Festool Firing Across Dutton’s Bow…

Me neither. I gave up on it many years ago.
Though I did get my arm twisted into Instagram lately :oops: I have avoided it for years, but people just want to know stuff.
 
For those who don’t wanna go fishing in Mark Z’s river:

Banks Carpentry showed that the new battery Light for the Track Saw can also be used on the battery Domino to shine a light onto the Cursor Hairline.
 
This is the Dutton light. They came out with a light for the ETS EC but it sits up pretty high and has an electric cable, so not the most convenient light. The Donino light clips on and is rechargeable and came out in the fall.

It seems pretty cool - especially since I sometimes do need to place a light so I can see the scale. Picked this one up Black Friday at WTB outside of Philly but since I haven’t used the Domino over the holiday, it’s still hanging out.
 

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This is the Dutton light. They came out with a light for the ETS EC but it sits up pretty high and has an electric cable, so not the most convenient light. The Donino light clips on and is rechargeable and came out in the fall.

It seems pretty cool - especially since I sometimes do need to place a light so I can see the scale. Picked this one up Black Friday at WTB outside of Philly but since I haven’t used the Domino over the holiday, it’s still hanging out.
Too many sealed packages in that photo... go fix that 😬

The Domino light would be handy especially rechargable. The one for the sander would have been nice, but not with monkeying with the cord.

So I got to play with the new ETC at a Festool Live event out here (I guess they call them that now that the Sedge show is gone). What I particularly liked about the Festool light was that it seemed to skim the surface showing imperfections meaning it didn't have a diffuser, much like the inspection light. I use the inspection light (almost) whenever I sand since it tells me exactly when I'm done with a grit. That Festool built-in light would do the same albiet in a more limited range. I'm wondering if the third-party light this guys makes does the same or if it would actually hide things with a diffuser
 
Too many sealed packages in that photo... go fix that 😬

The Domino light would be handy especially rechargable. The one for the sander would have been nice, but not with monkeying with the cord.

So I got to play with the new ETC at a Festool Live event out here (I guess they call them that now that the Sedge show is gone). What I particularly liked about the Festool light was that it seemed to skim the surface showing imperfections meaning it didn't have a diffuser, much like the inspection light. I use the inspection light (almost) whenever I sand since it tells me exactly when I'm done with a grit. That Festool built-in light would do the same albiet in a more limited range. I'm wondering if the third-party light this guys makes does the same or if it would actually hide things with a diffuser
I've been able to play a little with an ETS EC 150 with the Dutton light and it's a great idea. However, when you compare it to the ETSC2 light, there is no comparison. The ETSC 2 light is lower and really rakes across the workpiece. Dutton, to their credit, didn't really have any other choice in light placement. It had to be where the slope begins and it's just too high to be as effective. Perhaps that could be solved with lighting technology and geometry, but I surmise that Dutton didn't have that kind of budget for R&D.

I'll see if I can finally get around to installing the light on the DF500 (and open some of those packages) tomorrow and snap some pics.
 
Well, with 3D printing, they could have made a collar to attach to the sander with a sloped bracket that matches the ETC's slope to place the light collar.

That said, I do wish that Festool would embrace the after-market and make an enhancement like this for the ETC2 while offering an additional product for the older ETCs. It is ridiculous for Festool to think that people will sell their sander to buy the new for the light. Even if they did, will the buyers of those resold sanders then want to sell again to buy the new? Like, think about this for a half second. Enhancements like this would have massive sales with the existing base. Sure, release it 6 months after the sander so people know this upgrade is worth it.

I stuck with engineering school after so many bailed out for business college and I wonder why they can't see sales on the table.

/rant
 
Being a curmudgeon/luddite/old fart, for a long time I have scoffed at the idea of lights on power tools. My little battery powered Milwaukee trim router has one, and I have to say it is growing on me.
 
The Dutton's LED works with the fence on the domino:


However, the light ($50!) is useless for vertical milling when the fence is retracted.

I attach a self-adhesive magnet strip under the "bridge" and, using a rare earth magnet, then mount a rechargeable LED (also with a self-adhesive magnet strip on it) to the bridge to avoid that issue: Thread 'LED for DF500' https://festoolownersgroup.com/threads/led-for-df500.74675/

$5 if you go this path.
 
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I was not familiar. It does look a bit cobbled together, and looks out of place on a Festool sander. And not exactly a plug-and-play installation.

Amazon sells those small LED lights powered by a coin battery and can be color-adjusted. In lots of 10, just $1.00 each. I’m sure that someone could 3D print a mounting bracket.





Or do as out toolroom machinists did: A goose neck light. Available with magnetic or clamp-on bases. Hundreds of manufacturers. Here is one (not a recommendation, just a handy video.

 
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Being a curmudgeon/luddite/old fart, for a long time I have scoffed at the idea of lights on power tools. My little battery powered Milwaukee trim router has one, and I have to say it is growing on me.
Light is precision cum safety in woodworking.

Without the magnifying glass (WITH light), I wouldn't have dared to cut so close to the line! And my eyes weren't hurting after several hours of focusing on those lines.
 

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I was not familiar. It does look a bit cobbled together, and looks out of place on a Festool sander. And not exactly a plug-and-play installation.
That must have been their early generation design. The ones I've seen and tried look like this one on their website:

 
I was not familiar. It does look a bit cobbled together, and looks out of place on a Festool sander. And not exactly a plug-and-play installation.




That is an older design.......the new one is 3d printed and attaches to the sander with a friction fit and also acts as an edge guide.
 
That is an older design.......the new one is 3d printed and attaches to the sander with a friction fit and also acts as an edge guide.
OK. I found the newer design, and it does look more professional. I would still prefer the gooseneck lights I linked to at the bottom of my post #15.

They are brighter, light a larger area and will work with multiple tools.

Addendum: I have added the video I mentioned above to this post.

 
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