Festool Garbage?

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Firstly great video Peter, but boy, talk about a lemon product, well in my opinion. Peter does a good job trying to extol the features of this piece of hay is in my opinion junk. I know, I will have upset the devotees to the brand, but seriously, why, just why would you buy one?
There is no way that this is a lemon product, nor junk, though almost certainly not for you.

The work that I do makes this completely unsuitable for me, this is nothing new, there are 3 or more Festool products that are valueless to me and as usual expensive. This does not make them bad products, they are excellent and if I were given them I would find uses for them but nowhere near enough to make them items I would spend any money on, I do have one tool that is in that league but am resisting adding more.

To answer your question as to why buy one it is quite simple and there are a couple of reasons, the first is that you do the kind of work where the accuracy, precision, nose and dust control increase you speed to the extent that the price will be amortised in short order and your clients will be footing the bill, the second is that you have the kind of money that makes it a nice to have additional tool and you appreciate the quality involved. It seems neither of these fit you.
 
@Spectric yes, that’s the model. When I’ve scribed it’s usually because the wall is a banana shape / out of plumb or and has coving. The jig saw fits on the same track as the Mafell circular saw.
 
That really makes that jigsaw a useful tool, shame I am on Makita / Festool pattern tracks and not Mafell / Bosch.

That Festool table saw is closer to being a model makers saw, I cannot connect £1500 with a saw that you can carry around. Apart from the dust aspect and cordless what makes it better than any of these

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Bosch-GTS10XC-110V-Portable-Table-Saw-250mm-With-Sliding-Carriage/P8993
https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Dewalt-D...le-Saw-210mm-Blade-610mm-Max-Rip-1700W/P17688
but this Mafell makes the Festool seem like an Aldi special at £2500 and for that it should make tea and do a days work all on its own for this price

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Mafell-Erika-70EC-240V-Push-Pull-Saw-2000watt/P9180

and sold out !!
 
Well, perhaps it’s a good subject matter for another of @petermillard perhapsepisode excellent 10 minute workshops. Every day is a school day.
 
That really makes that jigsaw a useful tool, shame I am on Makita / Festool pattern tracks and not Mafell / Bosch.

That Festool table saw is closer to being a model makers saw, I cannot connect £1500 with a saw that you can carry around. Apart from the dust aspect and cordless what makes it better than any of these

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Bosch-GTS10XC-110V-Portable-Table-Saw-250mm-With-Sliding-Carriage/P8993
https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Dewalt-D...le-Saw-210mm-Blade-610mm-Max-Rip-1700W/P17688

Dust collection and cordless may be all it takes to make it better than those Roy, but noise is also an issue. For me I can take or leave the cordless aspect, but the dust collection and the noise were two deciding factors.
but this Mafell makes the Festool seem like an Aldi special at £2500 and for that it should make tea and do a days work all on its own for this price

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Mafell-Erika-70EC-240V-Push-Pull-Saw-2000watt/P9180

and sold out !!

The Festool was in the middle of the range of saws I looked at price-wise.
 
Well, perhaps it’s a good subject matter for another of @petermillard perhapsepisode excellent 10 minute workshops. Every day is a school day.
Not sure if you mean about using a jigsaw for ripping, or about why the Festool was a preferred option over those saws, but if the latter I covered the road to this decision in a previous video, here 👍
 
I think this might be one of those tools you need to see in the flesh and being used but it has to meet your needs so if cutting full sheets then forget any table saw unless it is a big sliding table job. I must say that noise has never been a deciding factor as I just wear ear defenders but if you are working in a persons house then not so good, you ask them all to wear ear defenders or go out for the day though.

It is crazy when a £1500 saw of that size is the middle range, but a lot cheaper than the Mafell. Anyone got the Mafell who wishes to discuss its pro's and con's ?
 
If I were still doing custom built In's, kitchens, bedrooms etc It would tick quite quite a few boxes for me, I keep a Kity 419 on the van, (along side my MFT) which
has served me extremely well, but the DE is non existent so I always have to set up outside, under my pop up tent or run it in the back of the van, adding to the leg work to and from the job. I also have a Dewalt flip saw which new is about a £1000 but its a monster to move, not at all friendly to use, dusty, and to be honest the worst piece of kit I've ever bought.
 
why, just why would you buy one?
Well.
Because you only intend to do SMALLER stuff.
Because you can pack it away into a small space after use.
Because it is light(ish) and compact enough to be very easily one-man portable for those with insufficient strength to fanny about with their Bosch site saw anymore.
Because it is a small AND PRECISE CABINET saw, and not a butcher's tool.
Because it is rather accurate.
Because space in an 8x6 workshop is at a premium.

I'm sure people have other reasons, but they are mine.
 
I think this might be one of those tools you need to see in the flesh and being used but it has to meet your needs so if cutting full sheets then forget any table saw unless it is a big sliding table job. I must say that noise has never been a deciding factor as I just wear ear defenders but if you are working in a persons house then not so good, you ask them all to wear ear defenders or go out for the day though.

It is crazy when a £1500 saw of that size is the middle range, but a lot cheaper than the Mafell. Anyone got the Mafell who wishes to discuss its pro's and con's ?
I don`t have the Mafell Erika 85 but I do want one, its powerful enough to rip fairly decent sized solid timber and delicate enough to cut small components safely or thin materials and you can chuck it in the van easily. The pull function is great with the angle attachment, so much better than a normal mitre guage, it just makes sense. Even the folding legs are well done.
I had a demo of one at a show and wanted one ever since, unfortunately I am always too poor and you seldom see a secoond hand one.

Ollie
 
I mostly work with smaller stuff in my compact workshop and as well as accuracy, value good dust collection plus low noise.
I would seriously consider one of these to replace my noisy site saw but I can’t justify the cost plus running on batteries is a real deal breaker.
I’ll have been looking for one of the small ‘Craft’ saws from Axminster at a reasonable price. Does anyone here have one and can tell me what the extraction is like please?
 
but I found this showing the Jigsaws capability. I’ve used it myself to rip.
That video on the Mafell jigsaw is interesting, great quality cut and with a Bosch blade so it would seem you don't always need the expensive thicker blades which then raises the question of why is it more accurate than other jig saws because I always thought it was that special blade.
 
I have been looking at table saws for a few years now, just a DIYer , was considering a dewalt , but then the rules changed , in fact I saw the petermillard video about the regulation change - and so the price went out of my range and difficulty getting a 250mm blade
I almost purchased a 210 version , but when i called FFX they had no idea when it was likly to be delivered and having lots of trouble getting Dewalt , as did axminster when i visited them.
so its on a back burner for me, I do like the festool , out of my price range , for what i do -The noise and dust attraction and small foot print is a big plus for my garage/workshop . But batteries would just completely put it off my list. All my cordless tools are Dewalt , garden tools are Stihl miced of petrol and battery , so to get another battery system , certainly for tools i would not really change over to when the dewalts wear out , is not really viable.
 
something to do with the size of the table and the blade diameter - I know the saw i was looking at DW745-GB , was replaced by a 210mm model, and i had difficulty then finding 250mm saws that where not large and very expensive - i may be wrong, cant find the video - but it was a while back now - I wanted a saw with blades to match my mitre saw 250mm as i have 5 blades for that ...
 
i must be mistaken then. I thought there was a new regulation on Table size ratio to blade size , minimum table size for a blade diameter . I was sure Peter had mentioned about the table saw regulations coming into UK , quite a few years back now 2019/20 ish - but my memory is not what it used to be - so apologies if i misled anyone
probably coincidence that at the same time the dewalt 250mm i was looking at was discontinued and replaced by 210mm
 
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