Festool user just sold his festools (26 so far) ands is moving to 100% Milwaukee

[onevw]

26 Festool power tools sold

I only have 2 sanders, cms router table, Ts55 saw, cms table saw insert, Track saw tracks. I just may keep all this and the 2 MFT tables.
I have always had many Milwaukee, Makita power tools.  Most of my tools are used in abusive situations in very heavy industries.

The Milwaukee power tools outperformed ALL other brands in every way power, durability, design, service, battery life.

We tried Festool and found very poor performance, the tools only lasted months in the tool abusive situations.  So that's how they got to my home. I just took home new Festools on a seniority basis owner privilege. The longer the employment the older the tools you got.

Makitas were purchased on job sites and some were sent back to our shop many others were broken so just trashed. Hard to watch that!

I guess Festool is designed for more powder puff use whats we call soft work.

We are 100% battery now which has caused a problem when we fly to work sites 99% of the time. Those batteries are not liked by the FAA. So we must ship them or buy local.

FYI

Rick

 

[Svar]

I'm wondering what is it you are doing that you trash tools at this rate.

 

[Vtshopdog]

I'm wondering what is it you are doing that you trash tools at this rate.

I'm retired now, but speaking from experience I'm guessing he has employees .......

 

[six-point socket II]

Thats really great to know, be sure to let everyone on the "Milwaukee Owners Group" know, too. Or the Milwaukee owned/sponsored forum. Oh wait, right ...  [oops]

I'd still like to wish you well and all the best for the future though. Have a great time!

Kind regards,
Oli"hardcore-Festool-apologist"ver

 

[Vondawg]

All tools have their place...anyone can post, to “push members buttons“
, like calling other members Fanboys or tool collectors, whether purposeful or other wise

 

[DeformedTree]

I'm convinced, time to sell.

 

[FestitaMakool]

I'm wondering what is it you are doing that you trash tools at this rate.

I'm retired now, but speaking from experience I'm guessing he has employees .......

Ditto...

 

[peter halle]

I always hope that users find the right tool for them, no matter the brand.  In reading your posts here I am not surprised to read your post.  Godspeed with whatever brand(s) you decide to go with.

Peter

 

[mrboult]

I'm not personally interested in how Festool's stand up to being abused by a crew on a building site. I buy them for their delicacy and finesse, as well as the availability of accessories, parts and consumables. . not how many drops off the scaf tower they can handle or what the max load/cut/hole is..

Different people have different ideas of what makes the best tool.

 

[James Carriere]

What an interesting company culture to have employees that destroy every tool put into their hands. Maybe it's not the tools that need replacing?

 

[onevw]

Mr. Cheese, you are correct it is the management. I think we justified our policy because we have around 2300 field service people in over 30 countries or we use too have that many and 85% of our work is with official governments.

Every hand tool we buy does not add up to enough money to pay any attention too.

This is what I am told by the equipment managers. We do not account for any hand tool under 2500.00.
So no one cares. I guess we have bigger fish to fry.

But I bet we have a lot more Festool stuff stuffed in storage somewhere.

I did like using the Festools in my home shop and a sorry to see them go.

Being retired now I am not involved in day to day operations.

What I now care about is Beer, cigars, airplanes.

Rick

 

[onevw]

Mr. Cheese, you are correct it is the management. I think we justified our policy because we have around 2300 field service people in over 30 countries or we use too have that many and 85% of our work is with official governments.

Every hand tool we buy does not add up to enough money to pay any attention too.

This is what I am told by the equipment managers. We do not account for any hand tool under 2500.00.
So no one cares. I guess we have bigger fish to fry.

But I bet we have a lot more Festool stuff stuffed in storage somewhere.

I did like using the Festools in my home shop and a sorry to see them go.

Being retired now I am not involved in day to day operations.

What I now care about is Beer, cigars, airplanes.

Rick

and my Dogs.

 

[morts10n]

I think that craftsman who know the names of ALL the little black lines on a tape measure are more likely
Festool users. Those that only know the big lines tend to use other brands.

 

[Cheese]

Mr. Cheese, you are correct it is the management. I think we justified our policy because we have around 2300 field service people in over 30 countries or we use too have that many and 85% of our work is with official governments.

Every hand tool we buy does not add up to enough money to pay any attention too.

This is what I am told by the equipment managers. We do not account for any hand tool under 2500.00.
So no one cares. I guess we have bigger fish to fry.

But I bet we have a lot more Festool stuff stuffed in storage somewhere.

I did like using the Festools in my home shop and a sorry to see them go.

Being retired now I am not involved in day to day operations.

What I now care about is Beer, cigars, airplanes.

Thanks for the reply Rick...at some time it really all gets down to what is the cost to monitor your employees for the proper use of any company owned material be it a raw material or a machine tool, both have some value.

The company I retired from also determined that anything under $1500 was not worth their effort and a simple statement such as "This job position is no longer needed" was a lot easier than going through the courts for an extended review and a potential criminal prosecution. Thus, cutting the employee umbilical cord and writing off a $1500 debt was the easiest way out.

It's a shame that this has become the norm because some of these people are nothing but petty crooks.

However...that doesn't make the Festool tools that are now in your possession damaged goods.  [big grin]

 

[Cheese]

and my Dogs.

Dogs are important...here's a photo of ours. The first is pre Covid-19 and the second photo is a view of the dogs now practicing proper social distancing.  [tongue]

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[dltflt]

Beautiful dogs cheese

 

[DeformedTree]

[attachimg=2]

So does someone have to leave the house so one of them can go into the house as to not exceed covid capacity of the house?

 

[martin felder]

Beautiful dogs cheese  +1

 

[Rob Z]

Oh man Cheese, seeing those dogs of yours makes me miss my beagle and my golden....  :'( :'(

Regarding tools and employee management....I was lucky in that most of my employees and even the subs were good with the tools on site and I suffered very little damage to tools over the years. I could buy Festool, Hilti, Bosch, Stabila etc and not worry about the tools getting abused.

I met a guy years ago who was a fairly high level super for a large commercial construction company that worked all over the US.  I asked what they did to manage the tools and how they got what they needed from job to job. He said they rented the bigger tools and for the smaller power tools, they bought new tools every job. At the end of every job they junked 'em or gave 'em away.  He said the thousands they spent on every job getting tools at HD or Lowes, plus rentals, was way less costly than moving and shipping cost, insurance, storage etc. Apparently it worked for them but at the time I was  [eek]  [scared] having a hard time seeing the wisdom of that method. 

 

[Cochese]

I'm not personally interested in how Festool's stand up to being abused by a crew on a building site. I buy them for their delicacy and finesse, as well as the availability of accessories, parts and consumables. . not how many drops off the scaf tower they can handle or what the max load/cut/hole is..

Different people have different ideas of what makes the best tool.

Reminds me of the teardown people like to point to on YouTube of the TS 55. I don't really care that the inside is plastic, because I don't abuse my tools. I buy them to be accurate, and with how I treat them they will still last for a very long time.