Carvex Question..

[slodat]

I bought my Carvex last June but didn't really get to using it until the last month or so. It has burned up about six new, spendy Festool blades. Is this a known thing?

 

[copcarcollector]

I bought my Carvex last June but didn't really get to using it until the last month or so. It has burned up about six new, spendy Festool blades. Is this a known thing?

Have you adjusted the guides?

 

[sancho57]

Hi
  Again, this Mafell / Carvex 'review' comes to the surface for another breath of air. There is a historical element behind this video as to were it came from and the reasons why it was published which personally i think are best left alone.
If you are not sure use the 15 day return policy.
keep or return and use it for the applications you work on.
Visit one of our trade shows and try it out.
The Carvex is an excellent machine...........
rg
Phil

If this is such a bone of contention why not organise for a better review to take place?  Festool organise/fund the purchase of a Mafell P1CC and send it along with a Carvex to someone who is independent and respected to do a side by side review and give an honest assessment of the pro's and con's of each machine.

For less than £500 this could be the best investment Festool ever make in putting this issue to bed, that is if they are confident the findings in that video are less than transparent!

Where would that end?  Next, people would be calling for "independent" comparisons of drills, compound miter saws, sanders, tracksaws?  Festool doesn't NEED to prove anything. Their sales speak for themselves. No need to create a public war between companies.  Even independent tests can be manipulated.

I really don't think Festool has to worry much about Mafell.  The sales of the Carvex aren't being pummeled, and Festool is doing just fine. Additionally, their support is unparalleled, with many dealers for support and assistance,  while Mafell has ONE SINGLE dealer in the USA.

My  [2cents]
Frank

To say they don't need to prove themselves is a cop out. It is standard in many industries to submit your products to reviewers for comparisons. It happens in the car industry, electronics industry, etc. It's not about a war, it's about manufacturers demonstrating confidence in their products.

If Festool has nothing to worry about with Mafell, how come the moderators/staff seem to go to DEFCON 1 each time that video is posted/mentioned?

Finally its' not all about the USA. Festool are an international company, and this forum has members from all over the world. The UK and Europe have multiple Festool and Mafell dealers in most countries.

I don't understand the waste of band width talking about this, if ya want the Mafell, buy the Mafell, if ya want the carvex buy the carvex.

I don't buy tools based on video reviews anyway. I'll check the tool out do comparisons and then buy whatever I want...

 

[green fever]

Hi guys all the talk about mafell p1cc jigsaw which is a very nice tool bye the way ,
one thing that has been overlooked is it only comes in mains voltage no battery version ( cordless ) I have the carvex 420 18 volt and does everything I need it to do,
If mafell manufactured a cordless version of the p1cc that would be interesting ,
Try the carvex if that doesn't meet your expectations return it within the period stated then look elsewhere , I also use a lot of other branded tools so my comments are not just a festool biased,  regards green.

 

[Stone Message]

Hi WelshWood

I saw that contrived video when it was put on the FOG. I made note of the so called members involved and they don't seem to be around any more - that should tell you something.

The Carvex 420 would be brilliant for the bird's mouth joints you mention. It will easily cope with 4x2 but has no problems whatsoever with thicker stuff. Here is a video that I made to debunk that rubbish posted a long time ago and note that I end up cutting a huge lump of hard maple.



Points to note:

Since then I only use the Carvex in pendulum position 3 (thanks Phil for that advice). When the video was shot I only had one 15 volt Festool battery and I showed, quite honestly, the point when I had to recharge the battery which had been used for loads of other cuts prior to making the video. Since then I have 18 volt batteries which last longer.

I also "won" a railway sleeper from my timberyard. They had a sale on and I said that I could cut across a 5" x 10" green oak beam (a pretend railway sleeper for the garden) in one go with the Carvex 420 (remember it only had the 15 volt battery). It did it with no problem at all and drew quite a crowd. I got my 8 ' lump of oak free that day.

Peter

 

[Phil Beckley]

Seems like i've cooked up a storm with this post..

Genuinely didn't know that this video has had so many comments about it already so sorry if you thought I was bringing it back from the dead..

I can understand some comments comparing speed to quality, and would rather quality over speed anyday. However, it just seemed alarming the difference between the two.

Even so, with any tool you will get there will be people for an against it, and through experience, I haven't had any trouble with Festool as the quality speaks for itself, seems like i'll have to take advantage of the 15 day send back option

~WW

Hi
I guess now you see why i am very quick to jump in on the debate when this video and the background to it rears its head. The FOG is an open forum with many debates on all manner of subjects in this industry - so long as there is no hidden agenda or underhand methods going on which with this video there was.
  Give the 420 series a go and make use of the return policy if it is needed. If you need any visits or tech help just let me know.
RG
Phil

 

[joiner1970]

I used my new psc420 today to cut some birdsmouths in some 4 x 2's. Thought I'd try the Carvex blade that came with it which looks similar to the trion blades. When I tried to fit the blade it wouldn't click in or even twist. It went in the end but took a few minutes of fiddling unlike all the other blades that you just push in and twist job done.

Anyone else had trouble inserting the gold carvex blades

 

[Ant]

I recently bought a cordless carvex for a roofing job where there was no power, I usually use my corded maetabo jigsaw for the birds mouths & it does an ok job so I did have something to compare it to. The carvex did a better job than the maetabo, the cut was a lot cleaner & perfectly square. I did have to change batterys half way through & I don't like the strobe, they are the only minor negatives. It's not very often nowadays where the rafters are thicker than 50mm anyway & the carvex is as quick through this as my corded machine. I used the gold blades & havn't had a problem. Don't think you will be disapointed with it if you give it a try.

[attachthumb=2]

 

[semenza]

I recently bought a cordless carvex for a roofing job where there was no power, I usually use my corded maetabo jigsaw for the birds mouths & it does an ok job so I did have something to compare it to. The carvex did a better job than the maetabo, the cut was a lot cleaner & perfectly square. I did have to change batterys half way through & I don't like the strobe, they are the only minor negatives. It's not very often nowadays where the rafters are thicker than 50mm anyway & the carvex is as quick through this as my corded machine. I used the gold blades & havn't had a problem. Don't think you will be disapointed with it if you give it a try.

[attachthumb=2]

      You can turn the strobe off. You hold both power switches for a few seconds then use one to select. Something like that ..... check the manual for exact method.

Seth

 

[Holmz]

Hi guys all the talk about mafell p1cc jigsaw which is a very nice tool bye the way ,
one thing that has been overlooked is it only comes in mains voltage no battery version ( cordless ) I have the carvex 420 18 volt and does everything I need it to do,
...

^Exactly^

For me I am starting with nothing, so I ordered an MFT3 and got the gear to put the Mafell rail onto it.
The Mt55 was ordered last night, and I am holding off on the P1cc at the moment.
I got a Domino700 a week ago and it should be here in a week.
As I have 240v it made sense to get the Domino from Europe and the Mafell Mt55 being 230v makes sense. That is putting me onto the Mafell rail system.

If I was starting with a festool rail (And other tools) then I would not loose any sleep over having a festool jig saw.

Since I only need the track saw and domino at the moment then all is well.
If I need a router then I will have to source which ever way seems the set option.

In a perfect world the rails would follow a DIN standard (or ASME, or IEEE, etc), and then all the saws would work with all the rails.
Pretty much how Skis conform to DIN7880, and then all the binding can work on all the skis.

 

[Phil Beckley]

I recently bought a cordless carvex for a roofing job where there was no power, I usually use my corded maetabo jigsaw for the birds mouths & it does an ok job so I did have something to compare it to. The carvex did a better job than the maetabo, the cut was a lot cleaner & perfectly square. I did have to change batterys half way through & I don't like the strobe, they are the only minor negatives. It's not very often nowadays where the rafters are thicker than 50mm anyway & the carvex is as quick through this as my corded machine. I used the gold blades & havn't had a problem. Don't think you will be disapointed with it if you give it a try.

[attachthumb=2]

      You can turn the strobe off. You hold both power switches for a few seconds then use one to select. Something like that ..... check the manual for exact method.

Seth

Pull both slide switches forward for 10 seconds or until the lights flash and the machine 'beeps'.
Let go of both slide switches - now with the left slide switch you can scroll through the settings.
Strobe, permanent, Off so when the setting has been selected push the right side slide switch forward and release - bingo all done. If Strobe or permanent light has been selected and the machine is used inverted then the lights will switch off and come back on when back in the upright position.
rg
Phil

 

[Ant]

I recently bought a cordless carvex for a roofing job where there was no power, I usually use my corded maetabo jigsaw for the birds mouths & it does an ok job so I did have something to compare it to. The carvex did a better job than the maetabo, the cut was a lot cleaner & perfectly square. I did have to change batterys half way through & I don't like the strobe, they are the only minor negatives. It's not very often nowadays where the rafters are thicker than 50mm anyway & the carvex is as quick through this as my corded machine. I used the gold blades & havn't had a problem. Don't think you will be disapointed with it if you give it a try.

      You can turn the strobe off. You hold both power switches for a few seconds then use one to select. Something like that ..... check the manual for exact method.

Seth

Pull both slide switches forward for 10 seconds or until the lights flash and the machine 'beeps'.
Let go of both slide switches - now with the left slide switch you can scroll through the settings.
Strobe, permanent, Off so when the setting has been selected push the right side slide switch forward and release - bingo all done. If Strobe or permanent light has been selected and the machine is used inverted then the lights will switch off and come back on when back in the upright position.
rg
Phil

Thanks Phil / Seth
I did a few test cuts when I first got it, realised I didn't like the strobe & read the manual on turning the strobe off. I was just trying to find a few negatives but struggling to!
Very happy with it & thanks for the free battery. 

 

[joiner1970]

@ Phil Beckley are the gold CARVEX blades harder to fit ? I had a real struggle fitting the one that came with my new psc420. Took ages before it would twist. Where as the other thinner blades push in and twist easily

 

[peter halle]

Not Phil here, but I think that there may be some blades that have a too thick paint coating believe it or not that might be your issue.  I have sanded some down to get them to work in mine.

Peter

 

[richy3333]

Not Phil here, but I think that there may be some blades that have a too thick paint coating believe it or not that might be your issue.  I have sanded some down to get them to work in mine.

Peter

Peter, which sander and paper grit can you recommend for that

 

[Phil Beckley]

@ Phil Beckley are the gold CARVEX blades harder to fit ? I had a real struggle fitting the one that came with my new psc420. Took ages before it would twist. Where as the other thinner blades push in and twist easily

Hi
  The coating on the F.S.G blades was reduced to resolve this when the design was changed from tapered to rectanguler in section. There may be some still around that have the thicker coating. A lick over with 320g will sort out.
rg
Phil

 

[joiner1970]

@ Phil Beckley are the gold CARVEX blades harder to fit ? I had a real struggle fitting the one that came with my new psc420. Took ages before it would twist. Where as the other thinner blades push in and twist easily

Hi
  The coating on the F.S.G blades was reduced to resolve this when the design was changed from tapered to rectanguler in section. There may be some still around that have the thicker coating. A lick over with 320g will sort out.
rg
Phil

Ah I did wonder if it was the paint. I only bought the jigsaw last week and its one with the 90 years t-loc so I'm guessing it's a pretty recent problem

 

[joiner1970]

Not Phil here, but I think that there may be some blades that have a too thick paint coating believe it or not that might be your issue.  I have sanded some down to get them to work in mine.

Peter

Cheers Peter, I did wonder if that's what it was. These carvex blades seem even thicker than the old trion ones

 

[Phil Beckley]

Not Phil here, but I think that there may be some blades that have a too thick paint coating believe it or not that might be your issue.  I have sanded some down to get them to work in mine.

Peter

Cheers Peter, I did wonder if that's what it was. These carvex blades seem even thicker than the old trion ones

Just gone in the workshop and took this image, hopefully the diffrence is clear. On the right is the Carvex F.S.G blade and on the left is the previous Trion F.S.G blade.
rg
Phil

Hmmm, just checked the image and maybe not so good [unsure] you get the idea though.

 

[Wuffles]

Starting to look like the Mafell W1 blade.