What's the difference in a drill?

[HowardH]

So my T15 had a little problem and it's being delivered today in Lebanon for repair.  I had a couple of projects to do this weekend so I dug out my 2 year old Sears 14.4 and charged it up.  Having had a T15 for the last six months, I had forgotten why I sucked it up and paid the $575 for the T15.  I was quickly remiinded.  First, the Sears drill seemed to weigh as much as a bowling ball in comparison to the T15.  I never really noticed the difference until I had to use the old one.  I could only imagine how tired I would be had I been using the Sears drill on an all day project.  It makes a big difference.  It is also as long as a battleship so forget about getting into tight places with it.  I had to screw in a mailbox into a 12'" x 6" support board and since the neighbors mailbox happened to be about 6 inches away, I could only drive one screw at the very front siince there was no room to go further.  I'll have to wait until I get mine back to finish securing it.  In additiion, the Sears was really having trouble maintaining torque as I was screwing the board into the post support.  And that's with a fresh battery!    The t15 would have had no trouble and even with the tight space, I could have used the right angle chuck and never looked back.   Was the drill a lot of money?  You bet!  Was it worth it now that I have seen the difference?  Absolutely!  Once I get my T15 back, the Sears will once again be relegated to back up duty.  If you have been thinking about getting the T15, do it!  It will be the best drill you have ever owned.  

 

[Holzhacker]

I have to completely agree Howard. Love the drill, hate the price.
Markus

 

[HowardH]

I try not to think about it... [scared] If someone would have told me I was going to spend that much on a drill before I was introduced to Festool, I would have told them they were nuts!  [big grin]  Now, it only seems logical somehow...

 

[Redfox]

Well, I can hardly say it's logical about the price, but the T15 is for sure the best drill I've ever used. I did that same thing with my old Bosch, and what an oldfashioned battelship. Wayyyy too heavy, Wayyyy too big, and absolutely not very handy and can't be used in thigh quarters/corners. The thing I also will mention here is the centrotec system, which is as good as the drill itself. For example the swap between a drill bit and the adjustable countersink/predrill  is so snappy and easy. For comparison I took the Bosch and put on a Dewalt ditto system. Urhg, it's so big and clumsy, even if they call it flipswitch. And it's not as precise too. And there's no way I could do drawers, very narrow cabinets etc, with that combination. Even my wife thinks it's smart and can be put into good use, and that's not bad at all  [big grin] (to tell her a RO90 is next).
The noise from the machine is lesser, and no so nervewrecking as others, and the electronic clutch should be on all brands. I often use hearing protection anyway. It's just so right made. The Bosch have been a backup since I bought the T15 earlier this year, and I haven't used it really (but a friend did). My two Makita's were sold on the spot when I got the T15. No slack, no "Ddrrrrr", just doing the job absolutely fine.
The position on the rear for adjusting torque is also very convieient when having reached a odd corner behind some tubes, in comparison to DW, Mak. and Bosch.
The offset chuck is also good in making a new kitchen, which I just did. My Bosch is not bad at all, but the T15 is just so much better in use.
Expensive? Much too expensive. Do I regret buying the T15? Absolutely NOT  [big grin]

Cheers,
Jacques.

 

[GhostFist]

Ya I've been sussing out new drills, seems every two years my drills die. Looking at the build quality of what's available on the market here nothing seems to compare to the Festool. What I need is a sturdy daily use general purpose drill. I do everything from hardwood s to soft woods to steel. Is the Festool as good as I hope it is? How does it compare to a makita, which is my reluctant second choice?

I'll prolly end up with a Makita combo kit first off as I need some "beater tools" for film work but what I want to know is it worth it to have both?

 

[Redfox]

Can't really say about the metal work with the T15, as I only used it a few times drilling in steel and stainless steel (A4). But that was easy.
For wood working it's the best I've come across. Here's a snapshot my Mak. DW and present Bosch couldn't do easy (little screws in the right upper corner). The T15 is just so short! And btw I son't like the small mini drills. I just need one that can do all. Hammerdrills etc. is on 220Volts for me.
Since I am not a pro of full time hobbyist, there will be tons of good experiences out here on this site from other than me, but I do use it in my job now, as the DW gets beaten in the geraboxes, and the batteries are a sorry thing to write about. The T15 just does the job, not so much huss and fuss. for example I made some fences for the horses, rebuilt a giant head (like a cave) etc, and instead of running forth and back for batteries, hear the lousy clutch all the time as as explained above, I could just do it in silence (well, more or less). That's why I take it on job and left DW in the woodshop at the job.
The sailboat we're building from scratch is also a project that needs precision.
Cheers,
Jacques.

 

[Holzhacker]

Is it worth it to have both? The short answer is NO, but that sort of depends. My general backup is my C12 which I bought used from another Fogger before I bought the T15. I have an old Bosch 14.4, a Makita 9.6 and a Metabo 14.4 that all lay around collecting dust. In a way I am like you because I always think about 'what is my/do I have a backup tool' to get the job done just in case. Living in the big city tools tend to grow legs. I keep the old drills around as backups, a waste of space really. Generally the only time they get used is for real nasty work or letting a grunt use them.
Once you buy a T15 you won't want a backup for general use. It's too nice a drill to use to want to use anything else. As others mentioned the size and weight, or lack thereof, are the big plus factors. If it were me, I would buy the T15 and look for some sort of backup on sale if I needed that comfort level. A close out C12, a Makita or Ryobi christmas package kit, a used set from the fleamarket, etc. Those christmas package deals at HD and others are really pretty sweet. Granted they are throw away tools but as a backup set for occasional use they are pretty good deals. Festool is so dumb about the whole christmas thing. They could get a nice holiday uptick in sales if they put some deals together. Maybe I'm the dumb one, maybe they get an uptick anyway, I kinda doubt it though.
Buy the T15

 

[Deansocial]

if i bought again i wouldn't buy th t15 i would buy the protool. much faster driling speed that suit me better

 

[GhostFist]

No Protool in sunny Canada. Ya I've felt that the t15 was the one, brushless motors, the way the charger handles the battery and general versatility. I'm gonna ave to invest in the Makita set first though as grubby hands on the film sets can't be trusted with such an expensive drill. I'll probably end up selling the 18v once I get a t15 but that means lugging two chargers around, I suppose not a huge issue as i'm doing that now. Am I mistaken or is there a C15 coming out? what's everyone's fancy, the "T" or the "C"?

 

[jmbfestool]

No Protool in sunny Canada. Ya I've felt that the t15 was the one, brushless motors, the way the charger handles the battery and general versatility. I'm gonna ave to invest in the Makita set first though as grubby hands on the film sets can't be trusted with such an expensive drill. I'll probably end up selling the 18v once I get a t15 but that means lugging two chargers around, I suppose not a huge issue as i'm doing that now. Am I mistaken or is there a C15 coming out? what's everyone's fancy, the "T" or the "C"?

T +1

 

[Holzhacker]

Daily use the T15. Doing cabinet installs, tight spaces, inside of cabinets, assembly work, etc, anything delicate or confined space, I pull out the C12. Yes they are coming out with a C15, don't remember when here though. Probably spring?

 

[HowardH]

I completely forgot to mention the centrotec system!  What a joy it is to simply snap in and snap out bits. I can change over from a countersink to a torx driver in a sec or two.  They never fall out, either.  I use the conventional chuck maybe 10% of the time.  It will be close to zero when I can afford to get a full centrotec drill set.  I'm not kidding. It's that much better than anything else I have seen.  If you really have space issues, the end without a chuck attached will allow a regular bit to be attached.  It's very short in that mode.  I could have probably done without the right angle or eccentric chucks as I haven't had a need to use them... yet.  Now that I have them, I'll never get rid of them.  BTW, the service dept called me today to tell they received my drill. I should have it back by Friday.  One week, door to door and back.  That's great service!!

 

[harry_]

No Protool in sunny Canada. Ya I've felt that the t15 was the one, brushless motors, the way the charger handles the battery and general versatility. I'm gonna ave to invest in the Makita set first though as grubby hands on the film sets can't be trusted with such an expensive drill. I'll probably end up selling the 18v once I get a t15 but that means lugging two chargers around, I suppose not a huge issue as i'm doing that now. Am I mistaken or is there a C15 coming out? what's everyone's fancy, the "T" or the "C"?

One thing that I had observed over the years regarding tools disappearing off the job, (especially when subs were present) is that 99% of the time they are DeWalts AND are cordless. Around my neck of the woods virtually everyone has that brand of cordless. I had seen it several times, a drill here a reciprocating saw there.

In virtually every one of these job site 'thefts', the tools were later returned with a 'Sorry, I thought it was mine'. For years all I ran was Bosch. Never had the problem because around here virtually no one uses Bosch. At least no where close to the DeWalt numbers.

My point here is that unless a jobsite gets cleaned out, most guys have more respect for a co-worker than that. All they were trying to do was pack up and move on....Having an 'off-brand' is actually a help to hanging on to your stuff. I consider all my tools equally at risk. I would NEVER not buy a tool out of fear of someone stealing it.

 

[Redfox]

Here in Denmark, it's like everyone locks his tools up in a secured 40" feet container, special locks etc. If lying around, weak soles break in during nighttime, takes what ever they can, and sell it on the black market. Either that or you bring it home every afternoon, and not too many do that.

We had an example of a farther teaching his son how to break into a well locked up wood cabit to get to some DW. Yes, mostly DW is stolen here too, but that's because the shops have pumped them out on the worksites in very big numbers, at prices considerably lower that e.g. Festool, but as Festool is quite common here, they are very sought after too as the top of the pop tools for ww. They got caught in the middle of doing it. Unfortunately there's not much of a punishment in our legal system, so they didn't care. More like a "well young man, please don't do that again", and that's all  [mad]
Sorry to be ot.

+1 for the T. Don't like the way the C handles. A T18+3 would maybe be good for prolonged demanding workloads, as it's got more juice.

Cheers,
Jacques.

 

[fdengel]

I semi-recently got a C12 since they are on closeout and I love it.  Hoping for the C15 next year.

 

[HowardH]

Just got off the phone with Steve at the service center and they had completed the repairs on Tuesday and Big Brown Truck is delivering today!  He said the electronics were kaflooey and they replaced the circuit board.  Glad I wasn't totally nuts, at least this time.  I'll be glad to get it back as I just got an order to build two four more adirondack chairs, this time for real money!   [eek]  woo hoo!  I figure the profit will put me half way to a Kapex.

 

[whk]

A surprisingly convenient feature of the T12 that I hadn't anticipated is using specialty bits, like the bit for drilling holes with the Kreg jig.  The conventional chuck can be popped off and exchanged with the centrotec chuck with an appropriate bit in about as long as it take to swap centrotec bits.

I called Festool before trying this, but I was kind of amazed that it worked - it is powerful enough to stir up a partly full bucket of drywall compound.  I used a smaller mixing bit, the sort you'd normally use for paint, but it worked fine.  I don't know how it would do with a larger mixing bit on a full bucket.  Tech support at Festool told me that the drill has plenty of built in protection, so it will shut down before damaging itself.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Just got off the phone with Steve at the service center and they had completed the repairs on Tuesday and Big Brown Truck is delivering today!  He said the electronics were kaflooey and they replaced the circuit board.  Glad I wasn't totally nuts, at least this time.  I'll be glad to get it back as I just got an order to build two more adirondack chairs, this time for real money!   [eek]  woo hoo! 

Great story Howard.  That says a lot about a company when the customer is praising the tool even after sending it back for repair.  Never saw a company where the product was perfect every time, but how they handle problems is one of the things that sets Festool apart.

 

[harry_]

A surprisingly convenient feature of the T12 that I hadn't anticipated is using specialty bits, like the bit for drilling holes with the Kreg jig.  The conventional chuck can be popped off and exchanged with the centrotec chuck with an appropriate bit in about as long as it take to swap centrotec bits.

This feature ROCKS! No more spinning bits in and out, HUGE time saver!

I called Festool before trying this, but I was kind of amazed that it worked - it is powerful enough to stir up a partly full bucket of drywall compound.  I used a smaller mixing bit, the sort you'd normally use for paint, but it worked fine.  I don't know how it would do with a larger mixing bit on a full bucket.  Tech support at Festool told me that the drill has plenty of built in protection, so it will shut down before damaging itself.

I have used my T15 for mixing thinset mortar and grout, not a whimper or complaint unless the battery was near dead. With a full battery, better have a good grip on the bucket!

 

[Jeff Zanin]

A surprisingly convenient feature of the T12 that I hadn't anticipated is using specialty bits, like the bit for drilling holes with the Kreg jig.  The conventional chuck can be popped off and exchanged with the centrotec chuck with an appropriate bit in about as long as it take to swap centrotec bits.

Does this mean there is a Kreg type (stepped) bit with a Centrotec shaft?  Or that you are using the conventional chuck to hold your Kreg bit?

Jeff