Jigsaw Upgrade - Festool vs Metabo

[Petey83]

Currently using a Metabo steb 80 which has been good but i am contemplating an upgrade for 4 reasons..

1. I often find myself wishing the steb 80 had a light on it due to my gazebo / site light makeshift workshop being prone to shadow
2. The steb 80 just has a standard steel base and i am not aware of any additional fix on bases to protect the work surface better
3. Improved dust extraction (as much as you can hope for on a jig saw)
4. I rather fancy a body grip machine since picking one up and having a fiddle a few months ago in a local tool shop.

The contenders are the Metabo STE 140 plus, the Festool PS420 or potentially a Festool PS300.

They all seem to meet my criteria with the added bonus that all (including the Metabo) come in a systainer which makes storage in my tiny man cave cupboard a lot easier as i already have other festool kit in systainers.

I am not overtly concerned about guide rail compatability as i cannot think of a time i would need to use a guide rail jigsaw over the TS55.

Price wise the metabo is obviously cheaper but not sure it comes with the different bases like the Festool kits do but looks like they can be purchased separately for a reasonable cost. I'd like to keep the price as low as possible obviously but will go to what i need to if it fits the bill and is long lasting.

Festool jigsaws seem to get mixed reviews and the Metabo is a bit unknown as cant find any english reviews of it anywhere...... but my other metabo kit has always performed perfectly.

any advice or personnel experience welcome

thanks

 

[Woodmonkey]

I had a ps300, an old one admittedly, but it was awful. Upgraded to a Bosch gst160 which I've found to be excellent (I have the body grip version, only comes in 240v)

 

[chippy1970]

I've got a ps300 which is almost as new. I got it to join the rest of my fessy gear but ended up just using my old Bosch all the time. I've now got the cordless carvex 420 and use it all the time, a great jigsaw.

By the way the ps300 is a really good solid jigsaw but needs a tiny bit of setting up to get the best from it. Very simple to do.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[mahomo59]

Just switched over to cordless 420 barrel grip, as chippy1970 says brilliant jigsaw. Must get my 240v 420 barrel grip in the for sale section

 

[Petey83]

i am not in need of cordless and what cordless kit i do have is all Makita 18v with the exception of a CXS i got for practically nothing due to a delivery mess up.

 

[Ed Bray]

I have a Metabo STEB105 that I bought in the 90s it is bulletproof and still going strong. I also have a Carvex PS420 barrel which I also like a lot.

Either would be a good choice.

 

[Petey83]

caved and stumped up for the Festoll Carvex barrel grip full set......