Tool Snob Carvex Review

elimelech12 said:
ScotF said:
I have been thinking about the beveling discussion a lot.  I think you could screw a piece of acrylic or wood or Uhmw or something to the wing, giving you the same support.  I know it would be an extra step, tedious and maybe it would not work but the wings do have holes and it would be simple enough to cut a rectangular piece about the same dimension as the saw, screw it in, cut a kerf at the angle and make the cut.  Not saying this is the way to go, but a thought.

Scot

Do you mean something like this? Lol sorry for the bad rendering..

Yes...exactly what I was thinking.

Scot
 
jkuisma said:
SRSemenza said:
ScotF said:
I have been thinking about the beveling discussion a lot.  I think you could screw a piece of acrylic or wood or Uhmw or something to the wing, giving you the same support.  I know it would be an extra step, tedious and maybe it would not work but the wings do have holes and it would be simple enough to cut a rectangular piece about the same dimension as the saw, screw it in, cut a kerf at the angle and make the cut.  Not saying this is the way to go, but a thought.

Scot

I would be inclined to add a wedge to one of the flat bases and leave it in place. That way it could be just attached like any of the accessory bases.

Seth

I think this is the best way to go as long as you don't loose too much depth of cut. The stick fix base would probably be great for this. In the two years the carvex has been out in Europe and I think in Australia, this issue must have encountered and dealt with.

I'm guessing not  more than an 1/8" of cutting depth would be lost. It won't take much for a back bevel.

Seth
 
SRSemenza said:
jkuisma said:
SRSemenza said:
ScotF said:
I have been thinking about the beveling discussion a lot.  I think you could screw a piece of acrylic or wood or Uhmw or something to the wing, giving you the same support.  I know it would be an extra step, tedious and maybe it would not work but the wings do have holes and it would be simple enough to cut a rectangular piece about the same dimension as the saw, screw it in, cut a kerf at the angle and make the cut.  Not saying this is the way to go, but a thought.

I would be inclined to add a wedge to one of the flat bases and leave it in place. That way it could be just attached like any of the accessory bases.

Seth

I think this is the best way to go as long as you don't loose too much depth of cut. The stick fix base would probably be great for this. In the two years the carvex has been out in Europe and I think in Australia, this issue must have encountered and dealt with.

I'm guessing not  more than an 1/8" of cutting depth would be lost. It won't take much for a back bevel.

Seth

It appears as if the base is 3" wide (could someone post the base width please) a shim at the edge of the base 1/4" tall yields a 5° (rounded, 4.76° actual) pitch. Seth is correct, depth lose is 1/8".

Tom

I don't have a clue how to get my response out of the quote box!!!
 
Write outside the brackets. 

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I am writing outside so I am outside the box above and below.
 
fidelfs said:
Write outside the brackets.   

[quote  .....

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I am writing outside so I am outside the box above and below.
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I thought I did. I'm not real bright when it comes to any of this stuff.

Tom
 
With my sorry little $15 jigsaw I just naturally get a back bevel whether I want one or not.  Doesn't always bevel just that way I want.  I've been waiting for a Carvex

Here's my comment on that blog.   

"There's bound to be a simple and quick mod to fix the back bevel issue.  A little homemade beveled plate, something.  And most likely the solution will be so slick and so cool that it will completely blow the doors off fiddling with hex wrenches, right?  So now, with that behind us what I'm hearing is that you think this is one heck of a fine jigsaw and well worth the money, correct?"

I think he really liked the saw and I bet that once he gets past this and takes a second look he'll come up with his own real nice solution.

But lets don't wait on him.  All you folks that have a Carvex?  Prove me right and have solution ready in the next few days that meets his particular need. 

And by the way, can any body tell me what the retail is on the cordless model?
 
fshanno said:
But lets don't wait on him.  All you folks that have a Carvex?  Prove me right and have solution ready in the next few days that meets his particular need. 

+1
 
I had mentioned this in another thread and it's pretty much what elimelech12 drew in his sketch. Remove the plastic runner(s) from the angle base and attach an 1/8" piece of material (Plexi, whatever) in its place. Here's what it might look like.

Just another thought, but a 5 degree shim would also work with some hook and loop for the StickFix base [wink]

Admittedly, I can see where in this one specific application, the angle base is not going to work well potentially.

I'd try it myself, but I didn't get an Accessory Kit because we were running low on inventory for the launch. [unsure]

Obviously, the Trion is a very capable jigsaw and the design of its base would allow for that type of cut without an issue.

[attachimg=#]
 

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sakurama said:
I pre ordered the 55REQ and when that had problems and I had to return it it made me decide to not pre order the Carvex. Now I'm glad I wasn't one of the dozens of people flooding eBay with used Trions to pay for the Carvex as this does seem like a pretty basic oversight. Enough that I've changed my mind about buying one. All the "fixes" are sort of crazy for a saw so expensive and I have no desire to make shims for a brand new Carvex when my Trion does bevels just fine. If you have to cut with the saw upside down what's the point of the strobes? You can't cut a beveled circle? Wow.

I own a dozen different Festools but I'm glad I waited on this one.

Gregor

Ditto. 
 
I think there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Carvex ever since the initial release and the wait to get it to the North American market. Criticism of Festool isn't too hard to find on the Internet, but whether it is fair or the haters ranting is often difficult to determine at times. Naturally the Carvex has become an (unfair?) target of that negativity and criticism, which is countered by a legion of loyal festool customers and rather smart advertising/(hype?) campaign, so who to believe?. I even found myself a little worried about my purchase of the Carvex (I shelled out enough for it!) with all the negitivity surrounding the angle base and bent blades, I found myself too critical of its overall performance. Then once I used it a bit more; optimized the speed to the type of blade and material, everything worked great, even the dust collection. While the automatic speed setting is nice and dummy proof, I think you can get better performance by actually setting the speed correctly for the material and blade, this takes a bit a experimentation but its worth it. The angle base allows you to do some pretty different cuts that are not possible (or very difficult) on a regular bevel base, and the more users play with it all that should become more apparent. Maybe in the future Festool will make a standard bevel base with dust collection and considering how easy it is to change bases, it would be a geat new accessory to spend our money on. But I think all the talk about sticking pieces onto the Carvex to make that kind of bevel cut is counter to what most people expect from Festool; an elegant solution right out of the box, but modding an accessory isn't going to hurt the saw and if it works is only going to add value to an already versatile jigsaw.

John
 
Well I did it...I went out and bought a barrel grip version today along with the accessory set.  I am going to be putting this to the test over the next 30 days to make sure it fits my needs and I will try and post a more detailed review in the coming weeks.  I also own a Trion and a Bosch JS572EB and like some other users, I also use a jigsaw a lot.  I did some test cuts today in 8/4 Cherry -- nothing too fancy, but I can say that this is the nicest jigsaw I have used for 90 degree cuts of the three I own now.  Cut quality is similar to the Trion and Bosch (after using thicker Carvex blades), but it is lighter and the four lights (both strobe and regular) and new front guard really does improve the sight line of the cut.  In strobe I was able to make a series of cuts 1/16th of an inch from one another (similar to a feather board cut).  Being able to freeze the blade allowed me to see exactly what I was doing.  I also made a bridle joint using the same technique with perfect results -- not too bad for a jigsaw.

I can say that having the multi-platform capability would make it easy to come up with new bases -- hopefully Festool is listening and will come up with an angle base or attachment to work with the existing base for the scribing and back-bevel cuts we have been discussing.

Is this saw going to be the end-all be all of jigsaws?  Maybe, maybe not.  Is it going to be a nice tool that will allow me to safely and accurately make cuts difficult with other saws?  I hope so. 

More to come...

Scot 
 
Looking at Shane's post with the base mockup, why can't you just make the cut without the add on base piece? If you removed the add on piece from the saw in the photo couldn't you just run the saw on the wing? What am I missing?

Maybe that's why this has not come up before, the rest of the world just makes the cuts as needed.

Tom

 
Personally I remain very happy with my Trion barrel grip I have owned for many years. Since I started using jig saws in the late 1940s I have almost always done so from under the work. The Trion was the first jig saw I ever owned with dust collection, and that is improved with the saw under the work.

Frankly, in my custom cabinet shop none of us use jig saws routinely. Our installers all carry jig saws.

Consequently to give the Carvex a fair trial, I ordered one each D and barrel grip, plus an accessory kit. I was hardly the first to pre-order, so we are back-ordered on the D handle, but I did pick up the accessory kit and the barrel grip on Friday 6 September. Several of the cabinet makers working for me started making evaluations as the day was ending on Friday. This will continue as spare time permits.

Bummer I have still only used a Carvex during demonstrations and briefly in a class just before the first USA launch was canceled. Since I picked up the Carvex Systainers I have been snowed under with paper work.
 
tjbnwi said:
Looking at Shane's post with the base mockup, why can't you just make the cut without the add on base piece? If you removed the add on piece from the saw in the photo couldn't you just run the saw on the wing? What am I missing?

Maybe that's why this has not come up before, the rest of the world just makes the cuts as needed.

Tom

He's just showing how the plate would look, but that's for a cut that would be going in the opposite direction essentially making a back bevel
 
Here's what the Tool Snob guy faced.

[attachimg=1]

and as you cut further into the work piece it may ride up like this.

[attachimg=2]

and it may hang in transition.

But this particular problem will be overcome in short order with some sort of wedge attached to the standard base.  It's no big deal.

I think the bigger question is how well does this unconventional bevel base work in the middle of flat material for more routine bevel cuts.  Is it stable?  Is half a foot enough for reliably stable cutting from above and below. 

If I get a Carvex I will be using it to do traditional jigsaw stuff and much more.  I intend to effectively replace my conventional circular saw with a Carvex.  That's right, replace.  Completely replace.  As in never use again.  At $350 (or $550 for the battery unit) it's got to do that for me.  Cause I'm poor but I like nice tools, I like Festool and I need a jigsaw.

 

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fshanno said:
Here's what the Tool Snob guy faced.

[attachimg=1]

and as you cut further into the work piece it may ride up like this.

[attachimg=2]

and it may hang in transition.

But this particular problem will be overcome in short order with some sort of wedge attached to the standard base.  It's no big deal.

I think the bigger question is how well does this unconventional bevel base work in the middle of flat material for more routine bevel cuts.  Is it stable?  Is half a foot enough for reliably stable cutting from above and below.  

If I get a Carvex I will be using it to do traditional jigsaw stuff and much more.  I intend to effectively replace my conventional circular saw with a Carvex.  That's right, replace.  Completely replace.  As in never use again.  At $350 (or $550 for the battery unit) it's got to do that for me.  Cause I'm poor but I like nice tools, I like Festool and I need a jigsaw.

Tom's post #57 is addressing this directly, instead of the angle plate being being adjusted concave, make it convex and support from the other side.

EDIT: unfortunately that won't work though if there isn't enough material to support that side of the plate, as in scribing a cabinet
 
fshanno said:
Here's what the Tool Snob guy faced.

[attachimg=1]

and as you cut further into the work piece it may ride up like this.

[attachimg=2]

and it may hang in transition.

But this particular problem will be overcome in short order with some sort of wedge attached to the standard base.  It's no big deal.

I think the bigger question is how well does this unconventional bevel base work in the middle of flat material for more routine bevel cuts.  Is it stable?  Is half a foot enough for reliably stable cutting from above and below. 

If I get a Carvex I will be using it to do traditional jigsaw stuff and much more.  I intend to effectively replace my conventional circular saw with a Carvex.  That's right, replace.  Completely replace.  As in never use again.  At $350 (or $550 for the battery unit) it's got to do that for me.  Cause I'm poor but I like nice tools, I like Festool and I need a jigsaw.

Nice drawing. In this case decrease the acute angle from 5º to 2º. The points of contact are now the edge on the right wing and somewhere in the field of the left wing. You would still get your 5º back bevel.

I'm not sure I have enough time in my life to replace my TS with a[ny] jig saw. There are just some cuts that are not jigsaw worthy.

If you're back beveling a cabinet scribe, how often is the base plate of a jig saw completely supported on the face frame/filler? Even on a 3" filler you're not getting the entire base plate supported. I can't recall a single time when I scribed a piece and the saw base was fully supported.

Tom
 
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