Went to the D&M Show at Kempton today with a mate. We really enjoyed the day, totally captivated by an excellent demonstration of the Mafell jigsaw and tracksaw. I'd pretty much thought that when I upgrade my tracksaw I'd plumb for a Festool TS55 but, whilst the Festool wins on aesthetics the Mafell has some winning functionality. The tracksaw wasn't pretty but functionally amazing, easy blade change, superb track extensions, effortless blade zeroing and depth adjustment. Damn expensive but tempting at £499, however I was looking for a mitre saw...
We never thought I'd see a jigsaw that could cut perfectly vertically straight and tight corners until I saw the Mafell fitted with their twin welded blade. We watched Makita do a demo of a slow curve and it wasn't vertically straight (neither are most jigsaws - and I have a very good Makita). The Mafell demonstrator cut a perfect, vertically straight, 'jigsaw' cut in 40mm chipboard. He then set the cut to 45 degrees along a piece of 18mm OSB and, using a fence to run the jigsaw along, the mitre was perfect. Again, not a pretty jigsaw and a bit chunky to grip, but it was so well engineered with the ability to cut perfect tight circles or straight rips. I also liked the dust extractor adapter that clips onto the rail to create a suction to hold the rail very firmly on any surface, vertical or horizontal. Pity they haven't developed a mitre saw
On that subject we had a good demo of the Festool Kapex 60 E-Set which convinced me that I do indeed want/need one (I've gifted myself one as I'm about to collect my first state pension and I reckon I deserve it!) However, it was not to be as D&M's price for the Kapex, despite marketing that the show would offer big discounts, was £40 more than FFX and they wouldn't price match it, so I ordered it from FFX when I arrived home and it's coming tomorrow.
We were very impressed by the Fein Multi Cutters and one of those is now on my wish list. The biggest surprise was the Bessey stand; I don't know if it's me, but the quality of their clamps just didn't look or feel as good as it once did. I have 4 excellent Uniklamps that I bought years ago but the current ones just didn't match them for quality.
I was also wanted to look at cordless palm routers and tried Dewalt, Makita and Trend; I liked the Dewalt more as the plunge lock on the base unit was so much easier to operate with your left thumb.
Finally, we looked at the Record stand as I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the Sabre 250/350/450 bandsaw range and boy was I impressed. Apart from the new, very smart paintwork the fences on all three models were rock solid with smooth adjustment, the cast iron tables were also excellent. We didn't have time to ask for a demo so it was just a case of looking then moving various bits as you do...I also wanted to hear the noise level of the Camvac (made in Great Britain) dust extractors and Record (made in China) ceiling mounted workshop air filters and they are indeed very quiet; so are both now on my wish list.
Overall, a very enjoyable day.
We never thought I'd see a jigsaw that could cut perfectly vertically straight and tight corners until I saw the Mafell fitted with their twin welded blade. We watched Makita do a demo of a slow curve and it wasn't vertically straight (neither are most jigsaws - and I have a very good Makita). The Mafell demonstrator cut a perfect, vertically straight, 'jigsaw' cut in 40mm chipboard. He then set the cut to 45 degrees along a piece of 18mm OSB and, using a fence to run the jigsaw along, the mitre was perfect. Again, not a pretty jigsaw and a bit chunky to grip, but it was so well engineered with the ability to cut perfect tight circles or straight rips. I also liked the dust extractor adapter that clips onto the rail to create a suction to hold the rail very firmly on any surface, vertical or horizontal. Pity they haven't developed a mitre saw
On that subject we had a good demo of the Festool Kapex 60 E-Set which convinced me that I do indeed want/need one (I've gifted myself one as I'm about to collect my first state pension and I reckon I deserve it!) However, it was not to be as D&M's price for the Kapex, despite marketing that the show would offer big discounts, was £40 more than FFX and they wouldn't price match it, so I ordered it from FFX when I arrived home and it's coming tomorrow.
We were very impressed by the Fein Multi Cutters and one of those is now on my wish list. The biggest surprise was the Bessey stand; I don't know if it's me, but the quality of their clamps just didn't look or feel as good as it once did. I have 4 excellent Uniklamps that I bought years ago but the current ones just didn't match them for quality.
I was also wanted to look at cordless palm routers and tried Dewalt, Makita and Trend; I liked the Dewalt more as the plunge lock on the base unit was so much easier to operate with your left thumb.
Finally, we looked at the Record stand as I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the Sabre 250/350/450 bandsaw range and boy was I impressed. Apart from the new, very smart paintwork the fences on all three models were rock solid with smooth adjustment, the cast iron tables were also excellent. We didn't have time to ask for a demo so it was just a case of looking then moving various bits as you do...I also wanted to hear the noise level of the Camvac (made in Great Britain) dust extractors and Record (made in China) ceiling mounted workshop air filters and they are indeed very quiet; so are both now on my wish list.
Overall, a very enjoyable day.
oh well, maybe next year.
