Hi!
I have a question: Should I get the bosch, festool or Mafell jigsaw?
First, let me tell you a little bit about me, because it is relevant to the question. It's going to be a bit rambly, because there's a lot of ground to cover.
I'm 18 years old, and I live with my grandmother. She had an unused garage, which I was allowed to make a workshop in. I work as a carpenter, but I also study in school at the same time. My ambitions are to study 5 more years in university to work as a civil engineer. I will leave for said university in 2 years.I will probably have to empty out the garage and sell my big stationary machines (Walker Turner radial drill press, Industrial dovetailer machine, DC, pedestrial bench grinder, Old german lathe and a minimax combination machine). I also have a collection of festool: Kapex, Rotex, Domino 500, TXS, CTL26 and TS55 that I plan to hold on to. My brother said he wanted to study with me, and we plan on perhaps buying an apartment together and taking a year to refurbish it to modern standards and living there as well as renting one out.
Last week I made a wooden porch and laid a flagstone terrace as well. I were originally not going to ask for any pay, but I told her the porch project would have gotten a whole lot easier if I had a jigsaw. (I ended up using a fein saw and hand saw for curves). She now asked me if I could make her a patio that transcends into a stair from the garden door. She told me I could get a jigsaw, because that would help me help her.
Now, I buy tools one time, and one time only. That's sort of my policy. I'm young, and I'm going to use my tools for a lot of upcoming projects. I'm planning on buying the Mafell KSS 400 and the festol OF 1010. I don't really like my TS55, and I haven't invested in the festool rails. After what I read, the mafell rails are vastly better than the festool rails. Therefore, I plan on selling the TS55 and buying the KSS400 instead.
Also, In Norway, many tool stores operate under high prices, and you get a discount depending on which firm you work in (how much they buy from them). I work in AF group, one of the largest construction company in Norway. The only festool dealer in Norway is Motek. AF purchases a lot from Motek, so I get 25% on tools, and 20-50% on accesories from Festool. Almost nobody gets this much discount in this store. Further, I recently bought the TXS set from them, but they currently have discounted price if you buy CSX set + the festool jigsaw. I can still send the TXS back and buy it back as the jigsaw set.
At the end of the day, I'm not the one paying for it. I would love to have the Mafell, but do I need a jigsaw of the quality of mafell's? I don't see myself cutting arcs through 4x4's.
Festool:
cons:
not the best
fiddly with adjustment
pro:
circle jig
easy to buy, also discounted
system
plug it
battery
bosch:
cons:
not the best
pro:
price
fits mafell rails (?)
mafell:
cons:
price
no battery option
pro:
best jigsaw on the market - blade change, cutting depth, ease of use, tilt base, DC,
fits mafell rails
I have a question: Should I get the bosch, festool or Mafell jigsaw?
First, let me tell you a little bit about me, because it is relevant to the question. It's going to be a bit rambly, because there's a lot of ground to cover.
I'm 18 years old, and I live with my grandmother. She had an unused garage, which I was allowed to make a workshop in. I work as a carpenter, but I also study in school at the same time. My ambitions are to study 5 more years in university to work as a civil engineer. I will leave for said university in 2 years.I will probably have to empty out the garage and sell my big stationary machines (Walker Turner radial drill press, Industrial dovetailer machine, DC, pedestrial bench grinder, Old german lathe and a minimax combination machine). I also have a collection of festool: Kapex, Rotex, Domino 500, TXS, CTL26 and TS55 that I plan to hold on to. My brother said he wanted to study with me, and we plan on perhaps buying an apartment together and taking a year to refurbish it to modern standards and living there as well as renting one out.
Last week I made a wooden porch and laid a flagstone terrace as well. I were originally not going to ask for any pay, but I told her the porch project would have gotten a whole lot easier if I had a jigsaw. (I ended up using a fein saw and hand saw for curves). She now asked me if I could make her a patio that transcends into a stair from the garden door. She told me I could get a jigsaw, because that would help me help her.
Now, I buy tools one time, and one time only. That's sort of my policy. I'm young, and I'm going to use my tools for a lot of upcoming projects. I'm planning on buying the Mafell KSS 400 and the festol OF 1010. I don't really like my TS55, and I haven't invested in the festool rails. After what I read, the mafell rails are vastly better than the festool rails. Therefore, I plan on selling the TS55 and buying the KSS400 instead.
Also, In Norway, many tool stores operate under high prices, and you get a discount depending on which firm you work in (how much they buy from them). I work in AF group, one of the largest construction company in Norway. The only festool dealer in Norway is Motek. AF purchases a lot from Motek, so I get 25% on tools, and 20-50% on accesories from Festool. Almost nobody gets this much discount in this store. Further, I recently bought the TXS set from them, but they currently have discounted price if you buy CSX set + the festool jigsaw. I can still send the TXS back and buy it back as the jigsaw set.
At the end of the day, I'm not the one paying for it. I would love to have the Mafell, but do I need a jigsaw of the quality of mafell's? I don't see myself cutting arcs through 4x4's.
Festool:
cons:
not the best
fiddly with adjustment
pro:
circle jig
easy to buy, also discounted
system
plug it
battery
bosch:
cons:
not the best
pro:
price
fits mafell rails (?)
mafell:
cons:
price
no battery option
pro:
best jigsaw on the market - blade change, cutting depth, ease of use, tilt base, DC,
fits mafell rails
