Ok, this is a difficult one... as i always have to be careful not to offend anyone So please bear with me!

Christian is correct. Our woodworking/cabinet making trade school training takes 3 full years at least. During this time, you have to go to school one day a week and the rest of the week you work full time at a woodworking company. As a wage, you are getting payed between $300 and $700 a month... The work you do at the shop is interesting to say the least. Actually, you are the cheap guy, that means: You carry the tools up to the 5th floor, you have to do the clean up, you have to get your bosses lunch (!), you just do what ever they tell you--it's all part of the learning! Eventually you move up to do the sanding--lots of it! You do some finishing, maybe but only maybe they let you work on some of the powertools. Your main job is helping your coworkers on their projects, like holding pieces while the clamps are being put on etc. Back then I hated it... But I'm now glad that I went through that whole process as it showed me step by step and over and over again on how to build furniture.
Anyhow, after those three years, you have to look for place to work. Highly recommended to be somewhere else, otherwise you will just stay in the same position as the cheap helper.
To open you own business to first have to work in the field for (I believe) 5 years. After that you can apply to go to school again... This time for 3 years in the evenings to become a master cabinetmaker/woodworker. By that time, you will have to know everything and I mean everything! Every type of joinery, every type of wood and finish, the bookkeeping, the legal side just everything.

I'm just a journeyman with about 20 years under my belt.... I'm running my own business... I don't know if it's just me, but most of my festools I got out of the box and started working with, I never look at instructions

So, I'm totally understanding where Festool is coming from and as we all know, are aware of the cultural differences. I'm sure, they are working on it but as everything in business, it takes time.

Anyhow, most of the guys here on this forum are hobby woodworkers and please be patient with yourself. You can't learn this trade/hobby overnight it will take a while. You know, these tools are amazing and the best thing on the market, but you still need practice to get the most out of them.
Don't give up! Enjoy the ride.... Or as we say in Germany: Lehrjahre sind keine Herren Jahre!

Cheers,
Andreas

Andreas,

Thanks for the interesting and enlightening story.  Kind of reminds me of the stories my Stepfather used to tell me about growing up on a farm in Hungary before World War II.  Sounds cliche but he would walk long distances to school even in the winter.  He had to get up early to do his chores and after doing his homework at night, more chores.  I though it was a bunch of hooey but found out later it was not.

As you eluded to, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Neill

Joe, be ready to be surprised then since I think our difference only lies in the mere fact of what you call the development stage exactly.

From the viewpoint of the engineer the development stage might only comprise the machine itself, but from the higher level of the company, the level where I'm talking about, the development process entrails the development of the entire product.

The entire product includes manuals and even systainer inserts and stickers. 

Since aligning the Domino for cutting a mortise is so basic to it's operation it's surprising that the milled tabs wouldn't have been mentioned in the manual along with the sight gage and pins or paddles.

Wonderwino,

After my trip to Festool, I no longer have a short list...pretty much a long list now.  I hear people complain about Festool being slow to release a new product when one is on the horizon.  Me?  I can't keep up!

After our classes, I added the following to my list of must haves:

Parallel Guides
T-15
LS-130
Gecco clamp
OF1010
OF2200
RS2
MFT3 (another one)
Horizontal Rail clamp
New router table when its available
New CT when available
New vacuum clamping system when available

Just off the top of my head.......

Wayne,

I have a long list, too!     I have just prioritized a half dozen items to the top of the list.  I bought the parallel guide set which I really like and ordered the 4mm domino items (the cutter is backordered).  I'm just going to have to get the T15+3, a couple of MFTs & etc.  If I had spent two days there, I would probably have to go for a second mortgage.   

-Alex

Ron I called them by the wrong names, here they are.

http://www.festoolusa.com/products/guide-rails/gecko/gecko-suction-handle-492617.html

http://www.festoolusa.com/products/guide-rails/clamps/fsrapid-clamp-and-fixed-jaws-489790.html

I don't remember the size of the bag on the new CT, but it had some new features, i think a self cleaning filter system and a second plug option.  Mostly, I need two more CT's eventually and figure I'd buy the new ones when they come out.  I don't really remember all the new features.  I just remembered I wanted one, they weren't available and I was broke any way, so I just added it to the list.

The Rapid Clamps work in the same situations as the screw clamps. To clamp them, you just squeeze.


Tom

They look handy for when I hold parts vertically on the front of the MFT while using the Domino.  I now use the other Festool clamps (not the screw clamps) but I have to slide them out of the way while changing pieces.
Do the rapid clamps have fair holding power?  Can they also be used in the MFT top holes?

I also have those other Festool clamps that have the slides & lever to tighten that I use while sanding.

Thanks for the great tip and your excellent photo essay presentation!

Re the manuals, I agree with those who stated that you should always read (or at least) browse through the owner's manual.  And in the case of Festool products, always look for the possibility of expanded user manuals such as those created by Jerry Work and Rick Christopherson, and other members of FOG.  These manuals provide a lot more detail than Festool's factory manuals.

Others' comments have pointed out the huge difference in the way things are done in Europe (and particularly in Germany) and in USA and Canada.   Apprenticeships are alive and well in Europe, not so much in USA.  That is very significant in my opinion.  Those lengthy apprenticeships involve a lot of hands on training that mitigates the need for many of the details many of us USA users (particularly the non-professionals) would like to see in FestoolUSA's manuals.   If you were to study metal working/mechanics/automobile repair/restoration in Germany, one of the first things you would have to master is filing a perfect straight, flat edge on a piece of sheet metal with a flat file.  It's not as easy as it first appears.  Those who have learned how to sharpen chisels and scrapers will understand what I am trying to say.

Let's not forget to thank Festool for making continuation this of this forum possible and Matthew Schenker for creating it and nurturing it before Festool assumed ownership/responsibility, and the many highly knowledgeable contributors who help one another.

Although I believe Festool could do much better with rather little effort, I somewhat disagree with those who think that Festool should describe all the features of each of their products and how to use all of those features, mainly because I think that is an impossibility due to human creativity.   Brice Burrell's discovery of a way to use the Domino machine to quickly create louvered shutters is an example.  Creativity of the owners/users is always going to result in discovery of new uses not considered by the product development engineers.  We have this forum to use to share such information.

I think Festool should include in their printed manuals one or more website addresses to which a tool owner could go to see more detailed manuals and user videos, which also serve as promotional materials.  I have often hesitated to buy some Festool products because I did not understand their potential value from mere examination of the tool or the simple manuals, and thus could not justify to myself or my wife why I should buy those particular products.  Festool should consider engaging Forrest Anderson to help them provide a link to his excellent and well organized listing of Festool related links.

Sorry Ron, I'm getting the products confused. The Rapid clamp doesn't fit in the MFT holes. The Rapid clamp is used on the guide rail when regular clamps can't get around the item being cut. I once used the Rapid clamp to cut the back off a cabinet. The cabinet was melamine and I was worried the rail would slip. There is no way to use regular clamps, the Rapid clamp did the trick.

The quick clamps are on the bottom left of the picture and the rapid clamp is on the far right.

Yep, OK.  I have the quick clamps & as you say they are by far my most used (Festool) clamps.  In your picture at the upper left is the other clamps that I was talking about -- great for sanding.

And thanks, now I see the purpose of the Rapid clamps -- for securing the guide rail in place while cutting however I most often don't bother to clamp the rail at all, it stays put on it's own.  The problem that I see with the Rapid clamp is that whatever is being used to support the work piece would need to be narrower than the work piece so as not to interfere with the clamp -- is that correct?

http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/489790/FS-Rapid-Clamp

Thanks Tom.  I see that you are a Festool dealer in Texas.  Are you required to collect state sales tax for Pennsylvania orders?

Maybe they should take a look at how Leigh does their manuals.  None finer.  I would think Leigh and Festool are on par with each other as leaders in their respective fields.  Festool should take notice of that.  It really isn't right that I have to download Rick's manuals or Brice's reviews to really learn about how a particular tool works. 

Despite Festool Germany's indifference to manuals, I have to say that the quality of these forums reflects the quality of the Festool product.  I have learnt an immense amount on Festool equipment by subscribing to these forums and would like to thank all those forum members who contribute such useful information.