Fill in the blank: I wish Festool made a ______!

[Corwin]

I like to see an accessory that will hold the Rotex in such position that you can use it as a bench top disc sander.

I second that. I've made my own right now, it's simple, but an out of the box solution would be great.

You know what we say around here;  Without pictures, it didn't happen.

So, how about a shot of that sander mod?

 

[stvrowe]

1) Lipping planer (although the Lamello Cantex will be hard to improve)
2) Domino glue dispensor
3) Dominos that you don't have to hammer in the mortise
4) RTA fasteners for Domino mortises (RTA = Ready To Assemble)
5) Adapter for drill similar to Centrotec that will accept ball detent bits commonly AINA.  (Since it is not possible to make bits that fit the screws most commonly available, this seems like the only remaining alternative. :)

 

[joiner1970]

How about a guide rail that rolls up?

Richard.

Festool are looking at the possibility I was shown one recently.

Interesting;  I wonder what inovation they can use to differentiate it from the one made by Mafelle  ???

The one they showed me was just a Mafell rail with a crude Festool logo stuck over the top of the Mafell logo  [laughing]

 

[Jonhilgen]

A belt sander.

 

[peter halle]

A discussion regarding Festool Belt Sanders and their origins, etc has been split off from this thread at the request of members.

The link to that new thread is:  Festool Belt Sanders

Peter - Moderator

 

[Holzhacker]

A sawzall with DC, that would be sooo helpful.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

3) Dominos that you don't have to hammer in the mortise

I could not disagree with this statement more. The whole concept behind Domino is precision, and if the Dominos were not so tight, you would have the same crappy precision you would get from a biscuit joiner. If you want them loose for a test-fit, then you should keep a set of Dominos that are sanded down and color coded so you don't use them for final assembly.

 

[harry_]

A sawzall with DC, that would be sooo helpful.

+1

 

[irvin00]

I wish Festool made a tool to the usual high Festool Quality Standard with a price tag that acknowledges the (quality) gap between Festool and other brands has norrowed considerably.

 

[Rootmoot]

A lithium ion powered hammer drill. I'm an electrician, so a hammer drill is a must have.

 

[junk731]

Which tool companies have narrowed the gap, have the system approach, dust collection and the quality that  Festool has and are cheaper?

John

 

[nickao]

3) Dominos that you don't have to hammer in the mortise

I find with a nice biscuit joiner using glue you can get perfect alignment so I wouldn't say biscuits are crappy, just different. But I I always had to allow for expansion and  glue with the biscuits which took a feel to get just right. Isn't this so with the Dominoes as well?

I could not disagree with this statement more. The whole concept behind Domino is precision, and if the Domino's were not so tight, you would have the same crappy precision you would get from a biscuit joiner. If you want them loose for a test-fit, then you should keep a set of Domino's that are sanded down and color coded so you don't use them for final assembly.

I have a question about that tightness. I do not have a Domino and never used one so I really don't know much about them at all. Is glue normally used with the domino tenons? And if  glue is normally used wouldn't something that was that tight not allow the glue to be useful? It seems from pics there are glue ribs on the domino tenons, but the domino tenons look to be much more stable than a biscuit, so it seems a perfect size would be simpler to attain for the tenons. Is super tight the best size?

 

[irvin00]

Which tool companies have narrowed the gap, have the system approach, dust collection and the quality that  Festool has and are cheaper?

John

The milwaukee 6955-20 miter saw costs $650 ( and sometimes much less at Home Depot) and it's every bit as good as Festool's Kapex. Even if you think the Kapex is better than Milwaukee's unit, it's really difficult to believe that it is twice as good, as the price would suggest.

The Trion jigsaw is not any better than the Bosch counterpart, but is priced much higher (I have both and there is no difference in quality whatsoever).

I could provide  more examples, but you get the idea...

 

[junk731]

I'm really not trying to be argumentative but what you have shown are 2 examples from different companies that are not part of an integrated system.  While the Mikwaukee saw may cut extremely well I believe hooking it up to dust collection is still a problem and just moving it around would give most a hernia. The Bosch is a fine jigsaw no question but still not part of an integrated system. You could show me one of examples all day, but what I want you to show me is another tool company available in NA that is on the same level as Festool for a consistently cheaper price. From your previous statements on the forum you are hobbyist and don't make your living with your tools so price is very important to you, I understand that. I personally want Festool to keep using the system approach, ask the fill in blank questions, produce tools that make me money and not strive for mediocrity that most tool manufactures have succumb too.

John

 

[irvin00]

I'm really not trying to be argumentative but what you have shown are 2 examples from different companies that are not part of an integrated system.  While the Mikwaukee saw may cut extremely well I believe hooking it up to dust collection is still a problem and just moving it around would give most a hernia. The Bosch is a fine jigsaw no question but still not part of an integrated system. You could show me one of examples all day, but what I want you to show me is another tool company available in NA that is on the same level as Festool for a consistently cheaper price. From your previous statements on the forum you are hobbyist and don't make your living with your tools so price is very important to you, I understand that. I personally want Festool to keep using the system approach, ask the fill in blank questions, produce tools that make me money and not strive for mediocrity that most tool manufactures have succumb too.

John

Well, as per your request, I gave you examples of tools that provide similar functionality to their Festool counterparts at a fraction of the cost. By "similar functionality" I mean that there is virtually nothing that can be done with the Festool units that can't be done with these other units  (btw, your comment about dust collection on the Milwaukee miter saw is completely wrong; it works as well as the Kapex, but it seems you have a pre-conceived notion that anything NOT Festool is inferior, regardless of how well it may work) .

As for me being a hobbyst, yes, I fully admit to that, and yes, price is a LEGITIMATE concern; In fact, I'm pretty sure price is a concern to the majority here, given that most professionals visiting this forum are small (sometimes single) operators. It should also be pointed out that it is often the case that hobbysts like me are in a better financial situation to buy tools than a professional that struggles to make a living; so, I guess any smart person should look at price as part of the equation when making equipment purchases. I like to be objective and avoid the "Festool groupie" mentality where anything Festool is great and the price is therefore justified.

Finally, I would like to mention that the Festool "Integrated System" is the norm these days  - a good example is the tracksaw by Dewalt (http://www.dewalt.com/us/tracksaw/). I'm not saying it is better than its Festool counterpart. I'm saying that people have OPTIONS these days and Festool will be wise to factor that into their pricing strategy (they already do that to an extent with their prices in Europe vs USA). That was the gist of my post and I still maintain it - but respect anyone's right to disagree

 

[AlexThePalex]

I personally want Festool to keep using the system approach, ask the fill in blank questions, produce tools that make me money and not strive for mediocrity that most tool manufactures have succumb too.

Wow! Putting Bosch and Milwaukee in the 'mediocre' class is quite a statement.  [blink] I understand this forum is for those who love the green Kool Aid, but you got to be weary of not drinking too much. I can't believe you would call Bosch jigsaws mediocre just because you love Festool so much.

And as for the whole 'system' idea, it's way too overemphasised. Because for most Festool tools the whole system approach means plugging the tool into a vacuum and that's just as easily done with tools from other brands.

 

[stvrowe]

3) Dominos that you don't have to hammer in the mortise

I find with a nice biscuit joiner using glue you can get perfect alignment so I wouldn't say biscuits are crappy, just different. But I I always had to allow for expansion and  glue with the biscuits which took a feel to get just right. Isn't this so with the Dominoes as well?

I could not disagree with this statement more. The whole concept behind Domino is precision, and if the Domino's were not so tight, you would have the same crappy precision you would get from a biscuit joiner. If you want them loose for a test-fit, then you should keep a set of Domino's that are sanded down and color coded so you don't use them for final assembly.

I have a question about that tightness. I do not have a Domino and never used one so I really don't know much about them at all. Is glue normally used with the domino tenons? And if  glue is normally used wouldn't something that was that tight not allow the glue to be useful? It seems from pics there are glue ribs on the domino tenons, but the domino tenons look to be much more stable than a biscuit, so it seems a perfect size would be simpler to attain for the tenons. Is super tight the best size?

Glue is normally used with Dominos.  They do have impressions that allows retention of some glue and ribs on the rounded ends.  

Rick and I are not likely to agree on this but that is his opinion and I have mine too.  I don't believe super tight is the best size since I am a slip fit guy and don't believe tenons (either wet or dry) should have to be hammered home.  I have been making M&T joints for over 30 years and have never had a failure with a slip fit joint.  With the domino, I have actually broken workpieces during glue-up hammering domino joints home and I believe it is due to hydraulic pressure created by the very tight fit.  During dry fit, you can push a domino into position by hand but it requires substantial force and unless you sand some down as Rick suggests, you will need vice grips to remove it for final assembly.  This has always destroyed the domino when I have done so.  

 

[harry_]

And as for the whole 'system' idea, it's way too overemphasised. Because for most Festool tools the whole system approach means plugging the tool into a vacuum and that's just as easily done with tools from other brands.

Alex,

I couldn't agree more, with one caveat, customer service. Once that is figured in, the road to mediocrity becomes a super-highway.

Because of Bosch's attitude regarding customer service, I will probably never buy another Bosch tool.

I only have one Milwaukee, a 3/8 "hole-shooter" hammer drill. There is no doubt in my mind that this drill has drilled well in excess 250,000 holes (in fact it is a good bet it is actually twice that), mostly for tapcons. I believe it still has the original chuck although I have replaced the cord on it more times than I can count. It is almost 25 years old and I believe it works as well today as the day I purchased it.

As far as the "system approach", on this side of the pond it lacks substance since 1/2 the product line is NAINA including accessories that have nothing to do with UL. But as we all know that is  [dead horse]

Sorry if I drifted  [off topic]

 

[Brice Burrell]

If Harry were to replace that 25 year old hole-shooter with their newest version do you think he'd get 25 years out of it?  Not likely.  You comparing apples to oranges when talking about tools that more than 10-15 years old to their new counterparts.  Looking what tool companies were doing 15 or more years they certainly are mediocre now.

I'd agree the "System" may be a bit over emphasized, however, there is no other tool company even close to what Festool is doing to make their tools work together.  Almost anyone trying it now is copying Festool's model.

 

[junk731]

Alex and Irvin00

You are both totally right, I now see the light, how could I have been so mistaken all these years.  Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt  all produce the same high quality lineup of tools and have the same customer service as Festool. By the way I like green Koolaid.

John