Entry into Festool?

[semenza]

Didn't the old FOG design have a "Remove my vote" button on the polls?

As Semenza said in his last message, this is an optional choice.  The person who creates the poll has to check the option.  Of course, your humble forum owner can go in and activate this option for you.  Is this what you want, Seth?
Matthew

Matthew,

    I guess that would be a good idea in case someone makes a mistake when voting.

Seth

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  I have seen quite a few new purchasers lately so I thought I would bump this.

Seth

 

[The Woodentop]

Oddly, my first Festool (if I can call it that) was a jigsaw blade!! Actually, I bought it out of desperation and it wasn't very special. I wonder if they actually make them or just stamp their name on?

First 'proper' Fessy was the TS55. Brilliant.

 

[semenza]

Oddly, my first Festool (if I can call it that) was a jigsaw blade!! Actually, I bought it out of desperation and it wasn't very special. I wonder if they actually make them or just stamp their name on?

First 'proper' Fessy was the TS55. Brilliant.

Hi,

      I don't know about Festool making the blades, but part of the jig saw blade line up is thicker than normal blades. So maybe?

Seth

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Does it really matter if Festool actually makes their own blades?  I think it far more important that Festool designs their own blades, whether alone or in cooperation with others who specialize in blade design and manufacture, and thereafter continues quality control oversight on the blades that are produced and distributed under Festool's brand name.  My employer is one of the largest manufacturer's of aircraft brakes and landing gear, but it doesn't make the raw metal forgings.  Instead it designs the products and works with the raw materials producers and forging manufacturing companis to convert end products designs into raw forgings designs and dies for those forgings, then does the machining, assembling and testing in-house.  Control over the design and the quality of the final product released in the market is far more important in my opinion.  Doing everything in-house provides an opportunity to oversee quality of every operation, but it is usually far too costly.  Even if Festool makes their own jigsaw blades, I doubt they make their own steel for those blades.  I believe the bayonet mount used by Festool was first introduced by Bosch; many others use it today, too. 

Dave R.

 

[festeringtool]

Indeed it's very handy that there is some compatability now most use the bayonet fitting.

 

[Dan Clark]

Does it really matter if Festool actually makes their own blades?  I think it far more important that Festool designs their own blades, whether alone or in cooperation with others who specialize in blade design and manufacture, and thereafter continues quality control oversight on the blades that are produced and distributed under Festool's brand name.  My employer is one of the largest manufacturer's of aircraft brakes and landing gear, but it doesn't make the raw metal forgings.  Instead it designs the products and works with the raw materials producers and forging manufacturing companis to convert end products designs into raw forgings designs and dies for those forgings, then does the machining, assembling and testing in-house.  Control over the design and the quality of the final product released in the market is far more important in my opinion.  Doing everything in-house provides an opportunity to oversee quality of every operation, but it is usually far too costly.  Even if Festool makes their own jigsaw blades, I doubt they make their own steel for those blades.  I believe the bayonet mount used by Festool was first introduced by Bosch; many others use it today, too. 

Dave R.

I have Festool, Bosch, and Lenox blades for my Festool jigsaw.  They all fit nicely.    That's said, I'm still not sure which is the best cutting blade.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[The Woodentop]

Well thank you for your input. Whatever the rights and wrongs of whether festool make the steel or simply design the blades, all I was saying was that a blade was my first festool purchase. The fact that it was bought out of desperation and that it was of poor quality IMHO is neither here nor there. I continue to use any blade with a suitable bayonet fitting as I don't feel a tie to buying poorer festool blades.

Again thanks for your insight. I hope an expansion of mine clears things up a little.

Larry

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Well thank you for your input. Whatever the rights and wrongs of whether festool make the steel or simply design the blades, all I was saying was that a blade was my first festool purchase. The fact that it was bought out of desperation and that it was of poor quality IMHO is neither here nor there. I continue to use any blade with a suitable bayonet fitting as I don't feel a tie to buying poorer festool blades.

Again thanks for your insight. I hope an expansion of mine clears things up a little.

Larry

If you check for other posts by me on jigsaw blades, you'll find at least one in which I wrote of my having a good experience with Makita brand blades and a not-so-good experience with Festool's extra HD blades which I especially purchased for cutting out a couple of curved truss beams from 2x12 presssure treated lumber to make a ~10 long arched bridge I wanted to build for my wife's flower garden.  I would not have tried Makita brand blades except that a variety pack was included with my Makita jigsaw which I purchased ~18 months ago after considering and rejecting Festool's Trion because of price difference and Makita having an LED..

Dave R.

 

[The Woodentop]

If you check for other posts by me on jigsaw blades, you'll find at least one in which I wrote of my having a good experience with Makita brand blades and a not-so-good experience with Festool's extra HD blades which I especially purchased for cutting out a couple of curved truss beams from 2x12 presssure treated lumber to make a ~10 long arched bridge I wanted to build for my wife's flower garden.  I would not have tried Makita brand blades except that a variety pack was included with my Makita jigsaw which I purchased ~18 months ago after considering and rejecting Festool's Trion because of price difference and Makita having an LED..

Dave R.

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who considers the Festool jigsaw blade to be inferior. Nobody's perfect!

Larry

 

[turbogeezer]

When I went looking to set up a new compact shop, I was looking at a new circ saw, but I wanted to see if I could get by without a table saw. Well, I'd need a guide rail for the saw -- there's a good one made by Veritas in Lee Valley's catalog. Oh -- and LV also has a nifty chop-saw attachment for perfect 90-deg crosscuts with a circ saw. And they also have an adjustable miter guide for same. Let's see... also need adapter plates for the saw and maybe a router to fit 'em to that guide rail.  I want to cut circles, so I'll need a circle-cutting attachment from somebody else - now, which model routers does it actually fit? I don't have room for a table saw, but I'll need a bench. And lotsa clamps.

Well, I was aware of Festool way in the back of my mind all that time. No way - too expensive! But when I added up the circ saw, guide rail, and adapter plates, I was maybe $150 away from a TS55 with a rail and a systainer. And the availability of the fits-everything CT22 addressed the dust-collection issue that I was mentally avoiding. Everything is designed to work together. The April 1 price hike helped me slippery-slope from the TS55 to a total of 6 tools - more if you count the MFS as a tool, rather than an accessory.

At this point I'm waiting on a MFT/3. Projects await.

 

[Aspiring FT Owner]

: Well I saw the C-12 about 2 years ago, but since I didn't do cabinet work, felt the price was too high so went with Makita LION tools (had a buddy, got a good deal wholesale).  Maybe a full kitchen remodel job in a few years will require another drill.  (that and the C-12 really needs an integrated LED light as part of it's next upgrade, really handy)

Fast forward 1 year, and a bathroom remodel needing lots of wall prep sanding and the RO 150 and CT 22 followed me home.  Also discovered that with the sponge attachment, makes a great tile / crud cleaner too.  Now the car looks like it needs to be waxed/polished....  Just floored by how little dust was generated by the sanding of the walls, didn't even need to change shirts before painting WOW!

Falling down the slope pretty quickly now, the TS 55/MFT 3 combo will find a home here later this summer

 

[Dan Clark]

...
Well, I was aware of Festool way in the back of my mind all that time. No way - too expensive! But when I added up the circ saw, guide rail, and adapter plates, I was maybe $150 away from a TS55 with a rail and a systainer. And the availability of the fits-everything CT22 addressed the dust-collection issue that I was mentally avoiding. Everything is designed to work together. The April 1 price hike helped me slippery-slope from the TS55 to a total of 6 tools - more if you count the MFS as a tool, rather than an accessory.
...

TG,

Excellent rationalization.  You'll make an AWESOME Festoolian!  We are extremely good at this kind of rationalizing.  ;D

Welcome aboard!

Regards,

Dan.

 

[mhch]

IN French, "aspire" means both aspire and breathe.
I better had to take a deep breathe when I aspired for my TS55.
I did not know the slope was so slippery and steep.

  July 2007:  TS55 + extra rails + CT22
  Aug 2007: Trion
  Sep 2007:  MFT 1080
  Oct 2007:  OF1010 and OF1400, with a good rebate    won't tell how much nor how nor where
  Oct 2007  : DX93 again with a good rebate 
  Jan 2008  : RS300 (half sheet sander)
  soon ??    :  MFT 800 to be delivered.
          ??      : Kapex, resisting hard, my cheap Chinese CM is barely adequate.
                      Mmmm if I can manage getting that good rebate again .....

I'm mostly working on remodeling my house, renovating some old things
my wife gets in bric-a-bracs, and setting up my shop (that alone is
already quite a bit of work as you know).

 

[Fred West]

mhch, do not resist the kapex, do not resist the kapex or you will have entered the twilight zone of great tools with one very bad CM constantly and purposefully cutting offline and out of square.  ;D : Fred

 

[mhch]

I'm sure I won't resist, don't worry Fred, I didn't want to spoil your day 

After that, well I might slip off the track for a joiner/planner and a bandsaw
so I can start playing with real hardwood projects.

BTW, I forgot tthe RO125 in my list.

 

[Cannuck]

My first purchase was a Domino joiner set.  After using it once, I was sold.  Within 3 week I had an MFT 1080 and TS75.

 

[semenza]

HI,

              240 votes so far,  not bad.  The no saw category seems to be slowly gaining. Though it is still pretty close.  Lots of new names are posting lately I hope they will vote. Along with others who may not have done so yet.

Seth

 

[Per Swenson]

Hello all,

I was minding my own business in obscurity.

Then one day in a long while back, we needed a sander.

The rest as they say is history.

Per

 

[johne]

A long long time ago we had to cut some plywood for a set we were building in the studio for a photo shoot. A friend of mine that builds custom commercial van interiors was there and  said you should try this Festo saw. It has this great rail system and makes easy straight cuts with just 2 pencil marks. So he brought over his saw and the rail and let us use it. It worked like a charm until i decided to try a plunge cut, the saw kicked back and cut a chunk out of the rail

I replaced his rail, he let me keep the damaged one. Now I had this rail (just slightly damaged) but no saw. I bought a saw to go with the rail and then.......

Watch out someone comming down the slope!!!