Letting other people use your Festools

[MacMitch]

Heeey! I don't even have permission to use my Festool router yet. Maybe next week after I experiment with it without the cord a little longer, read a few more of the excellent web sites on it again, re read the new manual again.... I am using the new TS55 saw, 1080 table and the CT 22 Vac but I earned the right over several weeks, of course I am not allowed to take them out of the new Festool area in my shop yet.

Oh yea, I am new to the site. I hesitate to even make that claim since I see so many familiar Sawmill Creekers here. I guess I should start by saying hello my name is Mike or Mitch and I am a Festool "user"......

 

[Mirko]

Heeey, welcome MacMitchMike!

Mirko

 

[James Metcalf]

Mike

Welcome! If you like the creek, you will love it here.

 

[JJSchumer]

I have a general rule for loaning anything..........
If the borrower can afford to replace it, they can borrow it

 

[stevelf]

The thing for me is, I maintain my tools, and know they cut a sweet 90 degrees, or 29.9 degrees, or whatever. Say I let someone use my SCMS and jeez! all of a sudden I'm not gettin' a 90 anymore, and holy schmolly, I think my $200. blade has a slight wobble to it...! Where did that come from ?? Was it them, was it me...??Not knowing puts bad energy towards the person I lent the tool to... No bueno!
  Lending my Festools? Never! With no guilt, BTW!

 

[nickao]

No more lending tools, ever. Except to one person.

I have a bunch of homeowner tool copies for almost every tool I have. Those are the tools I might lend out and even on site I had to stop letting people tough my stuff. I left for three days to Vegas, one guy cut his finger off completely using my table saw and wanted to sue me! And my miter box was never the same and still isn't and everyone just played dumb. I still do not know why the darn thing screams and whines I have disassembled it twice.

A  neighbor did not bring a wrench back to me and after two months I had to go and ask for it, he needed it for one day.

No more on the tool lending, especially to family. If you lend family money you better never expect it back and I don't, now I use the same rule for my tools and since I want the tools  back no lending them out.

Anyone can come and use them in my shop no problem.

The only person I will lend a tool is a  15 year old kid. I lent him tools and he would clean them better than when he borrowed them and even put in new blades, etc. He is 22 now and still the only person I will ever lend a tool to. He always brings them back clean and calls if he needs them longer then he initially asked for. And this is the son of the guy who wanted to sue me!

Nickao

 

[honeydoman]

I only let my neighbors 6 year old borrow my saws, he seem to take care of them........ lol  no way.

only a few times I have lent out tools.  NEVER festools NEVER festools NEVER festools.  they will mess them up.  I even have to watch my 2 helpers when they are using them

funny story.

several years ago I bought a brand new 12" makita chop scms.  at the time my hispanic helper of 4 years at that time was cutting on it and needed to make a bevel cut. well the makita has a flip back stop that you just flip over to clear the way for the bevel cut.......... need I say more........; I look over and he is slowly cutting through the flip stop so he can make his bevel cut on the molding.  to this day I still see the cut 1/3 of the way through the flip.... WTF

 

[Eli]

I don't lend the Festool. Pay my day rate and you can watch how much fun I have using them......

;D ;D ;D

 

[Dan Clermont]

I let people use my Festool's sanders all the time so they get the efficiency and dust collection which make them unique.

I Won't let ANYBODY touch my Domino and KAPEX

Dan Clermont

 

[Patrick]

I did it once - and won't do it again. Fortunately, the belt sander only ate the Rotex's power cord, shredding the beld sander's drive belt in the process. The plug-it cord was easily replaced. So was the drive belt. The worst part was that good friends were really really embarrassed. Don't do that to a friend !

 

[gkeas]

I loan my other tools as requested, the loanee understanding that they are expected to maintain and not abuse.  I haven't been asked to borrow any Festool, yet, but I would be reluctant with anything but the sanders. 

 

[philg]

I am of the Red Green camp; "If it's not broke, don't lend it".

Phil

 

[Sparky977]

I will barely let my own father, a builder all his life, use my Festools!  I just convinced a friend of mine, a local builder, to purchase Festool.  He loves them.  He was over at my shop helping me with a job, and even though he has had his Domino for a week and has been using it, it still made me nervous to let him use mine!  He did a good job though.  I just figured, if he broke my Domino, he had already bought one to replace it.

 

[Nhickosan]

                  What do you think is the advantages and disadvantages of using this festools. You can weight by giving the conclusion to whom what is more better.

________________
crawl space dehumidifier

 

[bonesbr549]

I loan my other tools as requested, the loanee understanding that they are expected to maintain and not abuse.  I haven't been asked to borrow any Festool, yet, but I would be reluctant with anything but the sanders. 

Depends on who it is.  My best friend whom I've known for 30+ years sure I know him and he will take care.  Anybody else, I have some old stuff for that.  It's like when I was growing up planting sweet korn.  You always put the feed korn on the outside rows for the deer so they would not get the good stuff. 

 

[Greg_R]

Even people who are careful can have an accident and damage a tool.  IMO, it's just not worth the potential bad blood.  As others mentioned, I'm happy to help people out with their projects (get to hang out in the shop for a day and socialize).  My neighbor borrowed and damaged my crowbar so I'm not letting him near anything else, particularly a power tool.

 

[tbellemare]

Jerry Sizemore (ex-Eagles tackle) once broke a 4-way lug wrench that I loaned him with his bare hands, broke the socket in half. I don't think even he could break a crowbar ...

Tom

 

[ghostofhoward]

yeah I will lend mine out with some instruction and demo beforehand.There is more potential for hard feelings for refusing,than potential for someone to ruin something and cause hard feelings in that way.If I dont trust the person I will do what they need done for them.

 

[monkeyswithhammers]

I don't loan.

I just explain that this is how I feed my family so I don't take chances with them, I usually offer to do the cut, sand, drill, whatever if they bring it to me.  So far no hard feelings, can't say the same for times before when I loaned things out.

 

[daves1996]

My nephew - who is an excellent framer and rough carpenter - had a pretty dejected look on his face when I said " No one uses the Kapex ". His tools look to be a little abused.

Dave