Festool Cordless drill DRC 18/4 Li 4,2 Set GB QUADRIVE

[gtriderr]

I see that there are a few new tools. Festool Connect had the new to Europe and hope to be available to us Festool Cordless drill DRC 18/4 Li 4,2 Set GB QUADRIVE.

Anyone know when we might see the drill in the USA

John

 

[AlexThePalex]

John, tools that are newly released in Europe can take 6 to 18 months before they're introduced in the States. And many times the States don't get them at all due to UL regulations or marketing concerns. Sorry.

 

[semenza]

No dates or even confirmations yet.

Seth

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Only draw back I have found is the weight.  I don't think you could destroy one though, at least I haven't been able to yet. 

 

[neth27]

Only draw back I have found is the weight.  I don't think you could destroy one though, at least I haven't been able to yet. 

What weight? they are as light as a feather...

John..

 

[greg mann]

Only draw back I have found is the weight.  I don't think you could destroy one though, at least I haven't been able to yet. 

Sounds like a stealth gloat. [popcorn]

 

[Wooden Skye]

I held one at the JLC live Festool booth and it is nice, it could be heavy if working overhead all day, but it is fantastic.  I want one, and will hold off on a C15 until this comes over to the states.  Just a good fit in my hand.  They have another quad drive that is like the C series which was also at JLC and is lighter.  I was checking out both on the Festool UK site and wondering if someone could bring it over and could I charge the batteries here.

No anticipated dates were given, just a real good tease, along with the edge banding machine.

 

[mike68au]

Only draw back I have found is the weight.  I don't think you could destroy one though, at least I haven't been able to yet. 

I recently purchased one and find it much lighter then the Makita i was using, and it has a much better feel about it. 
Though my Makita had the Hammer function as well i never used it and hence choose to get the DRC version, the PDC version is slightly heavier, but not by much.

I have only had it a week and I'm extremely happy i made the transition.  One Bonus i discovered was trying to put one of the Batteries on my Carvex and it fitted and worked. 
I was surprised to leaner my Carvex was an 18v version not the 14.4v version i thought i had purchased.

 

[gtriderr]

Now I really want one. I have a lot of Festool items yet have never actually been able to try the drills other than my cxs which I do like. I am in Vermont right now with my wife. I was at Woodcraft yesterday in Portsmouth NH. They didn't have any of the t18 drills and will try Rockler on the way home in Portland. Festool dealers don't seem to have many tools and those they have, have dead batteries. Everything I have bought from Festool has been mostly on-line. I'm attending the advanced router class w/ Greg Paolini in June. I'd like to see how the Kapex compares with my Dewalt compound sliding saw. Try a few of his Festool drills.

I think I will continue with my Dewalt drill and drivers and wait for the new ones to come to America.

If this weekend had not been planned so far in advance I would have enjoyed being at JVL Live.

John

 

[amt]

Anyone used the Fein ASCM 18QX?  Seems very similar to the Quadrive, and is available in the US.  One of the reviews I saw (for the Fein) noted that the lowest torque setting for the low gear was quite high, enough to snap screws, and you needed to use the higher gears to get the lower torque settings.  Personally, when driving screws, I'd like to have the very lowest speed/gear selected to have better modulation of the speed.  Is the Quadrive similar in this way?

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I still say it feels heavy, compared to my c12, my 2 makitas, and a c15.

Pick it up and set it down 300 times in a day and let me know if you find it light. 

Mine has been wet, covered in mud and once it got caught out in the freezing rain. 

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

John,

Just a quick "official" response.

No ETA. We were previewing the drills at Connect and JLC to get a sense of interest in the tools to determine if they would do well in the US market.

Thanks to those who have given their feedback and I look forward to getting more tomorrow at JLC Live.

Shane

 

[mike68au]

wow... I'm surprised that a decision has not yet been made on availability and ETA

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already. 

The longer it stays NAINA the more sales will be lost to Milwaukee DeWalt, Bosch and Makita
I couldn't imagine going back to the Makita i had, I have a big ballsy drill and it fully integrates with my Festool and Centrotec System.

 

[jonny round boy]

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already.   

Ah yes, but you have proper mains voltage, and you don't have UL. All Festool needs to do to release something down under is ship it over there. For the NA market they have to re-design it for lower voltage, change the production line, and spend a small fortune trying to get it approved.

 

[wow]

Shane:

Is there any way to be 'heard' as a customer wanting a product? I know that you read every post on the forum and in my brief dealing with you I trust you to pass our comments along, but at the end of the day you are an employee, and as such can be told or directed to 'drop it'. So is there another way to get Germany's attention?

For instance, how many people saying "I'll buy a quaddrive the minute they hit US soil" would it take to get a commitment from Germany? What if we got up a petition and FedEx'd it to Christian Oltzscher, whom I believe is the President of Festool USA, or even to Sebastian Reschke in Germany? This is not a criticism of you or Festool Gmbh. I am not intending to cause a revolt or riot or anything (well, maybe just a little one, but with the best of intent) but I am asking for the best way to be heard DIRECTLY in addition to your much-appreciated efforts on our behalf?

I am basing my next comment on my results with the MedTainer project, where my experience was that over 90% of the people who posted that they wanted one actually stepped up and paid for it when it became 'real'. This group is a unique, elite, committed, and dedicated (and maybe in some cases rabid?) bunch of great people. I can't imagine that the experience would be any less for an actual Festool product?

So, what is the best way for us to be heard as a group who are willing to 'put our money where our mouth is' and part with our hard-earned cash for more green goodness? I, for one, would like to do my part to see NAINA become a term that is so rare that you have to be a member here for months (or years) to ever see it come up. I know we'll never hit 100%, but I'd sure like to be a part of making it better than it is.

Thanks for letting me get that out. I'll go take my meds now and go back to my nice padded cell....

 [poke];:-X

 

[SittingElf]

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already.   

Ah yes, but you have proper mains voltage, and you don't have UL. All Festool needs to do to release something down under is ship it over there. For the NA market they have to re-design it for lower voltage, change the production line, and spend a small fortune trying to get it approved.

I'm not sure I understand.  Why would they have to re-design an 18V cordless tool for lower voltage?  That doesn't make any sense.  UL approval may be an issue, but I can't see any changes that would be necessary for cordless tools except the charging unit at 110V...which already exists in the NA for their other 18V, 15V, and 12V batteries.

 

[wow]

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already.  

Ah yes, but you have proper mains voltage, and you don't have UL. All Festool needs to do to release something down under is ship it over there. For the NA market they have to re-design it for lower voltage, change the production line, and spend a small fortune trying to get it approved.

I'm not sure I understand.  Why would they have to re-design an 18V cordless tool for lower voltage?  That doesn't make any sense.  UL approval may be an issue, but I can't see any changes that would be necessary for cordless tools except the charging unit at 110V...which already exists in the NA for their other 18V, 15V, and 12V batteries.

Sitting Elf, you are dead-on accurate with your comments. The chargers are already approved in the US, so that should not be an issue. I am not sure what other regulatory issues there are, but it seems like Germany just needs to start the process earlier for releasing items in the USA. If Apple can release a new product in 53 countries on the same day, Festool ought to be able to manage to release product to NA on or near the day they release them in their back yard.

On the other hand, if they *did* get to the point of releasing many products into the US on the same day that they release them in the UK, what would we have to complain about?

:

 

[SittingElf]

I already own a T18+3, but we only have three months left in Germany before returning to U.S. domicile permanently, so I'm waiting for 1 APR to be absolutely sure, but if the new demo'd products at the show this last week are not released in NA, and no announcement as to availability date... then I'll be purchasing the new TSC55, PDC 18/4 , and BHC Hammer Drill (SDS) units here in Germany before coming home.  Each of these units comes with two 18V batteries, and Festool has a promotion in Germany that would add four free 18V 4.2Ah batteries with three units purchased until 31 July.  That would mean a total of 10 batteries with the three units purchased. [tongue]

I wish that Festool USA would have promotions like this now and then! [crying]

 

[jonny round boy]

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already.   

Ah yes, but you have proper mains voltage, and you don't have UL. All Festool needs to do to release something down under is ship it over there. For the NA market they have to re-design it for lower voltage, change the production line, and spend a small fortune trying to get it approved.

I'm not sure I understand.  Why would they have to re-design an 18V cordless tool for lower voltage?  That doesn't make any sense.  UL approval may be an issue, but I can't see any changes that would be necessary for cordless tools except the charging unit at 110V...which already exists in the NA for their other 18V, 15V, and 12V batteries.

Sorry, you're right, the 'redesign' part doesn't apply in this case. My bad.

But the UL approval does still apply, and I guess that's the sticking point.

If Apple can release a new product in 53 countries on the same day, Festool ought to be able to manage to release product to NA on or near the day they release them in their back yard.

You're not comparing, well, Apples with apples here (pun intended). Apple can afford to spend the money to get approval in every single market, because they know they are going to sell literally tens of millions of units. The US market for a new Festool product will be a couple of thousand units, maybe 5k at most. To give you an idea of the level of sales, the US recall on the TS55R was for less than 1,000 units (that's what I was told by a Festool UK employee, anyway).

On some of the more obscure tools the market is ridiculously small. In the UK, I don't knowhow many Symetric saws Festool UK have sold, but I have been told it's in single figures!

 

[wow]

We're only 21 million people  in Australia and it was deemed worthy for release here already.   

Ah yes, but you have proper mains voltage, and you don't have UL. All Festool needs to do to release something down under is ship it over there. For the NA market they have to re-design it for lower voltage, change the production line, and spend a small fortune trying to get it approved.

I'm not sure I understand.  Why would they have to re-design an 18V cordless tool for lower voltage?  That doesn't make any sense.  UL approval may be an issue, but I can't see any changes that would be necessary for cordless tools except the charging unit at 110V...which already exists in the NA for their other 18V, 15V, and 12V batteries.

Sorry, you're right, the 'redesign' part doesn't apply in this case. My bad.

But the UL approval does still apply, and I guess that's the sticking point.

Unless I am mistaken, the UL approval only applies to the charger since that's what gets plugged in to the wall socket. It *might* apply to the batteries as well, but neither should be an issue since they are already available in the USA?!

You've got me curious now - I wonder what other impediments would stand in the way of bringing a cordless tool to the USA?