Letting other people use your Festools

[EdL]

A comment was made in another thread about not letting people use his Festools.
Just curious about what other people do.
Let them use them under supervision? Loan them out?
Personally I'll let my friends use them in my shop. It always brings a smile to my face when they compliment on how nice the sander is to use or how straight they can cut with the saw & guide rail.

Ed

 

[Dan Clark]

When I'm standing there and they know how to use power tools and I trust them...  Sure, no problem. 

Any other conditions?  Nope!  No how.  No way.  NO TIME!

Dan.

 

[ejantny]

When I'm standing there and they know how to use power tools and I trust them...  Sure, no problem. 

Any other conditions?  Nope!  No how.  No way.  NO TIME!

Dan.

My sentiments exactly.

I have to know them real well and how they handle thier own tools. Little does the borrower know is that I'm attached to the Festool.

 

[Ray Newman]

I have a very standard rule: I don't lend out  ANY of my tools.

If someone wants to make a few cuts on board or sheet of plyw'd, bring it to me. Then, depending upon the wood quality/condition, I carefully look t it over for nails, screws, etc.

Maybe it was just bad luck, but the few things that I lent out in the past never seemed to return in the same condition or it took forever to get them back.

 

[Tinker]

I had made the original comment.  any who may read/have read my post would realise the ONLY person I loan any tools out to is my son.  He knows i might borrow from him ;D at any time.  AND, I know where he lives.  He knows I will take good care of my grandson/his kid.  he better take good care of my tools.  (just kidding)  Beyond my ancient Milwaukee tools, I loan to absolutely nobody.  As Dan does, i only allow anybody to touch in my presence.  If they do not know how to use tools (I have not seen them work elsewhere) they do not touch.  i don't even work in my shop if a stranger, or inexperienced worker is in there with me. 
Tinker

 

[ejantny]

Sooner or later just about everyone has to borrow a tool be it a hand tool or power tool. My personal outlook on borrowing is ... borrow it once is ok. Needing to borrow it a second time means it is time to buy one.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Reminds me of the time I loaned my brother-in-law a cordless drill, extra battery, and two bits.  He wanted to hang half a dozen pictures in his new apartment.  He called a couple of days later, reporting that he had worn down both batteries and dulled the two bits.  When I took the charger and a spare bit over, I noticed that the drill was still set to 'reverse.'  Scared me off loaning tools for ever after.

 

[Lou Miller]

I work with a LOT of guys that are highly experience when it comes to using power tools. Only a very select few get to borrow anything of mine that says Festool on it. Those guys are people that I know will show the same amount of respect towards my tools that I will. There are a ton of guys on our jobsites that know how to use them correctly, but I wouldn't trust them to use them in fornt of me, let alone borrow them. I'd loan to them to a lot of hobbiests before I would most of the guys on jobsites that call themselves pros. 

I'll loan out things like my Skilsaw, or my POS sawzall and stuff, but not the Festools unless you've shown me many times that you are trust worthy. All of us have invested a good deal of cash in these tools, its only right that we are fussy about others using them.

JMHO.

 

[stvrowe]

I don't loan any tools, Festool or otherwise.  My reasons are:
1) There is no way, no how, the loanee would care about my tools as much as I do.  Chances are they don't even have a clue about how much quality tools cost.  If they did, they wouldn't ask.
2) Chances are, since they don't own one, they wouldn't know how to use it anyway.
3) What are my personal liabilities if someone were to injure themselves with one of my tools?
4) When I loaned tools in a previous millenium, they didn't come back.  Fortunately, even then I knew not to loan anything I couldn't afford to lose.
Steve

 

[Dan Uhlir]

I'll rent 'em or trade no loans seriously about 40 bucks half day 60 all day. A friend who wants to try it different situation. I learned from an apparently wealthy man when poor me asked to borrow his pressure washer he said sure for forty bucks. As the old man would say whatta ya think this is. Dan

 

[stvrowe]

I'll rent 'em or trade no loans seriously about 40 bucks half day 60 all day. A friend who wants to try it different situation. I learned from an apparently wealthy man when poor me asked to borrow his pressure washer he said sure for forty bucks. As the old man would say whatta ya think this is. Dan

I had a neighbor that wanted to rent my tractor for a few days.  I politely advised him that I wasn't in the equipment rental business but if it was a small job (< a couple hours) I would do it for free.  It was much larger so he went to the equipment rental place.  I watched him go full bore into a pile of dirt with the front end loader all day long.  I sure was glad to not be in the equipment rental business.
Steve

 

[ryansmythe]

I have some tools that i will let people on the job use but you break it you bought it. festool is another story they don't leave my sight.

 

[eap]

I will loan what I can afford to replace, and I can never afford to replace anything Or at least that is what I tell people when asked.

 

[Corwin]

Boy, I don't know about loaning out any Festools.  When I was growing up, the neighbor barrowed my father's ladder... short story even shorter -- he painted the ladder and called it his own.  Now, it would be sad to see one of my tools painted something other that black and green! :'(

Corwin

 

[skipclemmons]

I have kept a small set of Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Black and Decker,  specifically to have something to lend and use on Boy Scout projects.  No way I would let the Festools out of my sight.

 

[mantonuc]

Hey guys,

  For me, it depends on who I am lending it to and what I am lending...  There are certain tools that I will absolutely not lend - period.  One of them is anything to do with the application of paints/solvents...  No one will ever spend the time it takes to really clean up paint Eq. when it is not theirs.  I had a bad experience there in the past...

  As far as the Festools are concerned, for certain good friends I will do it...  It is usually obvious which ones I can trust but I apply the following "rules" when making that decision:

       A)  Are they a "good" friend/relative whom I find trustworthy?
       B)  How do they treat their own tools (i.e., are they in good shape or torn up)?
       C)  Do they have experience using power tools?  I will not lend to a novice...
       D)  Are they cheap with their money?  If so, they might not respect yours...
       E)  Are they particular about the quality of their work?  Some one who does not
            care about detail will probably not care about their tools either...

  With the above criteria satisfied, I will always make it clear that if they break it (or mess it up in any way), they bought it...  In addition, I will take the time to explain the features and operation of the tool.  That will usually follow with a brief demonstration.  That being said, for those certain few (very few), when every I have lent out the tools, I have created a definite Festool fan and usually a customer...  In my mind, there is simply no better way to spread the good word of these awesome tools...

Matt

 

[Wim]

When somebody asks to borrow a tool, my answer is loud and clear: "No way, buy it or rent it". If it is a small job and the relation is friendly, I will do the job myself. The only one that may borrow something is my best friend. We did some home and boat improvement jobs and he is very reliable and experienced in technical matters. But my Festool tools only under my supervision.

 

[Tinker]

a friend was going to buy a bandsaw and asked me what size he should get.  I had an old 8 or 9" Delta that i did not have room to use.  i suggested he borrow mine to see if it would do the work he wanted to do.  he got it home and completely stripped it (dismantled) down, rebuilt it, made a beautiful stand with a brass plaque with my name on it.  he used the saw for probably 10 years before cashing in his chips.  his son brought the saw back to me shortly thereafter with it in like new condition.  Much better condition than before he had "borrowed" it.  him, I might have loaned some of my Festools.  There is no body else i could consider
Tinker

 

[Bob MN]

I will loan out some tools to friends who know how to use them and that I know will take care of them. The names on those tools are Craftsman, and "seasoned" PC, Makita, and Dewalt tools.

My Festool tools WILL NOT be loaned out to anyone under any circumstances.

 

[Jim Becker]

There is a very, very short list of folks that I'd let use my shop or tools, including the Festool stable. And these are folks who would do the same for me if I asked. And each is of the character that if something were lost or damaged, there would be a new one or a fixed one in my hands quickly. Outside of that, I'll demo the tools and even let someone under my supervision "test" the product. Even then, it's someone I know and have known for some time. It's not just about the tool...it's about the other potentialities.