jacko
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by jacko on May 3, 2015 23:20:59 GMT -5
Hello people, where are all of the Mafell users? This forum doesn't seem to have many participants. Is this because Mafell is just not well recognized?
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Post by GhostFist on May 4, 2015 4:33:47 GMT -5
We're a tiny little independent forum. I like to think of us as cozy. Not a lot of people know about mafell in na. we might not have a pile of constant activity but what we get is usually quality. If you have any ideas for conversation starters by all means throw them in the pot
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Post by wrightwoodwork on May 4, 2015 5:57:57 GMT -5
That's true too a point. Mafell is well known especially in Europe yet as it's on the pricey side a lot of people don't buy. In the uk most joiners only want to pay the cheapest price. There is a very small amount of people like myself willing to pay the price like myself. Then again I'm the exception. For myself who uses the tools day in day out it is much easier to justify the cost than a hobby worker. For myself I hate using tools that feel cheap and shoddy then break down as they are not built for heavy day in day out use. Not to say that the cheap stuff won't do a job it's just I don't feel confident in them. Years ago I used to buy mainly hilti at the time quiet expensive yet very good and really good service. Then I needed to buy a new circular saw to replace one I had previously. It was a lot cheaper as made in china. I felt the quality was no where near as good. The saw before I could use on the hilti rail at it would cut at any angle the riving knife was sprung loaded. Where on the newer saw as soon as I tilted the saw to make a cut it cut into the rail then for doing plunge cuts you had to dive the blade in as the riving knife wasn't sprung loaded making plunge cuts potentially dangerous for kick backs. Then in a magazine mafell was doing a 30 day trial at no cost on the kss300. I was so impressed with the little saw I able to use it do some roofing work laying floors, cutting sheets finishings etc. The first thing I thought how handy it was to have a saw that could cover the tasks of a chopsaw, circular saw and track saw in one package saving on the cost of separate saws for each task plus room.in the van. I didn't buy the saw. Not that I wasn't happy with it I ended up going for the 400 as I felt it was more suited to my needs than the 300. For myself I value how diverse a tool can be much more than the buying loads of separate tools thst are cheaper and don't perform as I expect. Also I don't worry if other people use them or not. What I sometimes find is when doing certain tasks send have done 2 or 3 in the time they have done 1. I then get asked to cut thier pieces and they then go and fit it
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Post by sylwestercarpenter on May 4, 2015 6:21:35 GMT -5
I would like to spent more time on MUF but the day has only 24H and lack posting on forum is caused by Mafell tools as I most enjoy them using them in daily work also tools need to work hard to repay for itself . Mafell tools are best i ever use and fully agree wit wrighwoodwork about tools quality and day to day usage.
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Post by Knight Woodworks on May 4, 2015 17:54:47 GMT -5
Jacko,
The site doesn't have a lot of traffic, but what there is, is generally good. I suspect the lack of posting is threefold. First, Mafell tools are expensive, especially in NA. This results in fewer buyers. Timberwolf told me they sell about one table saw a week... Secondly, I'd bet the majority of Mafell owners are in the trades and likely business owners or self employed. These folks don't have much time to devote to posting on the internet. Lastly, it's my understanding that in NA, the finish carpentry/cabinetry tool sales are a fraction of the timber framing tools sold. IDK but I wonder if those folks don't spend their internet time on timberframe sites.
My two cents.
John
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questa
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by questa on May 4, 2015 18:29:04 GMT -5
Ok I will participate....I agree with what John said above. Add in the one and only dealer (I would also be complimentary to David and Timberwolf), marketing? when do you see an ad for Mafell, Forum exposure...most forums if Mafell is brought up it is just to laugh at the prices, even on the FOG, where people should not be shocked by high prices they usually seem to say its not worth it to pay Mafell prices.
I am not in the trades but it seems to me that many in the trades took a LONG time to get on the Festool bandwagon and most are satisfied with throwaways ( correct me if I am off base). For the hobbyist, they have to have a certain amount of disposable income. I think Mafell will stay very small until they take an approach similiar to Festool.
Did I mention I really love the Erika? ( hobbyist opinion)
Len
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Post by GhostFist on May 4, 2015 19:23:41 GMT -5
Tbh, I hope mafell doesn't take the same approach as festool. I feel festool, over the past couple of years, has stopped innovating and pushed more to appeal to a broader market, starting with their Ti15, then borrowing features of the mt55, an overly expensive upgrade to their jigsaw, branded beer coolers and other faff. The conturo seems to be the only product they ve recently introduced that has any unique quality to it. When I bought my t 15, it was the ONLY brushless motor drill with reconfigurable chuck heads, it remains a great tool but they are no longer unique here, the TS55 was great at the time, now IMO, despite the upgrade, outdone by the mt55. Protocol had some innovative products that were unavailable here, now being rebranded as festool and still unavailable here, we're talking years since initial product release in Europe until market in North America. without a doubt it will be marketed,and received as the latest and greatest but we'll. ...it's not. The hk55 is just a watered down kss 400 the list goes on. My point, their drive to sell more has, again my opinion, stifled their desire to innovate. I'd rather pay more to the smaller manufacturer dedicated to quality than still a pile to lesser quality produced on a larger scale. Kinda like how I present myself as a specialty carpenter. ...hmmmmm
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Post by Knight Woodworks on May 4, 2015 19:43:30 GMT -5
Questa makes an excellent point, exposure. You don't hear much about Mafell, and when you do it's typically regarding their timber framing tools. I've been a carpenter for over 30 years, I appreciate good tools. Up until last year the only Mafell kit I'd seen was a few tools for timber framing and a duo-dowel.
I was looking for a jig saw to replace my Trion. Demoed a Carvex but wasn't impressed. Saw the now censored P1CC video on the FOG, googled Mafell and came here. What I saw blew my mind.
I kinda think Mafell doesn't care too much about the NA market. If someone, in this case Timberwolf wants to rep their product, than they're fine with that, otherwise they don't care. But, what do I know, I could be completely wrong.
John
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jacko
Junior Member
Posts: 95
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Post by jacko on May 4, 2015 19:56:44 GMT -5
From my initial impression Timberwolf is a small operation that doesn't seem to want to go into the tool mass market commodity sales. I'm ok with that but, your correct when I Google Mafell there is not a lot of information out there.
It seems to me that most cabinet shops or custom woodworking shops could greatly benefit from the MT55. Has anybody asked Timberwolf if they intend to bring in the Bosch version?
Jack
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Post by erik on May 4, 2015 19:57:51 GMT -5
Look at the parallels between the quality of posts, the posters and their work and the tools they use and I think you'll see a pattern emerging. Other forums had a similar pattern until they became too poplar and then you started getting diminishing returns on posts.
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Post by lincoln on May 4, 2015 20:17:47 GMT -5
Of the 10 companies that I've worked for, I can think of only two that would 'invest' in quality tools. Those two also did/do quality work. I feel like I'm the only Mafell user in Australia, but of course that can't true - Timberwolf told me that they have sent a fair bit of gear to Australia/New Zealand. Festool seem to be stuck in no-mans land at the moment - trying to push quality, expensive tools, while trying to appeal to the hobbyist. And, to me, it looks like the push towards the hobbyist is winning out, over quality. I'm still surprised when people post photo's on the FOG of their massive stacks of systainers, with brand new, hardly touched tools inside. A lot of them honestly think that the tools give them ability. Or, they don't have to learn the basics, because the tools will compensate for a lack of knowledge. Mafell are totally geared toward the pro user, and who I would call 'high end' hobbyists, who are already skilled power tool users.
Jacko - the Bosch saw looks ok, I checked it out in person, when I bought my rails. It has nothing on the MT55.
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Post by jm on May 4, 2015 20:30:35 GMT -5
Hello people, where are all of the Mafell users? This forum doesn't seem to have many participants. Is this because Mafell is just not well recognized? This is a personal opinion and specific to this forum and not the brand, but having been a pretty avid forum user for the past 20 or so years, and managing a few forums myself, I find subforum for every tool to be off putting for new users and repeat users alike. I think having "track saws", "carpentry saws", "joiners", "drills", would be plenty for the amount of traffic this forum has. And if things do blow up, for sure, split it off into it's own, but (a) not knowing which forum to post in to ask a question is primary cause for paralysis by overwhelming choices, and (b) over-compartmentalizing means you're artificially driving users eyes away from topics by forcing them to click to a separate subforum. Forums with little to no activity also are off-putting, because new users will click in the forum, see no activity, and be rather doubtful they'll get answers to their questions.
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Post by GhostFist on May 4, 2015 20:51:01 GMT -5
Hello people, where are all of the Mafell users? This forum doesn't seem to have many participants. Is this because Mafell is just not well recognized? This is a personal opinion and specific to this forum and not the brand, but having been a pretty avid forum user for the past 20 or so years, and managing a few forums myself, I find subforum for every tool to be off putting for new users and repeat users alike. I think having "track saws", "carpentry saws", "joiners", "drills", would be plenty for the amount of traffic this forum has. And if things do blow up, for sure, split it off into it's own, but (a) not knowing which forum to post in to ask a question is primary cause for paralysis by overwhelming choices, and (b) over-compartmentalizing means you're artificially driving users eyes away from topics by forcing them to click to a separate subforum. Forums with little to no activity also are off-putting, because new users will click in the forum, see no activity, and be rather doubtful they'll get answers to their questions. Forgive us of our novice approach. you are correct that the forums are getting a little jumbled though. I'll try and do some house cleaning on the weekend. This forum started from conversation between myself and jalvis. "Wish there was a mafell forum" "me too, I'll put one up" and from there we mutated into the fire breathing hydra we are today. I like to keep this somewhat open concept to all our users and am welcome to discussion on any changes/upgrades to the forum. While I personally have some experience with forums I'm fairly technically stupid when it comes to pushing all the little buttons in the admin tools. help?
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Post by checkmax on May 5, 2015 2:06:03 GMT -5
Personally I like the many categories. Keeps people's thoughts and comments largely organised and easier to track down a subject item. Of course there's always the search function.
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Post by mick on May 5, 2015 7:29:39 GMT -5
Throwaway tools I love quality tools and have some but a lot of the time I might be working out in the rain all day or on a site with a lot of different trades I could go off to do something and come back to find god knows who using my tools sometimes in a different unit this doesn't happen all the time just on some sites so when I am on that type of site I will use less quality tool's so it won't be as big a deal if it gets broke or goes missing I think that is one reason a lot of guys don't buy top end tools for site work
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