looking for any info on the Festo bits(they are branded Festo)

[justustwo]

Hi all thanks for accepting me into the group.
I am looking for any info on the Festo bits(they are branded Festo) that I have aquired after a  bereavement.
Anyone know what these are from? thank in advance for any suggestions
Andrew.

 

[Ron B]

Festo was the earlier name.  Then the company split and the new power tool division was Festool.  So Festo brand tools became Festool about 20-25 years ago and the rest of the company kept the Festo name.  I only know this because driving through Indianapolis, Indiana this year I saw a Festo plant and looked it up.  If I remember correctly, Festo makes automation products used in manufacturing facilities. 

So your Festo items are probably from 25 years or more ago.  That would make them from the last century. 

Going out on a limb, the fact that Festo already had a presence in Indiana may be why Festool USA was located up the road in Lebanon, Indiana. 

 

[jeffinsgf]

Very early track saw rail brackets for the MFT-1080. Mine (also branded Festo, not Festool) is a few years newer and has cam clamps where yours has knobs. Not sure about the plastic bit on the right or the bent rod.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The Festo branding is not necessarily that old. The first set of clamping elements I bought had that logo. This would have been 2014-2015?
Maybe it was because of the existing molds? Why change it, if it works.
The second set (the ones I have now) are the up-dated brand. Those were late in 2019.

 

[squall_line]

As Jeff said, the metal brackets are a rail hinge and front plate for an older MFT.

The plastic 90 degree piece is likely a hose deflector for the end of the rail.

No idea what the bent rod is.

 

[justustwo]

thanks to all for the replies and info and this does actually help as i have also got seperatly from these bits a festo foldup table model FST660/85 so maybe it can be used with these and rail?

 

[jeffinsgf]

thanks to all for the replies and info and this does actually help as i have also got seperatly from these bits a festo foldup table model FST660/85 so maybe it can be used with these and rail?

Yes, and it can be an old rail or brand new. While the new profile is quite different, with added ribs, they still work back and forth with the older rail accessories.

 

[Coen]

Not all current accessories work with the old rails.

...

No idea what the bent rod is.

Drill depth stop, is clamped in small hole near 2nd grip.

The blacks knobs have been sold with "Festo" for years and years after they created the Festool brand. Nobody is gonna change a mold for something almost nobody even notices. The knobs might have been made with a few years supply in advance. The cost is in changing out the molds on the machine (man hours, downtime, cleaning, etc). The marginal unit cost is near zero for small items like this. It's not uncommon for molding companies to produce more than initially requested and on the next order that gamble is paid off because they save on the cost of putting the mold in the machine again.

Molding companies might have tens of millions worth of different molds in their warehouse. I've seen a storage building with molds from the inside once. The whole thing was designed so nothing could ever burn; concrete walls, steel roof, concrete floor, steel doors, steel racks with steel shelves. There was literally nothing that could burn besides the paper signs warning to not leave anything that could burn in that building  [tongue].

Molding itself is inherently potentially dangerous; high temperatures, high electric currents, plastics that can burn, etc. That's why they store the molds separately.