How did you find Festool?

[erock]

So I have a lot of friends in the trades.  Remodelers, plumbers, painters,  ect...and when I ask them if they ever heard of or seen Festool tools they all say "NO".

I thought that for my carpenter friends, that was kind of odd.  And I asked if they read any woodworking magazines or something of that nature.  And they all said "YES". 

Well that's how I found Festool.  Flipping thru the Fine WoodWorking mag. and came across an add for Festool.  So I decided to google and youtube Festool.  And after watching about 2 minutes of some guy using the TS 55 I was amazed. I found the nearest dealer and visited Woodcraft about 10 times.  And the nearest Woodcraft is about 30 minutes from my house!  Did a couple more weeks of research online, that's how I came across the FOG.  After reading a couple post on FOG I decided that if I wanted to take my skills to the next level, I needed to invest into some Festool tools.  So in the first week of April of 2010 I made my first Festool purchase.  That night of buying my tools I joined the FOG and have collected some nice tools since then.

So how did you find out about Festool?   

Eric 

 

[speed]

festool came to a demo day at collage when i was an apprentice, it didnt buy my first festool until 3 yeas later tho'

 

[peter halle]

Festool found me.  I had seen the tiny ads in Fine Woodworking for several years but had not really paid attention, but one day a non-solicited DVD showed up in the mail.  I don' know how many times I watched that video and how many times I forced my wife to watch it.  The result was a TS 55 for Christmas.  I found the FOG afterwards, lurked for several months, then ...

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Did a project that took 5 sheets of MDF in my garage.  Even with souped up dust collection on the Unisaw, there was MDF dust on everything, half of it on me.  Plus I hurt my back lifting the heavy sheets.  Figured I was getting too old for this cr** and asked Mr. Google what to do.  Made the guy at Woodcraft a happy man by plunking down for a TS55 and a CT22.  Didn't discover Bob M for a while...

Next time I built that project I backed up the truck to my Festool cutting table in the shop, slid out a sheet of MDF and cut it with the TS.  My back never complained.  After cutting the five sheets to spec, I swept and swept and still had only a couple of tablespoons of MDF dust.  Never looked back.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

I was tiling the backsplash in my kitchen with mosaic tiles.  The wall was severely out of plane.  I'd never trimmed a wall to get it back into plane.  I used a ton of those prepackaged shims and it took a really long time.  My wife was getting very upset about how long it was taking.  I thought "If I could just measure the type of shim I needed from a 2x4, cut the shim to the correct angle and nail it to the wall, I could get to tiling instead of fixing an out of plane wall.

I had a Family Handyman that reviewed the Dewalt rail saw.  I looked on Amazon and read the reviews.  There were several reviews for the Dewalt saw that said that Festool was better.  I never head of Festool.  I did some more digging and research.  I decided to bite the bullet, sold all my Bosch power tools and replaced them with Festool.  My wife was really mad regarding the expense.  I explained that if I could do the jobs faster and with less mess, it would be worth it.  She was skeptical until we had a flood that required me to replace the ceiling in our kitchen and living room.  After that I was allowed to buy at my discretion.  My bank account has yet to recover from the trauma.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I saw ads in trade magazines and there was this guy named John Lucas.....

 

[jonny round boy]

I found Festool via another tradesman. I was fitting a kitchen & was let down by my gas fitter, so rang an emergency plumber I found in the Yellow Pages. He turned up & we got chatting, and he said he had a kitchen fit coming up he needed a hand on. I did a days work for him on that, and he had a TS55 he used for cutting the worktops. I'd never seen one before, and when I got home I looked it up on the 'net.

Found a local dealer & went to check one out. Came home with one.

FWIW, I don't think Festool have ever advertised in the UK, in any medium...

 

[Guy Ashley]

June 2008 doing a kitchen refurb when my old Bosch plunge saw died halfway through cutting a solid wood worktop. Panic trip to my local tool dealer for replacement Bosch only to find he hadn't got the one I wanted in stock.

He suggested the Festool TS55 and then told me the price. No way was I going to pay that for a circular saw!!!

He could see the dilema I was in so lent me the store demo TS 55 with a 1.4m guide rail and said use it on this job and ring me, if you dont want it, I will order you a Bosch on overnight.

Well, you will all know what happened, and as they say the rest is history! [scared]

 

[mastercabman]

I was searching for jigsaw blades.I had a Bosch jigsaw and was using Bosch blades.T101B.Very good blades,but when you hit a nail or stapple,it's over !
So, i was looking at a Bosch catalogue and looking at the end,it showed all the blades that Bosch made.There was different sections for all the blades;Universal,T shank,and on the last section it showed    " DOUBLE T SHANK/EARLY FESTO"  FESTO??  I looked it up on the internet and all i got was a German site.No USA Festool yet.
This was early 2000's.
Then,i receive McFeely' mail catalogue,and noticed that they just got Festool tools.It looked really nice!I think all they had at the time was the plunge cut saw,the jigsaw and the cordless drill. The older models.I really liked what i saw,but i hesitated because of the price.I wanted to put my hands on it before i can dump the cash(I don't think Festool offered the 30 day return policy at the time).So i waited and Woodcraft started to offer Festool.So i went there and got my First Festool.  The C12 with all the extra.    $520.00!!!!    Then the TS55 with the mftm1080.  And then........  well now i have a nice collection!!!

 

[DavidCBaker]

Local Woodcraft store (Franklin, TN) kept calling my name, and when I needed a new electric drill I decided to give them a try.

 

[woodguy7]

Dam sales rep turned up at the workshop & said, you ever tried out one of these (holding up the TS55).....

Many thousands later, i am still looking for my next hit  [crying]

 

[greg mann]

I was tiling the backsplash in my kitchen with mosaic tiles.  The wall was severely out of plane.  I'd never trimmed a wall to get it back into plane.  I used a ton of those prepackaged shims and it took a really long time.  My wife was getting very upset about how long it was taking.  I thought "If I could just measure the type of shim I needed from a 2x4, cut the shim to the correct angle and nail it to the wall, I could get to tiling instead of fixing an out of plane wall.

I had a Family Handyman that reviewed the Dewalt rail saw.  I looked on Amazon and read the reviews.  There were several reviews for the Dewalt saw that said that Festool was better.  I never head of Festool.  I did some more digging and research.  I decided to bite the bullet, sold all my Bosch power tools and replaced them with Festool.  My wife was really mad regarding the expense.  I explained that if I could do the jobs faster and with less mess, it would be worth it.  She was skeptical until we had a flood that required me to replace the ceiling in our kitchen and living room.   After that I was allowed to buy at my discretion.  My bank account has yet to recover from the trauma.

Man, some guys will go to real extremes to justify what they've bought.  [poke]

 

[greg mann]

I really can't remeber which tool I bought first. Maybe Shawn can look it up for me. 

I do know that John Lucas played a major part in making me aware of what Festool had to offer. I think I stumbled onto his website just surfing woodworking stuff. God Bless Him.

 

[tiralie]

I was looking for a solution to those crappy plastic hole jigs and chip out in melamine when making cabinets and someone on some woodworking board on the internet recommended Festool . I found the 32 sys and it was game over.

Been down hill ever since.
Tim

 

[Dan Clermont]

The first time I saw Festool was at the local woodshow where Hafele had a small booth. I asked the price and thought it was absurd.

Coupla years later I was hanging out on the Woodnet forum (Hand Tools) and came across Bob Marino. Bought my plunge cut saw through Bob and the rest was history.

Cheers
Dan Clermont

 

[BMH]

I was trying to save my fingers. Didn't like using my little table saw and talked to the guys at Woodcrafter about it (2008). TS55 and MFT solved the first problem,  10 more sytainers and the CT33 solved most of the others. Now I am trying to figure how to pay for my kids colleges.

Bruce

 

[fidelfs]

I was watching DIY network Amy Devers on freeform furnishing.  I saw something really cool, a table with a rail that allow to make cross cut (MFT 1080).   I searched on internet until I found Festool.

 

[Kevin D.]

I'd seen some ads in mags over the years, and even tool reviews where there would be a Festool in the comparisons, but never paid attention to them.  When I saw the price I really didn't want to pay attention to them.  [eek] 

Then I went to a Festool tool demo and Domino product intro at Frank Pellows, and I still didn't want to see them.  Did some more research, reading, seeing various posts on the forums, and got a catalogue sent out from Dan Clermont.  Once I got my head wrapped around it, I was sold.  They weren't over priced tools, they were under valued solutions!

I'd like to see Shane post where did he first hear about Festool?

 

[Kodi Crescent]

I was tiling the backsplash in my kitchen with mosaic tiles.  The wall was severely out of plane.  I'd never trimmed a wall to get it back into plane.  I used a ton of those prepackaged shims and it took a really long time.  My wife was getting very upset about how long it was taking.  I thought "If I could just measure the type of shim I needed from a 2x4, cut the shim to the correct angle and nail it to the wall, I could get to tiling instead of fixing an out of plane wall.

I had a Family Handyman that reviewed the Dewalt rail saw.  I looked on Amazon and read the reviews.  There were several reviews for the Dewalt saw that said that Festool was better.  I never head of Festool.  I did some more digging and research.  I decided to bite the bullet, sold all my Bosch power tools and replaced them with Festool.  My wife was really mad regarding the expense.  I explained that if I could do the jobs faster and with less mess, it would be worth it.  She was skeptical until we had a flood that required me to replace the ceiling in our kitchen and living room.   After that I was allowed to buy at my discretion.  My bank account has yet to recover from the trauma.

Man, some guys will go to real extremes to justify what they've bought.   [poke]

I would have much rather not had the flood.  I learned a valuable lesson though.  Make sure your air conditioner drain line works correctly, and put a water alarm near your upstairs furnace.

 

[Sparktrician]

I had seen the Festool goodies at a woodworking show and was impressed by the cleanliness of the cuts of the TS55.  A couple of years later, when I was the production manager for a local closet remodeling company, I invited the regional Festool rep to do a demo in the shop.  Again, I was impressed and could see the usefulness, especially of the C12 with eccentric and angle heads in assembling closets.  The owner and I decided not to purchase because of the fact that the crews could not be trusted to appropriately care for the tools.  Some refused to even put their tools back in the cases and store them correctly.  We couldn't see investing in the tools for the troops when we couldn't count on them to respect and care for high-quality tools.  It was years later when I was on my own that I decided to take the plunge.  No regrets at all.  I seem to have a number of tools that seldom get used any more. 

[smile]