|
Post by jonathan on Mar 14, 2014 3:10:04 GMT -5
sgtrjp, I noticed you posted a reply while I was updating my post I will admit though, even if you were to agree with my argument, it doesn't do you much good if you can't buy it. Fortunately I'm in Europe, so from my perspective availability isn't a factor. As with everything it tends to end up as a matter of personal preference and mindset. What is most important to you as an individual. For me it's a combination of speed of working, cost & most importantly space needed to do the job required. I used to own a lot more Festool than I do now. But the few tools Mafell offer that can replace my Festool satisfy my needs better than Festool did. Might be just as well the other way around for others, depending on their priorities
|
|
|
Post by wrightwoodwork on Mar 14, 2014 5:31:07 GMT -5
Have to agree with Jonathan their to me festool is an excellent company with lots of products some are useful, but a lot are just repeats of each other just slightly different take the sanders to me it gets confusing as there is do many I personally feel if festool stream lined some of their product lines they could improve their quality. I have the festool of1010 router which is good but the likes of the parallel guide that come with it is pretty poor plastic to get the better one you need to spend extra. Why not give the better one to start with. I don't know about Europe but the price of festool in the uk has dropped a lot. To me if a product drops in price there is no way it will be the same material quality being used to make I only buy the tools that fit my needs mafell definitely could promote itself a lot better, but then I think the people that work at mafell are more engineering types do maybe aren't that way inclined. I know that I as a joiner am not good at self promotion and maybe that is the case with mafell.
|
|
sgtrjp
Junior Member
Posts: 65
|
Post by sgtrjp on Mar 15, 2014 7:35:00 GMT -5
Okay Jonathan. I was wondering why you just posted a picture. I guess I should give more time before responding to posts You made great points, some are solid but some won't always apply. I don't think anyone can argue about the ease of joining the rails. This was one of the reasons I really wanted the MT55 to work for me. But, as with most things there isn't a silver bullet. Where the F rails gain in ease of joining, they lack in accessorizing. But that only matters if you need those particular accessories. I bought the DD40 because I liked the fact that it was dual purpose: joinery and shelf pin drilling. But, if I had already bought in fully to the Festool Ecosystem, this probably wouldn't have applied since I would have many of the components already. Of course you'd have a router and you might even already have a holey rail since it's only an additional $5 to upgrade from the base rail. As far as your points about extra steps with lr-32, I think there's a benefit to the extra steps and parts. When you get it mounted, your router is centered on the jig. The parallel guides allow you to quickly and accurately reposition the rail. Many people make their own MFT tops with the LR-32 system. You won't do that with the dd40. You may be able to use roberthickman's jig, but you won't have the ease of repositioning with the lr-32's parallel guides. At first I scoffed at those people on FOG that recommended just buying Festool and not considering other brands. I see now there may be some value in that. They certainly don't loose the time I've spent researching.
|
|
|
Post by wrightwoodwork on Mar 15, 2014 8:59:24 GMT -5
Just being having a little think of about the parallel guide concept my thinking is that guides are to be. used in the aid positioning the guide rails. The parallel guides don't nessarilly need to stay on the guide track once it has been positioned. It could be something that just clips on top to the ridge. Then a bar coming out with measurements and a stop that slides up and down then is set at the required size. Once set it would be just a case of clip onto the ridge push the the stop to edge of the sheet or materials clamp or better still if you have the vacuum type rail start up and suction will hold in place allowing the parallel guides to be removed and the cut made
|
|
|
Post by ivanhoe on Mar 15, 2014 10:08:05 GMT -5
I was thinking about this as well - similar to the FES LR32 sliding stops.
|
|
sgtrjp
Junior Member
Posts: 65
|
Post by sgtrjp on Mar 15, 2014 10:18:18 GMT -5
Just being having a little think of about the parallel guide concept my thinking is that guides are to be. used in the aid positioning the guide rails. The parallel guides don't nessarilly need to stay on the guide track once it has been positioned. It could be something that just clips on top to the ridge. Then a bar coming out with measurements and a stop that slides up and down then is set at the required size. Once set it would be just a case of clip onto the ridge push the the stop to edge of the sheet or materials clamp or better still if you have the vacuum type rail start up and suction will hold in place allowing the parallel guides to be removed and the cut made That's a great point. Something like the parallel guides that we were just talking about from the lr32 kit. We'll, the same idea. Of course the same ones won't work. It won't work for cuts narrower than the rail, but as the cuts get bigger, it gains advantage over the solutions that clip on the rail as it gets more awkward moving the rail with those long incra rails attached to the guide.
|
|
|
Post by jonathan on Mar 15, 2014 10:19:16 GMT -5
It was my first thought as well to have something that clamps like or even to the Mafell guide rail stops. I can see how not everyone would like such a solution, but it might be one of only a few viable options indeed.
|
|
|
Post by MrToolJunkie on May 22, 2014 17:21:24 GMT -5
I sent a note to Seneca woodworking and they say that they are going to work on developing some guides for Mafell rails...in the email they stated that the Makita saw was next up for this summer and that Mafell was on their list as well...just not sure how long it will be, but at least it sounds like there has been enough interest and that something is on the schedule.
|
|
|
Post by 7 on May 22, 2014 22:02:52 GMT -5
Good news. I have never paid much attention tot he seneca parallel guides so I will have to go back and take a look now and see how excited I should or shouldn't be.
|
|
|
Post by ivanhoe on May 22, 2014 22:31:41 GMT -5
I bought a 55" Festool "Holey" rail and was ready to buy the seneca system as I feel the mafell rail does have this one shortfall. The Seneca system looks very nice.
|
|
|
Post by MrToolJunkie on May 23, 2014 0:00:07 GMT -5
I think that Wrightwoodwork has the right concept with a story stick approach that clips on the rib to set the rail and quickly move it off to make the cut. Also, the Rip Dog approach looks interesting if using an MFT or equivalent. Two holders that fit the holes and secure some Incra track for thinner rips.
|
|