Mafell KSS 300

[GhostFist]

Just opened the box and flipped through all the supplied material. This is not a full review just my initial impressions. THIS THING IS AWESOME! So compact, easily portable and impressive power for its size, Granted i've only made one cut with the thing, 32 degree miter in 2x8 pressure treated lumber i had kicking around and it glided through it. Didn't have it hooked up to my midi at the time but  i have faith there will be excellent extraction. I purchased the complete kit. Kss 300, Flex rail, parallel fence, clamping attachments for the flex rail (no clamps included) and an extra blade. I am dying to put this thing into solid practice. For its size it's deceivingly quiet and powerful, it's going to be a great on site machine. Pics and hopefully vids to follow at a later date. as well as a full detailed review.

 

[jmbfestool]

Yeah when I first tried it out over a year ago I was amazed by its power to size ratio!  You look at it and think nah da wont handle much but it does!

One thing tho my mate found after a while of using Kss 300 on the spring loaded (auto retract guide rail)  is that if you dont keep it clean it starts to stick and the rail doesnt retract.  Maybe some lubrication once a while should help. 

Dont know he just told me and then quickly showed me what it was doing but I didnt have time to check it out why it wasnt gliding back smoothly.

JMB

 

[fezza]

This is a gem of a little saw. Like jmb said, it does start to stick on  the short rail, not sure if the elastic is powerful enough. Plunge cuts are bit fiddly to do, but all things considered, this saw does the lot.

For fitting flooring, its brilliant, keep it right next to you where your fitting, no up and down to a mitre saw. The flexy rail is superb (please make one Festool) when you can only fit a very short rail, bend it up the wall and use what length you need. I've also cut doors down with it, had to turn the door over and do two sides, but it does the job.

If we've got a city centre job where you can't park nowhere near, often i just take the little Maffel, saves carrying a mitre saw, festool and rails.

 

[jmbfestool]

This is a gem of a little saw. Like jmb said, it does start to stick on  the short rail, not sure if the elastic is powerful enough. Plunge cuts are bit fiddly to do, but all things considered, this saw does the lot.

For fitting flooring, its brilliant, keep it right next to you where your fitting, no up and down to a mitre saw. The flexy rail is superb (please make one Festool) when you can only fit a very short rail, bend it up the wall and use what length you need. I've also cut doors down with it, had to turn the door over and do two sides, but it does the job.

If we've got a city centre job where you can't park nowhere near, often i just take the little Maffel, saves carrying a mitre saw, festool and rails.

Plus one for using with flooring!

And plus one as a quick mitre saw replacement for certain jobs

 

[GhostFist]

Finally got a chance to play around with the kss 300 today. Just some simple 90° cuts so not really using it to it's fullest yet. Of course there's a lot of "oooo's and ahhhhh's" as it's usefulness is immediately evident. Miter saw, table saw, mini plunge saw, and in a box. The tiny amount of dust when used with my Midi.  fast clean and accurate, me likes

 

[jonathan-m]

mafell saws are simply top of the line

 

[jmbfestool]

mafell saws are simply top of the line

I'll come back to you on this one.   Even though I love the Mafel features and I wish festool ts55 incorporated some of them!  

Using the Mafel 55 I found a major dislike which would stop me from buying it over the TS55.

I'm just going to have a play around with it more over couple days and then come back to you.

Jmb

 

[Kev]

I probably need to bite my tongue a bit here...

MAFELL may engineer reasonable power tools - the jury is out for me on that.

Something that needs to be considered is the complete experience in terms of sales, service and support and "tools on the job".

I'm a long way from being convince that MAFELL offers the full package anywhere on this planet.

All that said - hope you don't have anything but great experiences with the KSS300.

Kev

 

[GhostFist]

mafell saws are simply top of the line

I'll come back to you on this one.   Even though I love the Mafel features and I wish festool ts55 incorporated some of them!  

Using the Mafel 55 I found a major dislike which would stop me from buying it over the TS55.

I'm just going to have a play around with it more over couple days and then come back to you.

Jmb

Interested in your dislike as I'm strongly considering a 55

 

[GhostFist]

I probably need to bite my tongue a bit here...

MAFELL may engineer reasonable power tools - the jury is out for me on that.

Something that needs to be considered is the complete experience in terms of sales, service and support and "tools on the job".

I'm a long way from being convince that MAFELL offers the full package anywhere on this planet.

All that said - hope you don't have anything but great experiences with the KSS300.

Kev

Without a doubt service and support exists in Europe alone really. That being said the Canadian distributer is extremely helpful in getting you what ever you need. I cannot say a bad thing about Landhaus at all. I don't get what yo're saying about "tools on the job". I am not a hobbyist, this is a jobsite tool, and it's freaking excellent.

 

[Jalvis]

Mafell is certainly a better option to those who are professionals. 

Hobbyists will find it hard to justify the higher prices and some of the unique options offered only by Mafell.  For those making a living with there tools, time equals money therefore little differences make large scale advantages.  When I mean advantages its not purely in quality of work but in the accounting of owning a business.  The KSS 300 is a special tool not found in any other manufacturer.....one can't say Festool is better when comparing such an item. 

 

[GhostFist]

there is no comparison. this is a tool that does a lot in a small package. will it replace a compound miter saw? not outright, but it is a simpler "less set up" solution, when time and space restrictions prevent you from a full set up.  Is it an out and out replacement for a larger sized plunge saw such as the ts 55? no, but again, when you can only carry so much it does a fantastic job.
i was doing some more experiments with the saw last night, switching from the angle track, to the roll up track to even the parallel fence. All was very fast and easy. cuts were accurate, clean and square. Best of all it all tucks away without fuss into a sys3.

For the work i do in studios and on set it allows me to pretty much have a shop in a box. A huge advantage as, in the studio, there can be line ups to use table saws and miter saws making quick simple jobs take frustratingly long. On set during shooting the shops are moved away from the sets themselves, sometimes quite a distance away. My job is to make alterations FAST and at a split seconds notice. cleanliness is important as well, as camera equpment, actors and angry directors are standing right over you waiting for you to finish so they can continue shooting. Blasting dust all over a finished room is not an option.

This saw meets all my requirements for the work i do. It gives me a massive advantage over my peers in the industry as now i'm that much quicker, cleaner and accurate  simply because of this tools versatility.

As always nothing is perfect, and minor improvements could be made for the next generation of this saw, but for now, im more than happy.

 

[Kev]

I probably need to bite my tongue a bit here...

MAFELL may engineer reasonable power tools - the jury is out for me on that.

Something that needs to be considered is the complete experience in terms of sales, service and support and "tools on the job".

I'm a long way from being convince that MAFELL offers the full package anywhere on this planet.

All that said - hope you don't have anything but great experiences with the KSS300.

Kev

Without a doubt service and support exists in Europe alone really. That being said the Canadian distributer is extremely helpful in getting you what ever you need. I cannot say a bad thing about Landhaus at all. I don't get what yo're saying about "tools on the job". I am not a hobbyist, this is a jobsite tool, and it's freaking excellent.

I'm talking about reliability - as a criteria ... not talking about Mafell specifically there.

 

[jmbfestool]

mafell saws are simply top of the line

I'll come back to you on this one.   Even though I love the Mafel features and I wish festool ts55 incorporated some of them!  

Using the Mafel 55 I found a major dislike which would stop me from buying it over the TS55.

I'm just going to have a play around with it more over couple days and then come back to you.

Jmb

Interested in your dislike as I'm strongly considering a 55

Well so far my dislikes with the Mafel 55 are

The depth adjuster!  You have to squeeze it to move it up and down and it doesn't squeeze easily and is positioned very awkwardly so much so you have to come round with your hand to adjust it. 

Placing the saw on the rail is a little awkward unlike the festool it does not just drop into places as easily (maybe over time I might do it quicker )

The main main dislike is the mafel rail grip!

It's very poor compared to the festool rail.  I was cutting some melamine with my TS55 but I was getting some chipping  so cus the mafel had a new blade in it I thought I would use that instead but to my surprise I couldn't cut the melamine without the rail sliding about the mafel saw had more grip!  So when I pushed the saw forward it would push the rail forward with it!

I know the mafel 55 fits on festool rails so I could use my festool rail instead but that ain't the point!

Jmb

 

[GhostFist]

Intestine, as the grip on the flex rail is great, perhaps I'll hold out until I hear a full review from you.

 

[Timtool]

JMB, i read the very same same thing a couple days ago on a local forum from someone who owns both plunge saws, the Mafell is annoying to get on the rail, the rail keeps slipping on smooth surfaces and with the handle further back you lose a few cm in cutting capacity when starting against a wall, which in some cases can be crucial.

 

[Jalvis]

I've had the same issue with pre-finished sheet goods and the Mafell MT55.  You certainly have to clamp the rail to guarantee accuracy.  All other materials have not been an issue.  No one has this problem with the Festool rails?

Although there are other gains with using the Mafell Rail.....such as accuracy in Joining rails and clamping close to the cutting edge.

As for having trouble fitting the saw on the rail.....I haven't had a problem once getting use to the system.  The MT55 can be adjusted to the rail within tight tolerances.  It's easier if its not set too tight.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Intestine, as the grip on the flex rail is great, perhaps I'll hold out until I hear a full review from you.

Intestine?  As in bowels?

 

[GhostFist]

as in typo [big grin]

 

[tbellemare]

I think I'd try putting the Festool rubber on the Mafell rail. It seems like that would solve the sliding problem.

Tom