Made an attempt today to make my bosch 12v drill centrotec compatible:
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wpz
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wpz
Festool Centrotec compatibility with other manufacturers (cordless) drills
- Thread starter six-point socket II
- Start date
some more pictures:
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So I guess I have a Centrotexi-Click now (or a Flexi-Clickotec?)
wpz
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So I guess I have a Centrotexi-Click now (or a Flexi-Clickotec?)
wpz
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six-point socket II
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Nice built/mod.!
Kind regards,
Oliver
Kind regards,
Oliver
Hi,
First of all, be aware that this mod/hack will void your warranty and may damage your tool, so I do not recommend you do this.
If you choose to do so anyway, it will be at your own risk. Please use common sense!
This is what I did:
I basically cut the bitholder sleeve off the flexiclick bitholder, fitted a copper bushing (press fit and superglue) over said bitholder and ground an indentation in it for the centotec chucks' ball-lock.
Tools used:
- a bosch rotary tool (looks like a dremel) with following attachments: cut-off wheel, sanding drum, grinding bit.
- some sandpaper
- a small hammer
- a piece of copper tubing
- cyanoacrylate glue (superglue)
The centrotec chuck is actually permanently stuck onto the flexiclick bitholder in my case because I chose to machine the copper tubing to a slightly larger diameter than the original centrotec fastfix axle (on my T18) so I would get a press fit there as well and not just rely on the ball-lock. This of course means that I cannot exchange the centrotec chuck for the festool fastfix drill chuck, but I don't consider that a problem as I have the bosch flexiclick drill chuck.
I have no idea if it will work on the long term, as this is basically a prototype to see if it's practical. If it works well, I might go trough the effort of machining an entire new piece in steel to replace the bitholder completely so it has inbuilt centrotec compatibility.
wpz
First of all, be aware that this mod/hack will void your warranty and may damage your tool, so I do not recommend you do this.
If you choose to do so anyway, it will be at your own risk. Please use common sense!
This is what I did:
I basically cut the bitholder sleeve off the flexiclick bitholder, fitted a copper bushing (press fit and superglue) over said bitholder and ground an indentation in it for the centotec chucks' ball-lock.
Tools used:
- a bosch rotary tool (looks like a dremel) with following attachments: cut-off wheel, sanding drum, grinding bit.
- some sandpaper
- a small hammer
- a piece of copper tubing
- cyanoacrylate glue (superglue)
The centrotec chuck is actually permanently stuck onto the flexiclick bitholder in my case because I chose to machine the copper tubing to a slightly larger diameter than the original centrotec fastfix axle (on my T18) so I would get a press fit there as well and not just rely on the ball-lock. This of course means that I cannot exchange the centrotec chuck for the festool fastfix drill chuck, but I don't consider that a problem as I have the bosch flexiclick drill chuck.
I have no idea if it will work on the long term, as this is basically a prototype to see if it's practical. If it works well, I might go trough the effort of machining an entire new piece in steel to replace the bitholder completely so it has inbuilt centrotec compatibility.
wpz
The reason I chose to modify the Bosch GFA12-X bitholder is because although the centrotec bits fit in it, it would not hold them tight enough, especially the drills would get stuck in the workpiece and you have to wrench them out.
Then I came across these 2 pictures posted in the German Bosch forum (BOB forum) by higw65:
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and these inspired me to try and make a centrotec version.
(link to the thread in the forum:https://www.bosch-professional.com/...2v-35-da-isser-der-kleine/13575765-t/p28#main )
The Bosch drill was already out of warranty and I had already modified it anyway as it originally was a bruschless GSR 10,8V-EC HX model without the flexi-click attachment gearbox, but with a fixed bitholder. I swapped out this gearbox for one of the GSR 12-15FC (which has a brushed motor) gearboxes so that I got a brushless flexiclick drill. This was also a hack from higw65 that I found on the BOB forum. Back then Bosch did not have a brushless flexiclick drill in it's line-up, now they do: the GSR 12V-35 FC.
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In this picture you can see the steps I took:
- step 1: I cut off the bitholder sleeve with a small grinding wheel on a dremel tool
- step 2: take off the ball-lock (A), the spring (B) and 2 spring steel locking rings (C & D)
- step 3: (optional) I cut off a small piece of length from the bitholder, so the centrotec chuck would sit as close as possible to the flexiclick chuck. You have to measure this carefully, if you cut it too short, the hex hole in the bitholder will not be deep enough to hold and turn your centrotec bit properly! Be aware that there are 2 versions of the GFA12-X: a long one and a short one.
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-step 4: as the bitholder is a bit too small in diameter, you need some kind of bushing to fit over it. I made one out of a piece of 15mm copper pipe. After you put a bit of CA glue and press fit it over the bitholder, you have to grind a groove in it, so the ball-lock of the centrotec chuck can engage.
- step 5: grind the copper bushing down to the right diameter so the centrotec chuck can fit over it. I chose for a really tight fit on purpose, so that it is permanently fixed (press fitted and glued). You could also grind down the copper a bit more so that it is possible to make it detachable like a real centrotec.
Off course, you could also just buy a Festool TXS and avoid all this mess.
The reason I did not do that, is because I had quite a lot of other Bosch 10,8V (12V) tools already and want to stick to only 2 battery platforms: Bosch 12V and Festool 18V.
I hope this helps
wpz
Then I came across these 2 pictures posted in the German Bosch forum (BOB forum) by higw65:
View attachment 1
View attachment 2
and these inspired me to try and make a centrotec version.
(link to the thread in the forum:https://www.bosch-professional.com/...2v-35-da-isser-der-kleine/13575765-t/p28#main )
The Bosch drill was already out of warranty and I had already modified it anyway as it originally was a bruschless GSR 10,8V-EC HX model without the flexi-click attachment gearbox, but with a fixed bitholder. I swapped out this gearbox for one of the GSR 12-15FC (which has a brushed motor) gearboxes so that I got a brushless flexiclick drill. This was also a hack from higw65 that I found on the BOB forum. Back then Bosch did not have a brushless flexiclick drill in it's line-up, now they do: the GSR 12V-35 FC.
View attachment 3
In this picture you can see the steps I took:
- step 1: I cut off the bitholder sleeve with a small grinding wheel on a dremel tool
- step 2: take off the ball-lock (A), the spring (B) and 2 spring steel locking rings (C & D)
- step 3: (optional) I cut off a small piece of length from the bitholder, so the centrotec chuck would sit as close as possible to the flexiclick chuck. You have to measure this carefully, if you cut it too short, the hex hole in the bitholder will not be deep enough to hold and turn your centrotec bit properly! Be aware that there are 2 versions of the GFA12-X: a long one and a short one.
View attachment 4
View attachment 5
-step 4: as the bitholder is a bit too small in diameter, you need some kind of bushing to fit over it. I made one out of a piece of 15mm copper pipe. After you put a bit of CA glue and press fit it over the bitholder, you have to grind a groove in it, so the ball-lock of the centrotec chuck can engage.
- step 5: grind the copper bushing down to the right diameter so the centrotec chuck can fit over it. I chose for a really tight fit on purpose, so that it is permanently fixed (press fitted and glued). You could also grind down the copper a bit more so that it is possible to make it detachable like a real centrotec.
Off course, you could also just buy a Festool TXS and avoid all this mess.
The reason I did not do that, is because I had quite a lot of other Bosch 10,8V (12V) tools already and want to stick to only 2 battery platforms: Bosch 12V and Festool 18V.
I hope this helps
wpz
Attachments
Dragging this up again-
On the Fein chucks, how is the torque transmitted from the drill to the chuck? I've got their tap collet chuck here, and it VERY nearly latches to the front end of my TXS (a little grinding should do it, as mentioned above), but there's no central piece to actually drive it with.
From this vid- it looks like the ball detents actually fit into recesses on the Fein drill arbor. So it seems you can NOT use the Fein chuck on a Festool drill. Am I overlooking something?
On the Fein chucks, how is the torque transmitted from the drill to the chuck? I've got their tap collet chuck here, and it VERY nearly latches to the front end of my TXS (a little grinding should do it, as mentioned above), but there's no central piece to actually drive it with.
From this vid- it looks like the ball detents actually fit into recesses on the Fein drill arbor. So it seems you can NOT use the Fein chuck on a Festool drill. Am I overlooking something?
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