Festool T15+3 Review

[jmbfestool]

jmbfestool , i only use W?rth fixings , i've been putting 160mm assey drive (a bit like torx) washer head screws in, no pre drilling and its playing with them, as i said in a earlier post i normally use a impact screwdriver for screwing , but because of the problems you have had i,ve been using the t15+3 just to see if its OK (i think I'm gettin paranoid ) , and its better than my impacted one, i love it

Yeah two lads I work with have impacts one has got a makita impact and the other ryobi both 18V.  The festool was stronger than both and put the screws in quicker. I finished the job the other day and I put in about 120 of them large screws 150mm and I snapped 4 of them with the drill. The drill is still working! So I am happy!   I got my new box and tray and the Retailer said to me to look inside the box I put something inside for you for all the trouble you have had with the drill. He gave me a digital measurer which  I was happy with seen I wasnt expecting anything.

 

[jmbfestool]

First drill broke in a week and was repaired came back working but had a different fault so went straight back came back with the back part of the drill smashed off also
the box was damaged.
So the FIRST drill had 1 repair but the send back twice because of bad service repair.

So the festool rep wasnt happy and gave me a brand new drill and new warrenty and 2 new fleeces. [

Now I know what to do to get a Festool Fleece  :

Modify your post because what you said you put in the quote box so it looks like I said it not you

 

[jmbfestool]

Hello again! Now I got another problem! Not with the festool drill I have had no problems any more touch wood!

The Problem is now is with      

Milwaukee C18 ID 18 volt ?'' Hex Impact Driver

Spec for the Milwuakee:
Battery pack
voltage / capacity  18V / 3.0Ah or 1.5Ah  

No load speed  0-2200rpm  

Total reception  1/4" Hex  

Impact rate  0-3200 Ipm  

Max. torque  158Nm  

Weight with battery pack  1.5kg  

Festool  T15+3

Battery voltage  14,4 V  

Idling speed, 1st gear/2nd gear  0-450/0-1500 min-1  

Drilling diameter, wood/steel  35/16 mm  

Torque adjustment  0,5-8/0,5-6 Nm  

Max. torque, wood/steel  27/40 Nm  

Chuck range  1,5-13 mm  

Li-Ion battery capacity  2,6 Ah  

Charging time Li Ion  45 min  

Weight with Li Ion  1,5 kg  

Now the Festool has only 40 torque and the milwuakee has 158

Now to me that means the Milwueakee has more power but when it come to screwing a 100mm screw into wood the festool will put two screws into soft wood before the milwuake even does one!

Now can any one explain the me why the Milwuakee driil is sooo RUBBISH!!!!!!!!

Im not happy spending ?230 quid for a drill and have it beaten by a Roybi ?60 quid impact drill which also isnt as strong as the festool but does screw quicker than the milwuakee.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I cannot give you a full explanation, but maybe a partial one.  My hunch is that the max torque spec for the Milwaukee impact driver are during the peak impact effect whereas the max torque spec for the Festool drill is a steady state value.  If that is true, then the Milwaukee is putting out much more peak torque for very short periods of time whereas the Festool is steadily delivering its torque while turning the screw at a higher rate of revolution.  It is also possible that Milwaukee's method of rating torque is chosen to yield the highest possible numbers whereas Festool has chosen to be conservative.  (Having owned several German, Japanese and American automobiles, I have learned that the Germans are generally conservative in their performance and fuel economy ratings whereas the Japanese have been overly optimistic.)  Have you checked your Milwaukee impact driver against another of the same make and model to confirm that yours it working normally?

Dave R.

 

[jmbfestool]

Have you checked your Milwaukee impact driver against another of the same make and model to confirm that yours it working normally?

Dave R.

Yes!! I went to a milwaukee tool show and took my drill with me and they said it was faulty they said motor was working fine just the impact function was kicking in to soon and it was to harsh.

Which was another thing I noticed like impact drill should make it easier to screw a screw in as mine was actually bouncing me out of the screw. They took the drill and just gave me a brand new one straight away so I am very happy with the service didnt even need to show a reciept. The drill is much better and quicker I wouldnt say its still the 150 torque power I think its kicking out but its a good impact drill now so I am happy. So I bought the new Milwueakee 18V  circulae saw which is really power full and I love it. I also bought the 18v jigsaw very disapointed with it so takin it back for a new one incase I got a fualty one again. IT says it will cut 55mm timber but it wont even cut 40mm

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I'm glad to hear that you resolved the issue with your Milwaukee drill.  I hope you can do the same with the jigsaw.

My Makita jigsaw is corded.  I have a need to make some diagonal rip cuts through 6" X 6" SYP treated wood posts to replace some degraded buttresses on my deck.  I have no idea how the original builder made these cuts.  For this I will likely have to use my chainsaw, or my Sawzall, followed by planing or sanding with my Rotex.  To my knowledge, none of the commonly available jigsaw blades are long enough, and I doubt my jigsaw has enough power to make such cuts at a reasonable pace.

Dave R.

 

[jmbfestool]

use my chainsaw, or my Sawzall, followed by planing or sanding with my Rotex.  To my knowledge, none of the commonly available jigsaw blades are long enough, and I doubt my jigsaw has enough power to make such cuts at a reasonable pace.

Dave R.

ChainSaw more Fun lol! I got the Bosch Presision JigSaw its good I think! I think even if you do Find a long jigsaw bit to do it with I think it wont stay very straight will it at angle cut like that. I think your jigsaw should have the power no????   Maybe use a circular saw to give you a start so you have a angle cut to carry on with and straight cut to carry on with using your sawzall??

 

[Frans]

I'm glad to hear that you resolved the issue with your Milwaukee drill.  I hope you can do the same with the jigsaw.

My Makita jigsaw is corded.  I have a need to make some diagonal rip cuts through 6" X 6" SYP treated wood posts to replace some degraded buttresses on my deck.  I have no idea how the original builder made these cuts.  For this I will likely have to use my chainsaw, or my Sawzall, followed by planing or sanding with my Rotex.  To my knowledge, none of the commonly available jigsaw blades are long enough, and I doubt my jigsaw has enough power to make such cuts at a reasonable pace.

Dave R.

Perhaps you should put the Protool Univers SSP200 on your guiderail for those cuts. See Protool German website for details. Click "Anwendungen" for movies. If your cuts are at 45 degrees, you would still miss about 5/8" sawdepth, though...

Oh, I just noticed they have a bigger one as well, the CCP 380.

 

[festoolman]

I want one of those.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Frans,

That electric chainsaw on the guide rail would certainly do the job.  That reminds me that I can do much the same with my Husqvarna chainsaw equipped with a Granberg vertical milling jig.  It orients the chainsaw very much like the tool you pictured in your post, and comes with aluminum guides that the user attaches with screws to any straight piece of lumber which is clamped or screwed to the workpiece to be cut.  I have been using such jig to mill a group of boards from a log section while the log section is still attached to the rest of the tree, and thereafter rip cutting the boards free of the log section. 

Thanks for that idea!

Dave R.

 

[jmbfestool]

Frans,

That electric chainsaw on the guide rail would certainly do the job.  That reminds me that I can do much the same with my Husqvarna chainsaw equipped with a Granberg vertical milling jig.  It orients the chainsaw very much like the tool you pictured in your post, and comes with aluminum guides that the user attaches with screws to any straight piece of lumber which is clamped or screwed to the workpiece to be cut.  I have been using such jig to mill a group of boards from a log section while the log section is still attached to the rest of the tree, and thereafter rip cutting the boards free of the log section. 

Thanks for that idea!

Dave R.

I dont understand how its the same to me it looks like the Granberg vertical milling jig just does rips.  As the festool will do rips and cross cuts with the guide rail also you can safely cut timber at angles!

Am I just being stupid?

 

[Dave Ronyak]

No, you are correct in pointing out the additional utility of the Protool system with guide rail.  But the Granberg mill follows its inverted V-shaped aluminum channel sections, however they are oriented.  The Granberg V-shaped aluminum guides come in 2 ft long sections.  So, if you attach one of them to a ~2ft long board and attach that board at an angle to your workpiece [log], you can use your chainsaw to cut at an angle relative to the length of the workpiece.  This might be useful for people who own a chainsaw and have an occasional need to cut 6x6's or 8x8's, as I will need to do when making some repairs on my deck which includes some 6x6's that are taper cut and used as buttresses.

Dave R.

 

[jvsteenb]

( Struggling to keep on topic: )
Is this really what the UL certification people made Festool do to the T15+3 to get it certified???
No wonder so many goodies are NAINA...... [blink]

Pun aside: I want one too!! But it's too damn expensive.....
And the Granberg mills aren't readily available over here, too bad..... ( Probably has something to do with CE certification..... [wink] )

Regards,

Job

 

[Wim]

It is much easier to stick a CE label to a product. If you, as the maker, thinks it is complying to the CE-rules, stamp CE on it. Only afterwards, if you were wrong, you have a serious problem. I still don't know what system is better.

 

[jmbfestool]

Hey Hey Every one lol!!! Once again the festool drill has failed me again! 

The problem with my drill started about a month ago but I need the drill so I didnt bother sending it for repair till last week.

The problem this time isnt that it just stopped working.  This time it would fluctuate on me sooo  While I was hold the trigger in fully and screwing a 60mm x 4mm screw into softwood or any other screw really mainly above 60mm  it would stop go stop go stop go and then carry on going all the way and sometimes it would stop go stop go stop and wont carry on untill id let go of the trgger and pull the trigger in again. I noticed also when it did the fluctuation the drill was not were near powerfull enough so it wouldnt pull the screw into the wood so I would have to realise the trigger and pull again the drive the screw in!!

I dont know if I use a drill incorrectly but I am not having much luck but if the ratio  my first drill lasted 1 week then repaired and replaced it lasted a month and this one has lasted a year i think?!?!? The next one will last longer! lol

 

[Deansocial]

i had mine from release date. It broke after a few months so i had it repaired after an argument about me not having the warrantee paperwork to which i said it only came out 3 month ago and has a 1year without that paper so repair the thing now! Got it back 3 week later and it developed the same problem again were it is like there is a loose connection in the drill. Since then i have continued to use the drill because i dont have another to use(well i do but i just love using the t15) but it is getting worse so will need to send it back soon. will keep you posted

 

[Alex2]

Hey Hey Every one lol!!! Once again the festool drill has failed me again!  

The problem with my drill started about a month ago but I need the drill so I didnt bother sending it for repair till last week.

The problem this time isnt that it just stopped working.  This time it would fluctuate on me sooo  While I was hold the trigger in fully and screwing a 60mm x 4mm screw into softwood or any other screw really mainly above 60mm  it would stop go stop go stop go and then carry on going all the way and sometimes it would stop go stop go stop and wont carry on untill id let go of the trgger and pull the trigger in again. I noticed also when it did the fluctuation the drill was not were near powerfull enough so it wouldnt pull the screw into the wood so I would have to realise the trigger and pull again the drive the screw in!!

I dont know if I use a drill incorrectly but I am not having much luck but if the ratio  my first drill lasted 1 week then repaired and replaced it lasted a month and this one has lasted a year i think?!?!? The next one will last longer! lol

I have observed that when the battery is near the end of its charge, my drill will do the same and behave strangely exactly as your description. I always tought that this was normal behavior. What do you think ? Try with another or the same fully charged battery and see if it corrects the problem.

Now with my drill, since day 1, there's a little bit of wandering of the central pin (or any chuck i put on it). Is this normal ?

Thank you

Alex

 

[Holzhacker]

I've had my T15 since October roughly and it's been taking steady use without complaint. I have to agree with Alex on the weak battery call. Mine does exactly the same. Swap out for a fresh battery and everything is fine again. 'Normal' screws one battery will last forever almost. Big, heavy screws, sometimes a full day sometimes not.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

i had mine from release date. It broke after a few months...

Sorry to hear about the problem with your drill. I believe you're from the UK, is that correct?

What was wrong with the drill? You mentioned a loose connection. Was the trigger not responding properly, or do you think it was maybe something to do with the battery contacts?

Did you get any feedback from the repair centre of your dealer as to what was repaired the first time?

Forrest

 

[Brice Burrell]

I've had my T15 since October roughly and it's been taking steady use without complaint. I have to agree with Alex on the weak battery call. Mine does exactly the same. Swap out for a fresh battery and everything is fine again. 'Normal' screws one battery will last forever almost. Big, heavy screws, sometimes a full day sometimes not.

Mine have been working great too (since May). We have a US versions of the drill, maybe there has been some improvements made??