What don't you like about Festool...

[Lou Miller]

Now back to Festool.

My complaint is the MFT is made for a man of European stature.

Less hormones and antibiotics in the milk over there.

It should be raised "bout 2 1/2 mebbe 3 inchs.

Per

Nah, you don't get it. Its a psychological ploy. They deliberately make them that height so that at the end of the day when back hurts from being bent over, you really feel like you went to work that day. You're supposed to get a sense of accomplishment out of it.

Everything today is made for shorter people. Being over 6' can be a PITA at times.

 

[Lou Miller]

I've posted in this thread quite a bit but I don't believe I have yet answered the question asked. What don't I like about Festool? Give me a week and I might think of something. Seriously, we should be careful how we phrase our resonses. I am not saying we shouldn't be critical when useful, but I will give you an example of how these things get blown out of proportion. I visited a certain manufacturer's forum yesterday, a place I almost never go, and what was the comment I read? How the guys over on FOG were having trouble with warpage in their MFTs! Another opportunity to jump all over Festool and we created it for them.

This is a useful exercise but let's be careful about giving Festool an undeserved black eye or giving their 'competition' cannon fodder over trivial matters. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have some positive passion for Festool's products. OTOH, comments about poor representation of their product in Canada, for example, is a very valid issue and certainly not trivial. That is useful and actionable information for Festool.

Greg  

Who cares what the guys on another forum think? They've developed a reputation on a lot of internet boards as lacking objectivity anyway. The one board I frequent drove them away. They hate them over there. Their antics are tiresome and juvenile, IMO.

I thought I made it pretty obvious when I started this thread that this wasn't a bashfest. Constructive criticism? Yes. If Christian happened to read this thread, hopefully he took it exactly as that and nothing more. Beyond that, I don't care what those "other" guys think or say.

 

[Dan Clark]

...
Everything today is made for shorter people. Being over 6' can be a PITA at times.

Lou,

Being vertically challenged, I've found the opposite to be true in many cases.    Besides, I think the MFT is at the perfect height!  ;D

Dan.

 

[greg mann]

Lou,

You and I might not care, and I do understand the intent of the thread, but I just wanted to bring up the fact that what we say here does sometimes get blown out of proportion elsewhere, especially when the context is stripped away. It just annoys me to see Festool be discredited unfairly in this manner. It happens far too often.

 

[Dan Clark]

Greg,

You make a very valid point.  While we shouldn't care much about what other users think, this forum is competitor heaven.    I.e., what better place to dig up good marketing dirt about Festool than here in the Festool forum.  Heck, there is one known competitor already here.  This isn't about paranoia; this is about money. 

We have a delicate balance - how to share information with Festool about our wants and needs without raising "heck" about little nits that occur with one or two users. 

Dan.

 

[mstens]

With all this hush hush talk I feel like I should be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement 

 

[Dan Clermont]

I realize their is another forum out there which likes to bash Festool in favour of another guided system and they always will try to find an issue with Festool

People shouldn't be afraid to bring up issuse they have with their tools for fear of giving Festool a black eye. People need to post problems so they can find solutions.

For example, I have this Delta 22-580 planer which doesn't always feed. Turns out if you wax the feed tables it works fine. Delta wouldn't even admit their was a problem and it was a fellow forum member who mentioned the fix. Since then I have been happy with the tool.

IMO, the purpose of a forum is to inform and help each other with issues on tools and methodology, short comings on a specific tool also need to be discussed so people know what they are getting when they buy a given tool

Just my 2 cents
Dan Clermont

 

[Foggy]

This isn't about paranoia; this is about money. 

The above phrase troubles me.  Just whose money are we talking about here?  Product quality is what leads to success in sales in the long run.  To me it is paranoid to be so worried about the competition's thoughts in regards to any criticism of Festool's products.  Festool sells itself based on the quality of the product.  If the quality can be improved upon in some area then it should be discussed openly, without worry about the competition's thoughts.  Product development and improvement may come about faster if users are open and honest about their concerns or needs. 

This should be a place where users can voice honest opinions, and a place where the folks from Festool can come to see what their user base really thinks.  IMO, trying to cover up problems due to worries about how others will interpret them is a disservice to both the users and to Festool. 

 

[Corwin]

The one thing that I don't like about Festool is... now I am spoiled!  I have always felt that one should buy good tools, but I might have been satisfied with the second best for many of these tools... Not anymore!  And with new offerings coming... could be some more trouble.

;D
Corwin

 

[Dan Clark]

It turns out that the President/Owner of that guided system company is a moderator/administrator for all forums on that site.  (If you are moderator on one, you are moderator on all.)   So you can't "Ignore" him.

Regards,

Dan.  

 

[Ned]

I'm thinking about "plunging" (pun intended) into Festool routing and a router + MFS package would probably push me over the edge. ;D

Great idea, Jesse.  Either MFS kit a big chunk of change, bigger than some tools, and the combination of either the 1010 or 1400 router, either the MFS 400 or MFS 700, and the 30mm copying ring (needed to use the router for circle cutting) is a big enough total that Festool should be able to discount the package a bit.

An advantage to the customer of a package including the MFS:  The MFS system is like an Erector set or Lego.  Even if you already have one MFS kit, you could be enthusiastic about getting more MFS parts when you buy the (other) router.  I suppose I could use a second vac, but more MFS stuff is more attractive to me.

An advantage to Festool of a package including the MFS:  As I said, it's like a Lego.  Let us get our hands on it and see its advantages firsthand, and we'll be back for more!

 

[Lou Miller]

Lou,

You and I might not care, and I do understand the intent of the thread, but I just wanted to bring up the fact that what we say here does sometimes get blown out of proportion elsewhere, especially when the context is stripped away. It just annoys me to see Festool be discredited unfairly in this manner. It happens far too often.

So we're not supposed to talk openly and freely??? Sorry, but you'll never get me to agree to anything like that. I'm an extremely honest person and I'm not shy about offering an opinion. I'm not going to watch what I say just because of the Flinstone Family Pet.

Some other members have worded what I wanted to say much better than I have here. Especially Foggy. I agree completely with him/them.

 

[greg mann]

I am not suggesting that anyone cover-up anything. I have participated in threads regarding various 'problems'. The lack of Robertson drives comes to mind. I also feel that, for the most part, Festool vs. the other guy is a specious issue and Matt has made it clear he does not want any of that. Perhaps my caution is misplaced, time will tell. This has been a great forum, and will now be even better. But the fact is that the new format will attract a far greater audience and, rightly or wrongly, that gives more weight to the things written here. I am suggesting that when we write our opinions we take a moment to read them as though they were written by someone else to determine if they really mean what we want them to mean. This is a pretty thoughtful and civil group but we sometimes go off on tangents. To the casual observer this can lead to wrong impressions. My 2 cents. Well, maybe 6 if you count the other two posts.  

Greg

 

[Dan Clark]

This isn't about paranoia; this is about money. 

The above phrase troubles me.  Just whose money are we talking about here?  Product quality is what leads to success in sales in the long run.  To me it is paranoid to be so worried about the competition's thoughts in regards to any criticism of Festool's products.  Festool sells itself based on the quality of the product.  If the quality can be improved upon in some area then it should be discussed openly, without worry about the competition's thoughts.  Product development and improvement may come about faster if users are open and honest about their concerns or needs. 

This should be a place where users can voice honest opinions, and a place where the folks from Festool can come to see what their user base really thinks.  IMO, trying to cover up problems due to worries about how others will interpret them is a disservice to both the users and to Festool. 

Foggy,

Yeah, you are right.  Sometimes it's just a bit bothersome to get spam by some of the morons out there.  (Most people are great, but there are a few "suboptimal" individuals.)

If we let the dweebs of the world get to us, we can't go forward.

Dan.

 

[Jim Becker]

My singular complaint with Festool is the total lack of square drive (Robertson) bits in the proprietary Centrotec format. Unless I'm doing drywall, I use square drive screws exclusively. The lack of a native bit means I cannot enjoy some of the extra compactness that my Festool drill can offer in tight spaces 'cause I have to use the adapter.

Outside of that, I wear their hat daily...literally if there is weather involved!

 

[pharding]

What I dislike most about Festool is the skimpy documentation that comes with their tools. Even though the use many of the tools is intuitive I expected more detailed documentation given the price of the tools. Something more along the lines of what Leigh Jigs provides with their tools. ;D

-- Phil

 

[JayStPeter]

Another vote here for square drive as my #1 desire.  I just got through sawing and grinding a couple McFeely square drive adapters to get some screws driven in a tight area.  Since they were self tapping SS screws, I couldn't get Philips versions locally.

A feature that's screwed me several times is the bit depth adjustment turret on the OF1400, complete with it's ghost positions between each actual stop.  With such a fantastic and well thought out depth adjustment mechanism above, how cold such a silly thing make it so easy to overdrive your final depth when you're cranking away.

I'm also not a big fan of the Festool footie for the guide rail adapters.  I have found that I like my homemade guides for routers better than the rail anyway since I don't have to position it as an offset, so no advantage to the "competition" in my mind.  I will reevaluate that position once I get an MFT and have stops for repeatability built in.

Note that this is a "don't like" thread.  There are enough good things about every Festool I've bought that I don't regret any of my purchases.

Jay St. Peter

 

[Terry Flowers]

Combination Angle Unit - can we have one that can be locked at 90 degrees please.

And RELIABLE detents at other angles so the thing locks without slipping.

Terry

 

[mysterium]

Terry,

I agree about a better Combination Angle Unit!!!  The idea of the angle is spot on, but very un-Festool in it's function.  Festool need to look no farther Incra's miter gauges on how to set up positive stop & lock to any degree in between.

jim

 

[woodshopdemos]

... I don't expect that anyone would want to pay $10.00 apiece for a #2 Square Drive bit. Anyway, we are back in discussions with another manufacturer, and have our fingers crossed.

Jim Ray, President
McFeely's Square Drive Screws

I would pay $10 (and buy 1 and 2) and maybe not lose it so quickly.