What's that then? Never heard of a 'French fitting drawer'... 

Ive never heard it called that either !

That's basically what I ended up using, but I used the foam insert set.

http://www.festoolcanada.com/products/systainers/foam-inserts/foam-insert-set-487427.html

I used it a couple of years ago to pack some precision tools, and happened to keep all the little squares! I wish festool came out with the 1400 equivalent of the 2200 accessory systainer.

I wish Festool made a chuck like the Centrotech chuck for 1/4" hex quick connect bits.

He wants a Centrotec style chuck that will accept standard 1/4" shank hex bits without having to use an adapter.

Standard hex bits are not made to an accurate enough tolerance, and have no standard beyond the hex. The centrotec relies on a closely held diameter that is slightly smaller than the standard hex bit, which has no diameter specification, just a resulting size across the points. These vary from one manufacturer to another. Festool solved the problem by holding a diameter across the points that extends beyond the hex length, giving them a true running shank. They also changed the detent groove position. All of this was intentional, I would guess, but not to necessarily make it proprietary. I suspect it was their way of improving on a concept that certainly had room for improvement. If they had designed the chuck to hold any traditional hex bit it would have needed a far more open tolerance factored-in to accommodate all of the variability in the market. At that point there would have been an unnacceptable amount of runout in many cases and they would have been accused of making a subpar tool when it was the inherent variability of the bits for which they could not compensate.

An upgraded (Benz quality) gate and cord connector to split from one-to-two hoses w/ cords.


Tom

A drill?

I can see more precise tolerances being helpful for drilling. Though in my experience, the biggest accuracy problems in drilling come from the hand holding the drill, not the bit setup. For driving screws, I don't see any problems with the hex tolerances. Festool apparently has no problems using that hex for the main connector to the drill. They even advertise using that connector to put a short hex bit in it. Why not use that exact size for a Centrotec style chuck?

As I've been evaluating the Festool drills, there are a couple of issues that come up.

First, I already have a significant investment in hex bits. That means I need to either toss that investment, or continue to use them with the Jacobs chuck on the Festool, which removes one of the significant advantages of those drills.

Second, some bits just aren't available in Centrotec. A prime example is the square drive bits. As with the hex bits, I have a significant stock of square drive screws. I need a bit for those, and being able to use a short chuck can be a significant advantage when space is tight.

Third, I know a short bit can be attached directly to the drive out of the drill. I hate using those things because after driving a screw in, I usually have to take the bit out of the screw and put it back in the drill.

The first two of these issues are ones which keep popping up on this board. In my mind, that means Festool ought to address them one way or another. After all, we've already seen one solution to these issues that isn't far from using duct tape.

I'm pretty sure Festool could even come up with some sort of solution to the tolerance issues in a chuck. (Maybe an internal rotating collar or other mechanism that clamps the bit to remove the slack as it's locked into place?) Even if it was slightly larger than the Centrotec chuck, it would still be a much better solution than using a binder clip.

I can't help you with a cordless one, but, depending on the cutting path size you're looking for, mount two TS55's sideways or two TS75's sideways, to your old mower deck (fabrication and design I'll leave for you).  Attach them with a 'Y' connector to a CT and cut your lawn without leaving a green mess.

P.S. - You'll probably want a helper to move the CT while you're cutting unless the mower deck can accomodate everything.

To answer zapdafish----
For a modest amount of money you can fly over to EU and get a pair of battery operated Carvexes. They probably sell some super long blades there as well. Mount them back to back on a wheeled stand and voila a battery operated Festool mower! Be sure to get the vegetation blades.

Oh and mount the new CT 48 to get maximum collection capacity.

For me, I don't want anything new from Festool. I only want what they already sell in the EU!!!!!!

How about a portable thickness planer? Bet Festool could whip up something amazing.

Festool makes metric bushings (copy rings). Switch to metric
VictorL

Some dealers will do what you ask.  I think that I read here that Bob Marino has done something similar.  You might want to send him a message.

Peter

Agreed. Though I do like brousing through German tool stores...