How can Festool improve their products and service?

[Michael Kellough]

... discovered that the 18 gauge cord can be adjusted so it will fit any of the tools I have, ... A chisel will easily knock that rib off that prevents the 18 gauge cord from fitting the higher amperage tools.

Argh, Michael. 

Now you've proof I'm not the one who Ignored you.  After a post like that, I think those of us who like you need to watch you very closely!

Okay, Per's suggestion is way safer than mine.

Here's another that's better, at least it's been working for me.
Keep a 16 gauge Plug-It cord with the vac.
It works for me because I never use a Festool without the vac
and the 16 gauge cord fits all the Plug-Its.

Hmmm, that's 1091 members to go...

 

[richard.selwyn]

Unless I've missed something (quite likely I'm afraid) all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.  If that is the case, could Festool not supply the heavier guage cable for all their Festools in the US thereby avoiding Per's understandable frustration.  (It wouldn't help me much - I'm so dumb I went to a job site the other day without a single plug it cord.  Made me nostalgic for the time when Festools had their cords permanently attached.)

 

[Ned]

Unless I've missed something ...all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.

  The cords and their tool connections are designed so that the heavier cord will work with all Plug-It tools, but the light cord will work only with the tools that draw less power.

That combined hose/cord may have the heavier cord, so that it will work with anything.

By the way, I envy you that combined hose/cord.  It's [acronym=Not Available In North America]NAINA[/acronym].
Once again UL saving us from ourselves.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Unless I've missed something (quite likely I'm afraid) all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.  If that is the case, could Festool not supply the heavier guage cable for all their Festools in the US thereby avoiding Per's understandable frustration.  (It wouldn't help me much - I'm so dumb I went to a job site the other day without a single plug it cord.  Made me nostalgic for the time when Festools had their cords permanently attached.)

At least in Europe you can buy the vac hose that has a power cord integrated into it. Can't forget the cord that way.

 

[richard.selwyn]

Unless I've missed something (quite likely I'm afraid) all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.  If that is the case, could Festool not supply the heavier guage cable for all their Festools in the US thereby avoiding Per's understandable frustration.  (It wouldn't help me much - I'm so dumb I went to a job site the other day without a single plug it cord.  Made me nostalgic for the time when Festools had their cords permanently attached.)

At least in Europe you can buy the vac hose that has a power cord integrated into it. Can't forget the cord that way.

yes but.....my all in one hose is on a big festool vac with the boom arm, so when I'm out of the workshop I've a CT mini with a regular hose - hence my cock up.  Maybe I just need another all in one hose - pity they cost as much as other peoples' vacuums.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Unless I've missed something (quite likely I'm afraid) all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.  If that is the case, could Festool not supply the heavier gauge cable for all their Festools in the US thereby avoiding Per's understandable frustration.  (It wouldn't help me much - I'm so dumb I went to a job site the other day without a single plug it cord.  Made me nostalgic for the time when Festools had their cords permanently attached.)

At least in Europe you can buy the vac hose that has a power cord integrated into it. Can't forget the cord that way.

yes but.....my all in one hose is on a big festool vac with the boom arm, so when I'm out of the workshop I've a CT mini with a regular hose - hence my cock up.  Maybe I just need another all in one hose - pity they cost as much as other peoples' vacuums.

A hybrid of Per's suggestion to color code the power cord and the all-in-one hose/cord is to just tape the heavier power cord to a hose. It won't be pretty but...

 

[Lou Miller]

One thing I'd really like to see Festool do is make all the blades for the plunge saws the same kerf size. Its not a huge task to adjust the rubber strips on the guide rails, but it does become a pain if you're regularly switching blades. Having one standard would make things so much easier. Doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal for them to do either, but I could be wrong.

 

[bruegf]

One suggestion I would have would be to have an abrasive starter assortment for the various sanders. 

I'd like to see that in the Platin polishing pad grits as well.  I just found out I have to buy a box of 15 of each of the grits to repolish my Corian counter top.  I won't use 15 pads of each in my lifetime!!  Hopefully I can find a few other RO125 owners that would be interested in splitting a box.  I just did that today with a some on a box of 220 Brilliant.

Fred

 

[Ned]

I'd like to see that in the Platin polishing pad grits as well.  I just found out I have to buy a box of 15 of each of the grits.

Ask your ISA or dealer if they will sell you an assorted box.  A while back Bob Marino, in response to complaints like yours, did a batch of Platin assortments.  I bought one.  Exactly the same price per pad, but total cost to "get in the door" was much less.

I just started using my Platin.  I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiences with it and the Corian.

Ned

 

[Bill Fleming]

I love my Festool jigsaw but having just completed a project with lots of jigsaw time I finally remove the front dust hood so I could clearly see the blade. 

Perhaps a light?  Bring the blade forward?

 

[jrtibbetts]

Unless I've missed something (quite likely I'm afraid) all Festools over here (France) use the same plug it cord.  If they didn't, I would imagine that the combined hose/cord that I have on the boom arm wouldn't work.  If that is the case, could Festool not supply the heavier gauge cable for all their Festools in the US thereby avoiding Per's understandable frustration.  (It wouldn't help me much - I'm so dumb I went to a job site the other day without a single plug it cord.  Made me nostalgic for the time when Festools had their cords permanently attached.)

At least in Europe you can buy the vac hose that has a power cord integrated into it. Can't forget the cord that way.

yes but.....my all in one hose is on a big festool vac with the boom arm, so when I'm out of the workshop I've a CT mini with a regular hose - hence my cock up.  Maybe I just need another all in one hose - pity they cost as much as other peoples' vacuums.

A hybrid of Per's suggestion to color code the power cord and the all-in-one hose/cord is to just tape the heavier power cord to a hose. It won't be pretty but...

I've considered that, but never got around to it. In the meantime, I just leave my TS 55's cord coiled up on the CT Mini, and leave all the other cords untouched in their Systainers.

 

[Tech]

I love my Festool jigsaw but having just completed a project with lots of jigsaw time I finally remove the front dust hood so I could clearly see the blade. 

Perhaps a light?  Bring the blade forward?

I noticed this when I first used my Trion shortly after the tool was released. I found that it was difficult to visualize the blade with the chip guard installed. I had to learn to use the indicator point on the splinter guard. This is tricky at first and there is a learning curve. You have to watch a little ahead of your line. Compare it to driving a car. You don't look right over the hood , but you find a point down the road. Once I figured that out, the rest was easy. You still have to find a reference point to know where to stop your cut (as this can be different depending on your blade and pendulum setting. Now I leave the chip guard on, collect most all of the dust and follow a line as well as I ever did with my ole Bosch.
All that said, Festool is remarkable in the way that they continually improve their products. Some improvements to existing tools are not always released with much fanfare from Festool, but forums like this (as was the old yahoo group) is great at the word out.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

All that said, Festool is remarkable in the way that they continually improve their products. Some improvements to existing tools are not always released with much fanfare from Festool, but forums like this (as was the old yahoo group) is great at the word out.

This is an interesting point.  I've occasionally been surprised when I go to a woodworking show and stop by the Festool booth to take a look at the tools.  Often, I see something a little different -- a little better -- on the model they have at the booth.  But until I saw it, I had not known about the improvement.

One example that comes to mind is the rubberized grip that appeared on the 150/5 and 150/3 sanders.

I'll call these "incremental improvements."  It would be a good idea to keep track of these somehow on the group.

Any ideas?

Matthew