Festool Postpones New Jigsaw

comments (12) April 27th, 2011 in Blogs

Patrick McCombe, Associate editor

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Festool's Carvex jigsaw which was originally scheduled to make its North American debut in June 2011 isn't up to "certain applications specific to North America" so Festool is postponing its introduction indefinitely.

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The introduction of Festool's new jigsaw, dubbed the Carvex is being delayed indefinitely while engineers work out problems that make the tool unsuitable for the US and Canadian market. In a press release dated April 26, 2011, the company says they won't be able to meet the scheduled June 2011 on-sale date because "late-round testing in certain applications specific to North America has demonstrated that the current design does not meet the exacting standards that we demand of ourselves, and that our customers have come to expect."

I applaud the company for taking a step back rather than release a tool that's not up to snuff, but I'm curious what Americans and Canadian woodworkers and carpenters do with jigsaws that is so different from users in Europe where the tool is already on sale.

I might be opening up myself to a flurry of snide comments, but do any of you know what "applications specific to North America" Festool is talking about?

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Comments (12)

dirkfaegre writes: What's special about Canada and USA? Maybe 120V 60 hertz? Sometimes they (manufacturers) screw up the most obvious things -- and hate to admit it. Regardless, I take it to be a good thing that they backed off. Way too many manufacturers take the attitude that they must meet the deadline, the heck with whether it works right or not. Sears Craftsman has a dado blade (a wobbler) that cannot stay "set" no matter how hard the user tries to lock it in place. (Amazon buyers gave it the lowest rating -- 11 of 11 users report exactly the same issue). It's a disaster ... but will they pull it off the market (or fix it)? Nope. Probably not enuf people have been stung yet and the sales justify leaving it alone. Bah.
Posted: 9:02 pm on May 9th

brenddie writes: like mike261 I think it's a safety issue, probably idiotic, but still. Hard to believe it's a trade issue Bosch anad mikata don't seem to have any problems; unless someone @ DeWalt has something similar up their sleeve and has powerful friends can't see that happening.
Posted: 11:24 pm on May 3rd

JFink writes: Don't worry, folks, I'm told that the tool will still be released eventually. They wouldn't tell me much in specifics, but the issue was performance related, and they claimed it wasn't likely to be an issue except in rare instances.
Posted: 12:32 pm on May 2nd

powerbritt writes: Will someone with FW's editorial throw-weight pls call Festool in Germany and explain to them that a perfect reputation could get tarnished by less than the whole straight forward story?
Posted: 10:20 am on May 2nd

bborzell writes: I heard it didn't pass several tests for sitting unused in a Systainer display case.
Posted: 9:39 am on May 2nd

Not_Original writes: This says more about the US trades commission than Festool's Engineering. Politics never cease to amaze me. the Carvex would have certainly been a great addition for my installs in the field.
Posted: 9:38 am on May 2nd

MikeGuertin writes: I was very much looking forward to both the D handle and barrel body designs - I had two of each on order already. Guess I won't be seeing them anytime soon.
Posted: 7:59 pm on May 1st

Wood_Sculptor writes: I wonder what genius thought up that excuse. Anyone who owns a Festool product knows that Festool engineers are too meticulous to not meet required safety standards.

Its gotta be a flaw in the innovative design that leaves the Carvex vulnerable to being compared to competitors in terms of performance and reliability and the lack thereof.
Posted: 9:11 am on April 29th

patrick_mccombe writes: The press release didn't say what they were fixing, OKD, maybe because the engineers at Festool are a little embarassed. Perhaps they've had numerous failures with the European version that's already on the market?
Posted: 7:57 am on April 29th

mike261 writes: id bet that it didnt meet safety standards for the US. probably a gaurd issue or interlock or something.
Posted: 2:17 pm on April 28th