Festool and Protool
- Thread starter jovi
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consumer alternative?
AlexThePalex
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- Nov 12, 2008
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They are both as hardcore professional brands as you can get.
Difference is Protool caters to construction companies, tough and rough tools with great capacity, needed when building houses, factories and skyscrapers.
Festool on the other hand mainly focuses on wood workers, making very precise and clean tools to get the best result possible.
Difference is Protool caters to construction companies, tough and rough tools with great capacity, needed when building houses, factories and skyscrapers.
Festool on the other hand mainly focuses on wood workers, making very precise and clean tools to get the best result possible.
i have a protool electric drill i have used for carpentry construction for the last 8 years, it is still going strong, great balance, great keyless metal chuck, if it ever dies, i would happily buy the same drill again.
i have had mixed luck with makita lxt cordless drills, the chucks in 2 drills have seized up recently , and a clutch had to be replaced too.
having said that the makita drivers have worked flawlessly.
i am now working with 1 cordless drill, which is a major pita when hanging doors, and i am seriously considering buying the protool cordless package.
has anybody used the protool cordless range?
i have had mixed luck with makita lxt cordless drills, the chucks in 2 drills have seized up recently , and a clutch had to be replaced too.
having said that the makita drivers have worked flawlessly.
i am now working with 1 cordless drill, which is a major pita when hanging doors, and i am seriously considering buying the protool cordless package.
has anybody used the protool cordless range?
Hi,
Tooltechnic (which ownes Festool) bought Narex - a czech tool maker. They decided to keep Narex as a hobby brand and create a new brand Protool. It's aimed to carpenters, Festool to cabinet makers. At the beginning there were some tools the same in all three brands. Now, it's mostly diversed (but for instance Narex sanders are nearly identical with Festool sanders). Narex and Protool are made in Czech republic same as many parts and accesories for Festool. More at http://www.tooltechnicsystems.com/ (only in german).
Josef
Tooltechnic (which ownes Festool) bought Narex - a czech tool maker. They decided to keep Narex as a hobby brand and create a new brand Protool. It's aimed to carpenters, Festool to cabinet makers. At the beginning there were some tools the same in all three brands. Now, it's mostly diversed (but for instance Narex sanders are nearly identical with Festool sanders). Narex and Protool are made in Czech republic same as many parts and accesories for Festool. More at http://www.tooltechnicsystems.com/ (only in german).
Josef
justinmcf said:
I have the 18V PDC set version (the hammerdrill), since september, when I just got it a put a few lengthy posts about it on the Australian festool forum.
here
and here
I've used it a lot since then, and I still like it. It has a compact metal 4 speed gearbox, of which the highest speed runs 3800(!) rpm, this high speed is usefull for drilling in metal (I have found drills up to 7mm benefit from running it that fast), and watercooled diamant drills (I often have to drill 22 mm holes in hardstone tresholds for the locks of double exterior doors). And because of the brushless motor you get enough useable runtime at that speed too.
I was looking forward for the centrotec zobo drills to come out, because I often have to change to different sizes of spade bits when doing doors, but unfortunately they will not be made in the sizes I need most (16mm, 18mm, 22mm)
Another thing I like is that, when you don't use the hammerdrill setting (which is most of the time), you don't have to push through the travel of the hammer mechanism, it is locked in the front position and only has less than a mm in play
.
Compared to the new festool drills, it has a lot less torque- settings, and it doesn't have the switch with which you can go to drill mode and leave the torque-setting dialed in, it has a different type of accesory-heads, and there isn't a depth stop chuck or excentric chuck available. The protool li ion drills use the same batteries and chargers as the festool drills, but the protool batteries have a larger housing, with a rubber ring around the bottom so the internals are better protected when they fall.
Also, the festool drills can't be equipped with a side handle, and don't have a built in belt clip.
At the time of their introduction in Europe and Australia, the festool drills didn't come in the systainer with the storage in the lid, but now they do.
I did notice it doesn't handle the cold well, I had to us my dad's makita, when I had to drill a few holes with a holesaw when it was freezing. (This might be a major concern to some, but I doubt you'll ever encounter this problem in Australia
)I did promise JMBfestool I would try and make a videoreview, I was going to try it using the built in webcam of my laptop... but the laptop's HD died right after that, and when it finally got back from the HP service department, I found out they killed the keyboard when replacing the harddrive. I have since replaced it myself, I hope I'll have time to try making videos soon.
BTW the protool cordless drills come out of the festool factory in Wendlingen, Germany, not the Czech Republic.
