Tabless batteries, cordless router and nailer

Zaph

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Good day everyone,

First time poster but long-time lurker, there's three items that are always on my mind when thinking about the next Festool products, and I think fit in very well within the ecosystem:

  • Tabless batteries: Honestly, every single competitor has them, I'm surprised Festool doesn't. An 8Ah seems like the obvious first one (and I know that Festool, as a relative small company, has to make conscious decisions and can't just mass release a ton of things), but a 4Ah would be fantastic as well (I know usually the argument is that for smaller batteries you wouldn't take full advantage of it's added power since you typically use those type of batteries in less power hungry machines. But still, longer runtime and less heat (longer lifespan) wouldn't hurt.
  • Cordless compact router: A glaring omission from my point of view in the router line-up. A compact cordless palm router, with attachable dust extraction "plate" and seperate plunge base as optional accessory. In typical Festool fashion better dust extraction, lower weight and better ergonomics than the competition.
  • A cordless brad/finish nailer: With the kind of products Festool has in it's ecoystem, I would say that this makes for a great complimentary machine. What Festool could do to really make it standout from the competition (apart from better ergonomics and less weight/bulkiness) would be to have a base machine and then interchangeable adapters for different types of gauges and/or staples (so instead of buying different machines for 16/18 gauges nails and one for staples you'd have one base machine and then they could sell different adapter accessoires). Now, I'm a complete layman and have no idea if this is even possibe from an engineering point of view. But when I look at the competition, there's always like 4-5 nailers in their line-up and I'm always left thinking how annoying it is that you have to buy seperate machines.
 
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and a router table....
Based on some conversations I had this weekend, evidently the CMS router table was discontinued because of an EU regulation requiring a "dead man" switch on the actual router - which excludes the remote switch that would be on a router table. And evidently, the US market has/is grown/growing bitter than Germany, so perhaps Festool might rethink some of their strategies here. But that's total speculation and wishful thinking.
 
Good day everyone,

First time poster but long-time lurker, there's three items that are always on my mind when thinking about the next Festool products, and I think fit in very well within the ecosystem:

  • Tabless batteries: Honestly, every single competitor has them, I'm surprised Festool doesn't. An 8Ah seems like the obvious first one (and I know that Festool, as a relative small company, has to make conscious decisions and can't just mass release a ton of things), but a 4Ah would be fantastic as well (I know usually the argument is that for smaller batteries you wouldn't take full advantage of it's added power since you typically use those type of batteries in less power hungry machines. But still, longer runtime and less heat (longer lifespan) wouldn't hurt.
  • Cordless compact router: A glaring omission from my point of view in the router line-up. A compact cordless palm router, with attachable dust extraction "plate" and seperate plunge base as optional accessory. In typical Festool fashion better dust extraction, lower weight and better ergonomics than the competition.
  • A cordless brad/finish nailer: With the kind of products Festool has in it's ecoystem, I would say that this makes for a great complimentary machine. What Festool could do to really make it standout from the competition (apart from better ergonomics and less weight/bulkiness) would be to have a base machine and then interchangeable adapters for different types of gauges and/or staples (so instead of buying different machines for 16/18 gauges nails and one for staples you'd have one base machine and then they could sell different adapter accessoires). Now, I'm a complete layman and have no idea if this is even possibe from an engineering point of view. But when I look at the competition, there's always like 4-5 nailers in their line-up and I'm always left thinking how annoying it is that you have to buy seperate machines.
Tabless batteries...don't know what they are.
Cordless compact router...a certain reality considering the present playing field and the release of the 3.1 or more recently the 4.0 batteries.
Cordless brad/finish nailer...I wouldn't hold my breath for this one, it's way too far out of Festool's bailiwick. There are too many folks that are already manufacturing these tools at prices that Festool can't even come close to.
 
Cordless brad/finish nailer...I wouldn't hold my breath for this one, it's way too far out of Festool's bailiwick. There are too many folks that are already manufacturing these tools at prices that Festool can't even come close to.
I've always found nailguns a peculiar tool in that it seems there's a very fine line between designing one that works reliably and superbly all the time for any environment or user, and one that drives you up the wall with how finicky it can be to get consistently good results.

If I was in Festool's shoes I wouldn't touch releasing a nailgun with a barge pole, as it's 50/50 whether it will be lauded or panned, or both given the way it's used and handled can dramatically affect the outcome.
 
Ya, I think nail guns are a cut-throat market...tough to produce a quality product at a competitive price. You're just asking for a good spanking if you enter this market without an offshore manufacturing facility in China...and even then...
 
flex has a lot of nailers. festool already got a recip saw from them so who knows

i'm not sure about the swapping of nail gauges. that seems weird at best if you need that. also the driving mechanism for example 23 to 15 gauge would be a 15 gauge, which is pretty big.
there's a whole world of nailers, it's all pretty job specific.
 
flex has a lot of nailers. festool already got a recip saw from them so who knows

i'm not sure about the swapping of nail gauges. that seems weird at best if you need that. also the driving mechanism for example 23 to 15 gauge would be a 15 gauge, which is pretty big.
there's a whole world of nailers, it's all pretty job specific.
That is correct. Years ago, I had a Craftsman stapler that could also shoot 18ga brad nails. You still end up with the wider indentation, from the driver tip. If that mark doesn't matter, why not just use the staple? If it does matter, use a different gun.
The only advantage you are ever going to find with battery-powered nailers, would be the ability to use it "anywhere". However, that's not totally true. The batteries, as a power source, add size and weight to the tool, so it may not fit in some tight places.
The contrast is that pneumatic nailers are so much smaller, but have no "on-board" power. They require a compressor and hose. If you are in a shop, that's basically a non-issue, at least in most cases. In the field, sure it is much easier, assuming it will fit where you need to use it.
It all comes down to use-case. What are you using it for....
 
Based on some conversations I had this weekend, evidently the CMS router table was discontinued because of an EU regulation requiring a "dead man" switch on the actual router - which excludes the remote switch that would be on a router table. And evidently, the US market has/is grown/growing bitter than Germany, so perhaps Festool might rethink some of their strategies here. But that's total speculation and wishful thinking.
That's exactly what j heard, but it would be nice if they made a router table, like the festool csc sys 50
 
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