Slippery slope - couple of noob questions

[eightball]

Okay, thanks to this forum - I've discovered yet another way to send my money to festool!?!

I recognize that this is going to be a slippery slope so a couple of quick questions before I start:

1. Systainer size - given how close in price the sys 1 & 2 are - are there any hidden reasons to go a size up from what I need?
Background: I'm thinking of boxing a bunch of tools: Milwaukee drills, Fein multitool, non-festool routers, couple of sanders, etc.  Ideally, I'll have a friend laser cut foam inserts so everything fits snug.
What I'm wondering is after I add tool height, foam height - is there anything I'm forgetting? Or should I just get the closest sys to that dimension?

2. Anthracite vs Gray?
No difference other than color right?  I see that the festool have the stiffening bars where I'm assuming the Tanos gray with blue latch don't.  Any other differences?

3. Anybody regret not going with colored?
My first insane thought was colored systainers to match brand, etc.  But once I came to my senses (read: got a couple hours of sleep) I realized not only would this be a huge hassle ordering from Europe, etc., etc. - it would probably be a little overkill.  Thinking now of going with either the gray or anthracite and just going with the colored t-locs.  Anybody regret not going with the colored systainers?

4.  What else do you wish you knew before you blew several hundred dollars on systainers?
Any tips or words of caution before I slip down this slope?

Thanks for all the incredible advice, ideas and pics!!

Anthony

 

[rst]

I have twenty-something systainers, some original Tanos style, mostly t-loc.  I'm pretty much split between grey and white.  I just bought colored latches from Lee Valley Red for Milwaukee, orange for my Fein Multimaster and accessory sys, dark green for my Hitachi and blue for my Makitas and Bosch.  I also just bought a Fein Supercut from Toolnut that came in as orange sys!  Six of my sys' are midis for larger tools or multiple tools.  I'm not fussy about color or style but the sys' certainly make organization great, especially reduces the rattling around in the van scenario.  Lee Valley carry a great selection of Tanos and I've bought my Festool sys' mostly from Hartville; both are great suppliers!

 

[eightball]

Thanks.

One other question:

Any preference between the sys drawer and regular sys 2 for a couple of drills?  I saw someone on this forum put a couple of makita drills in a sys drawer unit with room for bits etc.  Other than where you have to stack it - any downsides going with the drawer unit?

 

[jimmylittle]

Depends on what you're storing.  I have 40 or so Systainers of all sizes, including Maxi's and Midi's.  My SYS1's have my multi-tool, shim kit, hole saw kit, and the like.  SYS2's have my trim router, sanders, etc.  SYS3's have belt sanders, 6" circa saw, and more.  SYS4s have my drywall tools, big router, track saw, and more.  SYS5s have an air compressor, Paslode guns, hand tools, and things like that.  The Midi has my cleaning kit with vac parts, broom heads, etc.  And the Maxi's have my full Makita cordless kit, and another with clamps and levels and the like.

As far as colored Sys's go, all of mine are Festool grey/green.  I order colored T-LOC latches and make custom labels to identify tools.  I think that looks neater and more professional.  Many colored boxes look like giant LEGO sculpture to me.  Labels and latches are classier, I think.

Buy the Sys's for what fits.  To me, having a Sys that is too big makes me crazy.  My Carvex accessory kit came in a Sys2 because Festool likes to keep the bases on edge in compartments, but iastes a TON of space.  I can actually fit just about everything form the Carvex accessory kit into the Carvex jigsaw box.  Then, I can use the Sys2 the accessories came in to store something else.

Both Festool and Amazon have good return policies.  I ordered one of each size to see what fit, then kept what I needed, ordered extras of the sizes I needed, and could return the rest.  But I didn't return anything.  Systainers have completely changers the way I work.

 

[Paul G]

Anthony, my main concern with the anthracite is heat, at times I have systainers in the back of my truck and in the summer here in the CA central valley that is brutal on anything dark. What are the stiffening bars you mentioned? Till now I had assumed all festool systainers were identical to tanos structurally.

 

[peter halle]

Here is image from the ekat system showing the reenforcing bar.

Peter

[attachimg=#]

 

[Paul G]

Here is image from the ekat system showing the reenforcing bar.

Peter

[attachimg=#]

Thanks Peter, are those unique to the festool systainers and not found in the tanos?

 

[joiner1970]

Here is image from the ekat system showing the reenforcing bar.

Peter

[attachimg=#]

Thanks Peter, are those unique to the festool systainers and not found in the tanos?

Yes

 

[Paul G]

Thanks Peter, are those unique to the festool systainers and not found in the tanos?

Yes

Never fails to learn something new around here, seems like I'll be sticking with the festool flavor of systainers.

 

[joiner1970]

You can get the part as an accessory and add it to a non festool systainer as I did once.

 

[amt]

I can actually fit just about everything form the Carvex accessory kit into the Carvex jigsaw box.  Then, I can use the Sys2 the accessories came in to store something else.

Did you make a custom insert, or do the parts just float around?  Any pics?  I'd like to do something similar to free up a systainer.  Thanks

 

[jimmylittle]

Everything fits very well.  The only thing that doesn't fit in the Sys1 is the base plate that rides on the track, which I keep in a different Systainer anyway.  That other Sys has all my track accessories, like splice bars, stops, router and jigsaw edge guides, etc.  When I grab tracks, I grab that Sys, so I'll have it if I need it.

Here's a pic of the box when it's full:
[attachimg=1]  

The extra bases fit into a cutout I made in the plastic insert.  The adjustable base fits in the molded area made for it, and the circle jig kinda tucks into the side.

[attachimg=2]  

I cut the insert in such a way that if I ever decide to put the extra bases somewhere else and use the slot for the intended use of an extra dust collection port, I can.

The bases have to sit on a bit of an angle for the lid to close, but it works really well.

 [attachimg=3]

Hope that clears things up!