Fdengel, I agree there are TONS of ways to "work around" this issue, I guess it's just firmly lodged itself in my craw that Festool has such a narrow range of Centrotec accessories. My biggest issue with the work arounds is that they either require the use of a 3-jaw chuck, or you lose the ability to have your bit "locked" into the chuck.
Below are some work arounds, and why I don't like them. Keep in mind, I am approaching this from the perspective of a field carpenter. This means I am usually wearing a tool belt, and often on a ladder. Many of the scenarios I will list below would probably work ok in a shop environment, but most would not be well suited to field work.
Insert nut driver directly into 3-jaw chuck. I've tried this. It is cumbersome. If I want to swap bits, it either means that I am ALSO carrying a Centrotec in my tool belt ("One more thing..."), or it means that I am constantly opening and closing the 3-jaw chuck for all of my bits. I often have to rapidly swap between 1/4" and 5/16" nut drivers, so that means that I am still stuck opening and closing the 3-jaw chuck to swap bits, or it means that I am carrying an additional chuck for my other nut driver...... It just gets to be too many chucks.
As noted above, I could solve this with chucking a 1/4" Hex Quick change chuck into my 3-jaw chuck. This would allow me to quickly swap between various 1/4" Hex shank bits. My problem with this approach is that at this point your drill is starting to get pretty long, versus simply inserting the nut driver into a impact driver. I often find myself driving screws in between studs and joist spaces, which is 14.5". By the time you have a drill with a 3-jaw chuck, add on a stubby 1/4" Hex quick change adapter, and add a stubby nut driver, you'd be lucky to still have enough room to fit a fastener in the space. So, in a nutshell, this method throws off the balance of a driver, and the driver assembly becomes prohibitively long to be used in the often crowded confines of a remodeling project.
Another option is to directly insert the nut driver into the 1/4" hex drive hub of a Festool drill. The advantage of this method is you get to maintain a short tool length. The con is that you do not have a positive connection to the tool. Nut drivers often get "frozen" to the fastener, so in this scenario you run the risk of driving in a fastener and when you pull the drill away the nut driver pulls out of the drill. This happened to me many times when I tried this with my C12, and I eventually gave up on this method because it slowed me down too much.
Another option is to insert a nut driver into a
Centrotec Bit Holder. I have not yet tried this method. This method would be ok...... The description states that "2-9/16" Magnetic Bit Holder with quick release collar enables use of standard wire detent bits with Centrotec Chuck", so it sounds like it's optimized for 1" bits, and I don't know how well it would hold on to standard 2" bits. Again, this scenario is still unnecessarily long, versus chucking directly into a Centrotec or chucking into a impact driver.
So, that should cover nut drivers, on to using sockets.....
My biggest qualm with using sockets is they are big, heavy, and expensive. Like nut drivers, they also tend to "freeze" to certain screws and lags.
I do give Festool credit for at least releasing the Centrotec socket adapters. However, these adapters seem to have a BALL detent, which is not as reliable for retaining sockets as a
Detent Pin used in heavy duty impact wrenches when it is important for the sockets to not become disconnected from the tool. Again, I don't want to be standing at the top of a 40' extension ladder driving a lag as far as I can reach, and have the socket freeze to the screw and struggle to release it.
If I were to try using sockets I would try these
Grey Pneumatic 1209G 3/8" drive sockets that feature built-in magnets.
Also, as an employer, would you be more inclined to by a $500 drill that you would then need to research what accessories you would need to drive in industry standard fasteners, or buy a $200 premium impact driver and a $5 nut driver.
In the end, rather than justifying using a Festool drill, I look at "what is the most efficient way to accomplish this task?". Festool prides itself on accomplishing tasks "Faster, Easier, Smarter". For this application (driving a hex-head fastener), Festool achieves 0/3 of these criteria. For driving a 5/16" Ledger Lock fastener, it is neither fast nor easy to muck around with various combinations of adapters and chucks, compared to simply inserting a 5/16" nut driver into a impact driver.
I can't emphasize enough that Festool makes some VERY sexy drills. If I worked in a cabinet shop I would buy one next week. However, given their limitations for field conditions I am still very hesitant. BTW, still waiting on the Festool impact driver. I will be extremely disappointed if it can't use the right angle adapter in impact driver mode. Until then, I am currently using this common
Makita Impact Driver for most of my driving tasks, and have fallen in LOVE with my
Makita Right Angle Impact Driver for close quarters work.
Anyways, again I think that Festool makes some fantastic drills, I just wish they would release a greater range of Centrotec driver bits to match real-world needs found here in the North American market. How many threads have we seen over the years from users seeking Square Drive Centrotec bits? 4 years and counting?.....
Thanks!
Tom
(coughs, stumbles off of soap box, but sticks the landing.....)
