Festool Drills - Which one to choose?

[Amour du bois]

I am in the US so not all the models are available.  I need a cordless drill that can do 95% of all my jobs without quitting on me or the batteries dying because of a slight overload.  I am doing light to medium construction work.  Any suggestions?  Thank you

 

[woodguy7]

First of all, wolcome to the FOG.  I have the cxs, c12 & c15.  I would say out of all those you should go for the c15 but i dont think you guys have it yet ?  The t15 is probably the drill for you at this moment.  I dont have one but mostly everyone here raves about them & i noticed there is a brand new one for sale in the States with free delivery in the classified section.

Cheers, Woodguy.

 

[fdengel]

The C-handled li-ion drills are not in the states yet.

The T-handled 12 and 15 models are.

 

[davidwilkie]

Makitq 18v Lithium Ion is best drill I have ever used. Light. Powerful. Recharges fast! Not too ezpensiive. I have three. I like having mulitple at same time with different bits to speed up multiple bit operations. But vie never used a Festol drill.

 

[PeterK]

I have the T15-3 and T12-3 with all the extra chucks. Definitely go with the T15-3 if you are willing and able to spend the money. I find no advantage to the T12 as it is so close in weight and is just a tiny bit shorter but at only $50 difference, the extra power of the T15 is a no-brainer. There are plenty of decent drills available on the market from Panasonic, Makita that I would consider and actually do own. I love by T15 and the multipurpose chucks as they have saved me some serious grief but there is nothing wrong with a 15 volt Panasonic or Makita drill or driver for less money.

 

[chrisrosenb]

I love the T15 + 3 for working on jobsites.
It is light weight, compact, has lots of power & no matter how hard I work it I have yet to run 2 batteries down in one day.  
The right angle & eccentric chucks are also a great help in tight places & the FastFix Depth Stop Chuck quickly turns it into a light weight drywall screw gun.

I have the discontinued TDK15 for the shop.
It has most features of the T15 drills, it is just heaver, bulkier & the batteries run down quicker.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Amour du bois  [welcome]

I do residential remodeling and I've put my two T15 drills through a lot a hard work over the last 20 months that I've owned them and they have held up fabulously.  I wrote a five page review, you can check it out here.

 

[jimmy7]

Go for the T15.It's the best drill I've owned by far!

 

[brussveins]

I agreed with Brice  Burrell.festool T15+3, or T18+3.

 

[batmanrobin]

Very nice review Brice !  Helps me make up my mind. Thanks

 

[kev carpenter]

i had the t15 for a year and is good but bought the t18 now and is the most powerful cordless screw gun there is scary good [eek]

 

[Brice Burrell]

Very nice review Brice !  Helps me make up my mind. Thanks

[thumbs up] Just doing my part to stimulate the economy by helping you guys buy more Festool tools. [big grin]

 

[Bob Marino]

Agree with the others - the T15 is the way to go, but the TDK's and C12's heavily discounted price makes them very appealing too.

  Bob

 

[tbellemare]

You took the words right out of my mouth (or fingers), Bob.

I have a TDK 12 Set left for $307.50, delivered. If you price out just the chucks, they would cost about that.

Basically, the drill with two unused batteries and charger are free.

Tom

 

[Bob Marino]

You took the words right out of my mouth (or fingers), Bob.

I have a TDK 12 Set left for $307.50, delivered. If you price out just the chucks, they would cost about that.

Basically, the drill with two unused batteries and charger are free.

Tom

Actually, for those wanting more than 1 drill and can  spring for the ching, the best deals out there would be to get one of the TDK or C12 sets - effectively getting the 2 chucks - right angle and eccentric, for about $90.00 and then get T15 nonset.
Regarding the C12's and TDK's , they are going fast, so get em' while their hot.

Bob

 

[woodnerd]

In my opinion (http://www.thewoodnerd.com/reviews/festoolT15.html) the T-15 is mind-blowingly good.

 

[kev carpenter]

t15 is very good the only downside for the t18 is when set the torque to 1 it doesnt stop stop when puttting on ironmongery (handles, latches etc) t15 worked a treat and still bored out for latches without a sweat

 

[fshanno]

Got to have the trigger lite and the belt hook.  How long?  Tom, Bob?  Anyone?

 

[tbellemare]

There's no definite launch date for the C 15 that I have seen. That would tell me that we shouldn't look for it prior to summer.

Tom

 

[fshanno]

There's no definite launch date for the C 15 that I have seen. That would tell me that we shouldn't look for it prior to summer.

Tom

Mid year?  June, July?  I can live with that.