Festool Surfix and Swiss Made CE Zobo drill bits discontinued.

[Bertotti]

Well I have a tin of one step and a tin of outdoor coming along with 5l of the HD and two .3l HD refills so that leaves me with three bases and 7 of the little .3l bottles. 3hd 2od and 2 onestep. 15 foam pads. I hope someone picks up the way this system works because it is really handy although for anything other than flat you're back to cloths no biggie! As for the silicone tops I think I could fab up something to work. I actually think once these wear out I could fab up some hard wood bases and get some suitable bottles to use on top. Now that I have an idea of how it all works but it is very disappointing fo ratios to happen just after I bought the kit. I can honestly say I would not have bought the kit had I realized this would happen. Not a chance in hell.

 

[Cheese]

Well I looked at the 2021 Festool UK catalog yesterday and the Surfix is indeed gone but the Zobo bits are still listed.

All Surfix products are still listed on the Festool USA website. I believe the Festool oils have a shelf life of 5 years for the outdoor and one-step oils & 2 years for the heavy duty oil.

 

[Coen]

I think the Surfix system didn't sell that well either. My local dealer had a set for sale for quite a while.

Will the pads be available for 10 years, like machine parts? Or..? (Like I got my CMS-PS... all in parts  [tongue])

 

[six-point socket II]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] - I was a little nervous after reading your comment regarding the CE Zobot bits and checked the 21 UK catalog: It's the same new Centrotec Forstner bits that are being offered in Germany. No more Swiss Made Zobo.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] - I was a little nervous after reading your comment regarding the CE Zobot bits and checked the 21 UK catalog: It's the same new Centrotec Forstner bits that are being offered in Germany. No more Swiss Made Zobo.

Kind regards,
Oliver

Ah...thanks for that Oliver. Good to know.  [smile]

 

[Bertotti]

I emailed Festoolusa about the surfix product deletion. They replied and told me it was ok to share the reply here. Other than this there is no detailed information available yet about the other items like the foam pads or the vlies and such. Here's the reply.

"Hello,
Thank you for contacting Festool. It seems like the oil system will be discontinued in the near future due to low sales. At this time there is no official word as to when exactly the Surfix Oil will be discontinued in the North American Market. The Surfix Oil System is active at this time and components able to be purchased without problems. There is no exact date as to when that will change.

Best Regards,
_________________________
Festool USA LLC
400 N. Enterprise Blvd.
Lebanon, IN 46052".

Well that's it in a nut shell at the moment. I had two orders in with a company for oil and pads and refill and got a call today form them. I was thinking here it is the hammer is falling but it wasn't. I thought they were going to tell me it was unavailable but they said they are still able to order it with no word of it being unavailable! Good news in my little world.

 

[Cheese]

I just checked the UK and the German websites and all of Surfix products are still listed. I assume they'll remain listed until the inventory is gone. I'm going to purchase some back-up today from Woodcraft.  [smile]

 

[bertv]

I just checked the UK and the German websites and all of Surfix products are still listed. I assume they'll remain listed until the inventory is gone. I'm going to purchase some back-up today from Woodcraft.  [smile]

All Surfix products are MIA in the 2021 catalogue.

 

[six-point socket II]

Sadly the Surfix didn't "fly off the shelves" prior and it probably won't now, after it has been discontinued.

 

[Coen]

Well, people that invested into it will be annoyed when they can't get replacement pads...

 

[six-point socket II]

I guess a few disgruntled/annoyed customers are cheaper on the long haul than keeping an under appreciated, probably not widely understood, product line on the market. Sad but true.

Personally I'm really saddened, because it works like a charm - then again, I stocked up & time will tell how to deal with this in future.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

All Surfix products are MIA in the 2021 catalogue.

Like Oliver originally stated, the Surfix products didn't make either the UK or German catalogue but they are still listed on both of the websites.  [smile]

 

[richkline]

I guess a few disgruntled/annoyed customers are cheaper on the long haul than keeping an under appreciated, probably not widely understood, product line on the market. Sad but true.

Personally I'm really saddened, because it works like a charm - then again, I stocked up & time will tell how to deal with this in future.

Kind regards,
Oliver

[member=61712]six-point socket II[/member] I'm also a big fan of Surfix thanks to @JoryBrigham.  Any idea what the shelf life is on the heavy duty oil?  In terms of buying extra stock.  I could easily store it in doors.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[six-point socket II]

[member=66998]Rich Kline[/member]  Rich, what I keep hearing is +-5 years at least for unopened, original containers. Someone I know, who certainly is not a "story teller", bought one of the 5l containers, after using some of it and keeping it stored in the big container, he noticed the oil started oxidizing. So he distributed all of the remaining oil into smaller containers, less space for air. Seems to work for him, closing in on the 5 years.

So I'd say, original container, unopened and in a cool & dark place. Certainly 5 years. Once open, I'd say the less air it gets, the better.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[mkasdin]

What about replacing the oxygen with nitrogen or Bloxygen? The inert gas is heavier than air so it would replace the oxygen and cancel any oxidation

 

[Cheese]

From Festool for Outdoor & One-Step:
Store in a cool and dry place. Durable for at least 5 years when unopened. Seal broken/open containers. Pack the rest in smaller containers.

From Festool for Heavy Duty:
Store in a cool and dry place. Durable for at least 2 years when unopened. Seal broken/open containers. Pack the rest in smaller containers.

 

[Bertotti]

I just checked the UK and the German websites and all of Surfix products are still listed. I assume they'll remain listed until the inventory is gone. I'm going to purchase some back-up today from Woodcraft.  [smile]

I have a couple orders in with woodcraft and they are all backordered.

 

[Bob D.]

What kind of mileage can be expected from a pad?

They are reusable right?

 

[Cheese]

They are reusable right?

Kind of...in the past Bob, because they were considered to be a disposable I just used them and tossed them. Now the catch is to find a solvent that will remove the oil from the pad while not destroying its foam structure. After that maybe a soap and water wash may be needed to neutralize the pad.. just another venture for sure and I’m sure that Festool corporate can supply some answers if of course they weren’t so preoccupied with whatever that seems to consume their entire days and evenings. Festool can be so irritating.

So, it was 5 years ago that I suggested to Festool that they give a heads-up to FOG members on what products they were obsoleting so that we could fill in the missing spaces in real time before the products became extinct. Just a friendly, considerate, we appreciate your patronage salute. 

Festool replied that they thought it was a good idea and they would consider it. Well, 5 years later and we’re still at the same point in time that we were 5 years ago...who says time doesn’t stand still.

 

[mkasdin]

I use lava soap to deep clean fine bristle paint brushes. It was a recommendation on Wooster Brush site video. I think it has lanolin which helps lift oil and grease. I’ve also had good results with a few drops of dawn liquid soap and warm water. So that might work for cleaning the residue. I have no experience with the foam pads, but I’m thinking that it might work.