Michael E.
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2012
- Messages
- 51
I just unboxed, charged, and spent a few hours with my new T18 set, and here are my first impressions. I may change my thoughts better or worse as I spend more time with the drill, and I fully acknowledge that there is a learning curve with this drill.
1) POWER First and foremost this is not only the most powerful drill I've ever owned, but ever used in my life next to demolition hammer drills of corse. It's so strong in fact that several times when it kicked testing it with a hole saw bit I was just along for the ride. I love the raw strength of this drill, but find I spend a lot more time dialing down the Torque settings to avoid doing damage.
2) TORQUE I don't see this drill as having significantly more or less torque then previous 18v drills I've owned and used in the past. There is however one major difference. The torque controls on this drill are digital instead of mechanical. When it reaches it's limit it beeps and stops to protect the drill. There is no slowly pushing this drill to exceed it's limits. Much like a child throwing a tantrum it just says NO. It's only a issue with bits that a normal drill wouldn't want to spin either. It's also worth noting that as you decrease the torque on the screw setting the drill slows down to help keep you from over driving your screw.
3) CENTROTEC CHUCK The centrotec chuck is a proprietary system by festool that is essentially a quick bit change adapter but rather replaces your chuck instead of goes into it. I was excited about it until I realized that it's metric and won't work with ANY standard American bits only Festools centrotec bits. I hate buying into non-universal systems and paying a premium for the privilege, so for me this chuck is virtually useless.
4) BATTERY The 18v battery and charger are great. The charger wall mounts, and from a dead battery it only takes like 10 or 15 minutes to fully charge which is amazing. They last an incredibly long time. The battery is pretty large, and I've heard people fussing about the weight of the drill. Let me say that although this may not be the lightest drill on the market is noticeably lighter than my last three drills, and I have no complaint about the weight at all.
5) DRILLING ABILITY Drilling a hole and sinking a screw are two different functions and some drills can do one well, but not the other. So far what I've found is that the T18 can handle any bit up to 1"~ to 2"~ like butter. In fact a 1/2" colt brad point bit zips through 3/4 sanded ply under the weight of the drill alone. What I am seeing though is that the T18 has difficulty with larger hole saw bits. After a few try's I hit the right technique to get a 4" hole saw to bore through the sanded ply I was practicing with, but a 6" was so difficult both due impart to the electronic torque and the drills own raw power that I really only got one good hole out of 6 try's with the bit. That's no small bit mind you and most drills don't like to turn it, but frankly it was a pain in the ass. Again I've not truly started putting the T18 to serious use yet, and as I said before this drill has a learning curve.
6) SCREW DRIVING ABILITY The T18 really excels at sinking screws! It is the easiest I've ever used including quite a few impact drivers I've owned. It can plow a deck mate in like nobodies business. It's so powerful I'm actually finding I dial back the torque so that I don't accidentally drop the head of the screw an inch or two under the surface of the wood.
7) EXTRA FEATURES & MISSING FEATURES So it may seem small but my number one complaint is that there isn't a magnet to toss a few screws on while you work. Almost all of my old drills have had this low tech gadget and you really miss it when you don't have it. The drill has a nice little LED work light that comes in handy, but I wish it stayed on a little longer. The battery gauge is nice (pull the trigger to check). The right angle chuck eccentric chuck and jacobs chuck are all made and function exactly as you'd want them to, and they swap out very easily. The T-Loc Systainer i.e. the case is the high quality we all know and love.
Over all I give it a 4 out of 5. I hope this drill will hold up like steel for me for years to come, but it's a powerful tool to be sure.
1) POWER First and foremost this is not only the most powerful drill I've ever owned, but ever used in my life next to demolition hammer drills of corse. It's so strong in fact that several times when it kicked testing it with a hole saw bit I was just along for the ride. I love the raw strength of this drill, but find I spend a lot more time dialing down the Torque settings to avoid doing damage.
2) TORQUE I don't see this drill as having significantly more or less torque then previous 18v drills I've owned and used in the past. There is however one major difference. The torque controls on this drill are digital instead of mechanical. When it reaches it's limit it beeps and stops to protect the drill. There is no slowly pushing this drill to exceed it's limits. Much like a child throwing a tantrum it just says NO. It's only a issue with bits that a normal drill wouldn't want to spin either. It's also worth noting that as you decrease the torque on the screw setting the drill slows down to help keep you from over driving your screw.
3) CENTROTEC CHUCK The centrotec chuck is a proprietary system by festool that is essentially a quick bit change adapter but rather replaces your chuck instead of goes into it. I was excited about it until I realized that it's metric and won't work with ANY standard American bits only Festools centrotec bits. I hate buying into non-universal systems and paying a premium for the privilege, so for me this chuck is virtually useless.
4) BATTERY The 18v battery and charger are great. The charger wall mounts, and from a dead battery it only takes like 10 or 15 minutes to fully charge which is amazing. They last an incredibly long time. The battery is pretty large, and I've heard people fussing about the weight of the drill. Let me say that although this may not be the lightest drill on the market is noticeably lighter than my last three drills, and I have no complaint about the weight at all.
5) DRILLING ABILITY Drilling a hole and sinking a screw are two different functions and some drills can do one well, but not the other. So far what I've found is that the T18 can handle any bit up to 1"~ to 2"~ like butter. In fact a 1/2" colt brad point bit zips through 3/4 sanded ply under the weight of the drill alone. What I am seeing though is that the T18 has difficulty with larger hole saw bits. After a few try's I hit the right technique to get a 4" hole saw to bore through the sanded ply I was practicing with, but a 6" was so difficult both due impart to the electronic torque and the drills own raw power that I really only got one good hole out of 6 try's with the bit. That's no small bit mind you and most drills don't like to turn it, but frankly it was a pain in the ass. Again I've not truly started putting the T18 to serious use yet, and as I said before this drill has a learning curve.
6) SCREW DRIVING ABILITY The T18 really excels at sinking screws! It is the easiest I've ever used including quite a few impact drivers I've owned. It can plow a deck mate in like nobodies business. It's so powerful I'm actually finding I dial back the torque so that I don't accidentally drop the head of the screw an inch or two under the surface of the wood.
7) EXTRA FEATURES & MISSING FEATURES So it may seem small but my number one complaint is that there isn't a magnet to toss a few screws on while you work. Almost all of my old drills have had this low tech gadget and you really miss it when you don't have it. The drill has a nice little LED work light that comes in handy, but I wish it stayed on a little longer. The battery gauge is nice (pull the trigger to check). The right angle chuck eccentric chuck and jacobs chuck are all made and function exactly as you'd want them to, and they swap out very easily. The T-Loc Systainer i.e. the case is the high quality we all know and love.
Over all I give it a 4 out of 5. I hope this drill will hold up like steel for me for years to come, but it's a powerful tool to be sure.
