Patrick,
What fascinating questions. Let me start by saying my favorite Festool is the fact Festool is a system, not just individual tools. They work together.
It is like 1+1=3. Where the demonstrations become important is to help customers new to Festool understand how the system works to the customer benefit. One CT extractor can serve an unlimited number of tools, perhaps even two at a time. But for the person working alone, you attach the hose and Plug-It to each tool in turn. But wait, during the demonstration it can become clear that while the CT shipped with a 27mm hose, some tools really need the 36mm hose. Then there is a powerful set of clean-up tools that uses the 50mm hose. Without a demo, the customs will not understand all that.
I have been to every available End User class. For me Henderson, NV is a 5 + hour drive because I need to stop a couple of times to rest and walk around. To beat heat, wind and traffic I like to drive up there starting while it is really dark, then rest as the sun comes up. Going home the sun will be behind me, so I start a couple of hours later. I do not have the stamina to drive up the morning of a class, because the start at 7:30 AM and run until 5 PM on closing day. So for me a 2 day class requires 4 hotel nights. A 4 day combo class has the Wednesday as an off-day, so for me that is Sunday until dawn Saturday in the hotel, The commitment of my time is as big an investment as the gas, tuition, hotel room and meals. So I expect the quality of experience provided by Steve Bace in Henderson and Brian Sedgeley in Lebanon.
Shortly after I bought my first few Festools, a TS55, a CT22 and an OF1010 with a lot of accessories, my primary dealer held a Saturday demonstration featuring a Festool rep for Southern California. We gathered in the store's main room, which is filled with large fixed woodworking machine. All the better brands. They have a room devoted just to Festool, which holds about 4 customers. So that dealer used his forklift to move StopSaws, other table saws, bandsaws, jointers, planers and so on out of the way, forming a backdrop for the Festool demo. It made for an exciting day because everyone attending loves working with wood. Some of us earn good livings working in wood. Others earn good livings doing something else and find woodworking a way to relax. Saturday at this dealer is always a relaxed mix of famous local woodworkers and newbes. Since then this dealer has held a similar event a couple of times a year. It is not always the same rep, but they all know their Festools.
There are a lot of Festool dealers in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA. I have bought things from almost all of them who sponsor demo days.
A really good dealer is located in Palm Desert, just east of Palm Springs, for me a 2:30 drive if the traffic is light. One time I drove there for a demo then drove back the same day. I did that because in addition to a really good rep, Steve Bace was there, so two demonstrations were going on in a tent in front of the store and in another tent behind the store. About a year later, because people who could not attend End User classes in Henderson wanted instruction, that dealer sponsored a One-Day mini-class. They rented a near-buy vacant store and outfitted it as a mini training center. Steve Bace and rep Allen Kensley provided the instruction. The instruction ran from 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. so one of the cabinet makers working for me and myself drove up o the Friday early afternoon just ahead of the weekend traffic. We checked into our hotel, spent an hour with that dealer and then had dinner. The Saturday morning we had the early free breakfast at our hotel, spend a thrilling day of instruction. The dealer gave us snacks, a marvelous lunch, then gifts after the instruction. Then 9 of us went to a steak restaurant and discussed woodworking until closing time. We went back to our hotel to rest up enough to make the drive home.
During all those demo days and the mini class, none of the dealers or Festool reps or trainers has ever evaded hard ball questions. None has used a scripted reply, because all of them use the tools they sell and demonstrate. With Festools there is no need to lie or exaggerate. In talented hands, the Festools speak for themselves.
What are my favorite Festools? I own at least one of all sold in North America, except some of the drills (I only work in my shop and am used to plugging in drills). I am still making big money with the TS55, CT22 and OF1010 I purchased in January 2006. None has required factory service and only common sense maintenance from me. I now own many more TS55, CT22 and OF1010 and the newer ones also make me money. I love all my Kapex. We keep one on an UG ready to go to sites, along with a new CT36. How can I say I love one Festool more than another. The TS55 use the same rails as the routers. It is a system!
