Festool skimping on acc quality

[fso]

Just got an OF1010 as a second router next to my DeWalt 625. The thing that strikes me with this router is that the quality of the accesories is not on par with the DeWalt, nor with my expectation of the festool router. For example the rail attachment is a simple plastic piece with a lot of play. One would expect something similar to the base on the TS55. A cast alu piece with some adjustment to get rid of the play.

There are some screws which might (not sure about this) reduce the play. Found out about those after finding one on my workbench. Fell out of the unit after routing for 10 minutes.

With accuracy being a key selling point for the festool, the guide rail attachment (key to the system) is disappointing.

Same can be said for the edge guide, which does not have a fine adjustment (at least as a standard feature) and again is a (somewhat robust) piece of steel plate, but not of the same quality of my Dewalt router (ELU heritage) which uses a sturdy cast aluminum base plate with integrated fine adjustment.

I do like working with the OF1010, but overall feel that Festool is skimping on the accessory quality (as well as manuals btw).

Similarly the depth adjustment of the router is a mixed bag. It is faster than the rack and pinion on the DeWalt, but absolute depth settings are less acurate. The 1/10 mm depth adjustment is nice, but that is only a relative setting. It is impossible for example to accurately set the depth to 1.2 mm. I do see that one could set the depth around 1 mm and after making the cut adding 0.2 mm with the rotating knob.

So my verdict for the router 8/10, for the accesories 6/10.

 

[peter halle]

When I read a post like this the hackles on the back of my neck stand out.  The title of the post makes a statement.  The remainder of the post states opinions.  The posting of opinions is great and encouraged even if they go against the grain.

In order to help with with some situations that you pointed out that you had some issues with:

Festool often publishes usage instructions for accessories in the manual for the tool that they are used with.  For your convenience here is a link to the manual - from the Festool USA website - 1010 router manual

If you go to page 6 of the manual it will show how to set the depth of cut.  You will always have to zero out the bit on any router.  Test cuts are always recommended to ensure accuracy for any tool that is making a critical cut.

Page 7 shows the guide rail attachment and how to adjust, etc.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Peter

 

[Chris Hughes]

The 1010 was my first foray into the Festool line up.  It was from this simple tool with it's array of accessories that give me the confidence to expand my Festool collection.

The first thing I would advise doing when you set up your equipment is to "calibrate" or fit the tool to its guide.  In this case the rail.  There are two set screws that adjust to remove lateral slop from the car.  Snug is enough and should allow for free movement on the rail.  You are right that there is not a micro adjuster with the 1010 kit but is offered as an accessory.  I would buy one as you will need it in the future for fine tuning along the rail.  For me it is easier to make a mark, set the rail, and follow as close to the rail as possible, with the goal of removing the math involved calculating an offset.

I personally have many more tools that are not Festool then are Festool.  Of the few Festool pieces I own, they are my primary tools.  The thing about Festool is that it is a system that is so far in advance of any other tool platform out there.  The only thing in my opinion that came close was PC back in the day.  PC had more than a few jigs and accessories to expand the platform, but they are almost all out of production, sadly.  But I digress. 

Accessories you might want to look at to maximize the 1010 platform are the LR32 system, the micro adjuster, and a mft.  I am a site build carpenter and specialize in building built-ins.  I would have to say that for my operation to 1010 and mft are the most critical followed closely by a TS saw.

IMO 8 of 10 for the 1010 is about right and I'd give the accessories a 9 of 10.

Welcome to the FOG, have fun.

 

[justinmcf]

peter, as much as i enjoy reading your'e posts. sometimes you can get in the way too much.

i do not consider the original poster to be going against the grain at all.

this is a website about festool, so i want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly.

i dont appreciate you jumping into threads were you are not needed.

you are a moderator, i suggest moderating your'e own posts once in a while.

i actually agree with a lot of the original posters comments and i have openly given my opinion on festool tools in the past.

its getting to the stage now, where i dont want to post because i know you will be jumping in straight away.

i do enjoy reading your'e posts about festools peter, so dont take this the wrong way.

regards, justin.

 

[Warrior]

Just got an OF1010 as a second router next to my DeWalt 625. The thing that strikes me with this router is that the quality of the accesories is not on par with the DeWalt, nor with my expectation of the festool router. For example the rail attachment is a simple plastic piece with a lot of play. One would expect something similar to the base on the TS55. A cast alu piece with some adjustment to get rid of the play.

There are some screws which might (not sure about this) reduce the play. Found out about those after finding one on my workbench. Fell out of the unit after routing for 10 minutes.

With accuracy being a key selling point for the festool, the guide rail attachment (key to the system) is disappointing.

Same can be said for the edge guide, which does not have a fine adjustment (at least as a standard feature) and again is a (somewhat robust) piece of steel plate, but not of the same quality of my Dewalt router (ELU heritage) which uses a sturdy cast aluminum base plate with integrated fine adjustment.

I do like working with the OF1010, but overall feel that Festool is skimping on the accessory quality (as well as manuals btw).

Similarly the depth adjustment of the router is a mixed bag. It is faster than the rack and pinion on the DeWalt, but absolute depth settings are less acurate. The 1/10 mm depth adjustment is nice, but that is only a relative setting. It is impossible for example to accurately set the depth to 1.2 mm. I do see that one could set the depth around 1 mm and after making the cut adding 0.2 mm with the rotating knob.

So my verdict for the router 8/10, for the accesories 6/10.

I too have both routers the OF1010 and the DW625 and I have to say that I do not agree with your statements.

Yes the guiderail adapter is plastic but the screws on mine work perfectly and adjust the adapter to the rail for a no play slide.

I have no qualms with the hieght adjustment and find it as accurate as any other I have used. The .1mm adjustments are awesome.

I give the 1010 a rating of 9/10 and the DW625 a rating of 9/10. I would not be without either.

the reason the 1010 gets a 9 and not a 10 is that the dust port position is a bit cumbersome at times.
the Dewalt gets the 9 because of the flimsy and not so efficient dust port.

 

[Warrior]

justin,

hmmm I dont get your post at all...???? was it the hackles on the neck comment?

I actually am suprised there isnt a dogpile on the OP for not taking the time to understand and learn about his equipment before using it and posting negatively about it.

Eiji

 

[fso]

When I read a post like this the hackles on the back of my neck stand out.  The title of the post makes a statement.  The remainder of the post states opinions.  The posting of opinions is great and encouraged even if they go against the grain.

In order to help with with some situations that you pointed out that you had some issues with:

Festool often publishes usage instructions for accessories in the manual for the tool that they are used with.  For your convenience here is a link to the manual - from the Festool USA website - 1010 router manual

If you go to page 6 of the manual it will show how to set the depth of cut.  You will always have to zero out the bit on any router.  Test cuts are always recommended to ensure accuracy for any tool that is making a critical cut.

Page 7 shows the guide rail attachment and how to adjust, etc.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Peter

Peter,

Thanks for the link to the US version of the manual. Much better than the one I got from Festool which has two pages of drawings in the front followed by text only sections in multiple languages (european manual) which is difficult to follow.

And yes it is my opinion that Festool could do better on the quality of the acc. If you compare the easily adjustable slop compensation on my TS55 embedded in a cast metal plate with the skimpy guide rail attachment of the OF1010, than I'm disappointed. Loosing an adjustment screw when testing my new router also does not impress me. Yes it works but for a tool positioned as the rolls of electronic hand tools I expect better.

I do understand the need to zero the depth setting, but after zeroing the setting on the DeWalt I get a magnifier and smooth rack and pinion adjustment from the zero offset, which in my opinion works better than the lightweight construction on the OF1010.

I sometimes get the feeling that some festool users loose perspective over the good and bad points of the festool products. Seeing only the good stuff and so justifying the high price they pay. I love to use my festools more than my other tools, but there is certainly a good deal of room for improvement.

 

[ajones]

hi
I think the days of  manufacturers making things out of alloy or steel where they don't have to are over, with the advancements in plastics and molding
a squirt of plastic and you're done no machining less cost..... I recently bought the dewalt router track guide, (on-line) to run my trend t11's on (same as dewalt dw625 but with the trend configured base)expected it to be alloy.. but no its plastic.. [sad] not cheap and not very good quality [sad]

typo correction

oooooohhhhhhh hackles on my neck.................................................................. no .....................its ok just next doors cat............... phew [big grin] [wink]

 

[Tezzer]

Just got an OF1010 as a second router next to my DeWalt 625.

Interesting comparison. The Dewalt 625e is a remake of the brilliant Swiss made 30yo Electronic Elu 177.  Apart from Festools great quick change collets, the Elu177 is so superior to any router Festool has ever made.

 

[joiner1970]

Just got an OF1010 as a second router next to my DeWalt 625.

Interesting comparison. The Dewalt 625e is a remake of the brilliant Swiss made 30yo Electronic Elu 177.  Apart from Festools great quick change collets, the Elu177 is so superior to any router Festool has ever made.

I dont think he was comparing them Tezzer I too have a Dewalt and the 1010 but mine is the dw626 the bigger one I use that as my 1/2" router for kitchens etc and the 1010 for small stuff I also had a T5 and an Elu96E but sold off both the Elu coz it was showing its age and the T5 coz it was CRAP.

Anyway my view on the original post is that the guy should read more and learn how to use it before posting. Yes the guide is plastic but so what my bumpers on my van are plastic but they still do their job and as for the depth adjustment I dont see anything wrong with it you just need to learn how to use it.

 

[ajones]

I read as... one of the complaints was the lack of instructions..........which could have hindered the the initial set up for use. [2cents]

 

[joiner1970]

I read as... one of the complaints was the lack of instructions..........which could have hindered the the initial set up for use. [2cents]

Perhaps they dont get good instructions in Belgium then, bit wierd as im in the UK and got perfectly good instructions with mine, would have thought being a multi language instruction book it would be available to the whole of Europe.

 

[vteknical]

I don't understand why the harshness and qualifying of the original poster's concerns. 

 

[jvsteenb]

Me neither. Although I must agree with Peter that the OP could have used a subject line that sounde less like a statement - (even a question mark instead of a period would have made a difference IMHO) I must confess that I can relate to some of the OP's remarks.

I've bought my OF1010 EBQ in a set, with a nice 800mm guiderail. Since the quiderail was included, so was the guiderail adapter. And although it works as advertised, and you can readily tune out the slop, it's not as useful as it could be, missing any fine adjustment possibility. Same with the edge guide - it works OK, and the quality is fine, but the lack of a fine-adjustment hampers the usability.

I don't care if a part is plastic, sheetmetal, or die-cast - as long as the material is up to the job, and I trust Festool engineering to take care of that. But I think Festool could have made an even better set by including guides with some form of extra adjustment. Even if that would have upped the price with say 30 dollars, I think the whole set would have been better balanced. It's a superb router, with a VERY usefull E-brake that saves time on every spindown so why not supply it with the better accessories in the line-up? Leave the simpler accessories for those who buy the bare router, so they have the choice on every purchase.

Regarding the depth adjustment: I beg to differ with the OP's comments. I think it works great, the scale of the adjustment collar is easy to read, and ( what's more ) very repeatable and dependable.
I don't have to lift the router to eyeball a nice magnified scale - just unplunge the router, turn the collar the specified extra depth, plunge and go -in my opinion, it's way easier. Festool could have eased it up even more by including "clicks" per .1 mm,  so you wouldn't even have to view the scale, but either way it's easily visible from the top - during work in progress. No need whatsoverer to remove the sole from the workpiece. Being used to working metal mills and lathes I don't have to think about releasing tension and then coming up to the destined adjustment to eliminate backlash - it's a second nature.

A friend of mine owns one of the nice Metabo routers, wich sport a nice round dial indicator on the depth-setting. Very nice! She does all kinds of artsy stuff with it, and really likes it. But actually I don't think this nice dial would last very long "on the job" and that's where I take My Festools...

Apart from all this, I think the DeWalt 625E is still one of the nicest routers around ( trust Elu to design a nice router ) and I'm sure I'll own one someday - probably to dedicate it to a WoodRat.
But then again, I had the opportunity to sample the OF2200E, and it's in an entirely different league..... Think handheld, but utterly controllable shaper...

Regards,

Job

 

[jmbfestool]

If you had adjusted the screws before you used the router so the guide was tighter on the rail they would not of vibrated out.

Well if you like dewalt that says it all really.  I have had nothing but trouble and the prices of dewalt are way to high for the quality they are more like DIY trying to be professional.

I bought a brand new dewalt planer ---> (http://www.screwfix.com/prods/37086/Power-Tools/Routers-Planers/DeWalt-D26500K-240V-4mm-Planer) the belt snapped 3 months on and I bought another one belt snapped again and keeps on snapping so its been in my garage for for 4 yrs. 

My mate has a dewalt drill and all his batteries stopped working  dewalt are known for bad batteries any way.

The company I work for has 5 Dewalt shop saws. All of them are crap they have to much movement on them 1mm I can move the chop saw 1mm!!!!! side to side on all of them.  One now gets stuck when you pull it to far. The rupper feet fall of so makes it uneven so you might as well take them all off unless u can find the other. Shops saws of the same price have depth stops but these cant cus how they work  here is the link of the Dewalt shop saw I am on about ----> (http://www.screwfix.com/prods/50013/Power-Tools/Compound-Mitre-Saws/DeWalt-DW777-LX-216mm-Sliding-Mitre-Saw-110V)

The company also bought this dewalt flip saw --->(http://www.screwfix.com/prods/60139/Power-Tools/Compound-Mitre-Saws/DeWalt-DW743N-GB-240V-250mm-Compound-Mitre-Table-Saw) Which is alot of money for piece of scrap metal.  It hardly cuts 2x1 timber cuts outs out with 4x2 softwood running on a 3.3 kw transformer. It only just runs well on a 5kw transfomer I have to spin the blade with my hand to get it running. The guide does not stay parallel with the blade and has alot of give its not very solid. Its dead heavy and in shop saw mode it not very accurate and is crap for mitre cuts.

Overall I think Dewalt tools are always heavy, big, clumsy, tools and you think okay well they will be powerful and robust but they arnt they are just plain DIY but cost of professional.

The only thing I am happy with is my Dewalt cordless Nail gun

 

[ajones]

not really a constructive post...I'm not a fan of dewalt either I have some dewalt gear the cordless nailer is one, and I also like it. had no issues with it,i have the 36v kit and I think its all junk...built down to a price and don't get me started on the rubbish service you get from slough  but you can not dismiss someones opinion of their own of1010 accessory's because they like their dewalt router.

all the major players will have some innovative tools and some rubbish in their line up

all tools require maintenance regardless of brand

 

[Warrior]

Most of Dewalts tools are absolute junk. except for their routers which have on the top for a very long time. their thru the post DC was the first of its kind. dewalt does routers well. thats all i would touch in the black and yellow though.

 

[fso]

Some of the replies seem to be skewed with my overly quick review of the manual. But let me ask you this. If the plastic guide with the small screws is so great, why does my TS55 not use a plastic baseplate with screw based slop adapters. Would certainly be cheaper to manufacture. Furthermore the saw puts most of it's force in line with the rail, with the router having forces orthogonal with the rail. Personally I would expect the router guide to be of a more solid construction than the saw.

Why isn't it. Perhaps the saw is designed to be used on the rail all the time whereas the router only some of the time? Most of you seem to miss the point that in my view the accessories are lower quality than the base unit themselves.

 

[fso]

I read as... one of the complaints was the lack of instructions..........which could have hindered the the initial set up for use. [2cents]

Perhaps they dont get good instructions in Belgium then, bit wierd as im in the UK and got perfectly good instructions with mine, would have thought being a multi language instruction book it would be available to the whole of Europe.

Well if you like flipping back and forth between the pages with the instruction text and the pages in the beginning of the manual with the pictures. Personally I hate doing that and the first thing I look for when getting a new festool is the supplemental manual that is available for some products in the US like the excellent supplemental TS55 guide.

 

[chrisrosenb]

I use this with the Festool rails & router

Router rail guide..