My Carvex 420 is now worse than ever

[Linbro]

Marfell is gaining a whole new client base from FOG!! That's just rediculous. How can they ignore this?

My  [2cents] anyway.

Tigger

Hey Tigger, You might be right about this in North America, but in our part of the world, I don't think Festool have anything to worry about.
From my experience it's really hard to get into Mafell down here. I've looked into purchasing from them in Aus and you will need to import the tool yourself from overseas, shame as I used Mafell when I worked in a boat yard in the UK a few years back now and it would have been nice to have had the option to purchase down here.
When it comes to buying a quality jigsaw we are a bit limited down here, I have the Carvex and it works fine for me but i'm only usually cutting material less than 20mm.
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Yes, I agree, Festool have nothing to worry about down here. They have almost no competition with a lot of their products. Maybe Virutex, for some tools, but they can be hard to find as well. They've got the 'system' covered, which is what most people want.
I've imported three Mafell tools - yes, I know I'm taking a risk, having no dealer here. The crazy thing is, if you import Mafell from Europe it's cheaper than buying Festool locally.

 

[Kev]

Yes, I agree, Festool have nothing to worry about down here. They have almost no competition with a lot of their products. Maybe Virutex, for some tools, but they can be hard to find as well. They've got the 'system' covered, which is what most people want.
I've imported three Mafell tools - yes, I know I'm taking a risk, having no dealer here. The crazy thing is, if you import Mafell from Europe it's cheaper than buying Festool locally.

It's pathetic that a company that engineers such good tools as Mafell are so pig headed about markets like Australia.

I'd be curious about the potential issues regarding using imported tools that are not sold in Australia commercially (not that it's an issue for me).

 

[Linbro]

What sort of issues, Kev?
The tools are 230v, so as long as an electrician swaps the plug, you're good to go. Having it 'tested & tagged' is also a good idea.

 

[Jaybolishes]

I have the cordless D handle carvex and I've used it a ton.  I really like it and it's preformed great.    I also have a Bosch and two dewalt jigsaws, cordless 20 volt and corded, and I prefer the carvex over the other three.  I'm not saying other people are not correct in saying they have problems, just wanted to say I've gotten lots of pleasurable use from my 420.  Still want a Mafell though, power and precision is worth every penny.

 

[dibnah]

Yes, I agree, Festool have nothing to worry about down here. They have almost no competition with a lot of their products. Maybe Virutex, for some tools, but they can be hard to find as well. They've got the 'system' covered, which is what most people want.
I've imported three Mafell tools - yes, I know I'm taking a risk, having no dealer here. The crazy thing is, if you import Mafell from Europe it's cheaper than buying Festool locally.

It's pathetic that a company that engineers such good tools as Mafell are so pig headed about markets like Australia.

I'd be curious about the potential issues regarding using imported tools that are not sold in Australia commercially (not that it's an issue for me).

What sort of issues, Kev?
The tools are 230v, so as long as an electrician swaps the plug, you're good to go. Having it 'tested & tagged' is also a good idea.

Importing tools is fraught with issues that only come to light once a problem arrises,
I would try these guys down here for Maffell's offerings

Cheers Dibnah

http://www.jacks.co.nz/products/portable-tools/mafell

 

[Kev]

What sort of issues, Kev?
The tools are 230v, so as long as an electrician swaps the plug, you're good to go. Having it 'tested & tagged' is also a good idea.

I'm thinking things like safety certification. Obviously a plug swap will have the tool working, but are there nasty clauses in things like job site insurances, etc regarding only use of tools certified in Australia?

Local tool distributors have a few hoops to jump through when they bring a power tool in for sale ... I just don't know the extent.

 

[DirtyOldMan]

Any mains powered electrical device needs an RCM compliance tick symbol which is a new version of A-tick.

Funnily enough I checked some of my festools. All of them were purchased locally except my DF700.

Drum roll.......

Guess what all of them have an RCM tick including the UK purchased DF700. All of them have the same approval number n188. The OF1010 (locally purchased) has a dodgy little white sticker with the RCM tick and n188 over the festool tool sticker. Probably an after thought by Tooltechnic Australia.

It means that aussies can pretty much go crazy and purchase their toys cheaper online without any legal repercussions.

Mafell may not have bothered to get RCM compliance, although if they are being sold in NZ they may have since RCM covers both Australia and NZ.

 

[Holmz]

Any mains powered electrical device needs an RCM compliance tick symbol which is a new version of A-tick.

Funnily enough I checked some of my festools. All of them were purchased locally except my DF700.

Drum roll.......

Guess what all of them have an RCM tick including the UK purchased DF700. All of them have the same approval number n188. The OF1010 (locally purchased) has a dodgy little white sticker with the RCM tick and n188 over the festool tool sticker. Probably an after thought by Tooltechnic Australia.

It means that aussies can pretty much go crazy and purchase their toys cheaper online without any legal repercussions.

Mafell may not have bothered to get RCM compliance, although if they are being sold in NZ they may have since RCM covers both Australia and NZ.

Does that imply that a plug swap and the subsequent tag-n-test also confirms RCM?
And that one is covered from a legal perspective?

 

[DirtyOldMan]

I guess so. If it has an RCM tick and the plug was installed by a licensed electrician then I can't see how you wouldn't be legally compliant.

The plug swap wasn't an issue with my DF700 as I just used a local plug it cord.

 

[Kev]

http://www.jacks.co.nz/products/portable-tools/mafell

A little light on "range" !!

 

[Kev]

SHOCK HORROR, Mafell now have an Australian flag and a contact link for Australia ... yeh, with a generic form.

Bet that's so they can automate the appropriate insulting response! [wink]

 

[DirtyOldMan]

I nominate Kev for future Australian Mafell distributor.  [big grin]

 

[Kev]

I nominate Kev for future Australian Mafell distributor.  [big grin]

Mandatory first purchase will be a $65,000.00 kit containing one of every tool. You can try it for thirty days if you want, but if you want to return it ...TOUGH!! Hah hah, I've got your money [wink]

 

[Cheese]

Does a Mafell CUnex W1 wood blade fit in a Carvex & has anyone tried using that combination?

 

[neeleman]

As you can imagine, it doesn't fit because of the two blades that are glued together.
The opening of the carbide bits of the Carvex/Trion are way to narrow for that saw blade.
And the top side of the shaft is also much thicker.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

No if you where to get it to fit you would need to grind off the bits that stop it fitting then if you did I'm not sure the jigsaw would be powerful enough with it basically being the thickness of 2 blades

 

[DB10]

Importing tools is fraught with issues that only come to light once a problem arrises,
I would try these guys down here for Maffell's offerings

Cheers Dibnah

http://www.jacks.co.nz/products/portable-tools/mafell

Interesting link, has anyone actually bought Mafell from Jacks, and if so how do prices compare to importing.

 

[Cheese]

As you can imagine, it doesn't fit because of the two blades that are glued together.
The opening of the carbide bits of the Carvex/Trion are way to narrow for that saw blade.
And the top side of the shaft is also much thicker.

Well that's interesting, never saw a close-up of the blade before. You say they're glued together?

 

[Sparktrician]

As you can imagine, it doesn't fit because of the two blades that are glued together.
The opening of the carbide bits of the Carvex/Trion are way to narrow for that saw blade.
And the top side of the shaft is also much thicker.

Well that's interesting, never saw a close-up of the blade before. You say they're glued together?

I'd have to hazard a guess that it's just dried preservative holding the blades together.  I've seen that happen with utility knife blades, too. 

 

[jonathan-m]

From what I've read they're welded together and have a machned taper towards the back to allow cutting of tighter curves. Also the back edge of the blade is supposedly machined.