Festool is (partially) moving to imperial in North America

[nickao]

I am struggling to see the issue here, I find this to be no big deal at all.

Make the tool for metric, toss on an accurate conversion sticker as a scale and it will be fine for any woodworking project I have ever made.

 

[pixelated]

Can the HK 55 saws be ordered in metric?

TIA

 

[Paul G]

Can the HK 55 saws be ordered in metric?

TIA

IIRC they are not selling metric versions of the tools they convert to imperial scales. Not sure if all can then subsequently be converted to metric for a fee.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Festool makes metric tools period.

Most tools can carry Imperial markings without any loss in function so Festool has switched to Imperial for several tools sold in NA.

Only the circular saws use physical detents which are molded in millimeters so most of the time the physical stop does not correspond directly with the Imperial increment. I consider that a loss of function but most of the time (cutting all the way through a board) it doesn't matter.

Only in when you need to cut to a specific depth and no more does the mismatched scale become less useful. The REQ saws have an easy to use fine adjustment of the depth that solves that problem.

I still don't like the change in principal...

 

[JimD]

I bought a DeWalt track saw instead of a Festool mainly because it was a lot cheaper with a long and short track.  I'm happy with the purchase but I see some nice things in the Festool too.  A secondary reason I bought the DeWalt was the imperial depth scale that reads the depth below the track.  I use metric at work and I know the conversion and can do it in my head but I don't want to.  I think in inches.  I can do the math in fractions.  I have no problem with the argument that metric is easier if you don't already know imperial but I do.

Anyway, I still would not pay the price premium for the Festool but an imperial depth scale would remove one of my objections.  I don't know if it's a good thing for Festool to do or not.  I guess it comes down to how many people leave over it versus how many new users it generates.  I would hope the scale is a secondary issue for most people, I know it was for me.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

"In order to facilitate the working operations of the craftsman, we felt it necessary to improve the user experience".  [eek]  [eek]

"User experience" is a buzzword (phrase).

 

[Lzd4km]

The change to Imperial is a Horrible idea...Horrible! If not in metric I'm not too interested.

Thankfully, I haven't invested much and my new domino appears to be metric, guess I'll have to dig out the test indicators to be sure.

Makes me sick, but glad I'm late to the party. If my Festool 584100 LR 32 Hole Drilling Set arrives today in Imperial I'm sending it back.

Roy

I’m back from Festool HQ in Germany, and I have some updates and answers. We had several conversations about the imperial change and much of your feedback was part of those discussions.

While we’re still committed to moving to imperial – it’s the US standard used by the overwhelming majority of craftsmen here – we appreciate that we’ve spent years asking you to invest in Festool, which required an investment in metric. Therefore, we’re going to make a few adjustments.

Last week we made two adjustments to our imperial change:

1. In addition to offering to convert existing metric tools to imperial, we will also provide options to convert new imperial tools back to metric. No, we won’t be selling tools in both metric and imperial, but you’ll be able to retrofit them in either direction.
2. The Parallel Side Fence and Parallel Guide Extension will be available for purchase in your choice of imperial or metric. Essentially, this means that the imperial accessories will be offered as new products, and we won’t be discontinuing the old ones.

Here are some tool-by-tool details:

ROUTERS
OF 1010 EQ, OF 1400 EQ, OF 2200

Changes
The depth scale is a metal strip. This will now be in imperial.

But the micro-adjustment is still calibrated for metric. Doesn’t this kind of suck?
Once you’re at the point of making micro-adjustments, very few people are actually measuring out – for example – 3/10 of a mm. Philosophically, is it inconsistent for it to be in metric? Sure. Practically, does it affect how most people use the tool? No.

Converting existing metric tools to imperial
If you already have one of the affected routers and would prefer it in imperial, we’ll send you a new depth scale free of charge. (We’ll have an online form shortly.)

Converting new imperial tools to metric
The same as the above answer … but in reverse. We’ll send you the scale, and you can apply it yourself.

TRACK SAWS & PLANERS
TS 55, TS 75, TSC 55, HL 850

Changes
The depth scale is actually built into the machine. With the track saws, it is on the casing. With the planer, it’s on the scale window.

Converting existing metric tools to imperial
Affected track saws and planers can be mailed in, because the tools need to be disassembled in order to replace the scale. There is a charge of $75 (US) or $85 (CAN). This price excludes tax but includes shipping.

Converting new imperial tools to imperial
The same as the above answer … but in reverse. It will be the same process and price to convert an imperial TS 55, TS 75, TSC 55 or HL 850 to metric.

PARALLEL GUIDE ACCESSORIES
The Parallel Side Fence and Parallel Guide Extension will be available to purchase in both imperial and metric.

A FEW OTHER QUESTIONS
Q. Imperial drill bits and Imperial router bits? (from [member=49013]clark_fork[/member])
A. No. Those will stay as is for now.

Q. Why didn't Festool pursue a dual scale strategy where ever possible? (from [member=4834]PaulG[/member])
A. If by dual-scale, you mean having both imperial and metric on the same scale, that would have led to additional confusion. Having two scales on one tool might sound like a good idea, but it would be confusing, cluttered and difficult to use in practice.

Q. The Kapex UG extensions are currently sold with metric scale . Will we see a change over to imperial ? (from [member=1812]Eoj[/member])
A. Yes, this will eventually move to imperial as well. This change will likely happen within the next year.

 

[Mario Turcot]

If my Festool 584100 LR 32 Hole Drilling Set arrives today in Imperial I'm sending it back.

I bought the set in 2018 and mine is metric. Parallel guides and bits are all metric. I doubt it has changed since.
[attachimg=1]

Because it's the most used in my case I bought a spare 5mm boring bit, pretty cheap if you have prime 5mm boring bit or from Tools Today

 

[Christopher Fitch]

If my Festool 584100 LR 32 Hole Drilling Set arrives today in Imperial I'm sending it back.

I just got my LR 32-Set in today. It's still metric. I can't imagine Festool would ever change this simply because the LR 32 is supposed to work in a 32mm system which is metric by design.

Hope this helps.

 

[DeformedTree]

If my Festool 584100 LR 32 Hole Drilling Set arrives today in Imperial I'm sending it back.

I just got my LR 32-Set in today. It's still metric. I can't imagine Festool would ever change this simply because the LR 32 is supposed to work in a 32mm system which is metric by design.

Hope this helps.

All the Festool tools are metric by design, didn't stop them from relabeling everything in inches. This is a large part of the issue with the change. It's not that they would change the LR32 kit, they would just make it LR1.25 and show everything in inches even though they are not really inches.

 

[Cheese]

The LR 32 was never slated to change, the same goes for the Domino.

 

[DeformedTree]

If you were responding to me, I wasn't implying it was slated to change, just pointing out that it's not that they make the tools inch, they just changed the labeling.

Far as the domino, there was a different thread not long ago implying they had changed gauges on the tool to inch. I don't know if it was resolved if this was the case or not.  Looking at the festool website, they have all the fraction inch nonsense stuff in front of the metric values, so I would say there is a reasonable chance they made this change.

Anyone bought a Domino machine lately?

 

[Cheese]

If you were responding to me, I wasn't implying it was slated to change, just pointing out that it's not that they make the tools inch, they just changed the labeling.

No, I was referring to Lzd4km.

I remember a discussion several years ago that Festool said they were not changing the Domino  because the metric sizes were also on the Domino biscuits. It’d be confusing to attach a 5/16” cutter and then need to find a 8 x 50 Domino.

 

[DeformedTree]

Agreed, but he same logic could/should be applied to all the tools.  Nothing about them is inch, as you have commented before about adjustments and such that are still mm indexed.

by the way, it's not an 8mm domino, it IS a 5/16 domino  [tongue]

See

Domino

At least with the actual domino's that are little more subtle with the inch markings, but still.  I think it's the most crazy because they still call it an 8mm Domino, but then in the spec call it out 5/16" first.  Obviously, there should be zero mention of inch stuff there, but they do it anyway.  They could at least go decimal and say it's .315"