Crazyraceguy said:
woodbutcherbower said:
Always interesting to read replies to a post like this. One man's meat is another man's poison as the saying goes. I'm a professional woodworker with 40 years on the tools. I have 4 pieces of Festool equipment (and very fine it is, too) - but I also have a lot of other equipment from numerous different manufacturers, which - for me, dramatically outperforms the comparable Festool offering. Don't allow yourself to get sucked and marketed into one-brand slavery, and don't deny yourself access to something great, just because it doesn't come in a grey and green box.
The ones I'm interested in are the tools that you believe "dramatically outperform" Festool.
The most important term there though is "comparable", because nothing compares to a Domino.
Both versions of the Domino are stellar, and as you say, it’s a unique product. I don’t do the type of work which enables me to justify one, however. But since you asked the question;
Hilti SF6H 22v combi - the most robust, reliable combi imaginable. Open this thing up and you’ll find a gearbox which looks like it came out of a miniature Kenworth or Scania truck. I have two — the original Gen 1 plus the newer Gen 2 brushless.
Hilti SID-22A 22v impact driver - see comments above.
Hilti TE-30AVR SDS - 12 years old, it’s been absolutely tortured and looks like junk, but it still works as well as the day I bought it.
Hilti DD-150 diamond core drill. Not really relevant since Festool don’t make such a tool. I’d also mention the fact that their service offering is world-class. If anything fails (which hardly ever happens) - a courier comes to site and collects it the same day, the local rep drops off a temporary replacement, they repair the tool and return it to a place of your choosing within three days. They continue to make and stock parts for tools for at least 10 years after the last one came off the line.
Mafell P1CC jigsaw - the only jigsaw Ive ever found which consistently cuts scrolled curves in timber whose edges are totally square to the surface. I bought mine at a tool show after a rep demonstrated the machine cutting a perfect square-edged circle around a £2 coin in 40mm thick oak countertop.
Mirka Deros 5650CV - just works for me. I love the near-silent operation, the feather-light weight and several other aspects of it.
Makita RP1100 quarter-inch router - I do a lot of work involving hinge rebates on in-situ door frames. The OF1010’s parallel fence sits at 90 degrees to the handle, so you can’t get it anywhere near the head of a door frame before the handle, power cable and extractor hose all hit it.
Hilti AG125 grinder- it has a hugely efficient dust control shroud on the cutter head which means that dustless cutting of slate, quartz, granite and tiles is possible.
Fein 350 Multimaster - the quietest, lowest-vibration and best-performing multi I’ve used. Downside is the Starlock Plus head admittedly - it’s proprietary so I’m locked into buying expensive Fein blades.
DeWalt DWS 780 mitre saw - I do a lot of heavy framing and construction work. The thing’s indestructible and built like a Sherman tank. Super accurate and fully adjustable for those times when it’s been in and out of the van a hundred times and has been knocked slightly out of square. Dust control is absolutely hopeless, but it’s almost always used outdoors so it’s not really an issue. The DE7023 saw stand is also stellar, and indispensable to me since my stock is always supplied in 4.8m or 5.4m lengths.
Makita LS0714 mitre saw - simply the best-built, most accurate small 2nd-fix saw I’ve ever found.
Paslode IM65A 16g Brad gas nailer - again, no Festool equivalent.
As I said in my first post - we all have different ways of working our tools and consequently have different priorities. My own personal choices have all evolved over four decades and everything works for me.
Kind regards.
