Bought a Mafell mt55 plunge saw. Bit of an issue...

[W666]

I'd spent months deciding which plunge saw to buy and had settled on the BOSCH gkt 55, but doubts about the safety of the lack of any kickback protection had me back to sq1 yesterday, so just bit the bullet for the extra £100, and got the Mafell.

Saw arrived today and it seems it is worth the extra £100 for the one knob bevel adjustment, score facility and just general fit, finish and usability BUT, I don't know if this is normal, the plunge action is horrible.

That spring rubs on the housing hole and makes the action jerky and the noises are unpleasant. I can't make up my mind if shortening the spring would cure it. What do you all think?

 

[finish_that]

do not mess with it if its brand new , I do not remember anything different with mine with the plunge action compared with any other plunge saw, certainly the Mafell feels and functions in a more robust manner than the others but only in a reassuring way

 

[W666]

Certainly compared to every other plunge saw I've touched its a shonky plunge feel because of that notchy spring with it rubbing on the housing. The BOSCH gkt55 had a silent and smooth plunge action when I tested it in the shop and that's a knock off version of this Mafell, for lack of a better term, so really surprised by this.
I think rather than cut the existing one, I'll try and swap it out with another shorter compression spring, to find out, because I think the excessive length is causing it to kink, could be wrong though, but is easy enough to do.

 

[Nelsun]

If it's not right then I'd leave it alone and get it replaced. Its certainly not meant to be anything other than silky smooth.

 

[Trevanion]

You need to explain your problem and send it back to Mafell and they should send you out a replacement pronto.

 

[Setch]

It's brand new and eyewateringly expensive - get it exchanged. Your pictures strongly suggest something out missing, or fitted wrong, and at this price point that's unacceptable.

 

[Duncan A]

Works fine on my MT55. In fact I had no idea what the spring arrangement was until just now when I had a look to see if it was the same as yours.
The spring on mine is not quite as kinked as yours, supporting your theory of it being too long. Or - just a thought - is it improperly seated in the recess?
Duncan

 

[W666]

Quick video of it, what are the thoughts?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I5LjdSKh74
I have had a look at the exploded diagrams on Mafell's website, doesn't look like anything is missing. :?

 

[Trevanion]

Send that video to Mafell and they will sort it out for you.

 

[W666]

Works fine on my MT55. In fact I had no idea what the spring arrangement was until just now when I had a look to see if it was the same as yours.
The spring on mine is not quite as kinked as yours, supporting your theory of it being too long. Or - just a thought - is it improperly seated in the recess?
Duncan

Thank you, it turns out it wasn't properly located in the recess and the spring had a permanent kink in it because of this. I've rotated it and is not so bad now.

I guess a bit of hasty assembly from Mafell! I'll send them an email asking for a new spring, it's easy to pop it out. It's surprisingly 165mm long!

Oh and to those wondering why not just send it back and get it swapped. I got it for a good price with a 20% ebay promo from FFX. My previous dealings with them has put me off even trying to deal with them and possibly loose out on the deal.

Managed to bag a new set of 2x fsn1600 Bosch rails, joiner and bag for £90 today locally too. No clamps though, and upon looking they look way overpriced, does anyone know if there are cheaper alternatives?

 

[Eric The Viking]

Do Festool ones fit?

Surprisingly, they were cheaper than Makita, and comparable to the Axminster ones. They are simple, but well made, and I'm happy with mine. The Axminster ones are also good (bought to use with an MFT).

But I realise the rail design is different, hence the question.

 

[Nelsun]

Festool compatible clamps won't fit Bosch tracks without careful work as the slot that accepts the clamp is way thinner (vertically) on the FSN rails. You'd have to shave off a several mm from Festool type clamps and be careful about it as the FSN slit is pretty shallow.

The Mafell / Bosch clams are pretty carp and way overpriced for what they are. The clamps and the lack of an accessory slot on the FSN rails are my two main reasons for sticking with Festool rails. That, and having several of them already

On bonus with the FSN rails is that they allow for clamping from underneath right next to the splinter strip for the times when you'd want to do that e.g. narrow stock.

 

[Nelsun]

FWIW I just stuck some calipers on a Mafell and Festool clamp coming in at around11.1x3.1mm Vs 11.5x7.4mm respectively.

There's not a lot of meat to the Mafell ones, they have a shorter throat into the *cough* bargain too and no ratcheting mechanism either so they can work themselves loose when you're not looking. Horrible little things they are but invaluable when needed.

 

[W666]

Thanks for the measurements , tempted to buy some Irwin quick clamps @ £10 a pair, cut the ends off and stick weld a flat plate on the end, a little tricky, but the £50+ for the BOSCH clamps is not really acceptable imo.

 

[W666]

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-t ... gK3rvD_BwE

These might fit the BOSCH rails with a little trim of the thickness?

 

[W666]

Well Mafell just insist on returning it to a dealer, to be forwarded to them, to be repaired rather than just send a new spring as asked.

At first they said just put Wd40 on it to reduce the noise, because it doesn't really matter, it still functions. Disregarding everything I said about it being kinked from misassembly.
Found them a bit arrogant and unwilling to cooperate in a sensible manner really. They just took to not replying when I said It would be best if they just sent a new spring, rather than having my saw go through the post back and forth. After all, the case isn't that robust.

 

[owen]

They're offering to fix it so just send it back? I don't see the problem you have with Maffell? They probably want to look inspect it properly and work out how it got kinked in the first place too.

 

[AJB Temple]

I agree with Owen actually. I have this saw and it gets a lot of work. Zero issues in my case. If I were Mafell, I would not want a DIY fix, I would want to see the saw and determine if your diagnosis is right or if there is a bigger problem. They are being reasonable.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Yes, but Mafell want it returned to the dealer. Why not let him(?) ship it direct to them?

.

 

[W666]

Reason being is that it's a very obvious problem with a very easy to fix solution. Having the saw and brittle case get bashed about in the post for that is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous that it has got this fault in the first place, being such an expensive piece of kit. It's meant to be the best one :?:
Asking me to send it to the dealer, with another explanation then wait for them to send it to Mafell. When Mafell could of, at the very least had it directly, even sent a courier possibly (Makita did), after I've already spent the time thoroughly showing them via vid, photo and email, is just a massive waste of time and is really unnecessary. I'd even looked at their drawings and sent them the part numbers.

Yeah now feel I probably should of sent it back for refund or exchange to where I bought it, straight away. But thought it would be pretty reasonable to expect Mafell themselves to just send a new spring out.

But anyway, I've told them this pretty much and they've changed their mind and said that a new spring will go out to me today, I asked for a spring guide also, as a tab on it is weakend each time it's prized out.