Trion PS 300

[Rubber.Piggy]

Does anyone have one of these?? I'm a big fan of Festool products and what draws me to this jigsaw so much is that it cuts square. However the demos i've seen have been on 13mm Melamine :p I wanna know how square it cuts going through 45mm jarrah/redgum and how much finishing is required afterwards.

If i'm gunna have to run a router around the cut to square it and clean it up anyway I might as well go for a cheaper jigsaw.

EDIT: Spelling :p

[nt900]

Rubber Piggy,

Here is an extract from an excellent review at www.onlinetoolsreviews.com (http://www.onlinetoolsreviews.com/)

There are pictures there as well.

http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com/reviews/festoolPS300EQ.htm

Effect of Blade Guide on accuracy of cut

The results of these tests were mixed. With some wood thickness/blade types the results were excellent while with others they were disappointing. The blade guide did perform very well with wood which was less than 1" thick and excellent with 3/4" plywood as I expected it to. It also performed well with the thicker wood if I used the heavier duty blades like the S 75-4 FS (left).

It did not perform as well with the thicker wood when I used the finish blades like the S 75/2,5 (right). The disappointment here is that the fine tooth blades do make a great, almost ready to finish cut but since they are thin they were not accurate in the thicker wood during my tests. In order to get the accuracy I had to use the S 75/4 FS blade. This blade, while good, does not give the finish quality of the fine toothed blade and therefore the cut will require more prep work before the surface is ready to finish. Is it really a big deal in the scheme of things? No, but it does not live up to Festool's unqualified claim of "No refinishing work".

Tilting the saw to 30 degrees, setting the pendulum to 1 and utilizing the S 75/4 FS blade in the same 2" thick white oak the results were impressive. If you look closely at the photo on the left you can see that there is a very slight bowing at the bottom of the cut although in reality, it is nothing that a little sanding wont fix (right). I would consider the accuracy of this angled cut in some very hard wood to be very good.

Quality of Cut

Now If you want to see a flawless cut take a look at the photo at left. I used the same fine cut blade, S 75/2,5, as above with excellent results. The combination of the blade guide, splinter guard and fine toothed blade produced a ready to finish result in this 3/4" birch plywood. You can't tell from the photo but that cut is burnished similar to the way a good 10" table saw blade such as the Freud LU85 would.

[Rosethorn]

I use Lenox blades with mine and have no complaints- don't like the festo ones much, they bend
cheers rosethorn

[Ratbag]

Rubber Piggy, save yourself some money & heartache & buy elsewhere. I've had one for 3 years and don't find it as good in some circumstances as my 25 year old ELU. In delicate materials (thin ply, polystyrene etc) it can't be slowed down sufficiently to prevent heat from the blade edges burning or damaging some materials. Stroke length (the true measure of how a saw handles thick material) is only average. Metabo, for instance is much longer. Bosch offer "hard metal" lower blade guides similar to Festool, plus quote a 135mm. cutting capacity and a variable speed trigger(albeit only on the bow handled model) to boot. The Atlas Copco/Milwaukee/AEG clones are just about the most beautifully made, easily handled and adjusted and "wieldy" little machines you can lay your hands on, with the latter substituting alloy for steel in the baseplate. Frankly, I find Festool's blade guides a frightful nuisance, as they require adjustment for almost each and every different size and shape of blade used. If not adjusted to just nip the back sides of the blade they will either be to loose & ineffective to properly guide the blade, or too tight which quickly overheats the blade. If, like me, you tend to cut a variety of materials then look elsewhere. Dust extraction is not much chop either, esp. compared to other Festools. I like Festool products. I have 8 now. But no manufacturer can possibly be the best at all they do. Don't believe the hype. Personally I'd recommend the Metabo with its long stroke length (32mm opposed to only 26mm) and industrial build quality & 3 year warranty, together with a Metabox (Metabo's Dark Green Systainer), saving you about $150-200. Let the vitriol begin!