Got the Festool Bug so hear I am from the UK

[martynbez]

It all started with needing a new sander so tock the plunge with the ETS 15/5.

Now a TS55 and with a CTL mini on it's way. Not sure when it will end

 

[AstroKeith]

Hi & welcome.

Answer - it probably won't end!

The quality and precision (apart from the jigsaw!) are very addictive.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I'm afraid it's all downhill from here! I started 40+ years ago and the addiction only seems to have gotten far worse over the years! ;-)

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Welcome. [member=80637]martynbez[/member]
Yeah, if you have any tendency toward an addictive personality or OCD matchy-matchy, it's probably already too late.

All you have to do is read the lower part of my posts to see how bad it can get. In my defense, I work in a cabinet shop and use them every day.

Plus the woodworking store was open and I was left unsupervised  [big grin]

 

[Cheese]

The quality and precision (apart from the jigsaw!) are very addictive.

The jigsaw in question being the Carvex...the Festool Trion on the other hand is really nice and firmly holds onto 2nd place behind the Mafell P1cc that currently costs $715. The Trion is nice stuff.  [big grin]  The Carvex is only manageable if you're looking for a cordless jigsaw.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  Welcome to the forum!  [smile]

Seth

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Since I don't consider a jigsaw to be a precision tool in the first place, nor do I use it that way, I've never quite understood the hate....though the little screw modification does seem to stabilize it some.
I checked into the Trion, when I was looking to purchase. My local dealer had both in stock, so I tried both. I just couldn't get along with the Trion. It's like a brick in comparison, easily double the weight, by handling impression anyway. The Carvex is a rather expensive thing for the "demo tool" that see it to be. Mine is the barrel-grip model, if that matters to anyone.
I really disliked the Makita cordless that I had before. It was the first generation and also insanely heavy, for comparable LXT tools. Nothing else in the Makita line was like that. I'm aware that there is an updated version of them, but I have never seen one in person.

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]    What would be any different about the cordless Festool Carvex over the corded one?

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]    What would be any different about the cordless Festool Carvex over the corded one?

Battery convenience...that's it. And I hate the carbide blade guides on both the Trion & Carvex. Although I'd purchase a battery powered Trion in a second if Festool offered one.  [big grin]

 

[rst]

As far as Fesddition goes, resistance is futile.  I use my Carvexs(corded in shop, battery in van-on-site) for fairly precise work, mostly on plastics.  It is fussier to set blades but works great for me.  It is certainly an upgrade from my first jigsaw, a metal body B&D, then an ancient Bosch 1582.  I still have the Bosch and all the available accessories, including the inverted table.  I’ve even cut glass with the at carbide blades and water bottle attachment.

 

[Michael Kellough]

As far as Fesddition goes, resistance is futile.  I use my Carvexs(corded in shop, battery in van-on-site) for fairly precise work, mostly on plastics.  It is fussier to set blades but works great for me.  It is certainly an upgrade from my first jigsaw, a metal body B&D, then an ancient Bosch 1582.  I still have the Bosch and all the available accessories, including the inverted table.  I’ve even cut glass with the at carbide blades and water bottle attachment.

I’ll never get rid of my Bosch 1582 because of how great it is with the inverted table.

A jigsaw secured upside down via a portable rig is such a fantastic combination I can’t believe there aren’t any such tables for current jigsaws. Mafell, listen up!

I found a similar Metabo table on eBay long ago but never found a decent jigsaw that would fit. I ended up grinding off some nubs and fitting a Makita cordless router so now have a tiny clamp-on router table.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]    What would be any different about the cordless Festool Carvex over the corded one?

Battery convenience...that's it. And I hate the carbide blade guides on both the Trion & Carvex. Although I'd purchase a battery powered Trion in a second if Festool offered one.  [big grin]

Oh ok, that makes sense. It's not that you would choose the battery powered Carvex over the corded Carvex (which is how I took it)

I like the carbide blade guides over the simple rollers that most others have. The adjustment is a bit of an annoyance, if you regularly change blades. As long as you are just replacing like for like it doesn't come into play. There is some wear to the blade shank that doesn't happen to the roller types, but I have also seen the rollers lock-up and fail.

 

[Cheese]

Oh ok, that makes sense. It's not that you would choose the battery powered Carvex over the corded Carvex (which is how I took it)

I like the carbide blade guides over the simple rollers that most others have. The adjustment is a bit of an annoyance, if you regularly change blades. As long as you are just replacing like for like it doesn't come into play. There is some wear to the blade shank that doesn't happen to the roller types, but I have also seen the rollers lock-up and fail.

Chalk it up to I've been spoiled with the Mafell P1cc...in my opinion, the best jig saw on the market with the Trion coming in second place. Thus my request for a battery powered Trion, because my bank account can't afford a Mafell P1 cc cordless jigsaw.

My experience has been that when cutting tight arcs in hardwood, you will never be able to stabilize the blade in a Festool jigsaw to prevent the blade from cutting at an angle. The more you crank in on the blade stabilizers, the hotter the blade becomes until it becomes blue and loses its temper. That's a whole lot of overheated blades.

[attachimg=1]

 

[mrboult]

I also don’t know how the Trion doesn’t get more love. It’s a FANTASTIC jigsaw!

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I know what you mean [member=44099]Cheese[/member] but I have never had the need to do that.
I've seen videos of guys cutting quarter-sized circles in thick hardwood, impressive....if you need that, but I don't.
For me, a jig saw is for cutting small notches, cutting outside a line for template routing, sink cutouts, etc. It's not much more than a tame version of a Sawzall (recip saw)
The only reason I even bought a Festool was because of the dust extraction factor, though it was a bit of a fools errand. The hose is even more of a negative than the cord ever was and it doesn't work with all of the bases.
If I had a "do over" I would have gotten another Bosch, like I had before. The blower clears the cut line far better, in far more situations. The Carvex really relies on the extractor, so without it, the Bosch is far better.

 

[Cheese]

If I had a "do over" I would have gotten another Bosch, like I had before. The blower clears the cut line far better, in far more situations. The Carvex really relies on the extractor, so without it, the Bosch is far better.

Among other notables...that's another feature of the Mafell, the internal blower clears the cut line blowing the dust to the other side of the base where there is a suction port for the vac...the best of both worlds.