Drank a little more Green Koolaid

[jussi]

Just when you think you're done Festool pulls you back in. Well I thought I was done with the green kool aid but apparently I had to take another sip. Surfing the web on my ipad when my craigslist app gives me an alert. A Festool Vecturo just got posted. The tool was always intriguing to me ever since I had seen a demo of it at a local lumberyard but not something I thought I would use enough to justify the $600 price tag. I have older Fein which works ok but there were always alot of little things about it that I didn't like, especially taking the blades on and off, and how quickly the blades would get dull. The guy was asking $400 and I talked him down to $350. Everything is complete and in great condition except it's missing one of the blades. Just like other Festool products it seems well built and I absolutely love the quick change mechanism. Much faster than my current model. Altough I know this isn't exclusive by any means to Festool. The machine iteself is a near exact copy of the Fein Supercut and in fact got license aggreement from fein. Which is good because I can use Fein blades as well. The Pluge base is great. I wish I would have had it when I was installing wood floors in my garage a few months ago. One thing I think they missed was not have a plunge stop. I've seen several work arounds by placing plastic clips on the bar to act as stops, but I think a stop should have been built in. It also doesn't have any dust collection, which is disappointing. Perhaps they thought it would limit the visibility too much but still I wish they would have figured out a way to incorporate it. Especially since it's one of the things the company is know for. I've only tried the wood blade so far and it works great. It was only 2x4 material but it went through it with relative ease and very little pressure. I made half a dozen or so cuts and the blade still looked and cut the same. The systainer is pretty nice as well and has an attic to store all the blades. Not too much experience with it yet, but so far it looks like a keeper. I think I've gotten all the green tools I need and have bought my last tool for sure.

[leehljp]

I have two Feins and the later one has a much easer and more simple method of changing blades. But the first one purchased over 15 years ago is harder to change. Actually the Fein has a lever that looks very similar to the Festool's. The Fein's do not have the plunge tools. Oh, one complaint that I have with the newer Fein is that the switch is just plain hard to push on. Off is OK, but pushing ON is a real pain.

That was a good buy, especially with the Systainer. The Fein's box is OK but the Systainer will hold more and looks better organized.

[jussi]

If you have the the supercut Lee they should be near identical I think. I believe festool only made minor modifications to the machine itself. I'm not positive but I think the release lever might be a bit larger on the festool. The main difference is the accessories like the plunge base. How are the fein blades? Durability? How well do the metal cutting blades last? I could see a few uses for those types of blades.

[leehljp]

The Fein blades last longer than the HF for sure, and somewhat longer than whatever I purchased at Lowes or HD ( by Bosch or other name brand). However, the Fein cost to use is better than HF by a long shot. They just work better but they sure are expensive. The Bosch and a couple of other brands are moderately expensive but last reasonable for their cost. I haven't priced Fein blades in about a year to 18 months so I don't know if they have come down any. I bought several different brands on my last project about 18 months ago and tried them as a comparison.

I got a couple of variety packs off of ebay back then and they work real well for the price. I think I have enough to last another 2 or 3 years or more.