Festool Popularity Growing

[peter halle]

True stories.

I live in an area that isn't a Festool hotspot.  Although we have several dealers most of them have limited inventory and frankly the largest exposure has been Gary Katz Roadshows.  I have attended a few and me just being me have talked to attendees and probably been a pain to the Festool RSMs who have been there.  As a contractor I generally work alone and out in suburbia.

Yesterday I was putting supplies in my truck in the parking lot of a big box store and a guy gets out of his truck and says:  "Hey!  I would love to get one of those Festool stickers."  He had noticed the large Festool sticker on the rear window of my truck cap.

"I don't think that those are available.  It took an act of God for me to get one.  I don't think that they are having them made any more."

"I know you.  You're that guy from the FOG!  I met you at the Gary Katz Roadshow."

We took a few minutes to talk and I got a chance to see his kit.  He told me that he had recently gone out on his own and was way over booked with work.  He noticed my Festool plates, gave me a thumbs-up and drove away.

Today I drove into the parking lot of a condo complex where I have been doing work for the past 13 years right behind another contractor.  I backed into a parking place and as he walked towards me.

"Do you use Festools?"

"Sure I do.  Everyone should if they are interested in investing in their craft and making money."

"They are way too expensive for me.  I like what I see about them, but..."

I didn't go further because I had a client waiting.

My only point to this is that I have been a Festool user since 2006.  Since then I have tried to spread the word.  It is amazing that way out in suburbia, two times in two days I have been approached in one way or another about Festool.  This has never happened once before, let alone one of them actually having Festools on his truck.

Go Green!

Peter

 

[b_m_hart]

The guy doing the rough work on my house has told me that my tools are too nice to leave around on the average job site, as they would end up vanishing in short order.  He also said that hr would love to use them, but they are "too expensive" - in that he can't afford to continually replace them.

 

[Wonderwino]

I've only been a Festool user for about 5 years, but as an "amateur" who does professional quality work, I can really appreciate the quality achieved and time saved by using Festools.  I only know of one other local who uses Festools and he is a professional with a big shop full of Felders & etc.  The price is the biggest objection for most of the local "professionals."  Maybe I should quit my day job and give them some competition.....

 

[tjbier]

Since buying my 1st Festool in '09 I typically get " ya I want to buy thatbut its too expensive", then they see me use em and finally realize why some do pay for it. I have had 3 colleagues now buy ts55s [big grin], and one has bought more. But seeing is believing when I cut down 6 doors in a large 2 story house that was carpeted. Did all of then in 40-45 min inside, instead of 2.5hr + to take em down bring them to the garage to cut ect..

 

[dltflt]

I'm an amateur woodworker also and Festool has definitely changed how work and the quality. Probably the biggest change is I finish all projects in a reasonable amount of time

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I, for one, don't miss the days of "Feswhat" or "Feswho". I feel like a proud parent seeing the brand grow here in North America.

I don't do it often enough, but I want to thank every one of you.  [thumbs up]

Shane
Festool employee, former Festool dealer employee, and Festool customer

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Festool has changed the way I work wood.  Taking the tool to the work has opened my eyes to a new way of doing things -- safer, faster and with less dust and mess.  I have never regretted a single purchase.  I enjoy every time I get to use them on a project too. 

Scot

 

[Frank Pellow]

My first Festool purchase was over 10 years ago and, back then, almost nobody who saw my tools had ever heard of Festool.

Now, many people do know about Festool and, of those, a significant number that I talk to have a few of their tools.  Here, in Ontario, the fact that Lee Valley stocks Festool has helped awareness a lot.

 

[jmbfestool]

I have been a festool user for about 6 years

Heard of festool couple of years before didn't think much of it myself mainly because my mentor didn't I suppose.

Over the years I met so many people never heard or seen festool.  

Then I started to see some people with the odd festool tool.   When talking to them they didn't know much about festool which was odd seen as they had a festool planer or drill ......... It was almost like they just blindly bought a tool because they needed a new tool at the time.

Only since the last 2 years have I started to see more people with more expensive festool tools like kapex etc and owning more than one festool.  

I have got 4 joiners I work with heavily into festool one of them has almost caught up with me!  The other has some festool tools I don't have yet!  

All of them before had Makitas and dewalts but now a lot of their tools are festool

They have spread the word to others.

Sometimes I wish I kept it all to my self lol

 

[bkharman]

I also think TOH has something to do with it. That was the first place I saw a CXS and said "that is something I would really like".

They show a lot of it on the show recently but they don't explain anything about them (which I like).

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[waltwood]

I wasn't sure if it was me being more aware (or going broke ) with Festool but the popularity seems to have greatly increased. People are asking me questions about them all the time where before no one had heard of them so I did not speak about Festool as much.

I recently reconnected with an old friend who I used to collect old tools with and he was about the cheapest person I ever knew. He said he was selling his collection of old tools to buy Festool! I could not believe it. We are going to the PATINA tool show in Damascus MD this Sat. to sell all we can.

 

[Danny]

Here, in Ontario, the fact that Lee Valley stocks Festool has helped awareness a lot.

+1 
that's how I got introduced to festool.  With the great reputation LV has I figured those tools must be pretty good and started doing research ....and ended up here lol!  I think the decision to make LV a festool distributor was a very smart decision marketing wise

 

[RKA]

I've only recently heard of festool as a hobbiest.  Still don't know anyone that owns any festool and I always take a peek when I drive by a carpenter hard at work in someone's driveway, no festool!  Not surprising though, the festool owners are working inside!  [wink]

 

[SoonerFan]

I am new to Festool….just a few months into the green kool aid.  I first noticed them at Woodcraft and was curious.  One of the employees gave me a demonstration and suggested I research these tools.  I did that research on the internet and ended up here on FOG.  I ended up with a TS55, CT36, RO125 and an OF 1400.  First big project was some floor standing shelves for the garage.  Without a doubt the shelves turned out better than I was capable of before I purchased these tools.  I consider myself fortunate to find Festool and to have found this group of Festool Fans.  I have learned a great deal here.  Next I will start reading everything on the Domino and CMS which are my likely next purchases.

 

[leakyroof]

I, for one, don't miss the days of "Feswhat" or "Feswho". I feel like a proud parent seeing the brand grow here in North America.

I don't do it often enough, but I want to thank every one of you.  [thumbs up]

Shane
Festool employee, former Festool dealer employee, and Festool customer

. Since I bought my first Festool's from McFeely's back in 2004, I've never looked back. Did you take phone calls about Festool back then ,Shane?
If so, it may have been you that I talked to. [eek]

 

[overanalyze]

We are probably the only builder in our area that uses any Festool. Maybe a few cabinet guys. But when my cutting table is set up with the TS55 people notice. And when the vac fires up with the Kapex, they notice. And then they ask how much it cost and I laugh & I tell them and then say once I bought it and used Festool, the cost became a distant memory! ;-)

 

[Stephen B]

[size=11pt]

For me it seems that using quality, provides pleasure and improves my own quality of work.

Today [AEST]I when I was working down a cathedral ceiling attaching lining boards I was again reminded off the thought that goes into the design of each Festool. Reaching the bottom edge of the beams, there was a return to the wall. Measure the angle, transfer the sliding bevel to the T55, rip the board at that angle using a rail. How many other saws would allow you to align a sliding bevel between a smooth side and the base plate, and much easier than between the base plate and blade.

Quick, efficient and fast.(we'll fast for me!  [smile]).

Trouble is no one saw me do it, but I know!

 

[Tinker]

I had seen Festo adds in some of my wood mags.  i thought the saws looked awfully clumsey with that ugly plate attached to the bottom.  I was a mason contractor at the time and could just immagine that flimsey plate getting tangled up among a load of scaffold lumber and bricks.  It woulld not last for long and i stuck with my good ol' Milwaukee saws.  they could take any beating i threw at them. 

Eventually, i retired from the mason biz (I guess i was 38 at the time).  I was working in a very tight shop spac to reintroduce myself to woodwrking other than scaffold and concrete form work.  I was starting to realize that it was very cumbersome to drag plywood onto my tablesaw located in the dungeon like small cellar i was working in.  I had noticed a set of straight edges suitable for ripping both plywood and dimension lumber.  there were two or three lengths of the jig, the longest being long ennough to cut 8' sheets of plywood I set up on a pair of horses.  The jig only weighed around 100 #'s or so +/-.  I was still young and figured it would be much easier to drag that monster into my shop once and then would figure so way to rassle plywood down into the shop whenever needed.  I decided it was time to take a ride down to my local toystore and see if they had such a devise.

As i walked in the door, (I have mentioned this before here on the FOG, so you can tune out if y'all have heard this before.) I noticed a funny looking swiss cheese top on a spindly work bench.  There was that crazy looking circular saw with the plate attached to the bottom.  I walked over to look at the setup and realized the saw was NOT attached but was removable.  I talked to John for a few minutes and forgot about the jig I had come there for.  I ended up taking home (or ordered) an ATF 55 and a MFT 1080.  within a couple of days, i also bought a CT 33 and the kool aid was flowing in my veins.  I will probably never do enough WW'ing to actually get my Festoy supply to actually add up to a big savings as far as saving money on the projects.  Now I am 39, I do find enjoyment of great value in use of such fine tools. 

BTW, I do not even remember the jig I was looking for when I was first introduced to Festoys.  I don't think it is even mad anymore. I have enough guide rails to do over 20 feet in a single rip.  Those rails AND my ATF do not weigh anywhere neer what that single 8+ rail would have weighed.  There are times when i do my sheet goods cutting outside and it is a simple and light weight operation to move a rail out to my truch and do the rough cutting before even removing the lumber from the truck.
Tinker