Tech Notes - Low Speed Settings on Festool Routers

We present you a reprint of a Tech Notes article written by Festool's David McGibbon:

Tech Notes No. 16/07                                                          

11/30/2007

 Low speed settings on Festool Routers

Some of you may have noticed that the speed control adjustment in the Festool routers does not seem to have the effect of slowing the machine down when it is set on number 3 or below. The setting of 1 or 2 runs the machine at the same speed as setting 3. This is normal behavior for the routers when they are not under load.

The speed control is synchronized at 60 times a second to send either short or long pulses of current. When there is no load on the spindle, the mass of the armature acts like an energy collecting flywheel, and even the shortest pulses add energy to the free spinning armature. It is much like pedaling a bicycle down hill.

As soon as the router is put under any load, the slower speeds will lock in under the control of the tachometer. Sometimes mounting a large cutter in the spindle will produce enough load to change things. By the way, if our TS55 saw is run without a blade, the same thing will happen… the speed control seems to have and effect only after the setting is more than half way.

David McGibbon
Service/Tech Support

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