Impact Driver.

[10eighty]

I'm currently running a festool Ti15 impact driver have always loved it and like that it has all chucks that can work on it. Clearly it doesn't have the grunt as an impact driver or a drill that a dedicated tool has. My impact driver of chose is a Hilti they out perform the makita's on site based on all my staff who use them and our drill of choice on site since the protool version is the DRC 18 because it spins at 3600rpm and is a good all around drill.
I have always considered the TI15 as a finishing type tool/Cabinetry/Furniture it has never been used on site for the construction side.
Festool have now gone back to the drawing board on their impact driver and as you can see in this forum it has now leaked that a Impact driver is now coming. A close friend of mine recently not only saw it but handled it i believe in the R&D department in Germany at the festool manufacturing plant where supposedly it is now at the latter stage of testing.
It is coming!

 

[pingvinlakrits]

As posted in another thread I talked to a German Festool Rep today for about half an hour about wants and wishes, likes and dislikes.

Everything was of course "top secret" and he would not give any information other than hints, some stronger than others - but also he would also say openly what he liked and disliked on a personal level and at least he would say No it something was not even in the works.

When asked about a successor to the Ti15 he started by saying that the Ti15 was a piece of cr*p. I thought I heard him wrong but he repeated that it was cr*p. We then talked about impacts for a while and he said that it has been a long process because impact drivers have not been very popular in Germany and convincing them that there is a market and that there is a need has taken a long time. He also said that yes, there is one in the works, but would not disclose any release date.

I asked him about CXS going brushless but he did say No to that, it would be too costly. When asking for a CXS Impact he also said No. It did not fit in their line up as it stands today - so basically NO brushless CXS and NO CXS/TXS or 10.8/12V  Impact.

They are looking into their 18V line up "only" at the moment when it comes to battery powered gear and he was interested in any feedback on the new battery platform - which he was given in the way of potential machines to outfit with the batteries. And, to which he agreed on most. 

One thing he did disclose while we were talking about improving the hose garage on some vac's was that they will release a new and more flexible hose that he urged us to check out when released. It will be smoother and more flexible and solve a few of the problems with the existing hoses dragging on the rails etc.

I asked him about Nail guns for 18V - but nothing at all, he asked follow up questions as to why and how we would use it and we showed him the Senco Fusion - he had never seen a sealed gas canister gun before and seemed very impressed after a demo and a comparison to the previous generation of air/gas nailers. The shot capacity per charge and the weight seemed to impress him, as did the fact about the small number of moving parts. He said that Festool had not looked much into nail guns as they were "very complex" and hard to get right.

On the way out of the shop I stopped and fondled the fantastic Hitachi impact drill on display when the German rep poked me and said - "no, wait until next year" and smiled.

Soooo - maybe 2018 is the year of the Impact?