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Post by henrun on Jul 11, 2018 15:21:36 GMT -5
Hey!
Some piece of garbage stole my piece of garbage, henceforth referred to as PoG, out of a clients shed.
The PoG was a beater Metabo KGS saw, corded. That PoG replaced a Metabo that I toasted two weeks prior to that. It was a good PoG though! No frills and no thrills.
Pondering my rare needs for a large (10" and beyond) mitre saw and foreseeing my future building multiple interior walls and doing stairs and decking outdoors a few weeks too had me in a bind: go BIG on the mitre saw or go broke on the Mafell KSS50 which I previously owned. After handling a Festool HKC55 for a day or two I decided to live with the limitations and got me the KSS50 in PURE version, again.
Purchase was "sponsored" by selling some old and some not very used tools so no large drain on the account - this time...
It has done well enough in pressure treated all day with the 7Ah battery, big cuts but no rips. Even the dustbag stayed on for two hours before it was filled up and popped of - Mafell style. That Bag is a PoG for sure! Did have a Metabo bag in the car, that will do.
Point of the thread is twofold: firstly I did like the HKC55 with the FSK250 short rail, very handy and instead of swinging them big 2x on the mitre saw it was nice chopping them down with the HKC. I did note that the HKC did OK, and battery wise did really well.
Generally I like it!
The KSS 50 does a little bit better for power - it really does - but has a larger "short rail" which I am thinking of shortening down to approximately the FSK 250 size, just north off the 45 mitre mark - knowing that will incapacitate the mitre range.
I did get the 770 rail for the KSS for some subflooring to be done in the weeks to come and I am thinking I will be fine with shortening the standard rail - or is that just a crazy idea??? Worst case scenario I will regret it later and order up a spare. I am thinking I almost never use the 400 length and around 250-ish is the sweet spot for me. Bungy cord is easily moved back on the Mafell short track so should pose no problem.
One niggle is that the base plate binds to the track when retracted - I don't remember having that problem with the first KSS50, it was smooth as - and so has the KSS 40 been. It is the plastic clip for the bungy that seems to pinch the sole/base plate and hopefully it "wears in" but now it does pinch hard when retracted making me have to push hard to get it going.
Once "off" the pinchy part it glides freely - but everytime it is back in the fold it pinches again.
Anyone else had this problem? I can't be bothered sending it in for "repair" but will see if they can get me a new track or if it is a quick and easy DIY McGyver hack.
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Post by huntsgemein on Jul 12, 2018 3:12:07 GMT -5
Would powdered graphite (carpenters' pencil shavings) help as a dry-lube?
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Post by henrun on Jul 12, 2018 12:01:26 GMT -5
As it turned out the short track was damaged! I was not the culprit and the saw was delivered mounted and without batteries. The damage was not visible when the saw was mounted and that kind of damage does not happen with the saw mounted...
This was beyond poor quality control as the damaged part was clearly visible when the saw was off the track. That black plastic thing at the start of the rubber cut line was missing and that section was damaged and warped, causing binding of the saw upon returning it after cutting. I was lucky they had a KSS400 on the shelf with the same track mounted as a demo unit so I could drive by and swap out the short track. The other one was as expected, smooth running. I did stall the saw today cutting pressure treated 45x170 - but I was admittedly going too fast. No kick back though. After that I eased down the pace and the saw cut nicely for the rest of the day - didn't even bring out the mitre saw.
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Post by chippiegary on Jul 12, 2018 14:44:35 GMT -5
You beat me to it henrun I was gonna suggest the rail was probably damaged , bummer you had your beater saw stolen , regarding Festool hk55 saws a friend of mine has just bought the 240v corded body only they are seriously cheap in the uk at the mo think he paid £200 not much more than a beater saw price I’m like you I think they have some very good features “plunge etc “ hkc as you say is very underpowered price wise hard to beat at the moment , I’m still liking my kss50 I don’t push it hard though , just bought mt55 cordless body only gonna run metabo 7.0 ah on it haven’t tried it out yet I dropped my ten year old corded mt 55 bent the base plate very cheesed off it doesn’t owe me anything though but hate damaging stuff all the same hopefully cordless version will be up to the task
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Post by henrun on Jul 12, 2018 15:10:46 GMT -5
I think you are going to find the MT55 cordless a very good saw. Too bad about the old work horse. I sold my old MT55 to a colleague, so it is still in the same workshop. I thought I should keep it but after a few solid oak cuts and some sheet goods with the cordless I can say it does the same job for sure. Nice to get rid of the cord even in the work shop - the vac cord is bothersome enough.
Decided the cordless was good enough when I was roughcutting down MDF at the cargo bay, two 22mm sheets at a time. It sailed through and no extension cord running out the window.
Worked the KSS50 hard today, with the "7Ah" battery, went down to two bars at the end of the day, and a lot of cuts, not a massive amount but a fair share. Then I realized I had the 5,5 LiHD on and not the 7Ah. Color me impressed! Should I ever need more power I would go corded Mafell for sure. I am fine with the KSS50 this time around, just wish it would plunge the same as the HKC55 - but I don't plunge this type of saw that often anyway.
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Post by jonathan on Jul 13, 2018 10:40:38 GMT -5
I've also got a HK55 but the corded variant. I got it because the Mafell saws have just gotten too expensive for my taste. I have to say im pretty happy with it, but it's an absolute nightmare with the dust hose and power cable snagging on every damn cut. It's really annoying the hell out of me. There's more work with managing the hose than there is with the cut. The dust port isn't strong enough to keep a 32mm hose in position and it always point/drapes down and of course snags on the rail. It's like i need 3 hands to manage this thing Often times I just force the saw forward and the entire dust port breaks off... Other than that, I've been very happy with the machine. Their whole rail line-up is the weakest link of the Festool system, that and their battery tools/platform. I wish they could have the simple but absolutely brilliant plastic end covers that Mafell and Bosch have on the rails.
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Post by arvid on Jul 13, 2018 12:59:24 GMT -5
I've also got a HK55 but the corded variant. I got it because the Mafell saws have just gotten too expensive for my taste. I have to say im pretty happy with it, but it's an absolute nightmare with the dust hose and power cable snagging on every damn cut. It's really annoying the hell out of me. There's more work with managing the hose than there is with the cut. The dust port isn't strong enough to keep a 32mm hose in position and it always point/drapes down and of course snags on the rail. It's like i need 3 hands to manage this thing Often times I just force the saw forward and the entire dust port breaks off... Other than that, I've been very happy with the machine. Their whole rail line-up is the weakest link of the Festool system, that and their battery tools/platform. I wish they could have the simple but absolutely brilliant plastic end covers that Mafell and Bosch have on the rails. [ Throw the hose and cord over your shoulder.
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Post by henrun on Jul 13, 2018 16:53:16 GMT -5
I've also got a HK55 but the corded variant. I got it because the Mafell saws have just gotten too expensive for my taste. I have to say im pretty happy with it, but it's an absolute nightmare with the dust hose and power cable snagging on every damn cut. It's really annoying the hell out of me. There's more work with managing the hose than there is with the cut. The dust port isn't strong enough to keep a 32mm hose in position and it always point/drapes down and of course snags on the rail. It's like i need 3 hands to manage this thing Often times I just force the saw forward and the entire dust port breaks off... Other than that, I've been very happy with the machine. Their whole rail line-up is the weakest link of the Festool system, that and their battery tools/platform. I wish they could have the simple but absolutely brilliant plastic end covers that Mafell and Bosch have on the rails. [ Throw the hose and cord over your shoulder. ... together with the machine and go cordless!
Nah, seriously. The Dustbag on the KSS50 is not that good. It fell off but lasted at least an hour on the machine. Metabo el cheapo dustbag stays put though.
I am really happy to cut the cord. I know I would not have been happy a couple of years ago but now battery tech has matured to the point it is workable and then some. There are still reasons to corded, I just don't fit into that category nowadays.
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Post by henrun on Jul 21, 2018 3:09:03 GMT -5
I've also got a HK55 but the corded variant. I got it because the Mafell saws have just gotten too expensive for my taste. I have to say im pretty happy with it, but it's an absolute nightmare with the dust hose and power cable snagging on every damn cut. It's really annoying the hell out of me. There's more work with managing the hose than there is with the cut. The dust port isn't strong enough to keep a 32mm hose in position and it always point/drapes down and of course snags on the rail. It's like i need 3 hands to manage this thing Often times I just force the saw forward and the entire dust port breaks off... Other than that, I've been very happy with the machine. Their whole rail line-up is the weakest link of the Festool system, that and their battery tools/platform. I wish they could have the simple but absolutely brilliant plastic end covers that Mafell and Bosch have on the rails. Wasn't there a thread over at the FOG on some belt clip contraption that was a hose/cord manager of some sorts?
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