Do you own a Mafell MT55cc plunge saw ?

[chippy1970]

Bought a mafell plunge saw recently and had to return it today and swapped it for a new one after some arguing with the dealer.

Love the saw had it a few weeks but then yesterday I did my first bevel cut with it in some 22mm mdf. Straight away I could see the cut was at least 2mm away from the rubber strip on the guide rail. Ive owned Festool plunge saws for 10 years and they cut dead on that strip no matter what angle they are at. In all the info and videos it says the Mafell pivots around the under side edge of the strip but mine didnt.

I will check out my new one and hopefully its ok but Im curious to see what other owners saws are like , so if you have one and its not too much trouble can do a test cut at 45 degrees and see what happens. Make sure you clamp the rail so it cant move.

Thanks

 

[RossJarvis]

Bought a mafell plunge saw recently and had to return it today and swapped it for a new one after some arguing with the dealer.

Love the saw had it a few weeks but then yesterday I did my first bevel cut with it in some 22mm mdf. Straight away I could see the cut was at least 2mm away from the rubber strip on the guide rail. Ive owned Festool plunge saws for 10 years and they cut dead on that strip no matter what angle they are at. In all the info and videos it says the Mafell pivots around the under side edge of the strip but mine didnt.

I will check out my new one and hopefully its ok but Im curious to see what other owners saws are like , so if you have one and its not too much trouble can do a test cut at 45 degrees and see what happens. Make sure you clamp the rail so it cant move.

Thanks

I don't know if I have the model you have but I do have a Mafell saw which claims the same thing, I.e it will cut the same point on the bevel. I'm not convinced it does. The instructions mention a tracing point on "the pivoting part" for following a line without using the track, which is beyond me to understand but implies the machine is designed for accurate cuts with tracks . My feeling has always been that the blade cuts further out than the edge of the strip when cutting a splay and I've often had to re-adjust if necessary though it's by no means 2mm off and mine is their big track-saw. I've checked my rails and the strip is not undercut so at least it doesn't cut into the strip, which means it's probably a mil or two off the line when cutting without the track.

This is not a precision instrument (regardless of the cost) as it's a carpentry tool, not a cabinet making one, so I'd take any claim with a pinch of salt if you're looking to cut exactly along a line on the bevel. My saw came with a "cross-cut" rail. This has a couple of knobs on it so that you can cut angles from the face of the timber. It is so designed that one of these knobs will be cut into when cutting compound mitres of any great "bevel", which makes me think it is not designed to any great level of perfection!!

Have you changed the blade? I have several for mine and the rubber strips are only accurate for the widest blade, my Freud blade is definitely thinner on the kerf than the Mafell ones so that adds another level of inaccuracy. If it's cutting 2 mil off the line on the bevel but spot on when square then I'd say there's definitely an issue.

 

[chippy1970]

Hi Ross,

Sounds like you have a similar model. When you say its not designed for cabinet making I disagree. They sell these saws on their great accuracy 2mm out isnt very accurate. My old Festool cuts dead on the line at any angle which is what you need otherwise how would you line up a cut every time.

To be fair ive not tried the new replacement yet as I only picked it up yesterday, just trying to get feedback from other owners.

In the Mafell videos it 100% says it cuts on the rubber edge at any angle.

 

[Duncan A]

I've just cut over 30 metres of 18mm ply at 45 degrees using a MT55cc and found that it was max 0.5mm from the edge of the rubber strip. However, the strip on my guide rail has seen a lot of action probably accounts for this. It really ought to be renewed as I get the same very small gap on vertical cuts as well. I use the 1.8mm kerf Mafell sawblades.
Your saw is not loose on the guide rail is it?
Duncan

 

[RossJarvis]

I've just cut over 30 metres of 18mm ply at 45 degrees using a MT55cc and found that it was max 0.5mm from the edge of the rubber strip. However, the strip on my guide rail has seen a lot of action probably accounts for this. It really ought to be renewed as I get the same very small gap on vertical cuts as well. I use the 1.8mm kerf Mafell sawblades.
Your saw is not loose on the guide rail is it?
Duncan

With mine I'd have to say I've never really done enough checking to get to the bottom of any issue. Like you the rubber strip has been fairly hammered and is not necessarily always right next to the blade (some tracks have newer strip than others and were cut-in with one of four possible blades. For the life of me I can't even say what the difference is if any, but have a feeling that the saw cuts in a slightly different place on a bevel than when fully square. As mine is a KSS85 it may well not be comparable to the MT55 and is not generally used for pin-point accuracy, although it would be nice if it were capable of it. If I get a chance I may investigate further.

One interesting point is that the base-plate has a couple of grub screws to adjust for square on a zero degree cut, which makes me think some level of accuracy was thought of from the design stage.

 

[PhilM]

Bought a mafell plunge saw recently and had to return it today and swapped it for a new one after some arguing with the dealer.

Love the saw had it a few weeks but then yesterday I did my first bevel cut with it in some 22mm mdf. Straight away I could see the cut was at least 2mm away from the rubber strip on the guide rail. Ive owned Festool plunge saws for 10 years and they cut dead on that strip no matter what angle they are at. In all the info and videos it says the Mafell pivots around the under side edge of the strip but mine didnt.

I will check out my new one and hopefully its ok but Im curious to see what other owners saws are like , so if you have one and its not too much trouble can do a test cut at 45 degrees and see what happens. Make sure you clamp the rail so it cant move.

Thanks

Chippy, I have had the MT55cc for a year but not made many bevel cuts.
This morning I clamped the rail & the MDF & drew a pencil line against the rubber strip.
At 90 degrees the cut is spot on the line, in fact I would say it bisects it.
Made some test 45 degree cuts, the cut was a good 1mm away from the rubber strip.
Tried tightening & loosening the setting adjusters without much effect.
I think the weight of the saw tilts the rail; by lightly supporting the saw body with my right hand, the cut was right up to the line, though still not as tight as the 90 degree cut.
Phil

 

[Eric The Viking]

This doesn't sound right: With the correct blades fitted, both Makita and Festool are supposed to _always_ cut to the bottom corner of the rubber strip, once you have trimmed it. In other words, that corner is also the pivot point of the tilt, and, imagining that to be the centre of a circular protractor, the motor side of the kerf runs right through a diameter.

Getting it to align when cutting at 90 degrees is a no-brainer, as you cut the strip to that in the first place. Getting it to do that on a bevel cut is one reson you pay out the dosh.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Just out of interest, if the festool was always bang on why did you change to mafell? (Not being facetious, genuine question)

 

[chippy1970]

Just out of interest, if the festool was always bang on why did you change to mafell? (Not being facetious, genuine question)

Reason I changed is ever since ive had the newer R version of the ts55 it never felt as solid or accurate as my old ts55, also I use 110v and it has always felt under powered but Ive lived with it. The MT55 was recommended to me and I would say its built better apart from this angle issue lol and it feels more powerful. The score function is handy for me when fitting kitchens, the rails are really too with a much better connector.

Regards the new saw the replacement one is 1mm away from the edge which yeah isnt good when they sell it in all their videos as cutting on the edge no matter what angle. Trouble is on the angle the weight on the saw or clamping the rails differently , anything can easily cause a discrepancy, I was just surprised as ive never noticed this on the festool. I tried several cuts with my ts55r to be fair one or 2 of them were 1/2mm off too.

Its not like im doing bevels all the time so for everything else the saw has to offer I suppose I can put up with this and just remember to allow for it when doing bevel cuts