Festool Carvex 420 (both corded & battery) - Comparisons

[tbellemare]

If you had a track saw handy, you could back bevel real close to the scribe with it and then use the jigsaw.

Tom

 

[Frank Pellow]

If you had a track saw handy, you could back bevel real close to the scribe with it and then use the jigsaw.

Tom

Not if the scribe line is as wobbly as mine -but, in many cases you would be right.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks for the test Frank.

So the angle shoe won't let the blade get closer than about 5mm from the edge.
You found a simple workaround that requires pre-cutting to within 5mm of the scribed line.
Obviously it takes extra time to make that first cut but it only takes seconds to switch shoes.

To make the test test more fair (and highlight the value of the snap-on shoes) you could test how long it takes to make the same cuts with the other saws. That is, going from 90* to bevel and back.

I'm not going to do the test again Michael.  But, I can estimate. 

The action of swapping out one shoe and swapping in another takes about 10 seconds, so that's 20 seconds combined.  It took me between 30 and 40 seconds to make the extra cut.  So, altogether, it took me about and extra minute.  The scribed cut itself took a little less than 2 minutes with the Bosch and the Carvex and about 30 seconds longer with the (unlighted) Trion.

 

[ScotF]

Excellent pictures and description, Frank.  Seems like a good workaround that is not all that slow.

How have you found the cuts to be using the guide rail adaptor and the Carvex?  Has the inability to adjust the base to the guiderail been an issue? 

Scot

 

[Frank Pellow]

...

It's a pain to set a jigsaw back to 90* after it's been set to some other angle. Sure most good jigsaws have notches in thier tiltable base but they almost always require further fiddling to get the saw to cut square. It would be great to simply snap back and forth between the angle base and the 90* base if that is what you need to do.

Right you are Michael and that is, indeed, what I do.

 

[nanook]

thanks Frank - looking like the Carvex is looking better and better [eek]

 

[hemlock]

Frank or others, what is your experience with the Carvex's dust collection using the guide rail base either on the tracks or for the circle cutter?  There has been some discussion in other threads about the dust collection port not fitting well on that base implying dust collection does not work well or as well as the 90degree base...thx

 

[Frank Pellow]

thanks Frank - looking like the Carvex is looking better and better [eek]

Yes it is.  [smile] 

The Bosch is also looking better and better.  I purchased it, just to do these comparison tests and planned to sell it right away.  Now, I think that I will probably keep the Bosch as well as the battery powered Carvex.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Excellent pictures and description, Frank.  Seems like a good workaround that is not all that slow.

How have you found the cuts to be using the guide rail adaptor and the Carvex?  Has the inability to adjust the base to the guiderail been an issue? 

Scot

Thanks Scot.

There is very little play in the guide rail adapter and , since I push the same way on the saw while making the cut, the distance of the saw from the rail is not likely to vary.  Even if I did move the saw the wide of the variance, it is not likely to matter because the play is only somewhere between 1 and 3 millimetres.  I can't think of anything I have made out of wood where that would matter.

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Thanks, Frank.  Great job on the review.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Frank or others, what is your experience with the Carvex's dust collection using the guide rail base either on the tracks or for the circle cutter?   There has been some discussion in other threads about the dust collection port not fitting well on that base implying dust collection does not work well or as well as the 90degree base...thx

I haven't got a Festool vac handy right now so can't check.  I will do so in a day or so.

I can tell you that the dust collection part does fit well on base in question.  If anything, the mouth of the attachment is closer to the blade on the track/circle base than it is on the standard base.  Here is a photo:

[attachthumb=#1]

 

[hemlock]

Frank or others, what is your experience with the Carvex's dust collection using the guide rail base either on the tracks or for the circle cutter?   There has been some discussion in other threads about the dust collection port not fitting well on that base implying dust collection does not work well or as well as the 90degree base...thx

I haven't got a Festool vac handy right now so can't check.  I will do so in a day or so.

I can tell you that the dust collection part does fit well on base in question.  If anything, the mouth of the attachment is closer to the blade on the track/circle base than it is on the standard base.  Here is a photo:

[attachthumb=#1]

Excellent, Frank!   There is thread on Ask Festool that is confusing, as it implied otherwise, that you seem to have clarified.   I guess like the saw, I need to go look and buy to find out for myself  [big grin]

 

[ScotF]

thanks Frank - looking like the Carvex is looking better and better [eek]

Yes it is.   [smile] 

The Bosch is also looking better and better.  I purchased it, just to do these comparison tests and planned to sell it right away.  Now, I think that I will probably keep the Bosch as well as the battery powered Carvex.

I have the same Bosch and I just got the circle cutter/straight-edge for it from Amazon.  To my surprise it also has a groove to allow it to be used on Festool's guide-rail, which is a nice bonus.  I like the Bosch and it works really well with Carvex blades or Trion blades.  I find I have trouble getting perfectly square cuts with thinner Bosch blades.  Could be technique, but my only complaint with the saw so far is getting it to cut 100% perpendicular.  The Festool jigsaws do so right out of the box and with different blades.

Scot

 

[Tinker]

Frank, I only just came across this review/report.  I have not read all of the replies, and probably won't finish for another few days; but you have done an excellent job.  I like the way you include real project type demos in your reports. 

I only tried the Carvex one time along with several other WW'ers and for me, it seemed rather clumsy as i could not get a full grip on the barrel.  I can with my Trion.  Your report, and some of the replies seem to indicate that I am not alone. 

I will continue reading on sometime tomorrow when i get tired of working on my LS equipment.  This time of year, I have to squeeze i WW'ing interests here and there as i can sneak in the time.  From what i read so far, i am thinking i will get tired of the LS equipment sooner than later.
Just a really fine job.
Tinker

 

[Frank Pellow]

Frank or others, what is your experience with the Carvex's dust collection using the guide rail base either on the tracks or for the circle cutter?   There has been some discussion in other threads about the dust collection port not fitting well on that base implying dust collection does not work well or as well as the 90degree base...thx

I haven't got a Festool vac handy right now so can't check.  I will do so in a day or so.

I can tell you that the dust collection part does fit well on base in question.  If anything, the mouth of the attachment is closer to the blade on the track/circle base than it is on the standard base.  Here is a photo:

[attachthumb=#3]

Now that I have a Festool vac back in my workshed, I was able to test the dust collection of the Carvex on a rail.

I chose to rip a 120 cm long kerf in 35 mm thick spruce.  At least 95 percent of the dust was picked up.  

Here are a couple of photos:

[attachthumb=#1]  [attachthumb=#2]  

I also tried some crosscuts and the dust collection was just as good.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, I only just came across this review/report.  I have not read all of the replies, and probably won't finish for another few days; but you have done an excellent job.  I like the way you include real project type demos in your reports. 

...

Just a really fine job.

Tinker

Thanks Tinker.  When I test tools, the most important customer that I am testing those tools for is me.  So, I need to test them with tasks that I really do.  It's as simple as that.

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

This thread was helpful. Thanks Frank and everyone else. Yesterday, I ordered the Carvex.  I went with the corded model because my work is indoors and the vac hose will be hooked up to saw anyway.

 

[Paul G]

Slightly off topic but this is the first time I've heard a corded tool referred to as a main, is that common language in parts other than here?

 

[Frank Pellow]

Slightly off topic but this is the first time I've heard a corded tool referred to as a main, is that common language in parts other than here?

Referring to electricity that comes into a building from the "grid" as being from "the mains" is part of my vocabulary but, now that you question it, I realize that is a term that I picked up when I lived in the United Kingdom.  I guess that it is not in common use in North America.

In that I have lived and worked in the United Kingdom, in the USA, and in different regions of Canada, I find that I frequently use terms that are not familiar to the folks I am speaking to.   [embarassed]

I guess that I should change the title of the thread to refer to "corded "and "battery".

 

[Michael Kellough]

Slightly off topic but this is the first time I've heard a corded tool referred to as a main, is that common language in parts other than here?

Referring to electricity that comes into a building from the "grid" as being from "the mains" is part of my vocabulary but, now that you question it, I realize that is a term that I picked up when I lived in the United Kingdom.  I guess that it is not in common use in North America.

In that I have lived in the United Kingdom, in the USA, and in different regions of Canada, I find that I frequently use terms that are not familiar to the folks I am speaking to.   [embarassed]

I guess that I should change the title of the thread to refer to "corded "and "battery".

If you think about it "corded" is weird too. "Electric powered" and "battery powered", but the battery powered saw is also electric.
The simpler, "jigsaw" and "cordless jigsaw" are are as concise as I can formulate.