Are Festool power tools as tough as we claim?

Julian Tracy said:
Just looked it up - the Bosch Brute tough 18volt tools were routinely tested and shown to withstand a 46 foot drop onto concrete.

Even with the new economy - last I checked, 46 foot was a little farther than 1.1M.

I had one - they were heavy, but no worries about the durability.  Of course I never saw some yahoo dipping them in sand, dust, water and lighting it on fire, so who knows how "real-world" tough it really was? :)

JT
Click to expand...

Can you please show us a link to that test?

Tom
 
Tom,

I recall seeing what JT was referring to several years ago.  I'll see if I can find it or get it from my Bosch contact.  The drill body flexes and absorbs/transfers the shock on impact and the battery and it's connection were made to protect it from breaking at the mount during an impact.

How 'bout a contest?  If I find it before you, you'll send me a Precisio 70 (the real thing, not a picture like you were thinking  [big grin])?
 
Thanks, Ken!

Generally, if you've seen these sort of tests online, they can be linked by URL or other means so that everyone can enjoy the poster's experience.

Modern audiences are quite visual...

Tom
 
I've done a few accidental drop tests of my old C 12 off the top of a 6' step ladder onto decades cured concrete. It's fine...

I worked for more than nine years for Schlumberger. We did serious destructive testing of our instruments. They were designed to survive the most intense environments that man could find by drilling into the Earth, at any depth and any geography. I have a pretty good sense of what constitutes a reasonable test of a tool... Our tools at Schlumberger had to always work.

I think that Festool does a really good job of testing their tools.

Tom
 
Tom Bellemare said:
I've done a few accidental drop tests of my old C 12 off the top of a 6' step ladder onto decades cured concrete. It's fine...

I worked for more than nine years for Schlumberger. We did serious destructive testing of our instruments. They were designed to survive the most intense environments that man could find by drilling into the Earth, at any depth and any geography. I have a pretty good sense of what constitutes a reasonable test of a tool... Our tools at Schlumberger had to always work.

I think that Festool does a really good job of testing their tools.

Tom
Click to expand...

Tom, maybe you should have soaked your C12 in a tub of Red Bull before you tried to send it flying.  [big grin]
 
Here's some more info.  The Bosch Brute Tough series are made of Ultramid nylon resin made by BASF for Bosch's molds.  Bosch calls it the Dura Shield housing.  Bosch used ABS plastic prior to this.
 
I searched high and low and couldn't find a link to the Bosch video.  But they dropped it 40-50' onto concrete, the batt pack popped off, they put the pack back on and drilled a 1/2" hole in the concrete (or some kind of drill test) to show it had no problems.

All this talk is a bit silly though, who really doubts the toughness of Festool drills anyways?  I'm skeptical of the value of them myself as it's not like a drill is a high-precision instrument and I have the single purpose equivalents of the special heads.  Well, perhaps the Festool is a high-precision instrument, but a cordless hand drill is not a tool that requires such cost or precision imo.  Also - without an impact driver and all the other cordless tools I use on a daily basis, I would not buy into a cordless system.  I can't stand having different kinds of batteries and chargers on a job so the Festool's extreme lack of range makes it a non-starter for me.

And is the Festool a hammer drill?  Again - it'd be stupid (for me....) to buy into a cordless drill option that didn't have a hammer mode.  I have a rotary hammer but the cordless hammer drills I use work just fine for small anchoring jobs that don't warrant bringing out a cord and a new tool case.

Buy hey - Festool's been giving out free tools now for some time so as to generate great reviews, so send me one and I'll tell everyone I know how great it is.  I won't set it on fire though...

Julian

 
Julian Tracy said:
I searched high and low and couldn't find a link to the Bosch video.  But they dropped it 40-50' onto concrete, the batt pack popped off, they put the pack back on and drilled a 1/2" hole in the concrete (or some kind of drill test) to show it had no problems.

All this talk is a bit silly though, who really doubts the toughness of Festool drills anyways?  I'm skeptical of the value of them myself as it's not like a drill is a high-precision instrument and I have the single purpose equivalents of the special heads.  Well, perhaps the Festool is a high-precision instrument, but a cordless hand drill is not a tool that requires such cost or precision imo.  Also - without an impact driver and all the other cordless tools I use on a daily basis, I would not buy into a cordless system.  I can't stand having different kinds of batteries and chargers on a job so the Festool's extreme lack of range makes it a non-starter for me.

And is the Festool a hammer drill?  Again - it'd be stupid (for me....) to buy into a cordless drill option that didn't have a hammer mode.  I have a rotary hammer but the cordless hammer drills I use work just fine for small anchoring jobs that don't warrant bringing out a cord and a new tool case.

Buy hey - Festool's been giving out free tools now for some time so as to generate great reviews, so send me one and I'll tell everyone I know how great it is.  I won't set it on fire though...

Julian

The Festool drills have minimal runout, which would be difficult to maintain in a combo-hammer drill. Yes, they are precision tools. What kind of right angle chuck do you have for your cordless drill? 
I have a 28v Milwaukee Hammer drill- it weighs a ton, and the runout is horrible, the chuck wobbles around in my hand.
Click to expand...
 
For anyone following this thread, I didn't forget.  I called this afternoon about getting the video.  If it's sent to me and there's no restriction by Bosch, I'll post it, unless someone else comes up with it.  I was told the video was probably taken down due to its age, unless someone tried it at home and plunked someone else on the head, in which case the Bosch lawyers probably obliterated it.
 
So, I've read some comments about this video, including on other forums where it was posted, saying "well, that's neat and all, but I've never had a drill fall in a bucket of drywall compound" and so forth. Some of you have probably owned dozens of drills over the years.

What's the leading cause of drill deaths, second hand smoke?  [tongue]

Seriously, when it comes to durability, what's the true test that's going to make you think to yourself... wow, that thing's bulletproof?

Just curious because some of the things done in that video and some of the torture test videos I've seen from Festool Germany send a strong message in my opinion.

Do I need to drive up to Chicago and drop one off the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower)?  [eek]
 
I would say that most people that buy a $500 drill (myself included) are going to be pretty careful with how we handle our drills. I would never subject my drill to those kind of conditions...

A better torture test for me is a drop test, as that is what would most likely damage my drill. I had a Bosch Brute-Tough that has had lots of falls of the top of a ladder with no damage... I am a little nervous about my T-15 taking a fall off the top of a ladder...

I didn't really purchase this drill because it was tough... I bought it for the different chucks, brushless motor, and because the electronics will prevent the drill/batteries from burning up. I have destroyed a couple of drills that just over-heated from too much hard use.

It is nice to know that if my drill would happen to fall in some water, that it will still function, but I doubt mine would ever get wet.
 
Shane, I think Tim summed it up pretty well:

Timtool said:
it's a good promotional stunt, but does it really prove much? would have been nice to see another brand undergo the same torture. i'm not certain that such a short but intense abuse would insta-kill (m)any other brand drills.

i can abuse my car for 4 minutes aswell, it doesn't mean that if it doesn't fail during the abuse that there is no damage or concequences.
i will be impressed in 20 years when this guy makes a new video showing that same drill still functioning!
Click to expand...

We have no idea if another brand drill could withstand this kind of short term abuse nor do we know if the T15 may have incurred damage from this test that will (greatly) shorten its service life.

Jeff Hein said:
I would say that most people that buy a $500 drill (myself included) are going to be pretty careful with how we handle our drills. I would never subject my drill to those kind of conditions...

A better torture test for me is a drop test, as that is what would most likely damage my drill. I had a Bosch Brute-Tough that has had lots of falls of the top of a ladder with no damage... I am a little nervous about my T-15 taking a fall off the top of a ladder.....
Click to expand...

Jeff, I've dropped my T15 drills numerous times from 6' step ladders.  Also one of them took a nasty drop off a two story roof onto hillside of packed dirt where it bounced 50' down the hill and onto the street below.  Only superficial damage.  I don't worry too much about them surviving a drop, I know they will.
 
Festool uses a long-strand glass fiber reinforced plastic which is far more durable than plastics used in other tools. Think of those fibers like rebar in concrete. It adds structural strength. I've never tossed one off a 50-foot building, but I believe it would fair just as well, if not better than, any competitors' drills knowing what I know of the materials used in its construction.

So, drops are the leading concern amongst you guys?
 
Even if you were unlucky enough to break the casing of a festool drill Im sure it would be well worth while popping the internals into a new set of clamshells.
 
I read what Shane just posted about the material used to make the tool housings.  From my personal use over the years, I would agree the Festool tool housings are made very tough, but I wouldn't take that a step further and say that means the tool as a whole can handle high impact forces since the different components may react differently when all together.  Like how do you know that the battery won't break or break off part of the mount from a fall or the chuck shears off the arbor shaft which causes a split in the case.

Having a drill or other tool survive a 50 foot or even 10 foot drop isn't going to make or break the sale for me.  It maybe fun and interesting to watch, but I'm careful with my tools without babying them and if I drop a tool and it gets damaged, it's my carelessness, not the manufacturer's fault.  If it survives without any damage, great, if not it'll get fixed or replaced.  When I'm using a tool at some height other than close to the ground, I make a conscious effort to keep it from falling and that's all I can do.  So far, so good.
 
I dropped mine of some 6ft steps and it bounced and landed up right!    only joking!    It was on a concrete floor and I had no damage just some minor scratches that all.  

The only part on the drill I know which is made of inferior plastic is the silver piece on the back which has E-Tec on it.   Well I never broke mine right off into pieces but Festool them selfs did when it came back from repair well it was repaired but needed sending straight back to repair centre to have the silver piece with E-tec on the back replaced. When I looked at the silver plastic bits the plastic looked like a more brittle  type of plastic  harder and less flexible so it would shatter on impact so if you was to drop your drill and it landing on its back I think that part would be the part which would break for sure.

JMB
 
Shane Holland said:
going to make you think to yourself... wow, that thing's bulletproof?
Click to expand...

Well, I guess you could always shoot one, but if someone were shooting at my drill it wouldn't actually be the safety of the drill that concerned me the most...  I certainly hope that's a fairly atypical job site hazard...

;D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

flair woodworks
Festool Cordless Dust Extractors are Coming! (Ultimate Tools, Canada)
Replies
3
Views
1K
flair woodworks
flair woodworks
E
Quick apprise of UK Festool Demo Day at Axminster Power Tools
Replies
7
Views
3K
Pareto
P
W
Sysnotes Archive
2
Replies
21
Views
68K
Bob D.
Bob D.
F
  • Locked
Consolidated List of Festool Links (Reviews, Videos, Brochures, Manuals etc)
Replies
2
Views
189K
Forrest Anderson
F
Back
Top