MAFELL P1cc JIGSAW

[Astrolec]

I hope other members perhaps considering a jigsaw purchasewill find this information helpful. I purchased a Mafell P1cc February 2015 Idid so after becoming very frustrated with my Festool Trion 300 and it’sapparent inability to make anything like a square cut. I even had the bottomplate replaced under warranty but still no luck. I had owned a Bosch Jigsawprior to the Trion, one of the older ones that required you to stick a longscrewdriver down the handle to change the blade. I had very little trouble withthat Bosch and it was capable of making a reasonably square cut. However theopportunity arose to purchase a Festool Trion at a very good price and as a bigFestool fan and the owner of quite a few of their tools I could not resist thepurchase. Unfortunately I sold my Bosch before really having a chance to usethe Trion properly as I had such faith in the brand. When I did start using itI found the unit seemed incapable of making anything like a square cut. I wasin the process of deciding to buy another Bosch when I came across a Mafellreview and the absence of any blade guides got me interested as I found theside guides a real pain on the Trion and even with my Bosch the back roller didtend to wear the blade especially when having to exert a bit more forwardpressure when cutting thicker and tougher timbers. Trying to find a dealer wasquite a challenge, Timberwolf tools in the USA seemed to be the peopleservicing Australia and they did appear to be very helpful and knowledgeable.However I happened by chance to come across a site for a German company calledFRICKE their details are http://www.frickewerkzeuge.de/I contacted them and after extensive communication with a wonderful lady calledKatrin Fricke I purchased a P1cc in a SUSTAINER identical to the older styleFestool type and found that it connected perfectly with my Festool units. Ialso purchased the additional foot plate to allow angle cuts to be made and theextra plate fits into the SUSTAINER as well so everything in one box. I cannotspeak too highly of the service I received from Katrin Fricke and the FrickeCompany in general. Katrin even called me to say the unit had been shipped! Shealso arranged for the refund of the German 19% GST with no effort on my part.The shipping was quite fast and everything arrived in perfect condition. Ishould also add that the reason I decided to go with Fricke instead ofTimberwolf was the much cheaper freight costs. The tool itself was also verywell priced. I would be quite confident in saying that no one would bedisappointed with the service and pricing from Fricke.
Now to the nitty gritty, well after over a year of using thetool on quite a few projects I can honestly say that the Mafell P1cc hasexceeded all my expectations. It cuts beautifully and very square indeed. Myblades last so much longer as they do not get overheated from rubbing on sideguides and the absence of a rear roller eliminates the wear and heating effecton the back of the blades. Couple that with the advantage of being able toinsert the blade backwards and commence a cut from underneath with the bettersupport offered by using the larger section of the plate. The angle foot is ajoy to use and this is the first jigsaw that I have owned that does not feelunbalanced when making an angle cut. It works well with my Festool vacuum butit also has a very good blower system that directs air from the motor acrossthe front of the blade and really keeps the line clean for you. When not usinga vacuum you insert a plastic director that channels the dust downwards and itcan be reversed if you are making a cut from underneath. The side guide thatcomes with the unit is superb and has pin attachments so that you can do circlecutting. I received three blades with the P1cc. One of which was very specialindeed. It is actually two blades stuck together, (welded I presume), theresulting blade as you can imagine is very rigid indeed and it has been taperground from front to back so ideal for cutting circles or curves. The P1cc isthe only jigsaw that can use this type of blade. The other two blades aresimilar to Bosch but do have a taper front to back. I have not used any ofthese blades yet as I have found my stock of Bosch blades work very well indeedin the P1cc. The blade changing is very easy and quick. When you release thelever the blade does not immediately eject but merely needs a very lightsideways touch and it will eject but gives you the advantage of being able tohold the blade so that you do not lose it. I can honestly say that the onlyfeature that I would like to be incorporated in the next model would be LEDlights but I have not found their absence to be a deal breaker.
Hopefully I have not bored anyone with such a long windedthread. I am new to posting but made the effort because I like the Mafell so much and experienced such good service from FRICKE!

[warmtone]

As a Festool owner I am also becoming interested in Mafell products which seem to be as good or better than Festool

A great pity that no one brings this fine brand into Australia.

Their drop saw gets very good reviews and if it wasn’t so expensive to import I would upgrade my old ATF 55 with one instead of the Festool TS 55REBQ