Carvex PSC400 not guiding the blade thru curves

[RC]

I'm buggered with the blade guide of my Carvex. I'm trying to cut a simple 38cm diametre circle out of pine and can't get more than 10cm of circumfrence cut before the blade (new Festool S75/2.5) deflect over the guide.

Any ideas what to do? Send it back to Festool for repairs?

 

[ajones]

If you are using the correct blade for what you are doing I would be sending it back for an upgrade to the new model..

I am amazed that festool are still selling this piece of crap in Europe

they should really be staring at a class action lawsuit

 

[Qwas]

I had the same problem with the older PS 300 jigsaw, it's the blade. The S75/2.5 is designed for straight cuts and does so well that it will resist the circle cutter jig. Switch to the S75/4 FSG or the S50/1.4 K blade and it should work fine.

Here is a link to the Festool pdf file on their jigsaw blades: http://www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/jigsawbladecompchart.pdf

 

[RC]

Urgh! Well, since I ruined the board I had for this I might try the /4 K blade on it... Hope it works...

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Reiska,

Despite the possible contribution of your Carvex to the problem it is more likely to be the blade. Try one with a little more 'set' (the teeth stick out to the left and right of the blade) so that the teeth clear a path as it goes through the curve.

Peter

 

[Timtool]

Last week i cut out a half circle 60cm in diameter out of a 46mm thick beech worktop, out of precaution i did some tests by setting a smaller diameter first.
I tried all the festool blades ( i got a set of 5 different blade types with mine) and all would go totally out of square after 5-10cm, then out of desperation i put on a Bosch bi-metal (not even meant to cut wood) blade, and it cut perfectly square for about half the cut and then the circle jig started bending and the cut got out of square. I was able to get the cut square with a router.

I don't think theres anything wrong with your Carvex 400, that's just how terrible they are.

 

[richard.selwyn]

My carvex has been back 3 times. I even had an email from the boss pf Festool France and they kindly put the new electronics in free of charge so I can turn off the strobe light. Very good pf them. But its still won't cut a circle. Its rubbish. I wish I could get my money back. I think I'll probably end up giving it away. Perhaps you should do the same.
Extremely disgruntled Festool owner ( very happy with the rest of the multi thousand pound /dollar festool investment tho)
Richard

 

[mwildt]

Sounds like its time for some parfdog's or a real router circle jig like Jasper Model 400 which I've used with success in the past. Peter did a cool video on his idea and with those he described how to cut circles too.

 

[Stone Message]

It is interesting hearing about the problems cutting circles. Please take a look at the Festool manual and tell me what the maximum thickness wood they say that you can cut using the Core Maker. Also, do they recommend a particular blade or blade type when doing trammel work? This is one area where my old jigsaw always let me down - and it is not made by Festool!

Peter

 

[TomGadwa1]

Suggest cutting slightly oversized with the Jigsaw. Then fine tune the workpiece using a router with the trammel unit and appropriate cutter. This should yield acceptable results. It may be hoping for too much to have a jig saw cut out a "PERFECT CIRCLE" whereas with a router and trammel unit or even jigging up on a router table seems to be more realistic.

 

[RC]

It is interesting hearing about the problems cutting circles. Please take a look at the Festool manual and tell me what the maximum thickness wood they say that you can cut using the Core Maker. Also, do they recommend a particular blade or blade type when doing trammel work? This is one area where my old jigsaw always let me down - and it is not made by Festool!

Sorry to say, but the Carvex manual doesn't say a thing about special thicknesses for the Core Maker:

Recommended when using the circle cutter:
 Cut in an anticlockwise direction.
 Work at a slow rate of advance.
 Set the pendulum stroke [1-11] to 0 - 1.
 Set the stroke rate [1-5] to 1 - 5.
 Store the centring mandrel in the depot [11-3].

I'll try the S75/4 FSG and the S75/4 K blades later today that are meant specificly for cutting curves and see if that helps.

 

[Nigel]

But you're cutting anti-clockwise! Can 't see why that should make a big difference. I'd forget the trammel,cut as near as by eye and finish with a router.

 

[Stone Message]

I cannot understand the clockwise-antclockwise bit unless the machine is asymmetric. I do not know how it is engineered but it may be that the up and down motion is created by having a shaft attached to a rotating wheel (there must be a really good engineering term for this) - anyway this bi-polar orbiting flange sprocket may be the thing that makes the jigsaw asymmetric.

My experience with my old Stanley jigsaw is that you get the best vertical (right angle to surface) cut on tight curves using a narrow blade that has plenty of 'set'. This gives the blade some extra room for the curve and helps stop the rear of the blade binding.

Peter

 

[TomGadwa1]

It depends on which hemisphere that the saw is being used in. In the northern hemisphere the circle needs to be cut in an anti clockwise direction whilst in the southern hemisphere the circle should be cut in a clockwise direction. This can be explained due to the Coriolis effect.This is due to the gravitation force that acts on moving objects in relation the rotational vectors of the Earth's movement through space. This was proven in history when Coriolis instructed the French Army Artillery units to compensate their aiming coordinates to more accurately land the projectiles on enemy targets. Until his advise was followed many rounds of ordinance were not as lethal as was desired by the commanders. Turns out that over the long distance that the projectile had to traverse the Earth actually had time to rotate away from the calculated coordinates of the Artillery Officers. Thus the ordinance did not land in the proper target area. I am not certain if this really has a bearing on cutting circles with a jig saw accurately or not, but how often does one get to discuss this gentleman's contribution to science?

 

[ajones]

I cannot understand the clockwise-antclockwise bit unless the machine is asymmetric. I do not know how it is engineered but it may be that the up and down motion is created by having a shaft attached to a rotating wheel (there must be a really good engineering term for this) - anyway this bi-polar orbiting flange sprocket may be the thing that makes the jigsaw asymmetric.

My experience with my old Stanley jigsaw is that you get the best vertical (right angle to surface) cut on tight curves using a narrow blade that has plenty of 'set'. This gives the blade some extra room for the curve and helps stop the rear of the blade binding.

Peter

Peter this is what the mafell cunex blade is like its two blades wide at the cutting edge and tapered to the rear giving the blade heaps of room to cut sharp curves

 

[Stone Message]

The Mafell blade sounds brilliant - does it by any chance fit the Carvex? It might be the solution to the problem.

Peter

 

[Timtool]

That mafell blade is said to only fit on the mafell, festool does advise to use blades that are always extending lower than the material being cut.
How thick was that pine top yours Reiska? On mine i actually should have used a long blade but i didn't have any of festools.

Proper blade or not, the guide system on the PS400 is kind of rubbish, in reality it doesn't allow tight curves or really straight lines. All it allows is the blade to easily jump out of it and when you are using a circle jig or rail guide, then the saw is locked and you can't compensate the tendency of the blade to wander and it will then jump out of the guide.

 

[luke1984]

I've had the same problem I spoke to festool and they are going repair it il let you know how I get on

 

[RC]

The board is only 28mm thick so the blade definitely was long enough. I tried cutting the other half clockwise with a thin Craftomat blade I've successfully used for cutting spiral shaped trivets out of hardwood and it did work a bit better, but it turns out that the Core Cutter thing is slightly asymmetric even thou I swithched the centre pin to the correct side when switched cutting direction.
Difference on one side:

And the scew of the blade on the other:

Next I'll try the other Festool blades to see if they make any difference.

 

[RC]

Edit: the successful spiral cutting was done with my old (and subsequently sold) Makita jigsaw. Some times I'm too quick for my own good :-(