Table saw with scoring blade

[MikeK]

I do need to cut solid wood on it too, the TS2 states it's good for that also, don't know about minimax so will have to ring s&s tomorrow I think and have a chat.

The Minimax SC2C will most definitely cut solid wood. My saw is the 400V 3-phase 4kW.

With the 315mm diameter blade at full height, and the overhead guard in place, the maximum thickness I can cut is 90mm. With the blade tilted to 45 degrees and the guard in place, the maximum thickness is about 70mm. In practice, the thickest wood I have ripped or cut was about 75mm thick, and I didn't have any problems.

As @Ollie78 wrote, seeing the machine first hand is a great idea. The store where I bought my saw also had several new Martin and Altendorf saws on display, as well as a couple used versions. All were ready for a new home.

The smallest Martin at the time, a T65, was slightly larger than my shop floor, five times the cost of the SC2C, and would never fit down my basement stairs. However, if my shop was larger and had easy outside access, I would have bought the T65.

 

[ivan]

A track saw with a second motor and scoring blade? £1000? Have Festool gone mad?
At a Mafell demo about 20 years ago (when the saw plunges on columns like a router), the Mafell demonstrator laid down the track, made a 3mm deep climb cut towards himself (scoring cut), reset the depth for a full cut, and then pushed the saw back to the other side. Perfect cut in melamine with a standard Mafell blade. This is much easier with the current plunge saw, as it can be set for a full depth cut, with the plunge controlled by a thumb operated 3mm depth lever. Push lever, climb cut to score, release lever, push forward to complete.

There was a review of the current Mafell plunge saw which claimed the 3mm lever also displaced the blade sideways by a fraction of a mm. This is not the case, but may have been used on a self drive model that powered itself along a bespoke 2.5M track.

 

[MikeK]

A track saw with a second motor and scoring blade? £1000? Have Festool gone mad?

Maybe, but it might be possible that the Festool team did the appropriate market research before investing in a new tool.

At a Mafell demo about 20 years ago (when the saw plunges on columns like a router), the Mafell demonstrator laid down the track, made a 3mm deep climb cut towards himself (scoring cut), reset the depth for a full cut, and then pushed the saw back to the other side. Perfect cut in melamine with a standard Mafell blade.

This is how I do it with my track saw when I want both top edges clean. If I'm not interested in the offcut edge, I don't bother. I'm not in business where every second counts, so taking the time to make two passes on a sheet of melamine makes better sense than spending over €1K on a new saw.

 

[mwinfrance]

@petermillard did a tracksaw comparison in which he used the Mafell, it did do that sideways blade shift on the second cut, leaves a gap.OK for MDF, Melamine etc but solid wood would not look so neat with it.

 

[WoodyWoodpecker]

The Mafell does move the blade slightly using a special shaped washer when the plung goes below about 5mm. You can see it happen. Manufacturing tolerances or dust in the mechanism might account for some people seeing a larger gap.

The Festool uses a diamond scoring blade that is wider than the main blade. So, you may see a gap at least on one niece depending on adjustment.

I would hope the diamond blade alleviates wear on the main blade. The 2-pass method and the Mafell works good with a very sharp blade (and clamped track). But, melamine is pretty tough and dulls blades and glue from the chipboard gunks up the blade. At this point it doesn’t work as well and you can start to get minor chipping.

Always beware the tool demo guys at shows. Brand new cut strips on the rail and new blades for the weekend. Always makes a big difference compared to weeks of real world cutting MFC.