Any chance of a small imperial centrotec bit assortment?

[Jon3]

Similar to this metric assortment?

I'd love to get my hands something like that. 

 

[jonny round boy]

Isn't that a bit like asking the Vatican to produce 'Happy Hannukah" cards? ??? ;D

 

[Christian93117]

Jon3,

Thank you for the question.

Right now the chances are rather slim. Here is why: In order to offer such a product at an acceptable price, 
we have to get a certain volume of drill bits manufactured. The markets for those imperial bits don't have enough volume
for us yet to justify an imperial drill bit set.

Now there is the question of the hen and the egg: Do we need imperial bits to get to the volume, or do we have to
have the volume to get imperial bits? Our impression so far is, that imperial bits wouldn't have a major impact on
volume at all.

The question imperial/metric is something we are discussing constantly. And the feedback we are getting from the US market
is mixed. Some say "stick with metric, it is more precise", some say "I will never get used to metric, give me imperial". The
split is about 50/50.

I think that if we go with imperial, we should go all the way. And that means a lot of changes to the tools and
the accessories. And then we will have discussions with US customers that prefer the metric system.

Hope that answers your question.

Christian

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Thanks for considering the imperial bits Christian.  I can't resist adding my 2 cents worth.... :

For one thing, neither metric nor imperial is more precise than the other, they are simply systems of measurement.  For instance, 1/64th is more precise than 1mm.

But that's neither here nor there.  The real problem in the US is that metric screws and bolts are sometimes hard to find and usually cost considerably more than imperial.  While I assume that the Festool drill/drivers are greatly superior to their competitors and I would probably really enjoy using it, I have a fairly large investment in imperial drill bits, forstner bits, countersink bits, self-centering bits, etc.  And I can't really justify adding to the cost of my products to use metric screws.  Not to mention square head material.

Thanks for listening.

Looking forward to the MFK700 and the Kapex!

Jesse Cloud

 

[Jon3]

Jon3,

Thank you for the question.

Right now the chances are rather slim. Here is why: In order to offer such a product at an acceptable price, 
we have to get a certain volume of drill bits manufactured. The markets for those imperial bits don't have enough volume
for us yet to justify an imperial drill bit set.

Now there is the question of the hen and the egg: Do we need imperial bits to get to the volume, or do we have to
have the volume to get imperial bits? Our impression so far is, that imperial bits wouldn't have a major impact on
volume at all.

The question imperial/metric is something we are discussing constantly. And the feedback we are getting from the US market
is mixed. Some say "stick with metric, it is more precise", some say "I will never get used to metric, give me imperial". The
split is about 50/50.

I think that if we go with imperial, we should go all the way. And that means a lot of changes to the tools and
the accessories. And then we will have discussions with US customers that prefer the metric system.

Hope that answers your question.

Christian

Christian,

I understand your answer, and I can certainly see where you're coming from.  However, I'm not sure releasing an Imperial set would necessarily be best undertaken as a whole-hog type conversion.

Right now, you offer Phillips, Flathead, Torx, Posidrive, Phillips, and Allen.  I would consider a small brad point bit set that happens to be imperial as not particularly different than any of these other categories.  You've got 3-10mm right now in that set now; 8 bits.  You would make many a Festoolian happy with merely 5:  1/16 1/8 1/4 3/8 1/2.  I'd certainly go for way more if the market would bear it.  Personally I'd take everything down to 16ths or 32nds =)

Second, I think this has a market outside the US as well.  There are plenty of products that get shipped overseas that happen to be produced in Imperial.  I would be surprised if there was a non-US market (although not as large of course) that wouldn't mind having a set of Imperial bits in the tool box for those odd jobs that require them.  (The same way the people in the US buy the bit selection that I mentioned above!)

If this seemed like too much tooling, how about simply an adjustable collet-based Centrotec into which we could install our own round shank bits, which could also be used for Metric bits?  That would require one bit, with a few sizes of collets, but does not limit the market to any particular area!

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

...In order to offer such a product at an acceptable price, 
we have to get a certain volume of drill bits manufactured. The markets for those imperial bits don't have enough volume
for us yet to justify an imperial drill bit set...

Christian,

Can you explain whether it is a matter of absolute volume (ie a particular number of sets for return on investment) or is it a percentage of market volume that figures into these equations. Not sure why I am asking this cause and an Aussie I am most happy with metric and find imperial flustering with any measurement smaller than half inch!

Cheers,

 

[Christian93117]

Lancashire Fusilier,

It is a matter of absolute volume. More than 90% of the Festool volume is done in "metric countries" and there are just a couple
of countries that could sell products with imperial measurements (U.S.A., UK, AU). These countries have to justify the investment
into a new product by selling a certain volume.

Coming out with a new product isn't simply a question of calling a vendor and ask him for imperial drill bits. There is an entire process
in place to approve products, getting them into the supply chain etc.. It is sometimes even for me hard to understand what goes
into getting a product ready for sale. The salesman in me says "come on, just send the product over, we have customers asking for
it". The customer service representative in me says "thank god they are taking the time to make sure we are getting exactly what
we want in the quality we want".

Believe me, we want to sell everything we can and we are looking hard at every opportunity we find. This is why we are reading
the posts on this forum very carefully and forward your "wishlists" to Germany.

Christian

 

[Anthony]

there are just a couple of countries that could sell products with imperial measurements (U.S.A., UK, AU).

"AU" 

No no please don't!

We moved on from imperial a long time ago.

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Still plenty of dinosaurs in Australia though. Ooops sorry Dad, didn't know you were reading that!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I "second" the idea of Festool offering collet type bit adapters for the Centrotec system.  The lack of these has lead me to purchase Snappy brand adapters, which of course, do not fit Centrotec, but do fit 1/4 inch bit driver holders and also can be used with any Jacobs type chuck.
I also purchased a set of metric twist drills during my recent trip to Germany.
Dave R.