Hands-Free Woodworking? – Mafell PSS3100e

Article - April 6, 2011

I was perusing my Twitter feed and came across a link submitted by @CouchControl. It was a video for the Mafell PSS3100e. My first reaction was, “OK, its a tracksaw with the saw permanently attached to the track?!” But after watching the video further, I started to giggle a little bit. Not because the product is bad, but because its that cool! Its a good thing I didn’t find this on April 1st as I might not have believe it.

The saw does everything we already know and expect from a tracksaw, but has a few major additions:

Self-Propelled – You basically set it up, push a button, and off it goes! Push another button and it comes back to you.
Scoring Feature – Just by turning a knob, you trigger a leading scoring cut that ensures a super clean edge.
Dust Collection – The hose connects to the rail, and the dust is pulled through a long channel, instead of dealing with the hose getting caught up on the rail or the workpiece.
Alignment Pin – The rail has a nifty alignment pin that allows you to line up the rail for cuts that exceed the maximum length.

So how much does luxury woodworking like this cost? The 110v version of this tool retails in the US for $2973 and the 220v version retails for $2704. And you thought Festool was expensive?

While the tool is a little “rich” for my blood, I still enjoy watching cool tools in action. So check out the video below and let me know what you think. Would you buy one? What if cost wan’t an issue? Is this too much automation? Is it genius or just a gimmick?

Discussion

rgdaniel April 6, 2011 7:57 am

You’d think at those prices they could afford HD video… 240p? Really? B-)…but seriously, $3000 is a bit preposterous for a track saw… pretty slick though…

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Jonathan April 6, 2011 8:05 am

I need to start dressing like the guy in the video when I’m my shop. I think it’s much classier than my t-shirt and jeans.

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- Alex October 8, 2012 3:29 pm
  
  At least here in Germany this is actually the traditional rig of a carpenter. And also getting less common in daily construction sites work, It is still widely used, not only for special guild events or for example topping ceremonies.
  
  Reply
Couchcontrol April 6, 2011 8:05 am

I never heard of Mafell till yesterday and i think it’s beyond Festool, both manufactured in Germany.
If the PSS3100e panel saw is too much and want to push it yourself check this video: http://www.youtube.com/user/NM.....OprMeRfDXE
I like the scoring system and the compatibility with the Festool tracks. I’m just an enthusiastic woodworker and not spamming anything.

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- Tom Rasmussen April 13, 2011 7:53 pm
  
  Wow – that link to the regular Mafell plunge saw was great. Talk about serious engineering!
  
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- Trey September 28, 2014 7:14 am
  
  Mafell is the actual manufacturer of the Bosch GKT 55GCE plunge saw that is NOT available in the USA. The only difference is the blade removal part. Also, Mafell is a fantastic tool company that spares no expense in manufacturing their tools.
  
  Also, if you really want some Mafell tools in the US their is a company in Maine that imports and sells them, Timberwolf Tools, http://www.timberwolftools.com. They mainly cater to the log home building trade but they do have the Mafell track saw and other regular electrical tools.
  
  Reply
Dave April 6, 2011 8:13 am

Fun to watch but I’d need to be a bit more hands on than that.

It might be useful for woodworkers with mobility problems.

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Justin April 6, 2011 8:37 am

Pretty insane tool to go with the pretty insane price! Still really neat though. Thanks for Sharing

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Dale April 6, 2011 9:50 am

The music is enough to make me hate it..

Seriously woodworkers in general are tactile. We need to keep out hands on the material. Besides the cost on that is crazy stupid. IF I had an extra $3000 lying around to invest in tools a gimicky track saw wouldn’t even make the list.

Interesting video to watch though

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Brian April 6, 2011 10:17 am

I would steer away from something that automated. What if you realize half way through you cut that you have a misalignment. I know that there would be little that you could do mid cut ( odds are the damage had been done) but this removes all chance.

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- thewoodwhisperer April 6, 2011 10:39 am
  
  From what I understand, there is a stop button.
  
  Reply
chuck April 6, 2011 10:30 am

I dont care what anybody says , THATS A COOL TOOL

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Danny H. April 6, 2011 10:40 am

Leave it to the Germans to come up with the coolest, best and most expensive tools. Just think, you could park this in your garage, right along side your Mercedes!

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Joseph Bert April 6, 2011 10:58 am

The not clamping down part seems weird to me.

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Markus K. April 6, 2011 12:19 pm

Mafell is certainly not behind Festool. What Festool is for Joiners is Mafell for Carpenters. By the way, Mafell’s small Router LO50 is built by Festool, while the old Festool Router OF2000 was made by Mafell.
I do not own this Mafell Track saw, also I wouldn’t buy one, because there’s no need for me. But it’s very helpful for carpenters on site if they have to cut many panels like in the video.
Don’t worry about not clamping down, because there is no pushing force from outside.
Mafell is very pricy, that’s true. But they are really very massive and strong built and designed for many,many years hard work on construction sites.

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Udo April 6, 2011 12:49 pm

Sorry for my poor english, i am german and i am living in the federal state, where Festool, Mafell, Bosch, Metabo and Bessey are located. Mafell produces for carpenters and that tools are nearly undestroyable. They are made for daily use in heavy duty and the precision lasts over years. Thats why that stuff is so expensive. Hobby-Woodworkers like me probably can hand this tools down to their great-great-grandsons :-)

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- Udo April 6, 2011 1:35 pm
  
  supplement
  
  http://www.mafell.de/download/....._lampe.mpg
  
  http://www.mafell.de/download/.....stinct.mpg
  
  Reply
  - Everett April 7, 2011 2:34 pm
    
    I love European commercials
    
    Reply
Marco Principio April 6, 2011 1:19 pm

Now I know where the tool company got it’s name from.

“When I told Ma I bought a new tool she wasn’t happy. But when I told Ma how much it cost, Mafell over.”

I like the idea, and we all know that in 10 years we will be buying one with a 20% off coupon at Harbor Freight. In fact, I might buy several so that I can set them all off at once and feel like Mickey mouse dressed as the wizard in Fantasia.

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Mike April 6, 2011 2:10 pm

On the bright side $600 for a track saw is now cheap when I explain why I need one!

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Michel April 6, 2011 2:51 pm

the dressing is a Traditional german guild clothing, german “Kluft” or “Zunftkleidung” called. ;) cool videos german work day XD

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Scott April 6, 2011 5:50 pm

You can hardly tell he’s working. Amazing!

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Dan Drabek April 6, 2011 6:20 pm

A specialty item. Good if you need to rip a three foot high stack of plywood, but not something one would require for fine woodworking. IMHO.

DD

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ryan April 6, 2011 10:38 pm

Marc, can we pleeeease hear you working to that music in your next video?

Cool tool, but way pricey. The dust extraction looks awesome though. I have had Festool hoses catch on just about everything, and in the middle of a cut, its not fun to have to mess with a stuck vacuum hose.

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Charlie Whittuck April 7, 2011 1:48 am

Very handy for doing some osb panelling on the moon! (insert synth music here)

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Jay April 7, 2011 5:29 am

I think it’s pretty cool. Wouldn’t personally need one, but I think it’s cool.

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- Jay October 9, 2012 6:11 am
  
  I’m going to amend my previous statement. Knock $900 off this and I’d seriously consider it. My shop load has changed from pure hobbiest to some production over the last year. Breaking down sheets by myself has gotten tiresome and time consuming compared to this.
  
  Reply
Roger Sullivan April 7, 2011 10:57 am

Com’ on guys! A couple of you each buy one and you can super tune them for saw races!! :)

Rog

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Mike G April 7, 2011 5:26 pm

I think I will stick with my sliding table saw… for $3,000 you are more than half way to very nice used slilding table that will give you way more options. I say novelty… what happens when the blade binds?

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Ron Mason April 7, 2011 5:39 pm

It is pretty cool. I like the fact that your hands are free to catch the off cuts. Too steep for me, maybe when DeWalt comes out w/ the cordless version it will be affordable.

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craig turner April 8, 2011 7:36 am

Too specialized – lot of justification needed to spend that kind of money.

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Eric R April 8, 2011 8:16 am

Marc,
I think you have a little room in the machine corner of the new/old shop for one of those bad boys.

That’s bubble gum & parking meter money to a guy like you !

And that get-up that guy is wearing is a little la-tee-da too !

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Germain April 9, 2011 9:47 pm

Marc, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you claim a tool was too rich for your blood. In this case, I certainly understand!

But that is one sa-weet saw.

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Charlie Pearce April 11, 2011 11:08 am

That is really cool! And I guess if you had a really really narrow workshop where you can’t normally walk around the work-piece to make a cut, then it might be useful too!

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Henry April 14, 2011 8:39 am

This seems less like a tool for one-project-at-a-time woodworkers, and more like something a small contracting firm might use- the kind of people who otherwise would be on their knees pushing a circular saw through plywood for a few days straight. In that regard, it definitely seems like a safer and less labor-intensive option, and the 3000 dollar price tag seems more reasonable when you consider the increase in productivity.

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jack fiedlding April 14, 2011 12:05 pm

a TOTALLY unnecessary EXPENSIVE tool in your everyday woodworking

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- Alex October 8, 2012 3:33 pm
  
  Absolutely yes, but to be honest, worth every Dollar in a carpenters construction side, where you might have to cut a panel, too wide to reach over and handle a normal tracksaw.
  
  Reply
albert schoefbeck April 16, 2011 11:29 am

i’m austrian living in israel, i do not think it is worth wile to buy this kind of stuff maybe if you work in germany or austria were labor is much more expensive but here in the middle east the workers would kill it within a day. i’m allready over the top with my festool stuff.
enjoying your site thanks
albert

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Tinus April 29, 2011 11:57 am

I’ve seen this machine in action a couple years ago on a woodworkersfair in the netherlands. From my point of view, it’s a cool tool for some specific craftsmen. I’ve working on a roof, it,s hard to get a sliding table with 8 feet cutting length on the worksite.
You can torture yourself to look for other tools of Mafell like the portable bandsaw,”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H65CRXlzz4″
or the Dowelling system (bought one 4 years ago and still exact and precise) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

But for most of these tools is as always you got to work with it and not to own one.

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Big Stick May 1, 2011 2:51 am

Its amazing how few see the engineering in this tool but want to criticize it because of its cost. So much emphasizing in articles on cost and how to cheapen the way to do it. The product is a creative tool, price is only a issue if you purchase it and have a need for it. A boy toy, “YES” but think about the wasted time people spend on face book. How many creative projects have we seen in this country. The guild in its true form is to take a idea the design and the build to the end product. The Germans have taken this task to a new level. Weather you use this saw or not its amazing

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Keith Whitmore May 1, 2011 5:35 am

it’s neat but it’s to rich for my blood.

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Brian V. May 15, 2011 4:38 am

I like the idea of something that makes precision easy and somewhat effortless, but I simply cannot buy or even give thought to something I can’t control with my hands directly on the tool. I am a computer geek, but there’s something to be said about having a hands-on approach to woodworking.

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wil May 16, 2011 12:31 pm

wow thats impressive…. Who would have ever thought of a hands free tracksaw.

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kwakye Charles F. July 8, 2011 7:30 pm

Wow, I think I might need one. LoL, it might make me a good wood worker.
After all I’m becoming a tool collector. I have all the festools with the exception on the 2200 router and the 1300. us dollar saw.
I don’t want to buy anymore tool. Stating from next year I’m going to invest in the guild class. I’ll treat myself to 2years class.
Anyway, Cool tool. I’ll stick to my 5Hp sawstop and Ts &55&Ts &Ts 75

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usarmy October 28, 2011 11:41 pm

nice saw but i am not that lazy to push my saw through my work but i love it.

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- shane December 6, 2013 8:16 am
  
  i think the idea is so if the work peace hangs off work table u can set saw to go then support work piece as it gets cut then move it could save a second on every cut u do 60,000 cut in a year and that’s a savings of 16 and 2/3 hours a year if a guy is making 30 per hour that’s 500 a year so in 6 years the saw will pay for its self
  
  Reply
Nick L February 7, 2012 8:37 am

Am I the only one who invisions a track saw race, 5 Mafell saws set up side by side on one piece of plywood. Hit the start button and we can wager on the winner (all proceeds going to charity of course).

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Stefan_sk February 14, 2012 1:27 pm

I am a bit dissapointed with overall reaction. I understand it is not a tool many of us would find a use for. But after all it was sure not intended for everyday garage Joe as majority of us are. As stated before, there certainly are applications for this tool and justification for the price. I personally enjoy engineering and inovative aspect of the tool.

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GinoCon September 9, 2012 4:46 pm

You met Mafell tools. They are the somekind of “lexus division” of Festool. On a blog on the F.O.G. one member said Mafell tools makes Festool tolls looks like bargains.
However Mafell is for another type of woodworker. (see the demos of Mafell on youtube)
I had a visit from a European friend and he explained me the reason for those European tools, like Festool, Protool and Mafell: It’s all about being portable in europe. In the Netherlands you cannot have a garage workshop like most DIY woodworkers have with Planers, big table saws etc. in the US have. The noise regulation and Tax regulations are extremely strict. As soon as you have a stationary cabinet/contractor saw it is considered a company and you have to comply with Taxes, fireprevention regulations etc. etc.

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- Alex October 8, 2012 3:39 pm
  
  Mobility is not only about regulations on stationary tools (at least here in germany no one cares if you own a fixed mounted whatever for your hoby, they only want you to at least register your busines and have you pay taxes on what you earn by selling.
  
  But this tool is especially for construction sites, and bringing such a thing as a panel saw is easier than bringing a table saw with a table wide enoughor handle a track saw on a wide board.
  Actually the video shows very well the kind of application, where you get ruckloads of panels on pallets on a site, and you don´t have to care about a working table or a stand to cut down your stuff. Just for cuting a board you don´t even really have to handle it until it is cut.
  
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Bob April 12, 2013 1:53 pm

If you decide you want to buy one to “test” you can donate it to my high school wood shop. LOL Its a pretty cool saw.

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Frank April 13, 2013 2:19 am

It seems a little much. The saw for the one-man shop, operated by the billionaire heir(ess). If Parris Hilton were into woodworking….(or is it Paris?)

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bodaceousbob April 13, 2013 7:29 pm

Cool Tool but expensive!! I liked the original operator’s bell bottom trousers

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Adrian April 16, 2013 10:38 pm

Realy, realy cool saw, but expensive :-(

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Jelly April 19, 2013 6:20 pm

I don’t understand what need this saw is fulfilling and certainly don’t understand who would buy one at that price, for $2500 (well, actually £1670) you can purchase* a vertical panel saw; for that matter, it would be quite feasible to buy a second table saw, set up with extension tables and fences to serve as a dedicated dimension saw.

*Link: http://www.axminster.co.uk/saf.....-prod19747

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Todd September 16, 2014 5:53 pm

Not sure I understand the benefit

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Michael McDonald April 18, 2018 1:22 am

I am a one man shop cabinet maker. I have owned the Festool TS55 and many other tools from 36″ double wide belt sanders, 30HP straight line rip saws, vertical panel saws, and many different table saws. I am heavily considering this tool. I’m about 75% sure i will buy it… time will tell. To the person questioning why this is a good idea, to me it is all about a business strategy. I have had many self feeding tools and they are by far the most efficient way to operate your tools. Self feed as many tools as possible if efficiency is your deal (which every business should care about)

This is a way to get the self feeding/cutting strategy applied to your work with a minimal footprint. If you want to look into self feeding tools, this is on the bottom of the price range for them. For goodness sake, take a look at the Tiger Stop miter saw measuring system. It would seem like a ridiculous purchase to anyone who is not looking at automating their woodworking while having a minimal footprint. For me to have the ability to fully and efficiently operate a cabinet shop out of a 2 car garage is something that is very very valuable. It saves me the need to buy an outside shop building for my work. In other words it saves me upwards of $1000 a month, and it even makes me hundreds of dollars more each month by me being able to work at my convenience with my family being 10 feet away.

Sheet good processing is the largest footprint in a small cabinet shop. Track saws are a great way to handle that problem but ive had a TS55 with vac and rails and its not seemless. The stupid hose gets caught, you are leaning over the workbench so dramatically at times that your weird pressure on the saw can mess up the cut. Sometimes i have to even get up on my workbench to do a cut.

I am estimating this saw would probably save me about an hour per job. $100 an hour. 1 to 2 jobs per month. 1 to 2 hundreds bucks gained each month. At the end of the year maybe saving $1500 in time efficiency. Its an imvestment but not unreasonable at all. Seriously if you want efficiency, speed, consistency, and minimal wear on your body- automation is the way to go. And if you are crazy efficient and do years of research and just stick to a 1 man shop you can downsize your shop to have less waste making you more money. I get the same work done out of my ever downsizing shop as i did in a 1200 sq ft building with much bigger tools. Sometimes bigger tools arent the way to go. Sometimes its overkill. Maybe you just need a faster process

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Hands-Free Woodworking? – Mafell PSS3100e

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