Advice on Purchasing a New Festool Drill

[757CA]

Folks,

New to the forum, but not new to Festool. I own an MFT/3 and Saw, which I've been very happy with. However, I have never used any of their cordless tools, and find myself in need of a new drill. My uses will be screwing drywall, along with basic drilling and driving.

Any advice on which model would be best? For drywall work, I plan to use a drywall dimpler, unless Festool has something similar?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[semenza]

Welcome to the forum!  [smile]

    Well you could get the dedicated belt fed, drywall driver............... DWC 18.  But not very useful for all purpose.  [big grin]

    Hard to beat a T or C18 with the interchangeable chucks. And there is one made for drywall / deck screwdriving which works very well.  https://www.festoolusa.com/accessory/493539---dd-dc#Overview

    Add the 90 degree and eccentric and it becomes a nearly do all drill / driver.  [thumbs up]

Seth

 

[757CA]

Thank you!

 

[ThisVeteranVlog]

Welcome to the addictive world of Festool ownership!  ;D

I've owned the CXS for a few months now and couldn't be happier with it, especially for general purpose use. There have been some applications where I could see having an impact driver would have been better, but otherwise it sees nearly daily use in my shop. I sold both my Black & Decker driver and Porter Cable impact to pick up the CXS.

I recommend you pick up the set (comes with a right angle chuck) as well as the centrotec kit ($120) that comes with a large quantity of bits in a mini sustainer. I won't have to worry about finding the right bit for a while or replacement purchases.

Hope this helps and look forward to seeing you in the FOG.

 

[ear3]

As already mentioned, the C or T18 is a great all-around drill, and when bought in the set, comes with some very useful extras like the eccentric and right angle chuck.

The CXS/TXS is also a great drill, and is probably the one I use most often, but it is a light duty machine, and will not work well with thicker drill bits or forstner bits, or when you have to drive long screws into hard material.  The NiCad batteries are also not compatible with other Festool cordless products.  The interchangeable chucks that were a distinctive feature of the CXS (as well as other Festool drills), are now also available on other so-called installer's drills from tool manufactures like Milwaukee and Bosch.

I would only go with the PDC if you think you might have to do occasional hammer drilling operations.  As an all-purpose drill it's a bit heavy and you have to be on guard about overdriving fasteners in lighter duty applications, even if you can adjust the torque.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Aside from occasional repair type work, drywall is best accomplished using a purpose built driver that insures proper countersink and prevents overdriving. Festool does have a solution as mentioned above and there are certainly other options in that space.

For a general purpose drill/driver, it's nice that there are multiple options. My most used Festool drill/driver is the little CSX. It's lightweight, comfortable, compact and performs very, very well for assembly and installation work. For heavier jobs, the 18v stuff in the lineup is probably a better choice.

 

[semenza]

As already mentioned, the C or T18 is a great all-around drill, and when bought in the set, comes with some very useful extras like the eccentric and right angle chuck.

  I notice that the C18 and T18  sets (in the USA) no longer include the right angle / eccentric chucks.

Seth

 

[Joebuck]

I own the PDC, CXS, and C18 cordless drills. If I had to keep just one of them, it would be the C18 for its extreme versatility and wide range of applications. It takes a little getting used to this style of handle/ergonomic design, but once you do, traditional pistol grip style drill/drivers seem like a thing of the past. It’s powerful when you need it, but has an excellent feather trigger for delicate operations. Once you add in all the optional attachments, it’s a small fortune, but unbeatable. The depth stop chuck turns it into an effective drywall gun, but the eccentric chuck, and the right angle chuck really make it an installation must have. Centrotec essentially makes having just one drill tolerable, as

All that said, I’m currently infatuated with my little CXS. You’ll probably end up with one eventually. I hardly ever use the PDC.

Hope this helps. Welcome to this excellent forum.

 

[Stone Message]

Hi [member=73589]757CA[/member]

A while ago I did a quick round up of the options:


I have to say that I could not survive without either a CXS or TXS as my "go to" drill-driver. If you then only needed one more beefy machine then go for the PDC as it can do so much.

Good luck.

Peter

 

[demographic]

I can see the point of the DWC for drywall, I've not used one personally but if its any good the only competition I see its got is a Hilti. They make an excellent cordless colleted feed drywall gun.
Ive used a few of the Makita drywall guns and they really aren't worth the money. i can't stand em.

Personally I'm not really onboard with the Festoool drills. To me they aren't significantly better than the competition, have gimmicky details that I doubt Id use often enough to justify the extra cost and honestly that Centrotec thing just seems like a way to spraff extra cash on bits I could get cheaper for normal 1/4 hex.

The jigsaw?  Naah, yer alright. I'm not fussed.

Their circular saws however, are excelllent and either groundbreaking or very polished versions of whatever was groundbreaking.

 

[cpw]

I haven't tried a C18 or T18; but do own a CXS.  It was OK, but I didn't find myself reaching for that instead of my Dewalt 18V drill/impact.  Centrotec just fell flat for me.  I bought a Bosch 12V Flexiclick and have found that I actually use that one much more and the cost is more reasonable.  The eccentric and right angle chucks are really useful.

 

[ScotF]

The C  and T 18 are my favorites. The trigger is exceptional and both feel great in hand. Adding the chucks increases versatility. I use them all. The TXS  is great in hand and is a light duty drill and driver. Perfect for installs and furniture. The PDC is great for heavier duty work. Not much bigger than the T18, but no eccentric capability.

 

[757CA]

Thank you everyone for all the advice. I appreciate it. Going to go with a T18. Hope to have it next week.

 

[mrboult]

When my Nicad Makitas died 8/10 years ago I decided to go festool, I’ve owned literally every drill they currently make other than the dry wall gun. T18 is the best comfiest all round drill ever, unless you want hammer function (all Hanmer drills suck imo, including the horribly noisy PDC). The cxs would be the worlds greatest drill if it was 30-40% more powerful, but as is I colour never trust it as the only only drill on a job, and taking it the two batteries and charger was too much if I needed another drill in case. . .

Have used all the drills extensively, I now own 2 T18s, C18 & BHC.  The C18 is nice for delicate stuff and while it has the power for bigger stuff it will kill your wrist if your not careful!! T18 much nicer.

If the cxs was either more powerful or used the same charger as the rest of the festool platform, I’d buy one again.