your 7485? Did you have problems with the Dewalt, or is it just size / noise / Festool system?
Hi Matt, The Dewalt is a good saw - and I would still recommend it. My main reason was I wanted something even more compact and lighter as I found myself moving it around a lot in the shop. I also wanted something much quieter, as the shop is in a residential area. I also wanted to improve the accuracy, and that digital control is a game changer. Dust collection was also a consideration. On the softer side, I am in the process of consolidating my battery platform in the shop, and I have had my eyes on the Festool drills for a while - so the CSC SYS also played into that strategy. And it is just a sexy machine and a pleasure to use, the Dewalt was good but not a nice machine to use - subjective I know, but I need to feel an attachment to my tools. So no problems with it, I just wanted more than the Dewalt gave me. Hope that helps. Andy
@@TheWoodgrafterThanks for the detailed reply Andy.
It looks very precise! People seem to love it apart from the battery power source!
Thank you Nicola, Yes good device, very accurate. I also wish they did a mains version. Cheers Andy
I'd buy a new SawStop (same parent company as Festool) if they put that control module in the new models. Great startup video. Thanks.
Thank you for the feedback - yes that would be a pretty awesome device. Perhaps one day…… I am also space limited, so would struggle to fit in the saw stop :-( Cheers Andy
You would also want a digital fence. Fortunately you can buy an after market one for Sawstop.
@@Tensquaremetreworkshop yes I would like a digital fence, I wonder if the saw stop one would fit. I will look into that. Cheers Andy
i have heard the guard helps with dust collection. have you tried it?
Thank you for getting in touch. Yes it makes a huge difference, however one of the things I wanted this for was for tenons and rabbet etc. you can’t do that with the hairs in place :-( The guard also stop the fence getting close to the blade so prevents rips of less than 5mm. To be fair, by comparison to most table saw’s the dust collections is good - just not perfect. Cheers Andy
@@TheWoodgrafter wow thank you for your thorough reponse! I really need something I can work with inside a client's house with way less dust and I am hoping this might help with that
I will be making a follow on video to address a couple of questions, I will demo a cut using the guard so you can see and at least get some idea. Cheers Andy
Have you tested the straightness of the sliding table? I’m on my second one and the sliding table on both of them have angled away from the main table by just under 1 degree. Raising and lowering the slider doesn’t help. If you put a straight edge running from the main table across the slider, there is a gap by the end and the straight edge wobbles. Also, the slider isn’t perfectly flat. Put a straight edge just across it and you can easily fit the cover of the manual underneath the gap it leaves.
Hi Sean, No I haven’t - that was an oversight. I’ll check it later and report back here. Good catch. Andy
Seeing this on mine and it is reported all over the place. I trust that Festool will come up with a resolution.
My sliding table also is not flat, it has a dip (concave) in the middle similar to yours. This is OK if the wood being cut is across the whole width of the sliding table but short lengths fall into the dip resulting in an inaccurate cut angle. Recalibrating the blade angle to take this into account fixes the issue but this is a disappointment. I checked the display model at my local dealer and it was the same as mine.
This is worrying, I am in the shop later today and will have a look. Cheers Andy
Just for reference, with a straight edge across the width of the sliding table I am seeing a gap of 0.3mm at its centre point. This equates to a 0.5 degree error at the blade when cutting short stock. Not massive but out enough to be noticeable with some work. I did ask Festool if this was in tolerance. They didn't answer this specific question but just asked me to raise a fault. I haven't done this yet as I wanted to have a look at the display model at my local dealer (it's the same as mine) and see if anyone else spots has the same. I also just noticed that my sliding table falls away as described by seantubridy804. Great video by the way Woodgrafter, I look forward to you evaluation of this.
Hi great explanation, I was wondering I use my kapex 120 for kitchen fittings and would like to spend a few hours setting it up calibrate it do you think you can make a video on doing it as mine gets moved from job to job and I think it might be out ever so slightly thank you
Hi Thank you for taking the time to comment. I have made a video on calibration of the 120 - it was some time ago but it is probably still valid. kzhead.info/sun/mL6gYLl8qKSvn58/bejne.htmlsi=Ou3XAxxo3yrExtlS Cheers Andy
just realized I didn't have to take the fence off, i coulc just park it and what not. Nice! touch
Yes it is a nice touch. When you think about it, it is pretty impressive how they have managed to fit this into a systainer. Cheers Andy
Hi Andy if you try the blade change position it lifts the blade and till it so the Allen goes in at a better angle also I find replacing the blade and nut because of the tilt Steve
Nice tip, thank you. Andy
This is a great review,. I'd love to splash out on this, it's got so many great features, but Festool need to release a 2.0 version before it'll be truly ready, in my opinion. No micro-adjustment on the fence is a huge error, given how insanely accurate the blade adjustment is - it's so weird that having acheived micron-level precision with your blade height and angle, you then have to tap tap tap the fence into position. Even the Dewalt jobsite saw has microadjustment, and a superior fence in general, actually. . I also don't understand the logic behind not manufacturing a power pack so that it can be used as a shop saw when not on site. The batteries on Festools are so expensive that if you have this the Kapex, and the tracksaw, running for a job, you realistically need £1000 worth of batteries to make sure you don''t fall short. As good as this is, I can't help but feel its actually just the evolutionary link between current jobsite saws and the next generation. I think the 2.0 version will be sublime.
That’s a very interesting thought process, I must confess I love this tool, but a V2.0 would be interesting. Precision fence and power pack 🤔 Interesting….
Are you getting your "degrees" and "millimeters" wixed up?
Yes I did in this one, it’s amazing how these things happen when you are concentrating on the video, Cheers Andy
I didn't think the charger had the Airstream feature. I'm not sure why Festool makes any chargers that don't have fans, especially for the price. Hopefully I am wrong.
They do make chargers without the airstream so you need to check what you are buying. These are airstream though, seem to work very well. Cheers Andy
It comes in a box. Which comes in a box. A lot of money for a saw where they left out both the mains option and a digital fence. 'Non-standard slot' - of course it is. It is Festool. Masters of the proprietary accessory. Zeroing- use of a sensor plate (auto zero) would be much more accurate than a random scrap of wood. And faster. As is universal on CNC machines. At the price, I would expect the fence to run on linear rails, Not a small extrusion into a folding table...
Thank you, I always thought this tool would split opinion. Cheers Andy
Jeez, have you used it? It is the most impressive table saw I’ve ever worked with, accurate to 1/32”.
Agree, it is very impressive when you use it. I personally think this is an awesome machine huge accuracy in a small portable footprint. And is has power to handle most jobs you would expect as saw of that size to handle. Couple this with a track saw and you have one heck of a system. That can be easily stored and taken from job site to job site. It is still a no-regret purchase for me. Cheers Andy
@@ltandrepants I can only suggest that you are easily impressed. I am used to machinery that works to ~0.01mm. Even in woodwork, that can be achieved by CNC mills. But accuracy was not the issue- which do you need to accurately adjust most often on a table saw? That would be the fence. Which, increasingly, is set digitally. My router table will give me 0.01mm selection in both fence and height- but the point is that I am not peering at a scale, but dialing it on a screen. Using a scale in this day and age is equivalent to still using a slide rule. In the case of this saw, the fact that all the gubbins to set the fence digitally has already been paid for- but the fence is manual. That, to me, is a major fail. To add insult to injury, the fence has to be set square using a little grub screw. And it all slides on an extrusion. My router fence runs on solid linear rails, and has a precision this saw could only dream about. I am currently constructing a table saw of similar dimensions- but it will be 'slightly' better- -Digitally controlled fence running on linear rails -variable speed drive with linear rail height support. -programmable multi-cuts for trenching (probably dados to you)and other multi-pass options. -built in climb cut scoring capability It will, of course, cost me much less that this saw. A question- how often do you need to set the blade to a specific height at an angle, compared to how often you have to set the fence? This saw has the former- but not the latter! I can only assume the design team had little experience of woodworking...
Your quotes seem high. I just bought mine (the "Plus" kit) for $2400CAD. About 1400 quid.
Nice purchase, those prices were correct at the time in the UK. There are often variance’s between prices in countries. Cheers Andy
Festool, the Apple of the power tool world. 😂
LoL, using both Apple and Festool tech explains where my money goes 🤔🤔🤔
i initially returned mine in the first 24 hours. - absolutely no AC/DC power plug to the wall. Only 100% battery powered (lasting no more than 30 - 40 minutes of contigious use). sorry festool, i returned it.
Hi Joseph, thanks for commenting, You definateley need to allow for a couple of sets of the larger power batteries if you are going to run this continuosly. Cheers Andy
Joseph did you not realise these were battery only before you bought it? 🤦♂️
I ended up gettng two. One Battery version for myself. And One extra.- just incase. I also would want to get the plug-in mains FESTOOL SAWSTop version just for kicks and giggles. (Yeah i have one in my garage) Too.
@josephKEOarthur Well that is just greedy :-)
Ultimate???? The moment I see that word in the title, I go away. Here I made an exception and comment. Use of that term means one of two things. One, it's a clickbait, second, it is arrogance. None of them are good in my book.
So which one was it ?
@@TheWoodgrafter That's the question for you.
In that case I’ll go with Ultimate :-)
@@TheWoodgrafter In that case I'll call you arrogant.
@@TheWoodgrafter I've watched a few of your videos and I have to say I quite liked them. Regarding my original comment some people could assume I'm a Festool hater. Totally wrong. I own a few of their products and I like them a lot, moreover, I want to have more of them. It is always good to hear different opinions from different people/users. The only problem I have is wording. To labell something as ''ultimate'' presumes the one who publishes it is the ''ultimate'' authority to make the verdict. Claiming it's the ''Ultimate'' verdict would presume you're the ''ultimate authjority'' on the subject. You are not, neither am I. You're completely free to give your personal opinion on anything, just don't call it ''ultimate'', that would mean you're most qualified to make an opinion. I know a few things, I've learned some, I know quite a lot about some things, but to call something ''the ultimate'', is only my stupidity. I am the ultimate expert on that subject. I'm prertty sure you're clickbaiting, I don't really think you're so arrogant to thionk you know more on the matter than anyone else. The wording is very important. It can tell more about you than you think. The devil is in the details. I like precise wording, without sugarcoating and deception, just be realistic. If you call it ''the ultimate whatever'', it shows you know about the subject more than anybody else. But if you add ''My'' in front of that statement, that is something completely different. Be more modest and realistic and you will build your credibility. Clicks don't make that. Please, be real to yourself and keep your wording real, clickbaiting gives just short term results. I know I can be quite anal with my stance, but if we use the right terms, it eliminates ambiguity and gives us credibility. Let us be real and the best wishes. I'd love to see your content, just without some words....
Get your elbow and hand OFF the tabletop. Ok the saw is not running but normalisation of deviance …….
Cheers Jeff, Good point.
Looks like a toy... Too small for any real work
It’s great at what is it designed for. Cheers Andy
What on earth are you doing with your hands all over a live saw blade and how unprofessional this is dangerous, people may be watching who think you know what you are doing, Shame on you
Thank you Alan, 100% correct. Always switch off and remove the batteries before going near the blade. Andy
@@TheWoodgrafter Yes but your machine was not switched off. Your batteries were in, the screen on the machine was lit up and you had your hand on the blade - look at around 20:47. You can't be showing people this, somebody will get hurt!!!
I’ve never, in over 40 years around power equipment, seen a power tool come on accidentally, maybe if you have no clue where the on/ off switch is, or your so scrambled as to bump into it, are the only way it’s turning on. And just for reference, if you plug and unplug something hundreds of times, the plug gets lose and as the electricity tries to get through a lose connection you’ve got a bigger potential problem with excess heat, which is more dangerous in a wood shop. Leave people alone on safety, it’s called a Darwin Award!😅
@brianhawes3115 Thanks Brian, i agree we are all accountable for our own safety, and we should work in a way that makes us comfortable. Cheers Andy
@@TheWoodgrafter Nice way out jumping on Brian's comment. You state in your into that you want to help take your woodworking to the next level, your works. According to Fine Woodworking Magazine in America alone there are over 31,000 injuries a year from table saws recorded in ER. I wonder how all those machines managed to mysteriously switch themselves on, how callous can you get, What a stupid comment to justify this dangerous behaviour, Shame on you
Pretty sure cis dont mean what ya think bro
What does it mean ?