OF 2200 Router: Member Feedback

[Brice Burrell]

Yeah I do not think it is for me. Of course I will get it to play with it. What do you consider a large bit?

Nickao

Nick, I'll go back and edit me post above to include the size, I not sure what size it was, I'd guess at least 2" diameter, probably more, heres a pic.

NOTE: the 2200 is coverd with the solid surface dust only because Steve made a cut without the hose attached to show just how much dust that stuff produces. Don't let this picture fool you, the dust collection is awsome on this router.

 

[nickao]

Yes, that is a big bit for a hand held thats for sure. The bearing adds a huge level of safety and I am glad to see it on a large bit like that, especially for a hand held operation.

Nickao

 

[Dave Ronyak]

AND one selling point is that it takes such huge bits, it is advertised. To me it is over blown, there is a point where large bits do not make safety sense.

Do you have an OF2200, if you do not please don't sing it praises. I will be a doubter until I USE it. I have the same feeling about the Kapex too, until it is in my shop for 6 months I can not call it the best.

After I use the OF2200 for 6 months I will write a review.

Nick, I got a chance to use the OF 2200 running a large bit, maybe a 2" diameter, in 8/4 cherry and solid surface material. We made cuts at full depth in one pass easily and safely. Because of the weight and design of the 2200 taking out large amounts of material is very doable. One of the turret columns has a 2 mm offset feature, this allows you to make a one pass removing most of the waste, then move the turret to the 2 mm offset and make a second pass 2 mm deeper as a cleanup pass.

We did this in the cherry with great results. Yes this router isn't for everyone, if you have a need for a large production router, buy this one. I write more about the 2200 in my mini review in the next few days.

Here's a pic of the 2 mm offest cutt into the stoock.

I agree entirely with what Brice stated above.  I, too, was very skeptical of using such a large, powerful router and such a large bit to carve the complete profile in a single pass.  But seeing is believing in this case.  As some others have commented, the extra weight of this machine helps make it more manageable and safer as a hand guided machine. 

Another feature of this new router I really got excited about is the ability to plunge it and lock it down, and then use the large micro-adjust knob to adjust the exact bit depth over ~20 mm range.  In this mode, it is like a fixed base router with precision bit depth adjustment, with clear markings on the knob so you know which way to turn it and positive click stops each tenth of a millimeter.  Also, it is extremely well sealed up and therefore suitable for inverted use in a table.  The collect has been redesigned to reduce ingress of dust into the critical surfaces that bear upon one another when cinching up on the shank of a bit.  After installing in a table, all you have to do is hook up a 36mm hose for dust collection.  The dust collection is superior due to use of upper and lower concentric dust shrouds of clear plastic that overlap to completely enclose the area between the base and the motor when the router is plunged for cutting.  Despite its maximum power capability, for most applications maximum current is not drawn and according to Festool's representatives, it can be used for about 90 percent of all applications while plugged into a CT-22 or CT-33.  (IF maximum power draw is needed, the 2200 can be plugged directly into a wall outlet and the CT into another outlet.  If these improvements in "fixed base microadjustability"  and dust collection shrouding were added to the already excellent OF 1400 (which I do own), I'd be ready to trade up, and would probably sell my (new) PC 7518 and JoinTech lift.  I am a hobbyist, not a professional needing to crank out large quanitities of workpieces, so I am usually more interested in versatility of the tools I possess and the space savings that versatility provides me rather than the speed needed in a production shop that can setup multiple router/shaper units at once.  And I admit my bias toward well-made products, even though they are usually more expensive than also ran competiting products.  Today, I think the OF 2200 has no true competition among routers.

Dave R.

 

[nickao]

Well Dave, I can't wait to own it and give it a 6 month run in the shop.  Like you, I am skeptical until I use it.

I have a project in mind that is going to really test this baby.

Nickao

 

[Brice Burrell]

Well Dave, I can't wait to own it and give it a 6 month run in the shop.  Like you, I am skeptical until I use it.

I have a project in mind that is going to really test this baby.

Nickao

Nick, I'm telling you, I don't think there is anything you can throw at the 2200 it can't handle. As soon as you get a chance to demo this thing, don't walk to the dealer, run (or drive, it could be a little faster yet ;D).

 

[Ned]

...We made cuts at full depth in one pass easily and safely. Because of the weight and design of the 2200 taking out large amounts of material is very doable.

I agree entirely with what Brice stated above.  I, too, was very skeptical of using such a large, powerful router and such a large bit to carve the complete profile in a single pass.  But seeing is believing in this case.  As some others have commented, the extra weight of this machine helps make it more manageable and safer as a hand guided machine.

And I agree with Brice and Dave.  We were all taught that that big a bit on a handheld router was unsafe, and the more experience you have, the more firmly you believe it.  Per was keeping his distance quite deliberately for some time during the 2200 demonstration--only after he saw no dead hobbyists did he try the router. 

I used the 2200 for about 14 inches (350mm) on solid surface material with the bit you see pictured.  The smoothness calmed safety fears.  The router was in charge of the work, and I was in charge of the router.

Festool always asks us to think of the big picture--cost of supplies, cost of time, both over the long term.  If using a 2200 vs. some competitor results in a surface finish that requires less final finishing, then that is an economy that quickly adds up for a pro.  If you could save 20 minutes or a half hour per kitchen project, how long would it take to justify the 400 USD premium for Festool's product?

Ned

 

[nickao]

Well Dave, I can't wait to own it and give it a 6 month run in the shop.  Like you, I am skeptical until I use it.

I have a project in mind that is going to really test this baby.

Nickao

Nick, I'm telling you, I don't think there is anything you can throw at the 2200 it can't handle. As soon as you get a chance to demo this thing, don't walk to the dealer, run (or drive, it could be a little faster yet ;D).

Pulling a whopping 18 amps I am sure it will handle anything! I am apprehensive of  pushing that much power around. In my workshop I really do not have a big need for the router. But I have some projects in mind to test the unit out over the summer.

Sadly or maybe happily, I will just purchase it without a demonstration. First, I think I will give the MFK 700 a try because that may make me money. I am concerned that the depth of travel is a tad less than I need for certain operations, but I can see myself using it everyday if it works out.

Nickao

 

[Dan Clark]

Yep, after Ned and I tried it, he thought... "Hmmm...  Ned and Dan are still standing with all appendages attached.  It might be safe after all!"  (Of course, we're too dumb to know the common wisdom that you can't do that with a hand-held router.)  ;D

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Dan Clermont]

This is a picture of the OF2200 and what makes it tick. Those grooves are to balance the motor. Once the motor is balanced and the router is assembled Festool then rebalances it!

Steve Bace our instructor over the weekend powered up the router at full speed and walked away from the MFT it was sitting on. The router never moved or walked!!! Not one millimeter!!

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dan, in all fairness it did move a little when Steve let it go and I do mean a little.

 

[Dan Clermont]

Dan, in all fairness it did move a little when Steve let it go and I do mean a little.

I must have blinked

Dan C

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

This is a picture of the OF2200 and what makes it tick. Those grooves are to balance the motor. Once the motor is balanced and the router is assembled Festool then rebalances it!

There's also a magnetic brake in there that slows the rotation of the shank much faster when the router is not power.  That's a nice feature as well IMO.

 

[Ned]

There's also a magnetic brake in there that slows the rotation of the shank much faster when the router is not power.  That's a nice feature as well IMO.

That's true and I'm glad to see a Festool brake available in North America.  Wish my 1010 had one.

"Brake" does not equal "immediate stop" when the 2200 is spinning a massive 2-inch diameter (50mm) bit.  I'm certain it stops more quickly, though.

Ned

 

[Dan Clark]

Yeah I do not think it is for me. Of course I will get it to play with it. What do you consider a large bit?

Nickao

Nick, I'll go back and edit me post above to include the size, I not sure what size it was, I'd guess at least 2" diameter, probably more, heres a pic.

NOTE: the 2200 is coverd with the solid surface dust only because Steve made a cut without the hose attached to show just how much dust that stuff produces. Don't let this picture fool you, the dust collection is awsome on this router.

So how big was the bit?  I don't know exactly, but here's a pic of the bit with a quarter beside it for perspective:

Here's the result in the solid surface:

Regarding dust collection, it was pretty amazing.    I like my OF1400, but my first reaction to seeing the dust collection and other features on the OF2200 was, "If those features were on an OF1400/2, I'd sell mine immediately and buy the upgrade!" 

Here's a pic showing Brice routing that profile.  You can see some dust escaping.  Decent, but maybe not that impressive:

That is...  Not impressive until you see how much schmutz (Per's favorite term) is thrown out withOUT the DC hooked up:

It's a big sucker and it's expensive, but it is super impressive!  To safely swing a bit that big in a portable router is almost unheard of. 

Regards,

Dan.

 

[nickao]

I love the dust port going straight. up. That's is why I have so many and favor the DeWalt routers. When used with the Boom Arm the straight up dust collection is so much nicer then when it comes off the side. The PC 890 routers have an up shoot through the handle though it is not very effective.

I wish all the Festool routers had it the vertical dust port..

Nickao

 

[Per Swenson]

Nick,

I had real reservations about a hand held shaper.

The same anyone who has done this work for any length of time.

Then I used it.

Honestly, I was petrified.

I ran it with the bit pictured.

As Brian my Boston friend sez....Butah.

Really, I was shocked.

Per

 

[nickao]

I better start saving my pennies this and the Kapex cost as much as all the tools I had for the first 5 years!

Nickao

 

[Dan Clermont]

When we were in Henderson this weekend the KAPEX was impressive, MFK 7000 was impressive, MFT 3 was pretty darn cool but the OF2200 really did blow us all away.

I think we all agreed if Festool made a OF1400/2 we'd all be selling our current OF1400's for the improvements.

I hope to post a video later tonight or tomorrow on the OF 2200

Dan Clermont

 

[Per Swenson]

Nick,

Here is where my thinking is going.

I will set up for door fab in the shop, and run out all the doors for a project at once.

A month down the road at the install all goes well.

A month after that, one flippin door warps.

Call back.

Customer is going to be mad, because he has to wait.

Number one time consumer is set up on the shaper, trial cuts etc.

For a one off door.

Now if I can make that door right there at the job site, with a mft etc.

I can save everybody some serious time.

Another thought, we run some radical edges on our projects.

Usually made on the shaper or run through the woodmaster,

then glued to the top.

These are all time consuming process's.

If I can glue a hunk of mahogany to a top then shape it on site,

I am going to be way ahead of the game.

I hope I am clear on my convoluted thinking,

but I keep seeing time and money saving applications with this beast.

Per

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Dan, in all fairness it did move a little when Steve let it go and I do mean a little.

I must have blinked

Dan C

I confirm what Brice observed.  The router turned and moved a slight amount to our left, and I do mean slight.

Dave R.