Carvex PSB 420 EBQ review/thoughts (not impressed)

[Laminator]

The few times my blade stopped below the blade eject position, a little push on the end of the blade easily puts it to the up position.

 

[mrboult]

The few times my blade stopped below the blade eject position, a little push on the end of the blade easily puts it to the up position.

Same same

 

[yetihunter]

You're about 4 years late to the party.

Story of my life.

I was around for the party and bought the Carvex because I have small girly hands.
It's insanely light (a pro and a con) and it is pretty darn slick.
Yes, the blade is a pain to insert.  Very much the same experience, here.
Obviously, with the chipguard, it's a pain to remove, also.
The blade guides are quick and simple in my environment,
I'd hate fiddling with them in yours.

Consensus has been that the Mafell is the best thing ever.
That or the high end Bosch should fit your needs a lot better.
No fiddling.  I don't like the base on the Bosch.
Mafell has the more elegant solution.  They also have the best dust extraction method (if it matters).

 

[Jaybolishes]

I also really like my cordless festool carvex.  I have the dewalt 20v cordless  and I like it as well, but I will go for the festool when I can. Not having a power cord dragging along behind the tool is a huge plus for me with a jig saw.  The nature of the tasks for a jigsaw require turning the tool around as it cuts so you can find you are paying attention to not hanging up the cord almost as much as staying on your cut line sometimes. I have never had an issue with running out of batteries.  But I have a number of 15 and 18 volt batteries with various other festool drills. If you only have a battery or two I can see the issue there. But I'm very happy with the carvex.  I've cut a number of maple butcher block sinks out with it and that's a tough task which it did very well.
  I do wish the d handle was bigger around. My hands are not large and the skinny handle isn't the perfect design also being that I'm left handed.  I wish I bought the barrel grip but it's not really a big problem.

 

[BigfootBuilder]

Well I traded it for the barrel grip battery one yesterday, and haven't yet had the chance to try it out. I tried putting a blade in in the store and it was much easier in the new one - the one I traded in was infuriating. I could not get a blade in or out, as mentioned, without extreme pressures and twisting.

[member=14853]Jaybolishes[/member] I agree with you about the cordless benefit with a jigsaw, it will be really nice not to have andything dragging back there, and I think I'll use DE pretty minimally. For shop work what I've been thinking is that I'll rig an air line from the ceiling with a small and light apparatus to blow the cut line.

How does festool not have a blower like the Bosch does? I'm trying to upgrade from the Bosch, and so far my sense is almost more of a downgrade (for thrice the price).

I agree with those above who've opined that the Carvex is not Festool's finest work, and that there are better options out there. I'm posting all of my experiences and frustrations here about it to help others make informed decisions about their tool purchases, which greatly help me when I read through the threads of others when deciding on a tool. While I generally trust Festool to produce quality machinery, there are always going to be exceptions.

I'm going to give this thing a whirl, but I will readily return it too if I find it to not meet the requirements of $550 worth of saw. Perhaps I should just go for the Mafell? With the accessory kit I'm basically at the price of the Mafell!

My other thought, if this thing does not pan out, is to go with the Bosch JS572EBL. I like the looks of that thing and it seems well done for a Bosch (I say that feeling like they've gone through a rough patch with many of their tools in the last decade or so, just personal opinion).

Without having used it yet, I gotta say the barrel grip battery jiggy that I just got my hands on sure is long. And right off the bat, why are the triggers so hard to access? Shouldn't it at least be easy to turn on and off?

Thank you all immensely for your input so far! Like with my Sprinter, it would be a different story owning such things if it weren't for the generous input of so many thoughtful folks across this world...

 

[BigfootBuilder]

Just want to follow up on this:

I've only barely gotten to use the barrel grip battery powered (PSC 420 EBQ) one I got just before leaving the country for the last 3 weeks, but I don't think I can stomach any of these Carvex's. Even with my long fingers, I cannot find a way to comfortably switch this damn thing on and off. Am I missing some trick? That's like, step 1. Turn tool on. I don't really understand the positioning of the on/off switches.

I am now conflicted between trying out Makita's cordless jigsaw, or going for Bosch's JS572EB. I think in 90%+ of a jigsaw's use, cordless is so ideal. Makita seems pretty well reviewed, but is not without its downfalls.
-No blower on the brushed version
-Blower on the BL version, but soft start a huge PITA as it can't be turned off.

The Bosch seems highly regarded in reviewlandia, as well as by folks on this forum. Perhaps I'll just deal with having a cord - as I always have - to get the highest quality tool (excepting the Mafell P1CC, which I can in no way justify the cost of).

I find it somewhat curious that no one from Festool has anything to say on this thread. And I've also found it incredibly frustrating that my calls into Festool were never returned regarding my issues with the saw, one being from the field during business hours when I could not eject a blade. Why put your phone number all over your tools if you won't answer or call me back?

I apologize for my frustrated tone, but I feel a bit cheated at the quality for the price, and from the lack of support from Festool. I've always thought you get what you pay for with these tools, and that quality service was part of that high price. I'll reconsider that now when I consider making future purchases, and do more due diligence in researching reviews...

 

[grobkuschelig]

@BigFootBuilder
I'm sorry to hear that and hope you will find a solution to your frustration.

I have only recently gotten a PSC 420, have only used on on a couple of cuts, but have to say I really like it.
As you mentioned, it takes some getting used to having to switch a tool "on" to switch it off. But after a couple of cuts it gets more and more familiar.

I have not had any blade issues...

I'd say if you are really unhappy (sounds like it) maybe just try out the Mafell.
I think you have two options:
1) you are equally annoyed by the "king of jigsaws" and face the trouble of deciding between pest and cholera.
2) you are head over heals in love, which might make you forget the Carvex pains immediately.

So win-win.

Good luck! [emoji256]

 

[Holmz]

There are not many really-really good tools.
The ETC/EC, the Mirka, the p1cc, the domino, the Zeta. (Which are also the tools that I usually recommend considering)

Whether the p1cc costs much more needs to be done with a sharp pencil to add up all the extras.
(I think the only one not included with the p1cc is the angle foot)

 

[flair woodworks]

Even with my long fingers, I cannot find a way to comfortably switch this darn thing on and off. Am I missing some trick?

Have you tried using your thumb?

 

[Nat X]

I don't know what you charge per hour, but I bet if you added up all the time you've spent typing the same thing over and over in this thread you could probably justify the price of the Mafell pretty easily.

Some of these problems are very real and some of them seem like utterly bizarre fixations of yours. Regardless, if you don't like it, you don't like it and should exercise the generous return policy as we all have whenever we found ourselves in similar situations. I myself hated the Domino 500 everybody's nuts about and will say so at the drop of a hat, but I'm not going to spend days of my life demanding Festool rush a new design to market on an internet forum because A) that's completely impossible even if they wanted to and B) finding tools I like working with is a much more productive use of everyone's time.

 

[harry_]

Marmitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite

"The British version of the product is a sticky, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company's marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it." Such is its prominence in British popular culture that the product's name has entered British English as a metaphor for something that is an acquired taste or tends to polarise opinions"

I have a PS 420 and have had zero of the issues often mentioned. I've just bought a PSC 420.

For those mentioning issues changing blades, I was reminded of a recent post on Instagram by Sedge.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTjfJiRF3ri/?taken-by=festoolsedge&hl=en

I have no idea what Festool was thinking there but it seems to me it's a process that's way over-cooked. I have a Bosch, I hit the lever and the blade comes out. The tool has no concern whatsoever with regards to the ejecting blade.

 

[Steven Owen]

I looked at the Carvex 420 but I ended-up going with the Bosch 527.  The performance of both units are on par.  The Bosch has slightly better ergonomics and line of site.  Dust collection is not as much of a make or break deal on a Jig Saw.  Both the 572 and Carvex have good dust collection and blowers. 

The Bosch 572 was a better bang for the buck at $220 less with no significant performance gains for spending the extra coin to go Green.

 

[tazcubed]

I ended up going with a Bosch JSH180B as a kit in a box and bought 2 6.3Ah batteries with a charger. Came in roughly half the cost of the Carvex. I found the lock mechanism of the Carvex to be a pain, especially when one needs to reposition one's hands or generally start and stop a few times. The Bosch lock can be turned off and not have to bother with holding 2 buttons to do the work. The only downside to the Bosch is that the blade release isn't great - buried behind the wire fence. The big plus is that the trigger is so much better than the Carvex. Handling is about the same for the most part, but the Bosch's feels more comfortable because it's a bit thicker (both D handles).

 

[ben_r_]

So whos converted the Bosch 572 to work with the Plug-It cords? Love to see how it turned out. Thats the only thing holding my back from selling my Trion is I really like to use my Festool hoses with the cords attached to them in a sleeve. Id rather not have to use a separate cord to power a non-Festool tool.

 

[Holmz]

So whos converted the Bosch 572 to work with the Plug-It cords? Love to see how it turned out. Thats the only thing holding my back from selling my Trion is I really like to use my Festool hoses with the cords attached to them in a sleeve. Id rather not have to use a separate cord to power a non-Festool tool.

IMO - Run another cord and use a Neutrik on it and convert the Bosch at a Neutrik.
just about all my tools have a Neutrik TrueOne PowerCon on them once the warranty is done (and sometimes before  [eek]).

Or get maybe for you, get the UK version of the PlugIt and convert the Bosch to match the Festools... While the Neutrik is better in every way imaginable and measurable, just go straight to the PlugIt.

 

[ben_r_]

So whos converted the Bosch 572 to work with the Plug-It cords? Love to see how it turned out. Thats the only thing holding my back from selling my Trion is I really like to use my Festool hoses with the cords attached to them in a sleeve. Id rather not have to use a separate cord to power a non-Festool tool.

IMO - Run another cord and use a Neutrik on it and convert the Bosch at a Neutrik.
just about all my tools have a Neutrik TrueOne PowerCon on them once the warranty is done (and sometimes before  [eek]).

Or get maybe for you, get the UK version of the PlugIt and convert the Bosch to match the Festools... While the Neutrik is better in every way imaginable and measurable, just go straight to the PlugIt.

Wow, never looked into the Neutrik TrueOne PowerCon connectors before, and I have used Neutrik connectors for all my audio cables for many years now. I think for a jigsaw Id rather have it be a Plug-It connector as Im pretty deep in the Festool system, but for other stuff I will certainly keep these in mind!

 

[Holmz]

...
Wow, never looked into the Neutrik TrueOne PowerCon connectors before, and I have used Neutrik connectors for all my audio cables for many years now. I think for a jigsaw Id rather have it be a Plug-It connector as Im pretty deep in the Festool system, but for other stuff I will certainly keep these in mind!

This is kind of funny.
I started out with the TrueOne and only just recently found their SpeakOn and RCAs.

 

[ben_r_]

...
Wow, never looked into the Neutrik TrueOne PowerCon connectors before, and I have used Neutrik connectors for all my audio cables for many years now. I think for a jigsaw Id rather have it be a Plug-It connector as Im pretty deep in the Festool system, but for other stuff I will certainly keep these in mind!

This is kind of funny.
I started out with the TrueOne and only just recently found their SpeakOn and RCAs.

lol worked in reverse for you huh? Yea in the US their audio connectors are pretty much the go to standard for top of the line cables. Sure there are audiofool boutique offerings, but for actual commercial work Neutrik is as good as it needs to get and has been for many years now.

 

[yetihunter]

I soldered thousands of Neutrik XLR's back when I was sexy. 
I have forgotten the name of their major competitor, so I guess that speaks volumes
The memory does tell me that the Scandanavians gave me a good verbal beatdown
for pronouncing solder with a silent "L".

Ben, the plug it pigtails (pig-it?,plugtails? Duck Tales a woo hoo?)
lasted a whole one day on a couple of things before I swapped back to the standard cords.  All in, a costly experiment, considering I had to buy a new logic board for the RAS 115 after murdering the terminal block.  Also, that whole voiding the warranty thing. 

I picked up a few plugtails, but I can only confirm knowing the whereabouts of two
if you want me to send them to you, on the house.  You, too, can experience having a plomb bob dangling off the back of a power tool.

Bigfootbuilder needs to suck it up and buy the P1CC.
What irks you about the Carvex is what Mafell got right (particularly
your switch location woes). 

My dream jigsaw would combine the best features of the P1CC
and the Carvex.  P1CC for where the rubber hits the road, and Festool
for the bells and whistles. 

 

[Steven Owen]

I don't know what you charge per hour, but I bet if you added up all the time you've spent typing the same thing over and over in this thread you could probably justify the price of the Mafell pretty easily.

Some of these problems are very real and some of them seem like utterly bizarre fixations of yours. Regardless, if you don't like it, you don't like it and should exercise the generous return policy as we all have whenever we found ourselves in similar situations. I myself hated the Domino 500 everybody's nuts about and will say so at the drop of a hat, but I'm not going to spend days of my life demanding Festool rush a new design to market on an internet forum because A) that's completely impossible even if they wanted to and B) finding tools I like working with is a much more productive use of everyone's time.

Everyone has a different way of working and different set of expectations for the tools they’re using in a project.  It’s next to impossible to build the perfect tool.

I love the Bosch 572 because it has the best line of sight of any jig saw on the market.  Other people hate rhe 572 because it’s much heavier than the Festool and Makita.  Who’s right.  Nobody is right.  Each person has completely different expectations.