Impact Driver.

[tomba26]

I'd love Festool to manufacture a powerful, well balanced impact driver using the 18v 5.2ah batteries. A tough tool to rival the others on the market.
I'm using a Makita at the moment but would love to see a Festool offering I could use my batteries with.

 

[Birdhunter]

I agree an 18v "real" impact driver would be a winner.

I treasure my TI15 impact driver. It got a lot of bad press, but it's a great tool. I only use it in impact mode as I have a slew of other Festool drills.

 

[Kev]

I agree an 18v "real" impact driver would be a winner.

I treasure my TI15 impact driver. It got a lot of bad press, but it's a great tool. I only use it in impact mode as I have a slew of other Festool drills.

Same, same ... I have a 400Nm Metabo impact wrench for anything "big", so my Ti15 being only dedicated to impact driving of medium stuff is  fine. Though I'd still pick up a new brushless 18V impact driver if Festool brought a decent one to the market [wink]

 

[demographic]

Thing is, it doesn't even have to be a world beater.
Just good enough.
That will mean Festool are  a far more viable prospect to the people who want the same battery platform across their cordless tools.
Might npt matter to the workshop wallas  who realistically could manage with corded tools but the site workers with restricted van space value it far more.

 

[ear3]

Given the surveys sent out in the past few months to various end users, as was reported here on the FOG, I would say there's probably one coming in the near future.

 

[tony_sheehan]

Could I trouble one of you to explain to me what it was that was supposed to be so terrible about the Ti15? All the bad references I read never actually explain the reasons for its withdrawal.

Funny thing about impact drivers in general is that I always see them being used in situations where they're not necessary, or rather offer no advantage. Often it's in high end refurbishments that are about to be marketed for many millions of pounds where the electrical sockets and switches are all skewed and flecked with paint, the fancy lighting systems don't work properly and the floating floors bounce like a trampoline.....

 

[bobfog]

Could I trouble one of you to explain to me what it was that was supposed to be so terrible about the Ti15? All the bad references I read never actually explain the reasons for its withdrawal.

Funny thing about impact drivers in general is that I always see them being used in situations where they're not necessary, or rather offer no advantage. Often it's in high end refurbishments that are about to be marketed for many millions of pounds where the electrical sockets and switches are all skewed and flecked with paint, the fancy lighting systems don't work properly and the floating floors bounce like a trampoline.....

Yeah. My impact driver is a tool I sometimes go weeks  without using, but when I need it it's because I really needed. Really drives me crazy when people use them for driving small screws creating all that unnecessary noise.

 

[Birdhunter]

My TI15 is used mostly to drive lag bolts into predrilled wood. It sees some use in driving large screws into predrilled wood. Having other Festool drills, I seldom tried to shift the TI15 into pure drill mode. I wax every lag bolt and large screw before inserting them.

I also have a Bosch SDS Impact driver. The SDS tool has only been used to drill holes in concrete.

I've seen dialogs on percussion drivers, impact drivers, and SDS drivers but I've found them difficult to remember.

 

[Kev]

Yeah. My impact driver is a tool I sometimes go weeks  without using, but when I need it it's because I really needed. Really drives me crazy when people use them for driving small screws creating all that unnecessary noise.

I have a new neighbour that's a "builder". You'd think the only tool he has is an impact driver ... I'm tempted to suggest a new use for it [mad]

 

[semenza]

Could I trouble one of you to explain to me what it was that was supposed to be so terrible about the Ti15? All the bad references I read never actually explain the reasons for its withdrawal.

Funny thing about impact drivers in general is that I always see them being used in situations where they're not necessary, or rather offer no advantage. Often it's in high end refurbishments that are about to be marketed for many millions of pounds where the electrical sockets and switches are all skewed and flecked with paint, the fancy lighting systems don't work properly and the floating floors bounce like a trampoline.....

  Personally I have found the Ti15 to be a perfectly fine impact driver. I think the innovation of being able to use it as a drill, while certainly a cool idea, is one of the things that killed it.  It is an OK drill, never meant to be the only drill someone has in their tool arsenal, but useable as a drill if needed. The other thing I found is that the drill adapter makes it front heavy, long, and a bit clumsy to use.

    But as an impact it works great!

Seth

 

[Laminator]

Put me on the list as I would love to have an 18v Festool impact.  The only deal breaker for me would be  that it has to utilize the 1\4" quick couple as my makita.  If its centrotec only then forget it.

 

[GhostFist]

Meh  :-\

 

[demographic]

Could I trouble one of you to explain to me what it was that was supposed to be so terrible about the Ti15? All the bad references I read never actually explain the reasons for its withdrawal.

Funny thing about impact drivers in general is that I always see them being used in situations where they're not necessary, or rather offer no advantage. Often it's in high end refurbishments that are about to be marketed for many millions of pounds where the electrical sockets and switches are all skewed and flecked with paint, the fancy lighting systems don't work properly and the floating floors bounce like a trampoline.....

What was wrong with the fifteen volt one?

Does it take the same batteries as the cordless saws?
Theres yer answer then.

As for the rest of the post, was there a point you were trying to make in amongst all that? I kind of missed it.

 

[GarryMartin]

Personally I have found the Ti15 to be a perfectly fine impact driver.

Snap. I bought it at the same time as the T15 set and have them together in a SYS2 attic. Never used it as a drill.

 

[tony_sheehan]

What was wrong with the fifteen volt one?

Does it take the same batteries as the cordless saws?
Theres yer answer then.

As for the rest of the post, was there a point you were trying to make in amongst all that? I kind of missed it.
[/quote]

Not the same batteries but the same charger. But fair enough point.

My point? Well here's the thing (and it's not my intention here to offend those who use impact drivers legitimately) : There are a lot of situations that I witness where impact drivers are used by incompetents and/ or those who don't give a sh*t, the attitude often pervades throughout a whole company or whole site. Now you are possibly of the opinion that the use of an impact driver indicates nothing; I'm just saying that, to me, its inappropriate use is indicative of a certain attitude and I see a lot more residential developments than most.

 

[rizzoa13]

I see what your saying about not so intelligent people taking an impact and running with it. I tend to disagree though. I find it a lot easier for myself and DEFINATELY layman to cam out a screw with a drill/driver.

Case in point I was helping a 65 year old man do a repair on his fence as a part of a much larger job on his rental property. One person needed to hold up the fence while it was screwed to the new sistered 2x4s. So I set him all up, jacked the fence into place and he ran the screws with my impact. On the other hand I've seen him struggle mightily with a regular drill on a smaller screw.

Same goes for me. I'll pick up an impact for all screw driving. Im comfortable enough feathering the trigger even on small screws.

 

[rst]

While impact driver noise is annoying, those of us that use them in commercial/industrial work would never go back.  I do commercial door and locksmithing and often find that I can remove hinge screws that have been in and rusting for thirty years.  In the bad old days I would use a hand hammer driven tool and still would have to drill out most every screw head in order to make repairs.  Now between my 18V and 12V Milwaukees I seldom drill more than one or two screws no matter how old or corroded.  The 12V will remove and install most screws without stripping and The 18V drives the self tapping 12-24 hinge screws with ease.

 

[tony_sheehan]

While impact driver noise is annoying, those of us that use them in commercial/industrial work would never go back.  I do commercial door and locksmithing and often find that I can remove hinge screws that have been in and rusting for thirty years.  In the bad old days I would use a hand hammer driven tool and still would have to drill out most every screw head in order to make repairs.  Now between my 18V and 12V Milwaukees I seldom drill more than one or two screws no matter how old or corroded.  The 12V will remove and install most screws without stripping and The 18V drives the self tapping 12-24 hinge screws with ease.

The noise is annoying, yes, but your choice of tool here is entirely appropriate.  I have a maintenance contract with a self storage company which sometimes involves me driving a lot of self drilling screws into mild steel. For this I use an 18v makita impact (I'm usually  working in restricted areas often on a step ladder and the compact size of the makita is a boon). The noise of the impact driver is amplified by the steel panels= not nice!

 

[Holmz]

... A tough tool to rival the others on the market.
...

Which is the one for FT to rival?
The Makita or another?

 

[DB10]

I've owned my now for a few years and it has always worked well, I prefer using the Ti 15 to my Makita 18v impact, I've seen some good prices been advertised for the Ti 15 over the last year or so as dealers were getting rid of old stock. If you do manage to pick one up cheap and already have a few 14.4 batteries lying around you can't go wrong.