Yeah when I first tried it out over a year ago I was amazed by its power to size ratio!   You look at it and think nah da wont handle much but it does!

One thing tho my mate found after a while of using Kss 300 on the spring loaded (auto retract guide rail)  is that if you dont keep it clean it starts to stick and the rail doesnt retract.  Maybe some lubrication once a while should help.   

Dont know he just told me and then quickly showed me what it was doing but I didnt have time to check it out why it wasnt gliding back smoothly.

JMB

Plus one for using with flooring!

And plus one as a quick mitre saw replacement for certain jobs

mafell saws are simply top of the line

I probably need to bite my tongue a bit here...

MAFELL may engineer reasonable power tools - the jury is out for me on that.

Something that needs to be considered is the complete experience in terms of sales, service and support and "tools on the job".

I'm a long way from being convince that MAFELL offers the full package anywhere on this planet.

All that said - hope you don't have anything but great experiences with the KSS300.

Kev

there is no comparison. this is a tool that does a lot in a small package. will it replace a compound miter saw? not outright, but it is a simpler "less set up" solution, when time and space restrictions prevent you from a full set up.  Is it an out and out replacement for a larger sized plunge saw such as the ts 55? no, but again, when you can only carry so much it does a fantastic job.
 i was doing some more experiments with the saw last night, switching from the angle track, to the roll up track to even the parallel fence. All was very fast and easy. cuts were accurate, clean and square. Best of all it all tucks away without fuss into a sys3.

For the work i do in studios and on set it allows me to pretty much have a shop in a box. A huge advantage as, in the studio, there can be line ups to use table saws and miter saws making quick simple jobs take frustratingly long. On set during shooting the shops are moved away from the sets themselves, sometimes quite a distance away. My job is to make alterations FAST and at a split seconds notice. cleanliness is important as well, as camera equpment, actors and angry directors are standing right over you waiting for you to finish so they can continue shooting. Blasting dust all over a finished room is not an option.

This saw meets all my requirements for the work i do. It gives me a massive advantage over my peers in the industry as now i'm that much quicker, cleaner and accurate  simply because of this tools versatility.

As always nothing is perfect, and minor improvements could be made for the next generation of this saw, but for now, im more than happy.

Well so far my dislikes with the Mafel 55 are

The depth adjuster!  You have to squeeze it to move it up and down and it doesn't squeeze easily and is positioned very awkwardly so much so you have to come round with your hand to adjust it.   

Placing the saw on the rail is a little awkward unlike the festool it does not just drop into places as easily (maybe over time I might do it quicker )


The main main dislike is the mafel rail grip!

 It's very poor compared to the festool rail.   I was cutting some melamine with my TS55 but I was getting some chipping  so cus the mafel had a new blade in it I thought I would use that instead but to my surprise I couldn't cut the melamine without the rail sliding about the mafel saw had more grip!   So when I pushed the saw forward it would push the rail forward with it!

I know the mafel 55 fits on festool rails so I could use my festool rail instead but that ain't the point!

Jmb

JMB, i read the very same same thing a couple days ago on a local forum from someone who owns both plunge saws, the Mafell is annoying to get on the rail, the rail keeps slipping on smooth surfaces and with the handle further back you lose a few cm in cutting capacity when starting against a wall, which in some cases can be crucial.

Intestine?  As in bowels?

I think I'd try putting the Festool rubber on the Mafell rail. It seems like that would solve the sliding problem.


Tom

Ghostfist-

I'm getting anxious for that video/review you mentioned.  The KSS 300 is on my list!

Ya full on review has taken a while hasn't it. My schedule right now, being on set, is a bit of a slower pace and quite frankly it's driving me bananas, but thats beside the point.

I think i've covered most of the major advantages to owning this saw. Mainly it's a very compact little multitasker, perfect for location work. It's a handheld sliding compound miter saw! Granted there are things you can do with a stationary miter saw that are a little more difficult with the 300 so it's not an out and out replacement but it's perfect for the situation where you don't want to set up an entire mitersaw station. Really good for quick dadoes and a great cross cut saw and it all fits in a sys 3! I promised pictures and video, but it's impossible for me to publish those while I'm on set, and I'm always on set. I am moving house soon as me and the Mrs. are parting ways, and I'm hoping for something I can set up shop in so hopefully then I can come through on my promises.

There is limitations to this saw, as with any tool, and I don't think it's for every carpenter, but it could be the perfect tool for you.

Appreciate your patience!

perfect for that.

Hello,
just wanted to chime in with my long term user experience of the KSS300.

I have the kit with the Flexirail in the Sys III. Also, I bought a short Mafell 800mm fixed rail for it, which most people assume that the KSS300 won't fit, but it does. You will lose a few mm in cutting depth vs the Flexirail though.

I have been doing a long term project building a fairly large recording studio and the KSS300 has been around the whole project. Since I had the TS55 with rails up to 3000mm on site the KSS300 has been on stand by for the most part.

However when it came down to flooring and breaking down sheet goods the KSS300 has proved its worth both on and off the rail as well as for plunge cuts in roof panels for lighting installations. Very versatile and I got comfortable doing plunge cuts with it and even did a few sans rail, which all worked fine. For flooring it has been a godsend to be able to cut down the 14mm massive oak flooring just using the short rails, including angled cuts, on top of the Festool vac.

The Flexirail works fine, and in some instances great. However on 600mm panels the Flexirail is just a little too long so you have to slide it back a little and balance it before committing to the cut or else you can't line up the rail to the end markings as the Flexirail bulges. I didn't bring the short rail so it was my own fault. I wish I had the guts to cut down a Flexirail to around 850mm for those cuts as 600mm width goods are common over here. For longer cuts (longer than the Flexiral allows) the Flexirail works fine but it can be a little cumbersome if space is cramped. The quality of cut is very fine but the precision takes a slight beating when you have to cut really long pieces. In my case the level of precision is still more than good enough but if I were to cut down a panel to strips the accumulative error might have been a problem.

Another problem is "handymen" borrowing the Mafell and failing to line up the saw properly on the Flexirail cutting INTO THE RAIL  making a dent in the rail and forcing me to replace the cutting strip. There was no replacement Mafell (red) strip readily available so I had to replace it with the Festool transparent cutting strip. I was concerned that the Festool strip would not stay put on the steel Flexirail when folded but leaving it to cure overnight I had no problems (also, I thoroughly removed old strip residue and cleansed the Flexirail prior to replacement). It seems to stay on and except for the customer having to pay for a new saw blade and the replacement strip all is in working order. The Handyman is banned from using the KSS300 though, for life.

The problem for him and one of the few nitpicks I have with the KSS300 is that the blade keeps turning for quite a while since there is no engine/blade brake on the saw. You have to be a little patient after each cut and allow for the blade to come to a full stop when using the Flexirail.

When using the short track you can just slide out after the cut and tilt it away with the blade running. After many cuts the blade guard got stuck so I needed to clean and check that after almost putting the saw down with the blade (slowly, but still) running. I use a small piece of OSB/Plywood when flooring so I always put the saw down on that anyway, but a potential hazard it is.

Also, I replaced the a/c cord with a Festool Plug-In connector, which works like a charm.

Another nitpick is that you need both hands before doing a plunge cut. If you want to cut a hole in a board and you have carefully laid out the Flexirail you can't keep one hand on the rail but have to use both hands to release the blade guard and mount the saw on the rail. It is a little awkward and takes a little longer than on a fixed rail. Also, you can easily have the saw pop out of the guide ridges when placing it down whilst working the blade guard so that is cause for concern, it would be sad to start plunging slightly into the rail  when you think you are good to go.

All in all I am very pleased with it and have done a whole kitchen with panels, flooring and cutting a 38mm oak bench top using only the KSS300, though the 38mm was at the very limit of how deep a cut I could make with the Flexirail. Cutting thinner panels with the short track freehand can cause blade binding if you are not careful with how you press the short track against the panel, it easily deflects a little under pressure but after a while you get used to it and can counter that. I wish it would be more stable though.

I don't know if pictures would make anyone happy, but I might be able to rustle up some.

/ Henrik


 

Thanks guys for the reviews. I have been reading with great interest, the KSS300 is something I'd love to have. Ghostfist, any changes or dislikes since you've had it a while longer. And did you ever consider the KSS400? Is it simply depth of cut that is different? And finally do you think this could replace a typical circular saw for everyday construction/remodeling (Canadian style  )

Henrik, by 800mm fixed rail do you mean simply a standard rail? Is there a longer "cross-cut" rail attachment available?

Thanks again guys any info is appreciated especially as info is hard to come by with such a "rare" tool.