Maybe fearing the same kind of backlash after users complained about the Kapex when it was introduced to N.A., Festool has suddenly announced that they will not be releasing their Carvex Jigsaw on June 1st. We have no clue what the issues with the jigsaw could be or when we will see the strobing jigsaw again, but it must have been serious enough to cause Festool to pull it and not indicate when it will be reintroduced. This is in no way good news for the company, but it does show that they stand for quality.

Dear Festool Customer,

At Festool we take great pride in delivering the most innovative and useful products available, while applying the highest possible quality standards. Though our tools are used by consumers at many levels, they are ultimately designed for the most demanding professionals, many of whom rely on them for their livelihood.

As a premium brand, our customers have extremely high expectations of us, and it is our ceaseless commitment to meet these expectations, oftentimes at great cost and effort. Our unwillingness to compromise means that we sometimes have to make hard choices.

With these factors in mind, we have decided not to introduce the Carvex jigsaw to the US and Canadian markets at this time. 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.

Though we are certain that the Carvex, in its current configuration, would be an excellent tool for nearly any user, we believe that launching it as is would mean compromising many of the values that make us who we are today.

For now, we are sorry that we have to disappoint you. We believe, however, that we would have disappointed a few of you even more, had we introduced a product that didn’t meet the level of quality and precision you have come to rely on from Festool.

We will continue to refine the new jigsaw’s design, with the full expectation that the Carvex will be introduced at a later date, executed in a manner that will be satisfying to even the most demanding customer. As this process unfolds, updates will be announced on our website and through our email newsletter.

Thank you for your understanding and for your continued support of the Festool Brand.

Sincerely,

Christian Oltzscher
President and CEO
Festool USA

via Festool

CPO Outlets has been quickly, but somewhat quietly, expanding their selection of tool brands and tool stores over the years, which I have covered on occasion. This time though, they have gone from expansion to acquisition by buying the long-time online tool store "Tyler Tools".

"For years, Tyler Tool customers have enjoyed a great selection of leading brands and low prices, not to mention good old fashioned customer service. Now Tyler Tool is powered by CPO's fully stocked warehouse, with more than 5,000 items in stock and ready to ship the same day. "

What does this do for CPO? They have been known for having good prices on manufacturer reconditioned tools, but maybe not so well known for selling new tools as well. Up until recently they have had several different online stores for each brand, this only changed when they added Reconditionedtools.com to sell them all in one place. Tyler Tool now gives CPO a place to sell all of their new tools in one place. Sure they could have built a new web store from scratch, but Google already knows who Tyler Tools is, and that has its worth.

TylerTool

We have shown you the Veto Pro Pac (review) tool bag and we have shown you the Occidental Leather Dr. Wood tool bag; but how do these two kings of tools bags compare to each other? Gary Katz has a video that shows us what you get when you spend over $450 on the Dr. Wood tool bag. For one, you get a bag that is even heavier then the 9lb (when empty) Veto Pro Pac XL. If you can afford the $450 bag, you should also make sure you can afford an apprentice to carry it for you.

via This Is Carpentry

Unless you are using a standard angle crown molding that matches you saw's presets, and you are only doing 45 degrees corners, calculating the correct angles for your crown is no walk in the park. This is why miter finding tools are so handy. But if you are a DIYer, you probably don't want to spend money on a tool you will probably only use once or twice. Good thing for you, with a little bit of work, Google SketchUp can calculate those angles for you. All you have to do is photograph the profile of the crown you will be using, trace it into SketchUp, work a little magic, and Shazam. It can be used to find both the miter angle and the bevel angle. This whole process might sound a bit tricky, but Matt Jackson over at FineHomebuilding has the whole thing documented on video. The video is in five parts, so head on over to FHB for the complete series.

Your other option is to use good old trigonometry. Good Luck. Though in today's world you can probably just find an app for your phone.

• X = arctan(cos(B) * tan(A/2)) for Miter Angle
• Y = arcsin(sin(B) * sin(A/2)) for Bevel Angle

FineHomeBuilding
WoodCentral - miter formula