Thanks Alvy. Enjoyed the email chat, just to clarify:-
Pleasure Peter!
This is something that I’m personally curious about, but is a *very* niche product so not I think, of general interest to the 10MW audience overall.
Indeed! in general most of us do ocasional jobs, that require proper jointing, most of the times screws do as good a job...
But then on those very few occasions like veneered or high end hardwood projects come up, that even smallest pins aren't acceptable to be seen.
As a carpenter- fitter my main intended use is for kitchen fitting (joining panels, even old style 44mm woped worktops), custom (glass-mirror) frames and even making up end fill paneling (shelving units) on site seem to be x1 out of x3 tools for. The other use for custom joinery, as in quick jointing solution (repairing stringers in my case, when I (we) used DF500 as stringer, newel repair- joining solution), doweller is rare tool in possession of carpenters or even joiners (workshops). From youtube content creator perspective it hardly can be of interest, knowing you have all the possible other jointing tools-solutions and covered them.
Virutex aren’t a well known brand in the UK so other than the novelty value of another duo-doweller machine I’m not sure what there is to say about it, really, especially given that it’s hard for anyone to purchase.
Virutex is "tiny" joinery- furniture tool and machinery maker , fixings supplier, their machinery indeed isn't meant for
masses, hence they aren't going to change anything for UK market alone-exclusively, bit like Mafell, only even smaller- bare minimum retail or support with almost 0 promotion or "stepping on the toes" of bigger money making manufacturers -"brands" more accurately, that treat tools and design in "volumes", "retail margins" 90%+ chinesium components/tools.
I also struggle a little to see the USP of it; assuming it works decently, then is it just a (not much) cheaper version of the Mafell - albeit perhaps better engineered, for the folks who care about that? Or is there something else?
DDF40 is almost £1k, whilst (cough fiue cough hundreed, score sterlings) roughly half the price option... (@Virutex, please don't kill me for revealing retail?)... for a made in Europe tool, even if it might turn out somehow slightly better or inferior to DDF40... needs be tested, before making final consumer conclusion how/ if it would fit in the wider market, but undeniably it's more joinery- furniture maker oriented tool.
There's DF500 option (with it's potential shortcomings, (price again)), but my personal option of screwing two or x3 MDF bits together works too, however those DIY wreckers, "bottom feeder" tools, I just can not make myself to even contemplating in buying.
I've met more carpenters without a single propper rail saw or a router, doweller is not a common tool at all, but wouldn't surprise me with a £200 Triton or something either.
I do try to limit the amount of free exposure that I give to specific tools and brands that I don’t choose to use; I did contact [the one UK distributor] when I first learned of the AB200, but didn’t even receive the courtesy of a "thanks, but no” reply. That doesn’t exactly put me in a great frame of mind when it comes to the product.
Makes sense, thanks for replying. As it comes to Virutex and them not replying to you... I kinda get them. Almost like most of us small time tradesmen, just can not possibly accommodate every single request, for whatever the reason.
Sometimes I get inquiries, that could be potentially "ground breaking", but out of scope of the work I do, easiest to answer (that I don't have an answer for) to not to reply....
I only got it organised/ordered for myself due to sheer persistence and harassment TBH...
Also, cough, the 230v units will be available cough in UK cough mid cough dec cough, the 110v cough mid cough Jan.
I’m extremely grateful for Alvy’s very kind offer, and I am genuinely interested in the product, but it’s not something I’m likely to review publicly unless Virutex suddenly start taking the UK market seriously. But for anyone else within striking distance of Alvy then this is a great offer.
Someone should grab it with both hands.
Cheers, Peter.
Once again, pleasure is mine Peter!
