Mafell Mt55c...oooooh!

[jonathan-m]

promark748, in answer to your questions:
- There is an actual accuracy advantage to the way these connectors work. The tightening happens with 4 cam locks, so when you tighten them, the rails automatically straighten themselves out. I have tested this.

- I personally leave a 1mm gap between the 2 guides just in case something (a bit of antislip rubber that's protruding, sawdust, dirt ...) gets between the rails and thus preventing them from straightening out.

- I've never experienced a single kickback. The motor is powerful. I've never had it audibly struggle, slow down or have the overload protection kick in. And that's not even using a lower teeth ripping blade, but the standard 48 teeth blade it comes with.

- Once connected, there is no play whatsoever in the tracks. The connector is a very precisely machined steel bar. It's a lot heavier and beefier than the pictures/videos suggest.

I quickly went out to the shop and made some quick shakey cellphone footage for you . I only had one hand and this is actually my first time doing a video, so please cut me some slack :| It's really not the best of videos, but I hope it's at least somewhat informative to you.

 

[Deansocial]

The mafell has a separate groove you remove the filler piece and it will go onto the festool rail.  

Jmb

JMB,

When you say, remove the filler is a permanent change or can you put it back?

I am thinking to buy the MT55 and use it at the beginning with the festool rails and then eventually go to the mafell. 

It just screws in.

Is there much advantage buying the Maffel over the bosch

 

[jonathan-m]

You mean aside from wicked street cred? [cool]

The Bosch is more like the TS55 in many respects, but with 1400Watts.
- The Bosch has a horizontal front handle, like the TS55, the Mafell doesn't.
- I don't know for sure, but I assume both machines share the same motor.
- The standard blade in the Bosch is a Freud blade of 165mm, the Mafell standard Mafell blade is 162mm.
- You don't have a fully enclosed blade housing.
 Changing blades on the Bosch is eerily similar to that on the TS55. On the Mafell the housing just flips open with full access to the blade.
 On the Bosch you flip a lever on the handle and push the blade down until it locks. Just like the TS. Meaning you still loose your depth setting when changing blades.
- Dust collection is better on the Mafell, due to the fully enclosed housing.
- The bevel adjustment on the Mafell is done with 1 knob on the front (and a steel rod runs to the back to tighten it there).
 On the Bosch it's done like on the TS55 with 2 knobs. One in the front and one at the back.
- And it lacks the most important feature. The Mafell can offset the blade 1/10th of a millimeter inwards for scoring cuts.
 This is done by switching a lever right next to the handle without having to change the depth of cut scale. The Bosch also doesn't have this feature.

Basically, all the little extra's that make the MT55 such a joy to use are stripped off. I think the Bosch compares more to the TS55, but with a bit oomph behind it.

 

[promark747]

Jonathan,

Thanks, it does look like a nice system.

 

[jmbfestool]

The mafell has a separate groove you remove the filler piece and it will go onto the festool rail.  

Jmb

JMB,

When you say, remove the filler is a permanent change or can you put it back?

I am thinking to buy the MT55 and use it at the beginning with the festool rails and then eventually go to the mafell.  

As already mentioned,    The filler can be put back on easily.

 

[jmbfestool]

Does the mafell come in a sustainer?  I read somewhere that it ships in a mafell "box".

In the UK it comes in a systainer as already mentioned.

 

[jmbfestool]

You can clearly see the ease of joining guide rails and how the connector just stores on the rail itself.

Which of course the Festool does as well (other than being able to use a coin instead of a screwdriver).

Is there an actual accuracy advantage to the Mafell/Bosch track?  1) Do you still have to leave a tiny gap to allow for minor imperfections (potential lack of squareness) in the rail ends, and 2) Is there less play in the single connector vs. Festool's two connectors?

With respect to the lack of a riving knife on the Mt55, Mafell claims it is unnecessary because of the combination of its higher power motor and some kind of anti kickback circuitry.  Even if true, I would think having a riving knife can reduce the load on the motor by preventing the kerf from closing after the cut.

As already mentioned!  The rails automatically straighten. I had on purpose put the rails bent to each other and when I tightened the screws you could see the rails move and straighten! I was very impressed and thought it was a brilliant method of connecting two rails.   
I personally hate the festool rail connectors so much so I went out and bought a 2.7m rail.  If festool had a Mafell connector I would of carried on using two rails

Jmb

 

[fidelfs]

The Youtube video is the aftermarket solution to join the rails as the Mafell.  It is expensive but it works.  I don't know if they ship oversees.

Betterley straigh connector for festool rails

 

[jmbfestool]

The Youtube video is the aftermarket solution to join the rails as the Mafell.  It is expensive but it works.  I don't know if they ship oversees.

Betterley straigh connector for festool rails

Yeah seen it a while ago.  I was put off by it because its another item I must carry  but also it doesn't stop you knocking the festool rails out when your swinning it about or placing it down.   

When I used to connect my rails I was for ever checking to see if I hadn't knocked it out because it doesn't take much!  And I made the mistake to not check cut few sheets to find I had knocked the rail at some point not knowing. 

The mafell connector won't allow you to knock the rails out unless you really bang it causing damage.

Jmb

 

[Paul G]

IIRC Seneca (maker of the domiplate and parallel guides) is working on a better mousetrap to connect Festool rails, a much needed improvement IMO, the current connectors blow IMO.

 

[duburban]

IIRC Seneca (maker of the domiplate and parallel guides) is working on a better mousetrap to connect Festool rails, a much needed improvement IMO, the current connectors blow IMO.

exciting...

i bet they'll sell it for less than a pair of festool quick clamps too.

 

[RKA]

Well, thanks to all of you, my 55REQ is being returned to Festool and an MT55c is on the way to me.  I plan to continue using the Festool tracks since I am already invested, so I hope the rumor of a Seneca connector is true.

As much as I wanted to keep the 55REQ, it was just taking too long for a fix to be released, so kudos to Festool for offering alternatives while the the governmental commissions sit on their you-know-whats.

 

[jonathan-m]

RKA, I look forward to reading your opinion on the saw.
Be sure to fine adjust the plunge depth to account for the Festool rails being 2mm thinner than the Mafell rails.
That way you won't have any suprises with your depth of cut.

 

[RKA]

Ahh, thank you for that!  All the reading I had done and somehow I had missed that!

 

[fdengel]

RKA, I look forward to reading your opinion on the saw.
Be sure to fine adjust the plunge depth to account for the Festool rails being 2mm thinner than the Mafell rails.
That way you won't have any suprises with your depth of cut.

I theory, that means the Mafell saw would get an extra 2mm depth of cut if used on the Festool rails rather than their own?

;D

 

[Frank-Jan]

The only problem I see with the different thickness of rails is the bevel.
The pivoting works so that, when on the rail, the blade enters the workpiece in the same location regardless the bevelsetting (bottom of the rubber strip).
If the rail is thinner, the blade will cut away from the edge when set to a bevel (workpiece will be wider). If the rail is thicker,  it will cut into the strip.

 

[jonathan-m]

Frank-Jan, that is correct. As a sidenote, the Mafell 48t blade is 162mm in diameter as well.

I started out like RKA a few months ago using the MT55cc on my Festool rails. The further you bevel the saw, the further your blade will be from the cutline (on Festool rails) to a max of approx. 2mm to the right of the anti-splinter strip. On the Mafell rails of course it's dead on the rubber stip at any bevel.

However, this isn't so much of a problem as many would suspect. The saw cuts so clean, there's rarely tearout. And besides, most don't do many bevel cuts at all. Don't let this worry you, the MT55 is an awesome piece of engineering

In the meantime I've gone to only using Mafell rails now. I've replaced my Festool Carvex with a P1cc, and use a DD40P instead of a Domino + 32mm system. I've effectively spent less money, saved space, increased my productivity and eliminated the need for any of my Festool rails.
But what about routers you say. Well, Bosch is releasing their FSN rail adapter for routers next month. Which is specifically designed with different routers in mind, including those of other brands, like the Festool OF-1010 & Mafell LO-50.

Like Festool, Mafell is also a system and chances are once you've gotten some hands on time with these tools, you'll want to invest further into it. Because by all means, Mafell's stuff is exceptionally well engineered and the precision and quality of the work they deliver is second to none.

 

[Hogarth]

I feel the same way. After getting this saw, I am looking to replace some Festools with Mafell. I'll start with the rails..

 

[neth27]

If you can get the Bosch rails over there, get them instead. Same rails, half the price  [big grin]

 

[jonathan-m]

Toolstop.co.uk have a crazy good deal going for Bosch FSN rails right now. (Identical to, and produced by Mafell, except for the name painted on them). If you're ever going to get some, now would be the time.
They ship to the States, quickly and cheap as well apparently.