Festool Surfix and Swiss Made CE Zobo drill bits discontinued.

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

Just a heads up, title says it all.

Surfix didn't make the '21 catalog and is discontinued. Get what you need while you still can - especially the sponges, maybe a spare adaptor and/or some of the small containers or 5l containers. Comparable oils will be/ are available through Leinos - who produced the oils for Festool.

Forstner drill bits are no longer System Zobo drill bits/ Swiss made. Rumors are they are now produced in Austria. Tips are still exchangeable.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[usernumber1]

i wonder if narex is going to make their forstner bits now that festool owns them

 

[Birdhunter]

Too bad, the Zobo bits are incredible.

 

[Cheese]

Too bad, the Zobo bits are incredible.

True...however they will still be available from Timber Tools.
https://www.timbertools.com/ZOBO-Central-Drilling-Systems/

I have a larger issue with discontinuing the Surfix product line. I use that stuff a lot.  [sad] [sad]

 

[serge0n]

[member=61712]six-point socket II[/member] thank you for posting this! Also big thanks for mentioning the oil producer - Leinos. Never heard of them, but will make a mental note of what to get once I run out of my Surfix oil.

I was on the fence about ordering a Festool Zobo set, but I placed an order right after reading this. It looks like Zobo is on par or better than the best forstner bits from Famag.

Surfix being phased out is really sad, this is my go-to wood finish. I got a 5 liter hard oil can a couple of years ago that still has 4 liters left, so I'm good there, but I really have to stock up on the pads as each pad is only good for 1 project.

 

[mino]

i wonder if narex is going to make their forstner bits now that festool owns them

The Narex (at Česká Lípa Town) that is part of TTS is a maker of power tools only plus some accessories for these (see narex.cz). It is not "the Narex" which make the other tools like Narex Bystřice (narextools.cz) or Narex Bučovice (Bučovice Tools, maker of industrial tools for CNCs etc. etc.), or I think about 5 other small companies.

The "Narex" Brand stands for  "Nář(adí)Ex(port)" /aka "ToolsExport"/ and was initially a unifying brand for tools which were exported from Czechoslovakia during the Cold War period. Eventually the brand ended up being used universally. As such there are today many companies with rights to the "Narex" brand/name.

Basically, any factory which was making tools under this umbrella has today the rights to produce still under the name. Is kinda like a joint trademark ownership. All of these are professional/high end tool producers as the communists did not consider any tools except professional quality as worth producing ... but TTS owns only the power tools factory at Česká Lípa. Though they do subcontract things here and there from the other "Narex" enterprises.

 

[usernumber1]

i wonder if narex is going to make their forstner bits now that festool owns them

The Narex (at Česká Lípa Town) that is part of TTS is a maker of power tools only plus some accessories for these (see narex.cz). It is not "the Narex" which make the other tools like Narex Bystřice (narextools.cz) or Narex Bučovice (Bučovice Tools, maker of industrial tools for CNCs etc. etc.)

The "Narex" Brand stands for  "Nář(adí)Ex(port)" /aka "ToolsExport"/ and was initially a unifying brand for tools which were exported from Czechoslovakia during the Cold War period. Eventually the brand ended up being used universally. As such there are today many companies with rights to the "Narex" brand/name.

Basically, any factory which was making tools under this umbrella has today the rights to produce still under the name. Is kinda like a joint trademark ownership. All of these are professional/high end tool producers as the communists did not consider any tools except professional quality as worth producing ... but TTS owns only the power tools factory at Česká Lípa even though the subcontract things here and there from the other "Narex" enterprises.

fascinating, thanks for explaining this! i had issues understanding when i saw it at first

 

[FestitaMakool]

And here’s the the new forstner bit set in question.
I liked that it now is presented and delivered in a SYS mini.
The centering bit seems to be the same, there’s also a recovery hole.
Wonder if these will be of the same quality, knowing Festool, hopefully the same quality, or maybe better? Said to be in “ball bearing” steel, sharpen up to 5 times the advertisement says.
I’ve been on the fence on the Zobo set, as I have some decent forstner bit set from before.
Should I buy the new set, or the old?  [scared]  [big grin]

[attachimg=1]

 

[serge0n]

Wonder if these will be of the same quality, knowing Festool, hopefully the same quality, or maybe better? Said to be in “ball bearing” steel, sharpen up to 5 times the advertisement says.

Zobo bits are made of some secret sauce alloy and are very light. The heat treatment process for Zobo is very involved, they hold them at a certain temperature for several hours and then let them cool along with the furnace. Then the machining, sharpening and finishing occurs. Along the way the bit are heat treated several more times. As a result each batch of bits takes a week to produce, that's why they are so expensive.
Zobo can be re-sharpened up to 30 times.

 

[contendernut]

Is the set that comes in the mini systainer being discontinued also, or only the older set in the flip top box?

 

[six-point socket II]

[member=61712]six-point socket II[/member] thank you for posting this! Also big thanks for mentioning the oil producer - Leinos. Never heard of them, but will make a mental note of what to get once I run out of my Surfix oil.

I was on the fence about ordering a Festool Zobo set, but I placed an order right after reading this. It looks like Zobo is on par or better than the best forstner bits from Famag.

Surfix being phased out is really sad, this is my go-to wood finish. I got a 5 liter hard oil can a couple of years ago that still has 4 liters left, so I'm good there, but I really have to stock up on the pads as each pad is only good for 1 project.

Gladly done, no problem. I only learned about all of this a couple of days ago myself.

i wonder if narex is going to make their forstner bits now that festool owns them

The Narex (at Česká Lípa Town) that is part of TTS is a maker of power tools only plus some accessories for these (see narex.cz). It is not "the Narex" which make the other tools like Narex Bystřice (narextools.cz) or Narex Bučovice (Bučovice Tools, maker of industrial tools for CNCs etc. etc.)

The "Narex" Brand stands for  "Nář(adí)Ex(port)" /aka "ToolsExport"/ and was initially a unifying brand for tools which were exported from Czechoslovakia during the Cold War period. Eventually the brand ended up being used universally. As such there are today many companies with rights to the "Narex" brand/name.

Basically, any factory which was making tools under this umbrella has today the rights to produce still under the name. Is kinda like a joint trademark ownership. All of these are professional/high end tool producers as the communists did not consider any tools except professional quality as worth producing ... but TTS owns only the power tools factory at Česká Lípa even though the subcontract things here and there from the other "Narex" enterprises.

Thanks for the in-depth explanation!

[member=61712]six-point socket II[/member] thank you for posting this! Also big thanks for mentioning the oil producer - Leinos. Never heard of them, but will make a mental note of what to get once I run out of my Surfix oil.

I was on the fence about ordering a Festool Zobo set, but I placed an order right after reading this. It looks like Zobo is on par or better than the best forstner bits from Famag.

Surfix being phased out is really sad, this is my go-to wood finish. I got a 5 liter hard oil can a couple of years ago that still has 4 liters left, so I'm good there, but I really have to stock up on the pads as each pad is only good for 1 project.

Is the set that comes in the mini systainer being discontinued also, or only the older set in the flip top box?

The set that [member=71478]FestitaMakool[/member] posted about is the new set and will remain available. The flip top box will be gone at some point.

Discontinued:

NEW:

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

FWIW...the Zobo bits are available in chrome steel or carbide.
https://www.timbertools.com/System-3-Chromium-Drill-Bits/
https://www.timbertools.com/Zobo-S3-CARBIDE-Drill-Bits/

Like serge0n mentioned, the chrome steel Zobo bits can be resharpened up to 30 times, I'd expect it's the same case with the carbide Zobo bits.

 

[Bob D.]

Thanks Oliver, there goes my FT allowance for the month. Now I have to stock up on Surfix goodies before they disappear.  [scared]

But seriously, thanks for the heads up.

Edit: 1-12-20
Well that didn't take long.  [smile]

 

[_Ben_]

Damn that's a shame, especially those zobo bits. Absolute works of art. Cheers for early info.

I'm hoping that festool will be carrying spares for the surfix kit for a few years..

 

[jronman]

I was considering getting a polishing setup for my rotex 150to apply oil finishes. I should probably get the Suffix kit before it is gone.

 

[Bertotti]

I just bought the Surfix kit and some extra pads but with them being discontinued will this whole kit be unusable once supplies are gone? No more pad refills or the bit they mount on? Felling like I got the short end again.

 

[six-point socket II]

The sponges "OS-STF" will be gone as well as the adapter. The 0.3l containers w/ green nozzle, and also the 5l containers will be gone.

STF D125/150 green, STF D125/150 white, should remain available, obviously as well as the sandpaper.

So to further use the system you need to take very good care of the 0.3l containers and the green nozzles. Be careful: a friend of mine had the silicone inside the green nozzle dissolve when he re-filed with another oil ...

Personally, I'd say the 0.3l containers w/ green nozzle together with the OS-STF sponges are most important, since only these fit the adapter. Everything else can be substituted - or remains available.

Just ensure you don't have to switch oils within a single project.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cypren]

One thing worth mentioning for those in the US is that while you will still be able to buy the Zobo bits through Timber Tools, last I checked the Festool set was a massive discount compared to the matching TT bit prices: $190 for bits that would cost over $400 if bought individually. If you think you might want them, I’d suggest snapping up a set before they’re all gone.

 

[Bob D.]

$190 ??

I checked the TT site and the System 2 Starter Set is $290 this morning.
https://www.timbertools.com/Zobo-System-2-Starter-Box.html

 

[bertv]

Just ordered a Surfix Set and some consumables. Isn’t this Forum wonderful? — Nothing worse than ‘fishing behind the net’ (lit. translation of Dutch proverb).

BTW I own two sets of Zobo’s, so I am well covered there. Esp. since someone noted that they can be sharpened up to 15 times…