yankee said:
and you will be surprised at how if you use it you do not need most of those attachments that are for working yourself out of a corner you put yourself in.
Hehe, you're on a stroll, aren't you yankee? Trying to offend as much in as less posts possible. I have no idea why praising the special chucks needs a stab at someone's competence for an answer.
I'm not one of those people who blindly praise Festool whenever the occasion arises. I feel that often the added value of the extra chucks is greatly exaggerated here. Nevertheless there are situations you encounter once in a while where those things come in really handy, and not because you're a poor craftsman or you made a mistake, but simply because it's
the only way it can be done.
It has absolutelty nothing to do with your own skills when you find you have to work on an existing situation where one thing, over the years, is built/placed in front of another thing. What once was installed with great ease is now obstructed and there's only limited space left to get a tool in. The right angle chuck can come in really handy in this situation.
I had to remove a couple of small windows last week, just 20 cm / 8'' wide. And somebody installed a wooden 2x2 over them for structural reinforcement of the partially rotten structure. With my right angle chuck I managed to get my drill in the remaining 4'' gap. I'm sure I would have managed this job some other way, but not as clean and fast as now.
I prefer Festool drills over anything else because of the Centrotec system, not especially the extra chucks. They're a nice extra, but there are other, cheaper ways to get to the same result in the rare occasions you need them. Nevertheless, those other, cheaper ways might cost you a lot extra time because they're not so 'out of the box' as Festool's solution. A factor to figure in if you're a professional, for whom, after all, time is money.
But the quick change Centroted system ...... well, I haven't seen any replacement for that.