Jim Becker
09-12-2003, 10:36 PM
What could be better than spending a few hours on a Friday afternoon being entertained by a few awesome power tools? (I'm sure the Neanders are laughing at that one... :rolleyes: )
Well, Mr. Marino...Bob to his friends, family and customers...stopped by today with an SUV full of Festool hardware to demonstrate and play with. After a nice lunch at my favorite local establishment, we got down to business and made a little sawdust. Not that there was any evidence of said sawdust due to the extraordinary dust collection capability of these tools. I have to say that I was really impressed with these products and I'll try to summarize why. And then there are pictures to look at.
Bob brought with him all three ROS, the D-handle jigsaw (complimentary to the barrel grip model I just bought), the vac, the circular saw, the router, the drill and the planer as well as a very intereresting portable multi-function table setup. I got to try them all over a couple of hours...sure can't do that in a store! Interestingly enough, all the tools are variable speed.
Here are some brief thoughts:
1) Sanders. Awesome. Very powerful, hefty, yet manuverable, minimal vibration and great dust collection. Agressive when you need them to be yet can handle the delicate work, too. The big one was really impressive when we took a piece of rough lumber and made it smooth as a baby's...well, you know what...even with skipping some grits.
2) Jigsaw. Great cut, even in thick material without even properly adjusting the special blade guides. I'm looking forward to using my own!
3) Circular saw. Amazing product. Who woulda thunk that a circular saw could cut as clean as a table saw with virtually zero sawdust flying about. The plunge capablity is great and it's the only circular saw I've ever seen with a riving knife (splitter) to help eliminate pinching. 'Never saw a variable speed circular saw, either. The guide system is perfect for both cross cuts and rips and works smoothly with very little effort. In addition to the sanders, I'd actually consider this tool for my own use when and if my circa 1979 B&D workhorse circular saw ever dies...or if I were to start using a lot of sheet goods or "inside work" with such a tool.
4) Drill/driver. Some people would see the price of this tool and walk away without even looking at it further. Big mistake, especially if you are doing a lot of installation work with diverse requirements. The multiple interchangable heads that provide "normal", offset and angle drilling/driving make this tool the equivalent of two or three drill/drivers. Considering that a pro-quality cordless 1/2" drill driver sells for $200 or more...this is a pretty good deal if you need the flexibility and only want to carry one tool.
5) Router. Although this tool is different from most of the routers we use, it's well designed for its intended purposes. It, too, works with the excellent guide system for dados, rabbits and even jointing long boards a la Joint-A-Bility. It's not a heavy duty tool and only accomodates 8mm and 1/4" shanks...not a problem if you think about it. This would be a great tool when combined with the multi-function table for a dedicated dado station in a small pro shop, IMHO. Dust collection was not as effective as with the other tools, but that's kinda to be expected.
6) Planer. Although this is not a tool I would use, for the contractor, it's a very well-built and engineered tool. Three passes at .8 mm put a nice smooth and straight edge on the same chunk of rough 12/4 stock I tried the sander out on earlier. It was also comfortable to use with good balance and the ablity to point the large dust collection bag to either side, depending on the direction of the pass.
7) Vac. Nice tool. Not quite as quiet as the Fein, but still less noisy than the tools hooked up to it. The shape is also easy to find a spot for in the shop as compared to something taller and round.
8) Multi-function table system. This makes the saw and router shine for precision work, especially when portability is necessary. Yea, you could build one easily, but if that's not your thing...this is a nice tool that really facilitates a lot of flexiblity in clamping.
On to the pictures...
Well, Mr. Marino...Bob to his friends, family and customers...stopped by today with an SUV full of Festool hardware to demonstrate and play with. After a nice lunch at my favorite local establishment, we got down to business and made a little sawdust. Not that there was any evidence of said sawdust due to the extraordinary dust collection capability of these tools. I have to say that I was really impressed with these products and I'll try to summarize why. And then there are pictures to look at.
Bob brought with him all three ROS, the D-handle jigsaw (complimentary to the barrel grip model I just bought), the vac, the circular saw, the router, the drill and the planer as well as a very intereresting portable multi-function table setup. I got to try them all over a couple of hours...sure can't do that in a store! Interestingly enough, all the tools are variable speed.
Here are some brief thoughts:
1) Sanders. Awesome. Very powerful, hefty, yet manuverable, minimal vibration and great dust collection. Agressive when you need them to be yet can handle the delicate work, too. The big one was really impressive when we took a piece of rough lumber and made it smooth as a baby's...well, you know what...even with skipping some grits.
2) Jigsaw. Great cut, even in thick material without even properly adjusting the special blade guides. I'm looking forward to using my own!
3) Circular saw. Amazing product. Who woulda thunk that a circular saw could cut as clean as a table saw with virtually zero sawdust flying about. The plunge capablity is great and it's the only circular saw I've ever seen with a riving knife (splitter) to help eliminate pinching. 'Never saw a variable speed circular saw, either. The guide system is perfect for both cross cuts and rips and works smoothly with very little effort. In addition to the sanders, I'd actually consider this tool for my own use when and if my circa 1979 B&D workhorse circular saw ever dies...or if I were to start using a lot of sheet goods or "inside work" with such a tool.
4) Drill/driver. Some people would see the price of this tool and walk away without even looking at it further. Big mistake, especially if you are doing a lot of installation work with diverse requirements. The multiple interchangable heads that provide "normal", offset and angle drilling/driving make this tool the equivalent of two or three drill/drivers. Considering that a pro-quality cordless 1/2" drill driver sells for $200 or more...this is a pretty good deal if you need the flexibility and only want to carry one tool.
5) Router. Although this tool is different from most of the routers we use, it's well designed for its intended purposes. It, too, works with the excellent guide system for dados, rabbits and even jointing long boards a la Joint-A-Bility. It's not a heavy duty tool and only accomodates 8mm and 1/4" shanks...not a problem if you think about it. This would be a great tool when combined with the multi-function table for a dedicated dado station in a small pro shop, IMHO. Dust collection was not as effective as with the other tools, but that's kinda to be expected.
6) Planer. Although this is not a tool I would use, for the contractor, it's a very well-built and engineered tool. Three passes at .8 mm put a nice smooth and straight edge on the same chunk of rough 12/4 stock I tried the sander out on earlier. It was also comfortable to use with good balance and the ablity to point the large dust collection bag to either side, depending on the direction of the pass.
7) Vac. Nice tool. Not quite as quiet as the Fein, but still less noisy than the tools hooked up to it. The shape is also easy to find a spot for in the shop as compared to something taller and round.
8) Multi-function table system. This makes the saw and router shine for precision work, especially when portability is necessary. Yea, you could build one easily, but if that's not your thing...this is a nice tool that really facilitates a lot of flexiblity in clamping.
On to the pictures...