PA_Woodworker
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2015
- Messages
- 17
For years I’ve been impressed with the engineering knowhow I’ve observed in German design and manufacturing. This observation, and hands on experience working with a neighbor, led me to the decision to acquire some Festool woodworking tools.
I wish to relate to Festool my experience over the last two months in acquiring those tools.
3 December 2014: I ordered a Festool Kapex KS 120 Sliding Compound Miter Saw. A few days later the saw arrived and I opened the box to examine the saw – here’s what I found;
The ability to swing the base for miter cut setting was nearly impossible. It appeared that the tang on the bottom of the table and the clamping mechanism below that gripped the stainless steel miter gauge plate to lock the miter setting was not properly made or machined so that the stainless steel plate was “clamped” all the time.
A similar situation existed with the bevel setting. Not quite so severe, but when attempting to make a bevel adjustment the grating sound emitted was not pleasant.
I believe the saw bevel adjustment is supposed to have detents at various bevel angles. I did not check all detents, but the “0” (no bevel angle) detent was non-existent.
The saw has been returned – I have yet to decide on a replacement.
During December I assisted my neighbor with the design and construction of a heavy-duty trestle table.
As compensation for my support with the trestle table project my neighbor gifted to me a Festool OF 1400 EQ Router. Naturally I had to try it out and give it a general inspection. My observations -
I installed the Festool 493566 Guide Bushing Adaptor and a guide bushing. Had I energized the router I would have destroyed the guide bushing – the guide bushing and the router bit were not concentric. Rotating the router bit by hand it attempted to dig into the guide bushing. Eye-balling I’d say the out of concentricity is somewhere in the .010 - .020 inch range. This misalignment renders the router useless for any function requiring the use of a guide bushing.
The above text has been sent to both the USA Festool Headquarters and the German Headquarters - Multiple times - and neither organization has ever bothered to respond.
A tool is only as good as the customer support - the dealers claim that Festool stands behind their tools, but that has not been my experience.
I wish to relate to Festool my experience over the last two months in acquiring those tools.
3 December 2014: I ordered a Festool Kapex KS 120 Sliding Compound Miter Saw. A few days later the saw arrived and I opened the box to examine the saw – here’s what I found;
The ability to swing the base for miter cut setting was nearly impossible. It appeared that the tang on the bottom of the table and the clamping mechanism below that gripped the stainless steel miter gauge plate to lock the miter setting was not properly made or machined so that the stainless steel plate was “clamped” all the time.
A similar situation existed with the bevel setting. Not quite so severe, but when attempting to make a bevel adjustment the grating sound emitted was not pleasant.
I believe the saw bevel adjustment is supposed to have detents at various bevel angles. I did not check all detents, but the “0” (no bevel angle) detent was non-existent.
The saw has been returned – I have yet to decide on a replacement.
During December I assisted my neighbor with the design and construction of a heavy-duty trestle table.
As compensation for my support with the trestle table project my neighbor gifted to me a Festool OF 1400 EQ Router. Naturally I had to try it out and give it a general inspection. My observations -
I installed the Festool 493566 Guide Bushing Adaptor and a guide bushing. Had I energized the router I would have destroyed the guide bushing – the guide bushing and the router bit were not concentric. Rotating the router bit by hand it attempted to dig into the guide bushing. Eye-balling I’d say the out of concentricity is somewhere in the .010 - .020 inch range. This misalignment renders the router useless for any function requiring the use of a guide bushing.
The above text has been sent to both the USA Festool Headquarters and the German Headquarters - Multiple times - and neither organization has ever bothered to respond.
A tool is only as good as the customer support - the dealers claim that Festool stands behind their tools, but that has not been my experience.
