festool c12

lordinteriors

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Dec 18, 2008
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i am now in the market to buy a a couple of new drill drivers and am considering the c12 i want the one with the 3.0 ah battery this one :
http://www.ps-tools.com/catalog/fes...ut i want other festoolians views thanks lee
 
thanks mastercabman helpful but how long have you had them which ah did you get do you have accesories

lee
 
I have one and have purchased 5 for my electricians. Great drills but expensive. If you need the offset or angle chucks, then you NEED this drill. I have all the different battery options and find the smallest works great for 95% of everything we do - 1.2ahr I believe. If you need longer run times between charges, the 3ahr is great but adds weight. The 1.2 is amazing for power and life and holds a charge while unused for far longer than any other NiCad battery I have ever had. Don't know what Festool does with the NiCads but they are fantastic especially for such an old battery technology.
Pete
 
I love mine. I got it second-hand complete with the 3.0Ah NiMH batteries and the offset and right-angle chucks. I think the interchangeable chucks are a vital part of the system.

I like the way it cuts out when it reaches the set torque, rather than click-clicking until you release the trigger, but in 1st (low) gear, even the lowest torque setting is pretty powerful, and might be too much for some screwdriving applications. In that case, you can try shifting into second (high) gear, which stops the rotation at lower torque settings. Unlike some drills, I find that it can drive down to very low speeds, and I find that it is very controllable.

The drill stands upright on its battery, and in my opinion it balances beautifully in my hand. See http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=5769.msg59894#msg59894 for a discussion of balance. As you'll see from that thread, Nick prefers his Panasonic, and when the subject of the C12 comes up he usually comes along to sing the Panasonic's praises.

Forrest

 
I have the 1.3ah with all of the chucks. I love it! Granted, I also have the Makita LXT impact driver and driver, and between these three tools there's very little I can't do. The LXT tools are more my "rough" carpentry tools, though the C12 sees its share of harsh use. The C12 finds more time on trim projects and indoor work where I don't need the noise or massive torque of the impact.
 
I beat mine day in and day out, have all the chucks, 2.4 ah batteries.  I charge a battery maybe once a week.

I have several impact drivers, drills, and compact drivers however, I am not sure where they are at.
 
keep em coming guys all very helpfull i did have 2 14.4 li ion drivers and i am not impressed at all

lee
 
lordinteriors said:
thanks mastercabman helpful but how long have you had them which ah did you get do you have accesories

lee
I got the c12 w/complete package 3.0 ah  when it first came out.July 2005?
Then i got the 2.4 ah drill about 6 months after.
I install cabinets for a living and i use them everyday,all day!
I just now starting to notice that i am swapping batteries a little more often,but they still last along time when it is fully charged.
The angle attachment is a must for me.As for the offset attachment,i don't use it a lot but it does come handy when you need it.
 
Like Mastercabman, all I do everyday is install cabinets.  I've had my C12's for about 3or 4 years now.  I went with the 1.3 amp batts., mainly just to save on weight and bulk.  I use the drill to pre-drill and drive hanger screws. (3" pan heads)  I rarely use more than one charged battery a day.  1.3 ah is fine for me, butt if you are doing decking or other volume work, bump up to the higher ah.

I also find the right angle a must.  Saves a whole other tool from my box.  The offset doesn't see any use.

Dan
 
The eccentric chuck, offset, is vital for hidden fasteners on composite railings.

I believe it is the most versitle cordless drill available.

If you cant do it with the C12, you're going to have to bust something out with a cord.

Hell, I have mixed mudd before with it.
 
Keep in mind with the Ni-MH batteries that they do NOT perform well in cold weather. Here in Minnesota I am limited to using Ni-CAD or Li-Ion batteries because the Ni-MH batteries poop-out on me in the winter. The 1.3ah batteries are great, they are small, and hold enough of a charge that if I'm screwing down deck boards a depleted battery will recharge before I've depleted the next battery. Depending on what you are fastening I'd still look into an impact driver to supplement your C12, but as far as drills go the C12 is tops!
 
Lee, when I bought my C-12 (used through Craigslist in Phoenix) I was interested in one specification. Even though I am a hobbyist furniture maker, I knew that would be doing some rugged work using lag screws and fence posts. Festool didn't post the torque of the C-12 here in the U.S. I wanted a cordless that would roughly equal my Milwaukee 1/2 inch corded drill.

Festool does publish torque numbers in Europe. Metric of course. After some phone calls to Festool, I found out the torque is close enough to the Milwaukee to satisfy my needs. Although I can't imagine trying to hog out a whole with a sizable auger bit.

Gary Curtis
 
Lee:

My C12 is the best drill I've ever had in my hands.

I should probably be pimping the new T +3 line as a Festool dealer but though they are really cool, the C12 is the drill for me. It is really powerful, pretty darn light, and feels right in my hand.

I get into a lot of situations with drills where I am forced to use one hand. The C12 is the only drill I've used that I can grab with one hand and comfortably push down the axis of the bit. That means a lot if you are trying to drive screws or use a small bit (it might just break otherwise).

I use drills a lot and always have and I just love this drill. Incidentally, I use the 2.4's and have no problem with the charge on 2 batteries wearing me out before I wear them out, and I'm not a wimp.

Tom
 
I use 3 different tools in my furniture/cabinet shop on a regular basis: My C12, a 14.4 Makita impact (NiMh batteries), and an old school 18V NiCd DeWalt 3 speed.

The Makita has been great for big lag screws, but the C12 is very close in terms of torque. It's broken screw heads off, broken drill bits... it's a strong little drill. I do like the quick release hex shank chuck, and I do wish that Festool would just go with a "normal" quick release hex chuck, in lieu of their proprietary Centrotech thing. If they had done so, I think I'd use the C12 a lot more than I already do.

The 18V DeWalt has been a go-to drill for a long time, and while it's too heavy to drag around all day, I do enjoy the balance of the T-handle drills, and the XRP 3 speed transmission gives it more force than I can hold onto sometimes. I'll be taking a good look at the 15+3, for the t-handle option, but I'm not sold on the Lithium Ion batteries just yet.

I really do enjoy the C12. But I think that Festool made a mistake with their quick release hex chuck system. They make good bits, but I don't think it's worth it to exclude a standard system that's widely accepted by everyone else.

 
James:

Before you give up on the Centrotec system, please take a look at this page. The Centrotec system has definite advantages and the drills can still be used with industry standard hex bits.

Tom
 
Oh, I haven't given up, Tom. Not completely anyway.

But I do think it's really stupid that they had to make a locking bit holder, to go into... their own locking bit holder. The magnetic bit holders work well enough unless you're using a hex shanked drill bit. Then you have to get used to pulling the bit out by hand, since the magnet won't hold on.

I have locking bit holders that I can use with the 3 jaw chuck. It works. It seems a bit silly, since one of the advantages of quick change chucks is to use the 3 jaw chuck for drilling during a drill and screw operation. But it works. More likely, for driving screws or using other quick change stuff, I'll just grab the Makita impact, since it started life with a locking bit holder as a chucking system. And really, I think I like the release mechanism better on the Makita anyway. Centrotec, you push in the chuck while pulling out the bit. Makita, pull on the collar while pulling on the bit. More intuitive to me. Easier one handed operation than the Ctec.

Truth is, Tom, I really want the C12 to be my go-to drill for everything. I really want to like it that much, and I do own a second one to use at home. I bought it when it just came out, and it was great. But then the trigger started having some issues... you have to squeeze it in the right spot to get full speed. The depth stop chuck came out, and wouldn't really fit in the case... later inserts solved that problem, but still, it seemed like poor planning. The drill itself is very powerful, and that's awesome. And the chuck system does add a huge level of versatility. But the bits seem to cost more than normal, without evident benefit. I do use hex shank driver bits a lot, and while hex shank is more and more widely available on everything from driver bits to drill bits to other things, what works in one hex shank chuck will work in almost any hex shank chuck... except for the centrotec. Given that I have the other drivers in the arsenal already, the odds that I'll go out and spend $30 more on a locking bit holder to go into the centrotec system just for kicks are low to no. You'd think that after spending $500+ on a drill and all the chucks that allow me to screw around corners and into the tight corners, that I'd be able to do everything I wanted, but instead they want $30 more for a piece that extends the driveline of a drill that's advertised, among other things, as being very compact. The picture on the page you linked me to, with the fast fix chuck connected to the locking bit holder, then daisy chained to the milwaukee driver, kinda tells the story perfectly. It just looks awkward to have to go through all that, just to be able to use that driver with this drill. I'm annoyed that Festool decided to go with a proprietary hex shank, with no apparent benefit to the end user, and despite an existing standard, and even while they do make an adapter to accept everyone else's hex shanks. Why would they do this? Eliminating runout on a hand-held drill seems a strange excuse.

Maybe (switching contexts here) they're trying to be like Shimano... who manufactures bicycle components that rely more and more on proprietary interfaces, ensuring that things like their disc brake rotors can only be used with their wheel hubs, and the like. One ensures the sales of the other. I would be more committed to the Centrotec system ONLY of I was really dedicated to the idea of making Festool my one and only tool brand, or if I was really particular about only using or carrying one drill around. I work in a shop, not on site, so that logic doesn't really make sense, and Festool doesn't market an impact driver over here, nor are they bringing Protool's impact over here.

I haven't figured it all out yet. I'll take a look at the T 15. Maybe it'll convince me to mothball the DeWalt and sell one or both of the C12s . I kinda doubt it, but I concede that it's possible.

 
I've been reading this thread with great interest since I'm in the process of rationalizing $500 for a cordless. Yeah, I know 3 different chucks. I'm just getting more confused though. I think the deal is that you can only put regular 'round' drill bits in the regular style quick connect chuck, right? I can live with that. The other chucks all only take the hex shanks, right? From some of the comments it sounds like the other chucks won't readily accept standard 1/4" hex shank bits, is this right? Specifically, all the 1/4" shank bits we commonly buy in promo packs at HD or Lowes, etc. I drill a lot with spade bits that have the standard hex shank. Can I just stick on into the other chucks or not? The last post really doesn't make sense to me.
If I can't stick standard hex shafts into the other chucks ... then it's Panasonic time.
Any answers would be appreciated.
BTW, we are getting screwed stateside. The C12 comes in the new style Sys in Germany but not here. Bummer
 
You can stick standard 1/4" hex bits into:
  • the drill output shaft
  • the right-angle chuck
  • the eccentric chuck
  • the keyless, jacobs style chuck
  • all three of the Centrotec bit holders

The Festool 25 mm long driver bits are two different qualities of 1/4" hex driver bits.

You just can't use them directly in the Centrotec chuck.

This reference explains them.

Tom
 
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