Review of Festool Carvex Pendulum Jigsaw (561351)

[Guy Ashley]

Jonathon

I have the OF 2200 and the accessory kit with the side fence, guide bushes and interchangeable bases.

If you are going to buy the OF 2200 get the accessory kit as well, it is worth the extra money.

Once you have used it you will wonder why you waited so long, its an awesome piece of equipment.

The price hurts but as they say "price is temporary, quality is timeless!"

Guy

 

[windmill man]

Could not agree with Guy more. Awesome router and a pleasure to use.

John

 

[Jonathanerrrm]

Hi Windmill man, thats useful to know as part of my reason for buying it would be to use it with a CMS as well when it's time to break my piggy bank again. I don't think these issues would put me off though it's good to be aware of them. I agree with you that Festool Uk are very poor company to deal with directly, it's like pulling teeth.

Thanks for the recommendation Gary, it is allot of money. I watched an accessory kit go on ebay uk recently for around ?100 instead of the retail ?250 or whatever it is. I was kicking myself for not going for it at the time. I also hesitated when Rutlands had a clearance offer on the OF2200 selling it at around ?500 over the new year as I needed another CT22 at the time and went for that instead. I was hoping to buy the router this month along with the mft/3 extension module and router insert but got ripped off on my last job as the client vanished along with everyones money.

 

[jmbfestool]

The 2 problems are only an issue when using the 2200 inverted in a CMS .

1. The spindle lock ratchet mechanism fills up with saw dust and will not engage, despite the fact that there is a dust shroud. The simple fix is to blow it out with compressed air.

2 The plunge mechanism is subjects to crabbing when raising the router.

Other than that its a fantastic router and well worth buying.

Ask Festool Uk about the above and they know nothing! It took me several months to get the crabbing sorted out . It is a design flaw in the plunge system, that is only an issue when inverted and not in normal use,. In the end after much grief and many attempts trying to repair it , Festool provided me with  a new replacement. (The problem is returning unfortunately) It did take me threatening to rubbish Festool Uk and the 2200 on here to get it sorted! So they are aware of FOG. Festool Uk are a very poor company to deal with directly.

What you mean with crabbing???  I noticed when I have mine on the CMS and try and rise the router it wont move and then jumps up I then just simply lower it down slightly. Is this what you mean by crabbing?

jmb

 

[jmbfestool]

Jonathon

I have the OF 2200 and the accessory kit with the side fence, guide bushes and interchangeable bases.

If you are going to buy the OF 2200 get the accessory kit as well, it is worth the extra money.

Once you have used it you will wonder why you waited so long, its an awesome piece of equipment.

The price hurts but as they say "price is temporary, quality is timeless!"

Guy

I agree.  

I own the OFF2200 and got the full accessory kit with it.  I must admit I don't use all the bases well I haven't yet any way but im sure I will in the future. Same with the collars I havent used them all but its handy to know you have different sizes available on demand when needed.

I have not long bought the CMS with the MFT3- VL (which i still need to put pictures and review up sorry I did promise) and I have used large cutters to test the router and it doesnt even struggle got loads of power.  

I have order the Basic unit CMS table as well  now  because I soon realised the MFT3-VL takes up ALOT of space because it has to be attached to the MFT3 bench and it makes it hard to move when you need more room for in-feed and out-feed.

Going to be a better review when I get the time because ill  do a review of both the MFT3-VL and Basic unit CMS GB and compare the two. I hope that will make up for not keeping my promise!!

JMB

 

[Jonathanerrrm]

That sounds great I'll look forward to reading that.

My apologies if my questions have taken this off topic from the excellent review of the Carvex.

 

[windmill man]

Evening,

Yes ,JMB, bang on that`s what i mean by crabbing. The easy way to deal with it is apply pressure vertically on the opposite side of the router to the spindle rise and fall mechanism. Raise the router to a height above where you need it and then lower it with the crank handle. There is no crabbing lowering it.

Jonathanerrrm, I have the 2200 in the mft3 extension and its a good set up . well worth getting. There are pics and more info on the set up on here.

John

 

[Jonathanerrrm]

Hi John,

Thanks, yes I've seen them but more reviews and points of view are always welcome before making that sort of investment. I know I'm probably going to go for it but will have to wait now until I've recovered from losing so much money from the last job.

Jonathan

 

[Guy Ashley]

Jonathon

Sorry to go off topic, but you have my sympathy and everyone else on the FOG that is trying to eek a living out in this recession.

I had a builder go bust on me last year owing me GBP 3,500! In fairness I had got GBP 6,500 out of him in staged payments, but it took a lot of belt tightening and scratting around to just keep going.

The builder was a victim as well, the banks just refused to extend credit to him and so he went under and four guys lost their jobs. Bad all round!

It sounds like yours was a rip off so that is worse!

Guy

 

[Jonathanerrrm]

Thanks for the support Guy... rip off or not I suppose the damage to peoples lives is the same.

 

[decoy]

You're going to have to pay for that review. It cost me a brand new jigsaw, and I was perfectly happy with the one I already had :-D

 

[Russell]

Hi guys, thanks for the review, after reading it i will not be buying the carvex; i'll just keep using my trion.
One thing i can't get my head around, is why it only comes with one battery. does one battery last long enough?

 

[jmbfestool]

Hi guys, thanks for the review, after reading it i will not be buying the carvex; i'll just keep using my trion.
One thing i can't get my head around, is why it only comes with one battery. does one battery last long enough?

The battery does last a good while but you do need 2 really I luckily own the T15 so I have another 2 batteries so I have 3 in total.  If you own the T18 you can also use the batteries on the 14.4 carvex as its the same carvex you get if you was to buy the 18v Carvex just different batteries.  I have ordered one 18V battery should be coming next week I hope so ill have two for my carvex then.

I think festool just give one battery to give the impression that the carvex isn't that expensive but I think they should do the 2 battery option aswell my opinion is its bloody stupid not selling it with 2 batteries but what can I do about it.

JMB

 

[Russell]

I'll just sit and wait a while, my problem is that my trion is 240v and Ive been doing site work, I don't really want to buy a 110v because there usually isn't
enough sockets to plug into on site. It just seem like festool aren't spending enough time on their tools, BTW i also have a T15 but the carvex should come with two batteries;
I think they're taking the piss.

 

[ApgarConstruction]

I'm waiting for this to come to the US.  I've never had a cordless jigsaw,  fort he price  the 18v carvex should  come with two batteries. 

I may opt for the corded model as I hate when batteries die and you need them charged right away.

which one is the more popular one, the cordless or corded model?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I may opt for the corded model as I hate when batteries die and you need them charged right away.

Brushless motor = longer battery life and better efficiency. I think members who have the T 12/15 drills will agree about the longer-than-average battery life.

 

[jmbfestool]

I may opt for the corded model as I hate when batteries die and you need them charged right away.

Brushless motor = longer battery life and better efficiency. I think members who have the T 12/15 drills will agree about the longer-than-average battery life.

Yes I would agree my T15 festool drill last a long time with one battery ! This does not mean festool can give the excuse that because batteries last longer so one battery will do! WRONG! Eventually the battery will run out and obviously much sooner using it on a jigsaw than a drill as a jigsaw drains batteries quicker. Then what?! You have one battery which is dead festool don't have battery indicator and the jigsaw runs full power till the battery is dead so you have no warning no way of knowing. You have to stop working as you have no jigsaw until that ONE battery is charged. You can say well if you own a T15 you have more batteries cus some people dont! So tell me FESTOOL what do you do with one battery?!!?  NOTHING its useless the jigsaw is completely useless. If I had not had the T15 I would not of bought the Carvex no way.  You simply can not work with one battery.  If you have two! YES! Atleast one can be charging or be fully charged while the other is having is life drained out of it! You simply swap over battery and charge the dead one and before the other one runs out the other will be fully charged.  A battery on the Carvex will last me a day on normal use if im using it a lot I go through 2. I have never needed a 3rd battery though.  With my Milwueakee M18 normal use 2 and heavy 3-4 batteries

JMB

 

[zzzzdoc]

Any idea when the Carvex will come to the US? 

I almost bought a PSB300 as I need a jigsaw, but no way I would buy one now.  So the longer Festool waits to bring it to the US, the longer they have to do without my money.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Topic: New Tools R Comin'    is the post you're probably interested in.  Bob Marino says June 2011 is the expected release date for the Carvex.