Replacing old style Festool Systainers

[Wes Billups]

After ripping a finger nail off this weekend trying to open my old style Festool Systainer I'm seriously considering replacing the two old style in my collection with the newer style which have the turnbuckle. I've found these are much easier to open.

The style on the bottom is what I'd like to get away from:
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Will the inserts in my current Systainers transfer over to the new style? I would be replacing the Systainer for my Domino DF500 and subsequent Domino tenons.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has done this and do they think it was worthwhile.

Thanks,
Wes

[Victor Robinson]

Wes, some of the inserts will transfer and some of them will transfer with a little modification. Alternatively, if you want the perfect fit into a T-loc, you can purchase new inserts directly from Festool's parts department or from your dealer. You just need to know the part numbers. Prices range from under $10 to $25 for large tools. Here's a list:
http://www.festoolproducts.com/t-loc-inserts.html

As far as differences between the classic and T-locs, I agree with you and find the T-locs much more convenient. I have many non-Festools in systainers as well, and have slowly phased out my classic systainers gradually. The T-locs are slightly flimsier than the classic systainers - the plastic is a little thinner. Nothing that would outweigh the added convenience unless you throw your systainers around on jobsites a lot. I keep my systainers in rolling stacks and find myself frequently assembling and disassembling the stacks to get to what I want. The T-loc is infinitely better in this scenario. If I didn't stack systainers (e.g. had pullouts in the shop for each one), it would be less worthwhile. Yes, the T-loc is much easier to get into than those annoying clips, but if I was going in and out that frequently I'd probably either leave the systainer lid unclipped or just keep the tool out the systainer.

If you are going through the effort of replacing a systainer, take a careful look at the new Sys-Combi systainer. It's a systainer with a drawer on the bottom that makes a lot of sense for certain tools. Yes, they are pricey. I replaced my Domino500 systainer with a Sys-Combi2 because I had many aftermarket parts for it and the systainer was getting really cramped.

[Mike Henderson]

I replaced my old Domino systainer with the new T-loc and am happy that I did. Everything came over fine.

Actually, it was two systainers because I also had the box for the wooden dominoes.

My other Festool tools are in the new T-loc boxes.

I kept the old boxes and put some other tools in them - tools that I don't access as often.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I believe that Victor is correct; some fit and some need modification.

BTW, Lee Valley has a nice selection of the Tanos boxes in a number of formats. Not inexpensive, but...

[Martin Wasner]

Wax the locks, they still suck compared to the new style, but they'll be easier to operate.

[johnny means]

I wish we were closer to each other. I'm looking to go the opposite direction. I absolutely hate the T-Locs. I never felt like they were up to the task.

[Mike Heidrick]

Where you at Johnny?

[Chris Payne]

Where you at Johnny?

I have a couple of the Makita systainers and they are damm hard to open I will not get no more. I think Festools boxes open so much better but I do like their new ones.

[Wes Billups]

I haven't hit the order button but I found the Systainers are nearly half price through Amazon's German site. I took the order all the way to the end and haven't hit the confirm button so I don't know if it'll tell me at that point that they can't ship internationally.

Has anyone done this? Not sure why there would be such a large difference between the two sites.

Thanks,
Wes

[Glen Gunderson]

I order pretty much all of my Festool accessories from Amazon Germany (or UK). They won't ship the tools themselves internationally, but they do for everything else. And yeah they're basically half price.

[Clint Baxter]

I’ve ordered multiple times from the Amazon.de site. Shipping will cost you more, but you’ll get the items cheaper overall. They typically indicate when they won’t ship to the us in the description. They will also tell you when you’re trying to complete the order that they won’t ship there as well.

Good luck on your purchase. Ive bought the SYS 4 Sort 3, both sizes of the Combi-SYS and other systainers, all at cheaper prices. The Mini-SYS is also a very good deal there.

[Victor Robinson]

Yes, done it many times. The Amz.de loophole will be shut down soon though, so get it while you can. Ever notice the number of people on the Festool used market selling brand new tenon assortments?

BTW, just because it says an item won’t ship to the US doesn’t mean so. It actually has to prevent you during checkout. Occasionally you might be able to checkout (and receive) items that supposedly don’t ship to the US. Also, the restriction on items to the US fluctuates, suggesting it’s some kind of manual restriction Amazon places on the item, perhaps after they’ve surpassed a certain amount of US orders on a particular item (speculation on my part). Or perhaps it’s related to the country where they have stock of that item (some of my DE purchases actually originate/ship from the UK, while others start in Germany and then to the UK...).

[Dave Sabo]

Yes, done it many times. The will be shut down soon though, so get it while you can. Ever notice the number of people on the Festool used market selling brand new tenon assortments?

BTW, just because it says an item won’t ship to the US doesn’t mean so. It actually has to prevent you during checkout. Occasionally you might be able to checkout (and receive) items that supposedly don’t ship to the US. Also, the restriction on items to the US fluctuates, suggesting it’s some kind of manual restriction Amazon places on the item, perhaps after they’ve surpassed a certain amount of US orders on a particular item (speculation on my part). Or perhaps it’s related to the country where they have stock of that item (some of my purchases actually originate/ship from the while others start in and then to the ..).

It will if you guys keep mentioning this publicly.

If you’d like to keep the channel open , best to keep these tips in private mails. You really should consider editing your posts here also. Why wave a red flag at a bull and screw it up for everybody ?