Simple alignment technique for the Domino - from End User Group Training

ForumMFG said:
If you read a manual and feel that there is not enough information, call your dealer, call Festool, or get online and dig for it.  The information is there.

There is no excuse. If you pay good money for a machine then you should get a manual that explains every knob and notch on it.
 
ForumMFG said:
I've always red them just to get to know the car.

Didn't you know, REAL men never read the instructions, or ask for directions?  ;D
 
Alex said:
ForumMFG said:
If you read a manual and feel that there is not enough information, call your dealer, call Festool, or get online and dig for it.  The information is there.

There is no excuse. If you pay good money for a machine then you should get a manual that explains every knob and notch on it.

I agree but there is no excuss not to know how to use your machine or know everything about it because the information & resources are out there.  Thats just my opinion.
 
joraft said:
And few ever care much about undertanding the important dials and gauges they look at every day.

Hey, reading takes too much time.  
biggrin.gif

True story.  My friend and I used to have a small used car business and one dumb gal (guess the hair color) locked up her engine after a couple of months.  It turned out she didn't know that "pretty red light" meant there was no oil left.
 
Have I tried running a multi-million dollar company?  No, but I have certainly successfully managed multi-million dollar annual budgets year after year along with the multi-tasking required to do so.
Your question implies that you have run a multi-million dollar company, which one?  Are you a senior in the FestoolUSA organisation?  By the way, the tone of your question doesn't imply the friendly attitude the administrators are striving for.  Should I not expect a top notch, thorough owner's manual along with a very expensive tool?

ForumMFG said:
Ron,

Have you ever tried running a multi-million dollar company? Lots of things need to take place to make something work.  I can't even begin to think about what went into this training class.  Not only do they have to make it happen at Festool USA, Festool in Germany needs to approve it to I would imagine. 

Maybe they are working on new tools for us.. So that can account for some of the 999,998 tasks.
 
RonWen said:
 
Should I not expect a top notch, thorough owner's manual along with a very expensive tool?

Well, at least I think you should.

Buy a 40 dollar circular saw, then you can expect a manual written in Chinglish on toilet paper. Buy a 500 dollar saw, and you'd expect something different.
 
RonWen said:
Have I tried running a multi-million dollar company?  No, but I have certainly successfully managed multi-million dollar annual budgets year after year along with the multi-tasking required to do so.
Your question implies that you have run a multi-million dollar company, which one?  Are you a senior in the FestoolUSA organisation?  By the way, the tone of your question doesn't imply the friendly attitude the administrators are striving for.  Should I not expect a top notch, thorough owner's manual along with a very expensive tool?

ForumMFG said:
Ron,

Have you ever tried running a multi-million dollar company? Lots of things need to take place to make something work.  I can't even begin to think about what went into this training class.  Not only do they have to make it happen at Festool USA, Festool in Germany needs to approve it to I would imagine.  

Maybe they are working on new tools for us.. So that can account for some of the 999,998 tasks.

Gentlemen, this part of the discussion has departed from the generally friendly atmosphere that we've come to expect here on the FOG. I hope we can get back to a friendlier tone with discussion.  

Ron, I understand your frustration with the manuals. Festool Germany seems to be indifferent to the subject of better manuals. Festool USA has been the only Festool branch to spend money on supplemental manuals. Although they've been here for years Festool USA is still getting established in the market here in North America. They have a limited budget to support their customers, maintain/expand the dealer network and grow their market share. So imagine there is a limited amount of money to spend on manuals.

As for the user training, we asked for it and Festool is delivering. The training is just getting off the ground, a little patience is in order before we can expect Festool to have video or webcasts worked out. I'm going to get them some time before I expect all the details to be worked out.    
   
 
I think most of us read the manual cover to cover when we first bring our purchase home or to our shop.  We know about 50% of what the tool can do because we use 20% of the features 80% of the time.  That is just human nature.  We then forget about the little tips and techniques that we don't use regularly.  That is one of the important features of this Forum.

If a dashboard light comes on, do we really know what it means?  We have to refer back to the manual don't we?  We knew what it meant when the car was new (maybe).

Why are we bickering between ourselves?  Why not appreciate what we have and the knowledge we obtain from our fellow members.

Neill
 
I agree Brice, I felt obligated to point out a tone that was less than friendly, if this forum is going to be turned around in the direction that I'm sure FestoolUSA would hope things need nipped early.

Brice Burrell said:
RonWen said:
Have I tried running a multi-million dollar company?  No, but I have certainly successfully managed multi-million dollar annual budgets year after year along with the multi-tasking required to do so.
Your question implies that you have run a multi-million dollar company, which one?  Are you a senior in the FestoolUSA organisation?  By the way, the tone of your question doesn't imply the friendly attitude the administrators are striving for.  Should I not expect a top notch, thorough owner's manual along with a very expensive tool?

ForumMFG said:
Ron,

Have you ever tried running a multi-million dollar company? Lots of things need to take place to make something work.  I can't even begin to think about what went into this training class.  Not only do they have to make it happen at Festool USA, Festool in Germany needs to approve it to I would imagine.  

Maybe they are working on new tools for us.. So that can account for some of the 999,998 tasks.

Gentlemen, this part of the discussion has departed from the generally friendly atmosphere that we've come to expect here on the FOG. I hope we can get back to a friendlier tone with discussion.  

Ron, I understand your frustration with the manuals. Festool Germany seems to be indifferent to the subject of better manuals. Festool USA has been the only Festool branch to spend money on supplemental manuals. Although they've been here for years Festool USA is still getting established in the market here in North America. They have a limited budget to support their customers, maintain/expand the dealer network and grow their market share. So imagine there is a limited amount of money to spend on manuals.

As for the user training, we asked for it and Festool is delivering. The training is just getting off the ground, a little patience is in order before we can expect Festool to have video or webcasts worked out. I'm going to get them some time before I expect all the details to be worked out.    
   
 
RonWen said:
I agree Brice, I felt obligated to point out a tone that was less than friendly, if this forum is going to be turned around in the direction that I'm sure FestoolUSA would hope things need nipped early.

 
That's great Wayne, one of my favorites!  Just call me Barney...
 
Ron, you took my comment the wrong way.  There was no tone to my question because you didn't hear my voice.  My question was trying to help you understand that a large company has many other tasks to work on and I'm sure you know that.  The fact of the matter is that Festool is working on videos, Festool is working on better manuals all at the same time and because the end result has not happened overnight, we now have people upset with the company because the videos are not ready.

I have not run a company of that size but I have successfully managed multi-million dollar contracts for my company so I know what is involved.  My company works with customers who purchase high end millwork and it's very common to come across multi-million dollar jobs here.  I am working on one right now for the Franking County Court House - Columbus, Ohio

I do infact have a friendly attitude on this message board and I truly am sorry that you feel I don't by the contents of my previous message.  If I had this conversation with you in person you would of took it the other way.

If anyone should be upset, it should be me.  I simply tried to give you the answer that you were looking for by stating that Festool is responding to your request for video's but you haven't seen them yet because I'm sure a company like Festool has more then one project to work on.  As always, some projects are more important then others.   I tried to explain this by examples and I'm sorry you took them the wrong way or didn't understand them.  

-Dave
 
Neill said:
I think most of us read the manual cover to cover when we first bring our purchase home or to our shop.  We know about 50% of what the tool can do because we use 20% of the features 80% of the time.  That is just human nature.  We then forget about the little tips and techniques that we don't use regularly.  That is one of the important features of this Forum.

If a dashboard light comes on, do we really know what it means?  We have to refer back to the manual don't we?  We knew what it meant when the car was new (maybe).

Why are we bickering between ourselves?  Why not appreciate what we have and the knowledge we obtain from our fellow members.

Neill

Neill, I agree with you.  I was just trying to help a fellow FOG understand.  I should have thought out what I was going to say to prevent what just happened.
 
Neill said:
If a dashboard light comes on, do we really know what it means?  We have to refer back to the manual don't we?  

If you need the manual to know what it means, you better hope you're not on the freeway when the light comes on.  :o
 
ForumMFG said:
If anyone should be upset, it should be me.  I simply tried to give you the answer that you were looking for by stating that Festool is responding to your request for video's but you haven't seen them yet because I'm sure a company like Festool has more then one project to work on.  As always, some projects are more important then others.  

Dave, let's not lose sight of the fact that companies the size of Festool usually have more than one person, just so that they CAN work on more than one project at a time.  ;D
 
Joraft,

Have you been to festool USA?  Have you seen how many work there?  It's not a lot.  Others that went would say how shocking it really is to see how many people don't work for them.  I am fully aware of how a company works. ;D

I already told you thay they are working on  more than one project.  They are working on the video's and manuals.  They may not be shooting the video right now or writing a new manual but it's in the works.
 
ForumMFG said:
I think that information about this "ah-ha" is in the supplemental guide by rick.

Umm, nope. Even I learn something new every once in a while. I hadn't noticed the position of these tabs, and I suspect it was a design feature that the engineers were aware of but did not convey to anyone else until recently.
 
Brice Burrell said:
They have a limited budget to support their customers, maintain/expand the dealer network and grow their market share. So imagine there is a limited amount of money to spend on manuals.
   

Again, it is no excuse and second, you're actually wrong in your presumption that Festool America as to supply the manuals.

The manual of a tool is made during the development process of a tool and is done in Festool's case, in Germany. They first make one in German and then translate that in other languages. Now, the cost of a good translation isn't really worth mentioning. It's less then ONE single average Festool machine.

The problem lies in the fact that companies in general supply below-par manuals. Festool is certainly not the only company that's guilty of this. Be it household appliances, consumer electronics or tools, they make it a habit to provide manuals that aren't worth much except for toilet paper. I think it's a bad habit. A lot of tools explain themselves so there isn't that much need for a manual. But if you buy a new DVD player with 200 functions, it can be quite a hassle to become to understand them. 

Now with a Chinese factory that can make a saw for under 20 dollars production cost in their sweatshop, you can expect it and sort of accept it, but with a top of the notch brand like Festool, it's simply not what you'd expect.

And manuals also don't need to become too complicated. If I buy a Festool, I don't expect them to tell me how I can make a cabinet with it. But I do expect them to inform me about every single function they incorporated in the machine. That means, if there's a knob on it, I want to see in the manual what it's for. If there's a notch on it somewhere, I want to be able to look it up in the manual and read about it's intended use.

 
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