Centrotec Installers set - why won't Festool USA order some in????????

[six-point socket II]

I wonder why Festool (USA/Headquarter) doesn't offer their customers the option to just order any stuff not in regular stock but available in Europe.

Well, I'll pile on this thread and add that while items available in Europe would be really nice  [smile]...worse yet is why can't we even purchase items that are available only in the US. I purchased the SYS-CE 2015 USA set that contains imperial brad point drills with Centrotec ends. I use the 3/16" size most often and decided to order an extra bit. I contacted Festool service and was told that the imperial bits were not a "serviceable item" so they were not available for sale.  [mad]

What happens if one is broken or lost? If it was me, everytime I opened the CE Systainer and saw the empty location I'd do the slow burn.  [mad] [mad] [mad]

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Hi,

sadly it’s the same here for some of the content of the yearly/limited variations of these sets.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[sancho57]

What I find very perplexing is that festool comes up with some amaing kits. Yet not only are the kits limited but we cant replace the items that are in it (as already been mentioned). I bought a very nice timber framing kit in the UK, it has nice arbor drills and forstner bits a very nice folding rule even a nice tape measure (different then the normal small black one) etc.

But If I use it and break any of the pieces I cannot replace them.

I think if Festool is going to offer these items in kit form they should be offered individually as well to be replaced.

Another thing I also find perplexing is why dosent festool offer the inserts?

We could ar least create our own installer kits to meet our own needs.

Face it we dont use alot of the items in a basic installer kit but if we could create our own custom one it would be alot more useful to us.

Much the same way some dealers made their own abrasive kits for the various sanders if the inserts were available and the items were available then dealers could create made to order kits for us.

That would give us a lot more flexibility in what we buy and the ability to replace what we broke lost or worn out

 

[DynaGlide]

Personally I think centrotec is overrated. The bits still wobble. It's a solution looking for a problem. I do like having that little bit holder that Cheese has in his set. The Twinbox. It and the stubby metric Brad point bits Festool offers cover most of my needs.

 

[peter halle]

I have never jumped on the bandwagon of the Centrotec.  Not because I don't believe it is better than other alternatives (I do think that is it great), but I see the purchase price as being one of diminishing returns.

I have the bit holders that have come with my three drills.  I have also purchased two of the 1/4" locking adaptors.  I only have one now one because I dropped one into a bed of ivy and after an hour of looking for it I gave up.  I have also purchased a set of Festool bits.

Beyond that I looked at my personal uses and have resorted to buying cheap bits and pieces in sets from the big box stores around Christmas and Fathers Day.

Hey, I am a cheap bit guy.  Heck, 25% of my bits end up in the washing machine anyway.  If I had a home based shop in my basement or garage I might be different.

BUT, I will never buy a Centrotec set again if the replacement parts are not available separately.

Peter

 

[DeformedTree]

I have never jumped on the bandwagon of the Centrotec.  Not because I don't believe it is better than other alternatives (I do think that is it great), but I see the purchase price as being one of diminishing returns.

BUT, I will never buy a Centrotec set again if the replacement parts are not available separately.

I don't have it either, I don't have any Festool drills.  I'm not sure on the benefits of it.  That said, I would be very annoyed if I couldn't buy replacement bits and parts.  They are consumables, and thus just like any other machine tool, you can (should be able too) buy individual bits/drills/etc to refill as needed.  This is a good example (like the systainer inserts too) of thing that even if Festool doesn't want to sell everything direct, some things they really need to have a simple web store for replacement parts, replacement consumables, misc objects, etc where folks can just go in and order up these stuff directly and easily.  No, having to call Festool, etc is not the answer, simple webstore for this sort of thing.

For sure though it makes no sense to try and make kits like this unique to countries.  People in N.A. want metric too,  someone in the UK might want some inch based stuff.  If Festool made tap and die sets or wrenches I wonder if they would only sell a Whitworth set in the UK, no option of unified inch or metric tools in the UK, and no one outside the UK could buy the Whitworth stuff (masochist outside the UK who like old British cars and bike are out of luck). "Sorry due to technical manufacturing difficulty in relabeling the spanners to Whitworth logic,  "the "BMC Re-Installer Set" will only be available during the week of the queens birthday when it falls in a leap year".  Would a wrench set sold in Germany have the spanners based on DIN hex head bolt sizes, not the ISO head sizes (17mm, 19mm, 22mm vs 16mm, 18mm, 21mm)?

For stuff outside of the scope of regulations (drill bits and such would have no issue, RoHS would be pretty much the only concern and it's global). There is little reason not to make available from all, or even have a global store.  And certainly you need to be able to sell piece parts.  I can buy tool sets for most things, and the same stores also sell parts in them individually too.  I think to some degree depending on the country it's the law.

This is the sort of thing that just causes people to pass on buying into it.

 

[Jaybolishes]

Is the kit overpriced? Definitely.  But do I regret buying it?  Heck no. It’s one of those things you buy once and enjoy forever.  To be truthful though I never would have bought it if I wasn’t working like a dog 60 hours a week making great money. I bought it as a gift to myself for busting my hide. That’s been the reason for all my festool purchases actually.  It’s so handy to have the set loaded with all the other bits I use and the systainer is always stacked with my c15, t18 and Csx systainers.  Having those 4 items always together has saved me oodles of time because I’m never missing something drill related and I always know where to find things. It’s over priced but I haven’t regretted buying it once.

 

[bertv]

I think this is true for all of the kits: a lot of the parts (maybe most of them) are not made by Festool, but sourced from different companies, made to order with some mods to brand them Festool.
If uniformity is not an issue one could get replacements for missing or defect items — which leaves the question: where? or from whom?

There are a lot of knowledgable people here, so we should be able to make a list of Kit Items and their Origins.
Who’s gonna be the first (I only know about the Zobo's & the Tape Ruler from BMI — but that one is not included in a kit…).

 

[DeformedTree]

I think this is true for all of the kits: a lot of the parts (maybe most of them) are not made by Festool, but sourced from different companies, made to order with some mods to brand them Festool.
If uniformity is not an issue one could get replacements for missing or defect items — which leaves the question: where? or from whom?

There are a lot of knowledgeable people here, so we should be able to make a list of Kit Items and their Origins.
Who’s gonna be the first (I only know about the Zobo's & the Tape Ruler from BMI — but that one is not included in a kit…).

But that's the crux of the problem, they are proprietary. I think some limited outlets have done some reverse engineering or the patent ran out. Either way, they aren't standard in any way, so you can't just go buy them someplace else.  If they were, the problem wouldn't really be there (aside from region specific the kits).  Can you explain who BMI is, you mention them, but by the nature of the name it is "un-googlable".

 

[Frank-Jan]

Bmi website

They make the festool tape measure. I don't have one of those;
I do have a couple of their other products, a level with a fiberglass telescoping rod for measuring larger internal dimensions (have it for years, don't really like it, never use it, probably discontinued now) and their lay-flat tapemeasure (bmimeter, which I like a lot for drawing lines and marking inside cabinets)

 

[DeformedTree]

I thought you had said they made the Zobo's  looks like that might have just been the way it was written, not what you meant.  Their website still says 2013  [huh]

 

[Gunder]

I ordered the centrotec from Amazon.de when I was in Europe last. Wasnt cheap, but worth every cent. If they came available in N.A. again, I'd buy a second one in a heart beat, especially if it came with imperial bits.  The bits are actually not THAT much more then other bits if your are comparing them to other bits of similar quality. I.E. the driver bits are higher quality then PBSwiss.

 

[Frank-Jan]

I thought you had said they made the Zobo's  looks like that might have just been the way it was written, not what you meant.  Their website still says 2013  [huh]

Sorry, just saw your reply (didn't subscribe to thread). Bert mentioned the zobo's and "the tape measure from BMI" in the same sentence; I just saw your remark that you couldn't find any info on BMI.

When I first saw the zobo drill systems, they where marketed under the protool name, and the centrotec versions didn't exist yet. Zobo is apparantly still part of TTS, but not sold under the festool brand, (only the centrotec drills are). Zobo-website