My Carvex 420 is now worse than ever

[waho6o9]

That's disappointing for a $360.00 USD jigsaw IMHO.

 

[jeh]

It's a sad excuse for a jigsaw. The older Trion is better and the Mafell is significantly better.

Mine had the same exact issues with perpendicular cutting. The saw cannot do it in other than very thin material.

Add in the fact that you have to adjust the blade guide when you switch blades and you realize you have been sold a bill of goods.

Do yourself a favor, sell it, someone here will buy it from you. Then you go back to the Trion or up to the Mafell.

 

[copcarcollector]

The saw cannot do it in other than very thin material.

Sorry the OP is having issues with his saw, but I have seen the Carvex cut great 90 degree cuts on a 4 x 4 in person.

 

[Kev]

I'm not doubting the results or the method, but this is an isolated unit test. I'd also acknowledge that there seems to be a level on variability in results with the CARVEX across the wider user base.

I remember over 20 years ago having an awful time with a new Hitachi until I realised the impact of the pendulum setting - the it all became magically good!

I will jump on the negative bandwagon though when it comes to the guide rail cuts - somewhat useless if you can only cut 19mm  [mad]

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I am now considering a Mafell in addition to my Carvex because i like the more rigid blade mechanism of the Mafell.

I assume that a Mafell will perform well when used with a guide? Can someone comment on this?

YES....here are some videos of my Mafell cutting on the guide rail:

 

[Kev]

Ironic that Mafell have probably had a jigsaw sales increase because of the FOG and in no way as a result of them trying to improve prospect relations or distribution & sales channels.

In Australia we refer to that as doing a Steven Bradbury ...

 

[Larso]

Worst tool in the range IMO.
Anything thicker than a kitchen end panel especially in solid timber rather than sheet goods is too much for this saw.
I bought it recently because i thought it would be a step up and found pretty quickly my old makita LXT is a better jigsaw and Makita have an even better one now.
The rep gave me his saw to use as well to compare with mine and i can confirm that yes everything is operating as it should be and i am using it correctly but the saw is not up to scratch.
I bought the angled base to put a mitre on 35mm thick pine and unfortunately a decent cut is impossible.
I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

 

[aas]

I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

Festool passed on a problem when they sold it to you!.. if you sell it to someone else, at least they'll be buying the problem for a few less $$$  [unsure]

 

[philphilop]

I remember being involved in a post regarding a carvex and i gave advise to the writer to buy the Mafell to which he responded, but its not green.
That is the problem with the FOG, most people only buy Festool and see the world through green tinted glasses.
The carvex is a 20 year old bosch jigsaw with gimmicks to trick people into buying it.
The mafell is light years ahead in design and functionality but doesnt fit in with the image that most readers have of their obsession with festool.
Their drills are the same, we call them "beep beep" drills in our industry because even the power cord versions beep if you try to drill or drive into anything other than dry softwoods

 

[Kev]

I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

Festool passed on a problem when they sold it to you!.. if you sell it to someone else, at least they'll be buying the problem for a few less $$$  [unsure]

He's a "real Aussie" and that comes with more integrity than a temple full of monks ... respect that !!!

 

[aas]

I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

Festool passed on a problem when they sold it to you!.. if you sell it to someone else, at least they'll be buying the problem for a few less $$$  [unsure]

He's a "real Aussie" and that comes with more integrity than a temple full of monks ... respect that !!!

Yeah, respect!.. I'm going sell my problem though!

 

[Kev]

I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

Festool passed on a problem when they sold it to you!.. if you sell it to someone else, at least they'll be buying the problem for a few less $$$  [unsure]

He's a "real Aussie" and that comes with more integrity than a temple full of monks ... respect that !!!

Yeah, respect!.. I'm going sell my problem though!

That's why we've trained the crocodiles to eat the Europeans.

 

[Holmz]

I remember being involved in a post regarding a carvex and i gave advise to the writer to buy the Mafell to which he responded, but its not green.
That is the problem with the FOG, most people only buy Festool and see the world through green tinted glasses.
The carvex is a 20 year old bosch jigsaw with gimmicks to trick people into buying it.
The mafell is light years ahead in design and functionality but doesn't fit in with the image that most readers have of their obsession with festool.
Their drills are the same, we call them "beep beep" drills in our industry because even the power cord versions beep if you try to drill or drive into anything other than dry softwoods

I have learned to apply a driving to approach to tools.
Green =  keep moving
Yellow = usually hit the throttle
Red = stop
blue (flashing blue) I pull over

In seriousness there is something to be said about having a low performing tool in the range.
It is human nature to work out correlations and to have the correlations mean causality.
If someone starts out with a green tool, and that tool is dog, then they will likely decide early on to avoid all tools that are green.

It is a similar scenario to my Red sander. It was so bloody awesome that by human nature I am tempted to associate that all red tool must be awesome. I am aware of this phenomenon and try to make a rational decision based upon specs, facts, and gathering as much impassionate data as possible.

Ironic that Mafell have probably had a jigsaw sales increase because of the FOG and in no way as a result of them trying to improve prospect relations or distribution & sales channels.

In Australia we refer to that as doing a Steven Bradbury ...

I am larfing at that one...

...
I wont sell it because i dont think its fair to pass on a problem but it wont get used at all in future.

Here are some ideas "Straight outta Australia"...

http://mashable.com/2014/07/14/barina-1999-car/

If you took this approach you hardly be accused of pull one over on the buyer...

[quote author="Some Aussy Selling 98 Mazda 121"]
A very successful real estate agent once told me that lowering the reserve price of something will encourage bidding. Fortunately I didn't listen to him. Anyway, let me get this clear: The car is actually good despite its colour. It doesn't blow smoke, everything works and it runs very well. What more could you ask for at that price? An iPhone I guess. Despite not taking the real estate agent's advice, I have lowered the starting price of this car by a full one hundred dollars and one cent. Even thrown in a full tank of fuel which should last you about nine years if you never drive the car.

If you thought muscle cars were a thing of the past, think again. This Mazda is probably one of Japan's most formidable street machines. In fact, Subaru were lucky that these little boxes were produced before the first WRX, because it gave Subaru something to strive for.

On first glance you may just think that this is just another Japanese girly car, aimed at practicality and economy. You're right. But what Mazda put into these was a level of technology matched only by Casio calculators from the 1970s.

Not only does this car look sporty and powerful, it also has aerodynamics equivalent to a garden shed, enabling it to reach speeds well beyond 100,000 metres per hour. In fact, with a tail wind these things can go even faster, but a cross wind presents problems, especially after the car ends up on its roof.

Aside from the factory styled aerodynamics, this car is fitted with aftermarket speed dimples, known as 'dents'. Like a golf ball's dimples, the dents allow the 121 to travel even further when hit by a 9 iron.

One of the major problems you will have owning this car is that everyone wants to race you from the traffic lights. Even trucks. I know this because everyone takes off really quickly and when I catch up to them at the next set of lights, they pretend they weren't trying. In this 121, you have to be really careful with the throttle control as too much acceleration is likely to cause wheelspin, whereas anything below 3,000 RPM is likely to cause stalling. Driving in the wet is a real problem as far as traction goes, especially on wet grass or oiled steel plates. This truly is a driver's car (because no passengers are likely to get in it).

Although it appears massive, the exhaust is the original 3cm job. Mazda had to go up a size from the drinking straw used on the Mazda 1000s because of the radical cam timing used in the 121. When they put together the first B13 motor it was a twin cam job, but it was so powerful that the exhaust cam ended up getting blown out the exhaust and the inlet cam often ran away in fear of the pistons. So they stayed with a single cam version and threw out 8 valves in order to lighten the car up even further. The motor produces almost as much power as four high quality split system air conditioners, which when coupled to the advanced five speed transmission and front wheel drive provides enough power to charge a mobile phone.

Mazda tried desperately to dress down the 121, including the fitment of 13” wheels just to take away that guard filling look of the bigger 14” rims. They didn't compromise on width though, this car has tyres as wide as a shopping trolley with a rubber compound to match. Without such huge road hugging bags, this car would not be able to handle the race tuned suspension that it is fitted with, in fact it may even have a small sway bar somewhere. Mazda also kept the bumper bars a different colour to the car, because with such curvy styling some may not have been able to tell where the car started and ended. Ford's Australian Taurus from the mid 90's is a classic example of a car which has no front and no back. The seats in that car can swivel 360° so that it can be driven in either direction. Mazda didn't want the same problem with the 121, so they put a slight angle in the roof of the car where it meets the front windscreen.

To give you some idea of the way this car performs, let me relate a recent road incident I was involved in:

I was traveling along the freeway minding my own business, when suddenly a Mercedes ML63 AMG came up beside me and the middle aged driver nodded at me with his leather jacket and Armani sunnies on. It was on. I was in third gear getting ready for a steep climb up the hill so I thought I'd give the big AMG a head start. Off we went. I planted my foot to the floor and the scenery started to blast past me (admittedly it was painted on the side of a garden supplies pantech). I think I saw the same AMG about an hour later, pulled over outside a cafe with the driver reading the Financial Review and sipping on a soy latte. I blew the horn and accelerated in a cloud of tyre smoke, which may have been attributed to the container of baby powder I had run over.

That was the closest race I've had in the 121, in fact for a few seconds, I could almost read the rear number plate of the AMG. I learned from that incident that losers should never give winners a head start, so now I just drive off before lights even turn green. Sure, I've caused a few taxis to peel their retreads off trying to avoid me, but the satisfaction of winning the race to the other side of the intersection is worth it.

This 121 isn't just built for speed. It is also built for practicality. The rear seats fold down providing enough room for a stampede of rats to be carried in comfort. You could even fit a fridge in if you could buy one small enough. I've even picked up a few models in the 121, including a ship in a bottle. It doesn't have a towbar purely because scientists haven't come up with a material strong enough to withstand the forces encountered when the clutch is dropped. The car is so powerful that they even had to leave out back doors because they were afraid the car would pull apart at the seams like my last pair of trackie dacks.

Parking is simple in this car. In fact, it is so light that it can be parked on top of a Subaru Liberty if the Subaru is fitted with Rhino racks. Some people even take their 121 into the shopping centre with them and save on putting $2 into an Aldi trolley. Once when I went to Newtown for dinner, there were so few parking spots that I put the 121 on a Marickville bus for only $1.20 and picked it up later.

It has a turbo button which can be handy sometimes, especially when the guy next to you on the Yamaha R1 wants to drag you. It has to be used with caution because depending on your body weight, you could brake the backrest of the seat under acceleration. I liken it to nitrous oxide, but without the reality. It works by having the air conditioning on most of the time, but when you need an added burst of power, just turn it off and away you go. I reckon you pull an extra half a kilowatt out of the beast with the turbo boost feature.

You may also notice that this model is the 'Shades' series. The Shades was Mazda's codename for the Small Hatch And Definitely Enough Speed project, where they attempted to set a world record by mass producing the worlds best selling flat pack car. Ikea would have taken on the Shades project, but the engineers could not make fasteners strong enough to keep all the panels together, so they abandoned that aspect of the project and Mazda produced the 121 from recycled CRT computer monitors instead, maintaining

the classic lines.

If you're after that discreet look where nobody notices you, this isn't the car for you. It's like riding a Ducati 998 up to a motocross track when you park this thing somewhere. People will stare, some will even want to touch it, some may be jealous. But like fame, after a while you get used to it (apparently). The best thing I've found for avoiding attention when driving this beast around, is to park next to a car with similar formidable characteristics, like a Daihatsu Charade.

For those interested in the minor details, the car is registered in NSW until next March, almost a year away. For a cat, that would be like having almost seven years worth of rego.

It doesn't have power steering because as you can see from the colour, it was built for only the toughest of drivers.

It is not fuel injected, but still manages to run on the smell of an oily rag; provided the oily rag is left in the fuel tank and covered in 20L of unleaded petrol.

Everything works as it should, even the brakes slow you down.

Mechanically it is fine, there is no rust and the tyres are near new.

With GT Falcons and HK Monaros going for many of thousands of dollars, this may just be your chance to buy on of Japan's true muscle cars before there are less than 4.3 million of them left.


[/quote]

 

[aas]

That is the problem with the FOG, most people only buy Festool and see the world through green tinted glasses.

I certainly purchased my Carvex based on reviews and ravings on here - without taking the time out to go and try one. First few weeks, I thought it was just me taking a while to get used to the saw - then I realised it was rubbish!  [unsure] - sorry to the fan boys, but I say it how it is. I wish people didn't wear the green tinted glasses (all this nonsense of koolaid, etc., pleeeaaaasssse!!!) - but do you learn who knows what their talking about - and ignore the other posts!

Mafell P1CC it will be then...

 

[joiner1970]

I recently bought a cordless carvex to use my free battery voucher. I must admit from reading all the negativity about it lately I wasn't expecting much. Well I'm very happy with mine at the moment.

I already own 3 bosches and the trion but I've been using the new carvex quite a bit and its been great. I like the trion but visibility is a pain with all the dust shroud fitted. With the carvex and its led I can easily see now.

I've not cut loads of really thick stuff yet so that might be where it falls down but for me cutting sheet material it's perfect.

 

[Doug S]

Don't use a jigsaw that much but was thinking of upgrading my trion to the carvex but sounds like I shouldn't bother. Festool got it wrong with the carvex 400, can't believe they got it wrong again with 420.

Doug

 

[b.hog]

I have only had mine a couple months ,and in that time only used it a few times, but in 4/4 hardwood the cuts have been great. Although my old jigsaw was a pos dewalt that I should have body slammed long ago.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Sounds like the OP has a saw that is just not right for whatever reason and that is frustrating. I get good cuts with the Carvex and do not think that anything is inherently wrong with the machine or the design. But, it does take more fiddling around to get good results and some of the attachments are good and some not so much. The good news in the US is to take advantage of the 30 day to try one and see if it fits for what you need it to do. Personally if I could only have one saw it would be the Mafell without question. It just cuts perfectly and there are not blade guides or anything to mess with - just insert a blade and you are off. Blades last longer too as they do not run hot from any mechanical roller or guides touching the blade. But, this level of precision and accuracy comes at a price point much higher than any other offering so you have to weigh that into your decision. For me it is worth every cent, but others maybe not so much.

 

[Kev]

So ... all this negative CARVEX talk got me rattled, so I thought I'd got and do a few test cuts of my own. You know what? .. I'm really impressed with my CARVEX 420 cordless !!

Using a 145/4 FSG I've just made multiple cuts through 100mm x 50mm & 90mm x 45mm hardwood and pine timbers with perfect right angle results (cutting across the 100mm and 90mm faces).

No, I didn't get the rail out ... I may do at some stage.

Normally my jigsaw targets are particle board, plywood or MDF and typically only up the 25mm, so I wasn't crying from the findings at the beginning of this topic .. but I'll admit I was growing a little concerned.

It seems there's two camps on the CARVEX and it's either a matter of the tool or the user style. Could there be significant variability of the CARVEX units in the field? Maybe .. as I doubt all of the people with negative CARVEX experiences are all incompetent with a jigsaw!!

I'd like for us to be able to define one specific benchmark test (a practical one, no silly extreme use scenarios) that can definitively separate a good CARVEX from a bad one.

For me, it's likely uses are covered by all of my prior use and my recent test.

Thoughts everyone?

PS I wasn't a jigsaw virgin prior to the CARVEX, I have others and have used many over the years .. and I do like the CARVEX (albeit the cordless version is heavy).

 

[Gary in Texas]

So ... all this negative CARVEX talk got me rattled, so I thought I'd got and do a few test cuts of my own. You know what? .. I'm really impressed with my CARVEX 420 cordless !!

Thoughts everyone?

PS I wasn't a jigsaw virgin prior to the CARVEX, I have others and have used many over the years .. and I do like the CARVEX (albeit the cordless version is heavy).

I have a thought about all of the negative talk.

Consider how many Carvex 420's have probably been sold globally (we can't, don't have those numbers but probably a very significant number) and compare to the relatively few nay sayers or people reporting a problem.  On top of that, to add fuel to the negativity fire, you get other folks that may not even own the tool but feel compelled to criticize the design citing something must be wrong with the tool, or what was Festool thinking?  I don't and won't discount the fact some have had some issues with the Carvex.

Not all tools coming off the assembly line are perfect, speaking here about manufacturing a run of the Carvex, and perhaps 1, 3 or 8 out of xxxx have an issue.  Perhaps that is the category the OP's Carvex falls into.  Who knows?  Suffice it to say though, if anyone has an issue with the Carvex, or Kapex, or any other Festool, they most often will come to this forum to complain.  We will read about it.  Sometimes it's the tool, sometimes it's the user.  Compare that to world wide sales of the Carvex, must be a lot of folks out there pleased with the tool (and not all tool owners are registered on the FOG). A few negative comments always, always, gets more exposure than xxxxx who are pleased with their Carvex and never voice how pleased they are with a tool. 

I think a lot of the negativity could be eliminated by the user that is having an issue with a tool simply contact Festool service and discuss the issue, or send it in for inspection and service, rather than voicing their issues here.

Once settled,and if still unresolved, bring it on, voice your complaint!