What's up with Festools..

[pacwind3]

why are all of their tools about 4 times more expensive then any others?
Does anyone have any of their tools? Are they worth it?
I like their circular saw, but I'd have to take out a second mortgage to afford it.

[BigguyZ]

Uh Oh.... I can forsee some heated debate coming.

Festool is highly regarded in many circles. A lot of people think they're overpriced, but the line if designed to work together. All of their tools have dust collection as one of the first things they design for. Check out the video for the rotex sander, and you'll see have they have an innovative solution for dust collection while sanding.

That being said, I know I can't afford them- but I definitely want them.

[just started]

Festool = Rolls-Royce

[jussi]

Yah this debate has been hashed out many times. Fortunately this is a pretty civil forum. In other forums you'd be flamed by 10 posts by now. Basically they are just a very high end brand that according to many that own them (not in my price range ) are more precise, faster, have better dust collection, etc than their counter parts. And I have yet to read a post that disagrees with that assertion. The question is how much of an improvement it actually is and if all that is worth the huge price difference.

[Schleeper]

If someone told me I could trade my left arm for their plunge saw, I'd have to give it some serious thought.

[JimD]

Somehow I think that festools in the same shop as a BT3100 is a mis-match. Maybe it works for somebody. In other words, spending more for a hand-held circular saw than you did your table saw.... On the other hand, maybe if you do not buy an over-priced table saw...

I would be interested in the impression of somebody that used good grade tools from PC or Bosch or something and then switched to Festool. I can't believe they are worth that much more. It's interesting to see them used on "This Old House" and I enjoyed the DVD they sent me once but I still cannot see spending the money they charge.

It also seems like they illustrate a market opportunity for the DeWalts, PCs, Bosch, etc.. One of their packaging ideas which seems good to me for the contractor is to make the tool boxes all the same cross section so they can be fastened together and rolled out at once. Seems like it would save a bunch of carrying. If the other manufacturers changed their tool box shape, they could do a lot of the same thing. Integration with the vacumn is another good concept. Many of the other brands sell all the pieces (and pretty good pieces in my opinion), they just do not package them as nicely. I buy whatever brand is low in cost and seems to meet my need. If one manufacturer were to package things such that there was a distinct advantage of owning only one brand, they would have gotten more of my business.

Jim

[Tom Slick]

When your use of tools are what make your money the cost of tools is not as significant. It's not uncommon for a mechanic to spend $2000 on "just" a tool box, but as shadetree mechanics that seems ridiculous. Some hobbists only use snap-on tools but others think craftsman for 1/4 the price are the best they need.
Festool has a system for everything and I haven't seen any of their tools that is exactly like anything else on the market. if you were working on jobs that Festool tools made quicker or easier then the cost difference amortized over the life of the tool wouldn't be much of a factor. I know they are popular with higher end carpenters, I also know a cabinet builder that absolutely swears by the circular saw and router systems.

I don't own any festool tools. I do have their catalog though.

[Hellrazor]

I don't own any festool tools. I do have their catalog though.

Tool porn

[drumpriest]

I have the domino, and like it a lot. It's a unique tool though, does a great job of cutting mortises. For that task there are a few options, but all of them are expensive, and this one fit the bill for me. Small, easy to use, portable, and very effective. It's a nice tool, though for the 750$ you would think they could include an English scale.

A friend of mine has gone all Festool, and I've used a lot of stuff from them. They are certainly very nice, but for most of their stuff it's just overkill for a guy like me. Honestly, my Bosch stuff is probably overkill for as much shop time as I get.

[wardprobst]

I think Tom Slick pretty well nailed it. When I was starting out, I bought two pair of specialty pliers- one was $85 the other $65- and that was a whole lot of money to me at the time, especially for pliers. In the 25 years since, I have not only never regretted the expense, I'd replace them instantly if they were lost even though they cost almost twice as much now.
Good tools are never a waste whereas bargain tools often end up at St. Vincents.
BTW, the BT3000 is a _good_ tool!!
DP

[crokett]

I was talking to the Rockler store manager in Indy over Christmas and I got a test drive on some of the Festool tools he had. After using some of the tools I agree with his assesment. If you make a living at woodworking/carpentry/etc than these are well worth it.

[gerti]

Alright, I admit, I own one of their circular saws that was more expensive than my BT3100.

It all started when I was installing laminated flooring throughout the house: I just could not stand the noise of the shop vac anymore, and didn't care about the cost of a Festool vac. And it just so happened that on that day they had a Festool rep demo their tools... That circular saw and its' guide seemed to really fit the bill for what I was doing. So I added it to the vac (package deal), fully expecting to feel guilty for years.

In the next two days it saved me so much time that it pretty much paid for itself. Just an example: 4 doors needed to be shortened, in one extreme case from nothing on one side to 1/8" on the other (nothing in this house is plum). Cheap hollow-core doors, and the cut had to go cross-grain on the veneer, so a hand plane (at least of the ones I owned) was pretty much out of the question. Took the doors out, aligned the guide on the marks, run the saw across, put the doors back in. Had all 4 done in 45 minutes, with almost no dust and no tear out.

Yes, those tools are ridiculously expensive (more so now that they increased their prices). But they are awesome: Safety (that plunging mechanism on the circular saw for example), precision, performance, versatility, dust collection are just in a class of their own.

And yes, using the guide you can split a pencil line with that circular saw, and you can do it every time without trying to hard.

And as far as the shop vac goes, I wish I would have gone for it sooner. Quiet, adjustable suction, auto-start (has a plugin for tools). My wife would never have considered using my old one, but she uses that one on a regular basis.

[pacwind3]

the shopvac thing may end up getting me to take that much of a plunge. My shopvac is my main dust collection and I hate, hate, hate the noise. I hate the volume of it. I hate the pitch of it. I've built a cabinet that reduces the volume signifcantly but the pitch is still there. And now I have to drag the vac out of a cabinet to empty it. Which seems like it's far too often; even though it's a 12 gallon. Heck, the biggest I can find is a 16 gallon in the Ridgid brand. Even with hearing protection.
I've thought about a Fein as well. If I could just get a proper shopvac that has a good capasity and is quiet, it would make my shop time much more enjoyable.

[LinuxRandal]

the shopvac thing may end up getting me to take that much of a plunge. My shopvac is my main dust collection and I hate, hate, hate the noise. I hate the volume of it. I hate the pitch of it. I've built a cabinet that reduces the volume signifcantly but the pitch is still there. And now I have to drag the vac out of a cabinet to empty it. Which seems like it's far too often; even though it's a 12 gallon. Heck, the biggest I can find is a 16 gallon in the Ridgid brand. Even with hearing protection.
I've thought about a Fein as well. If I could just get a proper shopvac that has a good capasity and is quiet, it would make my shop time much more enjoyable.

I have and enjoy the Fein. I bought the II, mainly due to it's hose size (smaller one), since I use it with portable power tools (sanders, circular saws, etc). I may get the bigger one latter (or at least the larger hose), but you may want to check out Phil Thien's collectors. You could build one into a 55 gallon drum and it would be a different pitch then the shop vac's and you could pipe them with either size tube.

[germdoc]

If someone told me I could trade my left arm for their plunge saw, I'd have to give it some serious thought.

I think Roald Dahl wrote a short story once about a guy that traded in his left arm for a Festool Circular Saw, only to be shipped their left-handed model.

I would love one of these tools of course. FWIW I have gotten good use out of the PC circ. saw hooked to my shop vac. Very little if any dust, and with a Freud plywood blade and a good straightedge I would put it up against the Festool for cleanness of cut.