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Mafell's Crazy Pull-Push Portable Table Saw

The Erika 85 makes American contractor saws look primitive

By Rain Noe - May 28

in Tools & Craft

This portable Erika 85 table saw, by German manufacturer Mafell, has a number of tricks up its sleeve.

First off, it's designed to be easy for one person to set up:

One of the feet has an instant height-adjustment feature, making uneven floors quickly dealt with:

And while you can push material through the saw, the conventional way…

…it also performs this magic trick:

When crosscutting or cutting miters, rather than pushing the workpiece on a sled, you hold the piece stationary and the saw slides towards you. The company reckons this is easier and more precise than doing it the other way around. It's also easier than sliding chunky workpieces towards the saw:

Lastly, a simple but desirable feature. The saw has a built-in light that illuminates exactly where you want to see:

I think the pull feature would take some getting used to, because I've never seen a table saw that had this feature. But that's because I'm based in the 'States. Mafell has been producing this design for a whopping 40 years.

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Ben Blackhall

16 hours ago

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That pull feature is fascinating as for precise things I could see making less awkward jigs on top than some sliding jigs I've seen and made. The catch I guess is making it deeper, but short of having a outfeed table that's not the worst thing in the world. I imagine people either seeing big advantage or little

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- Roger ak
  
  Ben Blackhall
  
  11 hours ago
  
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  I agree. An outfeed function would be more useful.
  The sliding feature looks interesting but for it to slide as easily as demonstrated, I imagine there would be a lot of slop. Make it tighter and it would likely get pretty jammed with sawdust.
  
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