Jesse Cloud said:
Boy this group sure worries about a lot of stuff
So what if Festool is doing some marketing - isn't that a good thing? Don't we want Festool to succeed given our investments in that technology.
Its kind of like reading a review of a book or restaurant - I want them to tell me why this is good and worth doing/reading/buying. I've been skeptical about th MFK, but I'm starting to soften after the info supplied by Jerry Work and others.
On the other hand, now Per clearly was imbibing something! A three inch bit in a handheld router. Come on!?!
Jesse,
Yep, FOG is back to normal. We ALWAYS worry about a lot of stuff!!! ;D
Regarding the bit, I don't think it was quite 3", but it was huge. I took some measurements using the original image and it looks to be about 2 1/2".
Quite frankly, I was VERY nervous about trying out that pup. And, I've never cut solid surface material in any way. I took pics while Brice and others used it on the Cherry. (Yes, I'm a wuss!) Then, I was one of the last people to try it on the solid surface.
Overall, I was underwhelmed in a good way. I.e, there was no drama. The router was pretty heavy, to be sure. But I didn't notice anything abnormal. It was pretty much like cutting with a much smaller bit. Lack of drama is a good thing when working with sharp objects spinning at thousands of RPMs. 8)
Of course one wonders what would happen it you tried the OF2200 with that big bit at a trade show, and then went home and threw one of those puppies in a "normal" router and tried it. I suspect that you'd suddenly have considerable respect for the OF2200.
Regarding the overall atmosphere at the training, it was pretty intense but understated. I.e. it wasn't like a grand party. All of the people there have very busy lives. I mean ALL - Festool employees and FOG members. All of us took time out from our normal jobs to try something new.
I'm a contract software developer; I worked overtime before the meeting to make up the hours. Other FOG members either lost work time or worked overtime to make up the hours. On the Festool side, Christian and Brian flew in from Indiana and David flew in from California. Before, during, and after the training, all of us were and are too busy to waste time with fanboy adulation.
The FOG team was a "tough crowd". We pinged the Festool guys with questions constantly. Most of us knew most of the tools quite well, and we wanted to know more. And in many cases, we found we knew far less than we thought. The CT22 was a perfect example; we took it apart (literally) to find the details.
For the new tools we had a whole basket full of questions. The Festool guys knew the answers, but I don't think they expected to be pinged with that many intense questions. They looked pretty drained towards the end.
True fanboys typically are "boys" who get enamored by a brand and how it improves their image and little egos. The FOG members and Festool employees ranged in ages from late 30's to 60's with pretty good self-images and established egos. All of the group are professionals who have been hammered with marketing hype their entire lives. While we can be enthusiastic about the tools, when time is precious (it always is), we have no time for hype and fanboy silliness. So FOG members dug hard for answers and the Festool guys gave them.
To summarize the atmosphere... It was fairly intense - a bunch of people trying to share a lot of knowledge in a limited amount of time. My only regret and one that is think is shared by others is that we went out to dinner. I think most of us would have been happy to bring in pizzas and stay in class longer. Would you consider that "fun"? You might not; I do.
Regards,
Dan.
