Loaned out some Festools today

[EdL]

Loaned a friend my rts400 & ct22 this morning.  [scared] He had some pita trim to sand, the rts was the only thing that would do the job.
We met at the local bar for lunch, he returned my Festools  [big grin]
After unloading them at the shop, I opened the sander systainer to see if I needed to clean the tool.....only to find it empty.  [eek] I figured he must have really liked it!

He hid the sander in the hose garage.  [laughing]

Ed

 

[nickao]

Are you nuts?  ;D  No more lending out my tools, I have learned the hard way. They can borrow my seconds or thirds, but not my Festools!

 

[Corwin]

Your friend must have had a hard time getting through his lunch.  [smile]  You know he had fun with that! 

 

[EdL]

Are you nuts?  ;D  No more lending out my tools, I have learned the hard way. They can borrow my seconds or thirds, but not my Festools!

I've got as much time or more into this trim project as Al does. In no way do I want to have to redo any of it! It takes 4 seperate pieces to make up the molding, looks great, but it's a pita.

Besides....I was the one that noticed the planer marks on the main board.

There isn't but a few select people I lend tools to. They always come back in the same shape that they left. Its a mutual thing, I'll borrow their stuff too. If one trusts me with a $20,000 bulldozer, I guess he can use a Festool or 2.

Ed

 

[nickao]

You are lucky, hold on to friends like that.   What sucks is that stuff happens. I don't like to mix tools or any of my expensive belongings with family or friends.

One time I let my best buddy borrow my van to go across country for two weeks. When I got the Van back the transmission was gone. He did not offer to pay for it or even half and just said it was the  Van's time. Then I found out he was driving the entire time in the low gear! After he told me that he still did not offer to pay.

If something like that broke while it was in my possession not only would I pay to have it fixed I would have brought it back fixed. My fault or not.

We are still friends and I really never brought it up to him, but I learned my lesson borrowing stuff out. He put 8300 miles on that van as well and never even changed the oil!

 

[Rob-GB]

Sounds like you guys are great buddies, and Al has got a wicked sense of humor ;D
I guess it would be a bit tricky to hide his 'dozer [laughing]
As for me lending tools... it is limited to two people, my brother and my brother-in-law.
Both have huge respect for tools, ( they each use expensive tools in thier trades) and both help me out on occasion.
Still gets a bit scary though.
Rob.

 

[nickao]

My brother just does not know better(he is a union laborer by trade for 26 years now) so I have to give him the backup tools, caught him scraping something off  concrete with a 60.00 chisel.  [eek]

 

[EdL]

I guess it would be a bit tricky to hide his 'dozer [laughing]

Rob.

I'm taking suggestions on that.  ;D

Ed

 

[Rob-GB]

My brother just does not know better(he is a union laborer by trade for 26 years now) so I have to give him the backup tools, caught him scraping something off  concrete with a 60.00 chisel.  [eek]

Man that sucks!
I have five brothers, but would only let one borrow a tool, any tool from a stanley knife to my OF2200.  [laughing]

 

[Jesse Cloud]

My brother in law moved to a new house, asked to borrow a drill so he could hang some pictures on his walls.  I gave him a DeWally and a fresh new bit.  He dropped by a week later wanting to recharge the battery and asking if I had a sharp bit.

I asked how many pictures are you hanging, he said twelve. [huh]

But he said he had to push very hard to make the drill go thru the drywall.

You guessed it, the drill was in reverse. [eek]

 

[Kodi Crescent]

My dad once loaned a friend his truck in the summer.  The guy didn't check the oil, and seized the engine.  Big game season was coming in the fall, and we needed the truck to go hunting.  We needed elk meat to go with the rotating flavors of Rice-A-Roni or Hamburger Helper that my mom cooked every night.

My dad worked on rebuilding the engine.  I guess this was good because I got to see my dad completely strip an engine and rebuild it.  I don't think I could take on that task.  I'm not sure the friend compensated him for seizing the engine.  I thought my dad was a real SOB, but I admired his ability to fix just about anything, and he was an excellent shot.

Needless to say, we didn't have the truck ready for elk season.  So we took my mom's '78 Pontiac Grand Prix.  Ironically, my dad shot a 6 point bull elk that day and we had to pack it out in the trunk of the Grand Prix.  He quartered that thing and then mounted the head so that the head and rack were staring back at any tailgaters.  The whole incident is one hell of a story, but its too long to tell here.

I've learned that you do not loan out your tools, guns, vehicles, or your wife.  You will never get them back in the same condition as when you loaned them out.

 

[ccarrolladams]

The day after I started using my then new TS55 and CT22 in January 2006 a long time good friend visited me. I knew he was way into tools but up to then we had always discussed metal working.

He had never heard of Festool or Eagle Tool of Los Angeles. Obviously he was impressed with the TS55 and the guide rails, as well as the dust extraction. I gave him my Festool catalog to study. I showed him the OF1010, explaining I was considering it mostly to drill the holes for adjustable shelving.

We talked about a cooperative plan, since at the time neither of us had the chance to do serious woodworking often. I had not retired. The plan was he would buy a OF1010 with a extractor under the combo deal.

So imagine my surprise a few days later when I visited him and observed he had bought a TS55, an extra 1400mm rail, connectors and a CT33, but decided he already had several routers.

Subsequently each of us bought many Festools. I did get a OF1010 and the shorted LR32 rail.

It all worked out, because we used to help each other building personal projects. I would show up with my own TS55 my OF1010 and the LR32 rail, plus one of my 1400. This way we could connect one set of 1400mm rails for ripping and we still had an individual rail for cross-grain cuts. We found it goes so much faster with two woodworkers handling a coupled long rail. Also it is convenient to have an other woodworker around when lifting full sheets.

We borrow tools from each other a lot. His home is less than 5 minutes from my new shop.

I was raised to believe that sharing tools benefits everyone, so long as you are confident the borrower respects your tools and returns them on schedule. To me a tool sitting idle is sad. Besides once woodworkers have the chance to use Festools for several hours they find ways to buy them.

Many of the cabinet makers working for me I had met at Festool events. Others I had met through the representatives selling me slider and beam saws. Some others were introduced to me by my prime cabinet plywood and lumber wholesaler.

What I noticed was that those woodworkers who owned no Festoold when they met me are buying them as fast as they can.

 

[upscale]

I've learned that you do not loan out your tools, guns or vehicles.  You will never get them back in the same condition as when you loaned them out.

Then I feel bad for you that you don't have the right friend(s) in your life. I'm not insulting you, just saying that I've experienced differently. Certainly, you can be circumspect about who to lend tools to, but that doesn't mean there never will be anyone in your life that you can trust completely.

I have a best friend that I trust implicitly. So much so, that I've made him the executor and full beneficiary of my estate when it's my time to go. I have absolutely nothing to do with my siblings and wouldn't cross the street to say hello to them, but it's completely the opposite with this friend. I've adopted his family into my life and they've similarly adopted me.

We're both into woodworking and tools with me being the one who most often buys new tools. But, that's ok with me since he has a house and family to support while I'm single. However, several of my tools usually live at his place at any given point in time. I've never received anything back that was damaged and if something did get damaged, he'd tell me about it and replace it if I asked him to. I hope I'm not the exception by knowing someone I trust this much, but if I am, then I'm lucky and I know it. Am I naive? Maybe, but that's also ok with me. If it costs me a little money to find someone that I can trust this much then I consider it money well spent.

 

[Mac]

I've learned that you do not loan out your tools, guns or vehicles.  You will never get them back in the same condition as when you loaned them out.

Then I feel bad for you that you don't have the right friend(s) in your life. I'm not insulting you, just saying that I've experienced differently. Certainly, you can be circumspect about who to lend tools to, but that doesn't mean there never will be anyone in your life that you can trust completely.

I have a best friend that I trust implicitly. So much so, that I've made him the executor and full beneficiary of my estate when it's my time to go. I have absolutely nothing to do with my siblings and wouldn't cross the street to say hello to them, but it's completely the opposite with this friend. I've adopted his family into my life and they've similarly adopted me.

We're both into woodworking and tools with me being the one who most often buys new tools. But, that's ok with me since he has a house and family to support while I'm single. However, several of my tools usually live at his place at any given point in time. I've never received anything back that was damaged and if something did get damaged, he'd tell me about it and replace it if I asked him to. I hope I'm not the exception by knowing someone I trust this much, but if I am, then I'm lucky and I know it. Am I naive? Maybe, but that's also ok with me. If it costs me a little money to find someone that I can trust this much then I consider it money well spent.

I like this post a lot, and I like your view on the world. I'm fully with you on this one.

Cheers,
Rick

 

[Tinker]

When I was in construction, I loaned out my chainsaw to one of my builders.  It seemed his had broken down and was in the shop for repairs.  About six weeks later, I decided he must, by then, have his own saw back and I called for him to bring mine to his job so I could use it.  When I picked it up, he told me he had not had a chance to use it and he was sorry he had not returned it earlier.  It was in perfect shape when he had taken it.  After six weeks of not using it, the teeth were worn down to nothing.  Some broken.  The drive gear was frozen from lack of chain oil and the chain was so stiff, aside from having no teeth left, was also locked from lack of oil.  The bar had been bent and the chain channel was rolled out.  I got an estimate to fix the saw, and decided the expense was almost as much as a new saw.  The builder insisted he had not used the saw.  It is amazing how tools can wear out from lack of use.

Another time, i had bought a new leaf blower.  On my way home from the dealer, i stopped in at one of my jobs to see how the crew was doing.  I walked around and talked with the foreman and then went home.  When I got home the blower was gone.  I had never had the chance to use it.  Last fall, I stopped by the shop (my equipment dealer and guru).  The girl behind the counter asked if I had ever owned a Shindowa hand blower.  I told her no.  She then asked if I knew a person by name of XXX.  I said no.  She then told me she had a blower that XXX had brought in because he could not start it.  It was my blower that I had never used.  When I got home, I told my wife the story.  When I mentioned the name as it had been pronounced to me, she picked up on it and gave correct pronounciation.  The name she remembered was the name of the home owner where my crew had been working the day I had stopped on my way home with new blower on the truck.  My friend had checked the serial # on the blower and that is how she had known it was mine.  John got it started and returned the blower to ME.  It was in near perfect condition and I now use it every day on the job.  How long had the guy had my blower?  13 years.  The condition it was in after 13 years was nearly brand new off the shelf new.  That guy, even tho a thief, sure did take good care of a "borrowed" tool.
Tinker

 

[nickao]

There is only one person in my life I can fully trust and that is my wife, period. She has no use for my tools so I am safe. 

 

[slb]

My experience has been that loaning tools is another of those things that separates the world into two widely different groups.  I have some friends who actually return tools in better condition than I loaned them - clean off rust, sharpen blades, tune up adjustments, etc. - and will buy a replacement if they break something.  We don't hesitate to share when a need comes up.  Then there are people like the one I once loaned a sander.  When I needed it back, he said he had "reloaned" it to his neighbor and that *I* could call to see whether the neighbor was finished!  It was returned with the trigger switch stuck on and the power cord damaged from using it instead of the switch to turn the tool on and off!  Needless to say, I don't loan things to that person any more!

 

[nickao]

I guess the main issue is whether you use the tools to make money. I can't lend out any tools unless I have 2nd's and third's of the tools. If I lent out my Rotex that is like a software programmer lending out his computer, just can't do it. It is how I make a living.

Even lending out duplicates of tool is iffy for me, I have done it to many times and been let down. It is aggravating when people do not care or just know enough to take care of the tool.

No Festools ever get lent out, no way, they are the money makers. 

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I am usually required to chaperon  the tools.

 

[JimRay]

Shortly after my dad moved into a new house in a small neighborhood, the fellow across the street (also new to the area) and he struck up a bargain: they would not buy "duplicate" expensive tools just to have them sit around unused most of the time. Instead, they decided to co-ordinate their tool buying and share the tools. The deal was, if it broke, the user had to fix it or replace it. That was 20 years ago, and the plan has worked beautifully. These guys are good friends, and I think the up-front agreement (and common work ethic) has helped them maintain that friendship. Guess I need to move across the street from my Dad though - I lend him tools and they take forever to come back!

Jim Ray