C 12 Drill VS two 18v drills

You guys are fast...link fixed.
I read the tec review before I bought mine...what a tank.
My 19 year old son summed it up nicely after showing him the drill and explaining the features.
"That's how a drill should me made, using the technology that is available today"
 
  I've you seen a few of Joseph's videos, some of them are kinda comical. His videos of the C12 are probably not Festool's idea of a good endorsement. Comparing a 12 year old drill and an inexpensive drill to the C12 isn't necessarily fair to any of the manufactures. Drilling a 3" hole in 1" oak is not the job of a cordless drill anyhow, well maybe for the larger cordless drills. Notice he got his hands on the vents of the drills, that not going to help keep them from burning up. I really like when he blows the dust out of the hole and back in his face.  :D

  I'm not trying to be overly critical of the guy, he has some nice articles on his site and he knows more about the construction trades than I do. But, be careful how you represent yourself on the Internet, people are reading and watching. This is a reminder for me to be very careful when I'm making my videos, I don't want to make good tools look bad.
 
I've never seen a hole saw that had any decent evacuation capabilities.  Especially in man-made materials.  The teeth just get coated and the drill creates smoke, not a hole.  I think the process he shows here is not a very good example of driving torque.  Maybe a 1.5" Irwin auger or some such.  I don't think any drill will work well given the way he's attempting to drill those holes.
 
I already own the C12 and if I didn't own the C12 that video would not convince me to buy it.

Even though the 12 year old Dewalt had new batteries it is still an old drill!! It is tired, probably not worth buying new batteries for when you consider the replacement costs and todays drills/technology. The Hitachi isn't what I would consider a drill worth buying either.

Never considered using my C12 to drill a large hole in oak like that. I'd probably grab a corded drill with a 1/2" chuck.

Dan Clermont
 
I guess I would have to agree.  You guy's have some good points.
I love my C20 regardless of peak power.
For me it was a combo of things that sold me, like the Brushless motor and the way it protects itself, the solid state switches and the convenience of all the chucks.
Allthough if I had a 1 1/2' Irwin auger lying about  ;)
 
brandon.nickel said:
I've never seen a hole saw that had any decent evacuation capabilities.  Especially in man-made materials.  The teeth just get coated and the drill creates smoke, not a hole.  I think the process he shows here is not a very good example of driving torque.  Maybe a 1.5" Irwin auger or some such.  I don't think any drill will work well given the way he's attempting to drill those holes.

I too have not been terribly impressed with hole saws. I periodically install bath fan ductwork, and have adopted the Lenox 4 5/16 One-Tooth holesaw for these large diameter holes. The large carbide tooth cuts a kerf wide enough that the body of the bit is less likely to bind in the hole, and it's relatively easy to resharpen. If I'm on the ground I'll use my big corded Makita DA4031 right angle drill, and if I'm up on the roof the Makita 18v LXT drill will run it reasonably well.
http://www.lenoxtools.com/enUS/Product/ONE_TOOTH_ROUGH_WOOD_HOLE_CUTTER.html
 
Aha.  A hole saw that includes a way to clear the kerf.  Good idea.  I bought a set in Germany that were a series of curved sheet metal arcs that slid into an upper ring.  Those worked pretty well, but I've never seen their like here in the US.  Unfortunately I had to leave that set there.  Now I have a  couple of sets (Irwin/Craftsman) and neither works well unless I constantly remove and reinsert the saw into the kerf after cleaning out the swarf.
 
Maybe it is just me, but the biggest tool in the video was the guy wearing the flannel.....  Also he leaned pretty hard on that dewalt while cutting, which he didn't do with the C12.  Not to mention the fact that you heard the C12 cut off with a beep many times and yet he kept double slapping the trigger until it started back up.  Nothing useful could be gained by watching that video and I stopped half way through.  Matter of fact I want to know where to send the bill for the 4 minutes of my life I wasted watching that guy abuse cordless drills....
 
brandon.nickel said:
Aha.  A hole saw that includes a way to clear the kerf.  Good idea.  I bought a set in Germany that were a series of curved sheet metal arcs that slid into an upper ring.  Those worked pretty well, but I've never seen their like here in the US.  Unfortunately I had to leave that set there.  Now I have a  couple of sets (Irwin/Craftsman) and neither works well unless I constantly remove and reinsert the saw into the kerf after cleaning out the swarf.

Hi,

  I am sure I have seen this type somewhere in the US. Sorry I don't remember off hand. 

  I havn't used hole saws a lot. But I have a 4 1/2" milwaukee, and a nice carbide tipped blue 3" one ( forget the brand now). In any case I put them in a big , heavy duty, corded 1/2" drill-  that makes it no problem.  Except getting the core out of it :(

Seth
 
Sorry Barry for wasting four minutes of your life ::)
But anyway, after watching the video again the other day I to noticed the difference in pressure he was putting on the different drills.  I respect the mans knowledge as well but trying to force the outcome of a test is shamefull and I am embarrassed in how quickly I was fooled. :'(
 
Sorry Paul, that was meant to be more tongue in cheek than it came across.  Just cracking a bad joke when I was a little tired.  For what it is worth I have many dewalt drills and will run a small self feed auger and the occasional hole saw, but if I have more than one or two holes to do I grab the right tool for the jobs, something with a cord attached...

I'm sure the C12 is a great drill, but when I can have multiple drills all chucked up for different purposes for the same price it looks a little less attractive.
 
Just poking a little fun at you Barry, no offence taken  ;)
I do agree Barry there is something to be said about grabbing the right tool for the job. I have no plans to sell my 3/8" or 1/2" corded drills.
 
Well it seems like some of you boys are a bit too critical of the video I made to show case my C12 and some of you seem to like to poke fun at the fat guy in the flannel . . .  Well luckily for you Barry, after 10 years on-line and being the king of the flame war I developed a pretty thick skin to remark s like yours. So consider this a pass.

The purpose of the video was to show what most people perceive as quality tools vs a truly quality tool.  Both those 18 volt drills would do quite well in just about any task you asked of them but the most demanding, and drilling a 1" piece of oak with a 3" hole saw is pretty demanding to say the least.
 
The fact that the C12 preformed better than a perceived "more powerful" tools is the entire point. Brice made the comment about me covering the vent holes on the other drills and that was true because of the design of the drills, the vent holes are right where you'd like to put your other hand when you'd need to apply some additional force (the back end). If he would have looked at his C12 he would have noticed that the vent holes on it are on the side and mid way down so if you put pressure on the back end of the drill the majority of the vents are not covered.  Someone at Festool was thinking about it. . .

Also hearing the drill beeping and clicking was a valuable part of the video as it showed how the engineering of the drills internal electronics prevented it (and the operator) from destroying tool which was clearly not the case with the other two drills.

Now in all honesty when I watch it myself, I kinda crack up a bit as it's a good exercise in how not to take one's self to seriously. . . Something that may be lacking with a few of you. . .

Joe Fusco.
 
i,to think the video is not really a fair comparison,but i can relate to it.
before i got my c12,i worked with a 12v.hilti and a 18v. milwaukee.
(you can't beat a hilti!)i smoked the milwaukee,that supposed to be more powerful and last longer.
i still have my hilti( needs new batteries,8 years old).the milwaukee,in the trash!
i never liked the drill anyway so i didn't bother with to get it repaired.it was 11/2 year old.
i used the milwaukee mainly for drilling,3/16 solid bit,hole saw from 1" to 3"but usually on 1/4" panel and sometime 1/2 ply or part.board.
festool claims that you can't hurt the motor on the c12. working with the c12 for almost 3 years now,i believe it!
 
Paul,

I hope you don't believe that I was trying to sway the results of the test I did because I wanted the C12 to look good. I can assure I did not. The reason why I applied that much force on the Dewalt was that If I didn't, it just won't cut. If you look back on the Hitachi you'll see I didn't need to apply nearly as much force. Once again I can only say that I wanted to show that in an extreme situation this drill preform very well. Also I'm not the poster boy for Festool, since I paid the near $8000.00 for their "stuff' I can say pretty much what I feel about their tools as just about anyone here can. There are somethings I like and there are others that are well, less than what I'd like.

Now ask me how I fell about this drill/driver as a driver and I'd say it's better than any other drill/drive but it can't compare to my $130.00 12V Hitachi  Impact Driver I bought from Lowes or any other impact drive on the market. Impact drivers just drive screw better than drills and that's a fact. So, if you can afford the now $550.00+ price tag for the complete drill set and you want a drill that can stand up to the punishment of extreme tasks, than a C12 might be for you. But if you want  to just drive screws than you can do a lot better than a C12 and I don't care how long the screw is.
 
Mastercabman,

Just how do you mean?
There really isn't a cordless drill/driver in the same league as the C12 so in theory any comparison is with fault.
 
jack,i guess you are right,i think maybe if the other drill was built like the c12 it would be more of a fair test.
brushless motor
electronic torque control
auto shut off when the motor gets a too hot.and maybe more,but i do like to see that the c12 is capable to do as good or better than those higher voltage drill.
sorry for the comfusing.
 
Back
Top