Carvex and Vecturo

[Digital_precision]

I am new to the board and have been using Festool for a little over a year now.  My entire jobsite trailer was stolen and the insurance payout afforded me the rare opportunity to essentially start from scratch tool-wise, but with 20 years of real world experience to help better guide my decision making.  Since I primarily do remodeling work, I value dust collection highly, and that (as we all know) ultimately leads you to Festool.

So, $40,000 later, I had a LOT of green tools that I had no idea how to use.  Most people would fawn over that scenario, but let me tell you it's a really difficult journey learning all new tools.  The learning curve with Festool isn't the easiest, and I can say for certain that their stock manuals aren't all that great (Videos and Supplemental manuals are an entirely different story, however). 

With that pre-amble out of the way there are two tools in particular I need help maximizing.  One is the Carvex PSB 420 (and accessory set, whatever that is called) and the Vecturo OS400 set.  I was really excited to use the jigsaw, but truthfully, I can't really seem to adapt to it.  With the splinterguard and chip catcher in place, how the hell do you actually see what you're doing?  Am I the only one in the world who is more likely to have a siezure while using the Carvex (stroboscopic lighting) than cut accurately?  I really find myself longing for the Bosch jigsaws I had before (js470e and especially the 1587avs).  I really want to like the Carvex, but it just seems that in order to have dust extraction in place you must sacrifice line of sight.  Obviously I can attach it to a track guide and use the circle guide for accuracy, but if I want to cut a straight line the jigsaw just isn't going to be my tool of choice anyhow, and I tend to use routers to cut circles.

The other tool is the Vecturo.  This one I am no as disappointed with, simply because my hopes weren't that high for it.  My Fein tool was in the stolen trailer, but I still have two Dremel Multimax versions (MM20 for power and ease of bit change) and the 6300 because of it's agility and coping attachments.  The Vecturo, plunge cutting thingee and all, is far behind the Multimax right now.  Dremel has a plethora of attachments and specialty blades available at any big box store for a fraction of the cost of the Conturo.  The plunge thingee looks really cool, but if I am using the multitool to begin with I am likely doing so because absolute accuracy isn't life of death.  For example, Festool shows that plunge unit being used on drywall, presumably cutting out something like an old-work electrical box.  Does absolute accuracy matter here?  No.  Even if you're, say, cutting in an electrical floor box in 3/4" hardwood, the cover will hide all but the most severe screwups.  Are the Vecturo blades worth the 3x price of the Dremel ones?  Not in my experience. (bosch ones are the best, IMO).

I don't want to give the impression that I am not into Festool, because I am.  I just LOVE their ETS 150/5, Rotex 150, Kapex, TS55 and TS75, and Domino (which is a truly revolutionary tool when you start to play with it).  I have 3 of their vacuums, the 36AC, 26E, and that new SysVac thing and they are well worth their cost and then some.  Their MFT tables, while expensive, offer the ultimate in jobsite usability.  I never imagined how powerful the MFT could become, but now it's the centerpiece of the jobsite.  Employees literally fight over them.  It really is beginning to make the table saw optional, versus a must-have. 

I look forward to hearing from some of the more experienced craftsman, and I am excited to be a part of the Festool community.  There are some truly exceptional members here and the information they share is priceless.  I hope someday I can contribute as much as they do to both the FOG forum and to the world.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Lane, licensed builder and contractor
Dust to Dreams, LLC

 

[peter halle]

Regarding the Carvex, I personally have turned off the strobe and use the light full on all the time.  I don't use the clear splinter plexi square and usually I have the clear hood raised.  A jigsaw is not a prime candidate for dust collection in my mind and frankly I don't want a hose hindering things.  I cut outside though.

I have had a Fein for more than ten years and really do appreciate the upgrade to the Vecturo.  I haven't had to buy any more blades since I got mine with extra blades but I find them compatible or better than those I use on my Fein.

Peter

 

[Digital_precision]

I think you have it right with the Carvex; just ditch the dust collection.  Kind of the same thing as having dust collection on a drill press - it works out far better in theory than actuality.  Dust collection on a drill press = garbage can beneath it.

I was just wondering if I was missing something obvious with the Carvex.  All videos you see the splinterguard and chip catcher down, but I am having a difficult time actually following a cut without contorting my upper body such as to get my face like 12" away from the cut.  As for the strobe thing, I just don't get it.  Nor do any of my employees.  Nor do you.  I have yet to find a single person that actually prefers it.  Sure is trippy, and seemed like a cool feature the first time I used it.  Now it just annoys me.

What blades are you using for the Vecturo?  I had only 2, and I literally lost teeth on both of them cutting into normal materials.  Not even the end teeth, either.  Just snapped off in normal wood.  I was going to buy a 25 pack of them because that's the only way to get the price into a realistic area.  I don't want to buy the wrong blades, though, as there are quite a few.  I found myself using Carbide ones most of the time in the Multimax simply because they lasted longer.  Not quite as clean or probably as fast, but the blades definitely last far longer than the normal ones for only a slight increase in price.