New Festool Products

[Ken Lara]

Aloha,

Being new to the field of woodworking & power tools, does anyone know if it's possible to get items not yet available in the US, but available elsewhere? (as in other countries - UK, Aus, etc.) It's not that I'm against buying locally, but my local Festool distributor wont be having either in stock for quite some time. Or perhaps someone here can assist?

Here's a couple of items I've just discovered to be released soon:
New Festool RO 150 http://www.festool.co.uk/artikel/artikel_weiterleiten.cfm?id=146
New Festool Domino Jointing System http://www.festool.co.uk/artikel/artikel_weiterleiten.cfm?id=145

Thanks!

Aloha :cool:

[Steve Schoene]

I don't doubt you can find someone to sell them to you, but you will have to figure out the effects of using tools designed for 50 cycle current (240 v) instead of the US's 60 cycle current. Not within by kenn.

[Ken Lara]

Aloha,

Ah yes, I hadn't considered the power situation. Thank you for that reminder.

Being a out here in the middle of the ocean, and on an outer island no less, it takes a long time before some things become available. The internet has opened up a whole new window of opportunity of for me in regard to exposure, research and purchasing, so I was just throwing out the possiblity of finding them online.

My apologies, I meant no offense intended to any Festool dealers out there reading this. :(

Aloha :cool:

[Bob Marino]

The RO 150 will be available August 1. The Domino will hopefully be available April 2007. I believe the Domino proved such a success in Germany that they literally can't produce them fast enough.
Yours are good questions - I don't anyone would take offense.

Bob

[Ken Lara]

Aloha Bob,

Thank you for your response and RO 150 release date. That is awesome! I am hoping to pick up the new RO 150 & CT 33 as a package. :D

Steve Schoene wrote: "Not within by kenn."
Aloha Steve,

Thank you for your response as well.......but I'm not sure what that means. Any chance you could clarify a bit, please? :confused:

Thank you both,

Aloha :cool:

[Steve Schoene]

"Not within my understanding" or "Something I don't know about", though it should have been spelled with one "n" in ken according to my dictionary. I checked to see if I weren't dreaming it up--not an impossibility.

[David Eisenhauer]

The RO 150 will be available August 1. The Domino will hopefully be available April 2007. I believe the Domino proved such a success in Germany that they literally can't produce them fast enough.
Yours are good questions - I don't anyone would take offense.

Bob

Will the RO 150 differ significantly from what Festool has to offer now?

[Bob Marino]

Will the RO 150 differ significantly from what Festool has to offer now?

David,

The quick answer is it is pretty similar in looks to the RO 125 - but with a 6" pad, rather than a 5" pad. It is more powerful than the current RO 150 - yet smoother. The motor is also very well sealed from dust and there is a front "bumper" to protect the pad from getting damaged. There is info on this on the Festool Australian site and I will have that info up on my site soon too.

Bob

[John Poole]

Aloha,

...<snip>...

</snip> New Festool Domino Jointing System http://www.festool.co.uk/artikel/artikel_weiterleiten.cfm?id=145

Thanks!

Aloha :cool:
Most the links at the Domino URL above come up empty in Firefox and MSIE. For example: Domino Dowel; Domino Biscuit Joiner; Benefit and Features; At a Glance; Applications. Are they blocking packet responses to the US?

[Sonny Porter]

I believe the Domino proved such a success in Germany that they literally can't produce them fast enough.
Bob

I wonder why? Maybe it appeals to the users who want a tenon joint in preference to biscuits? Will Festool sell a bit to create the tenons or will this stay a proprietary system? (It looks as if you could make it with a double roundover bit.) Are the Beadlock people looking over their shoulder?:D

I'm happy with Festool when it comes to lowering the dust problem. That makes it a safety issue for me. I haven't noticed that biscuits create enough of a problem to look for a solution.

[Ken Lara]

Aloha John,

I noticed that too. Could it be because its still a new product and the literature has been produced yet?

Question for Bob Marino:
Say, I was wondering if the new RO 150 comes with a detachable "Plug It" power cord? It appears that it does, but it's not mentioned in the brochure (unless I missed it.)

Mahalo,

Aloha :cool:

[Bob Marino]

Aloha John,

I noticed that too. Could it be because its still a new product and the literature has been produced yet?

Question for Bob Marino:
Say, I was wondering if the new RO 150 comes with a detachable "Plug It" power cord? It appears that it does, but it's not mentioned in the brochure (unless I missed it.)

Mahalo,

Aloha :cool:

Yes, it does.

Bob

[Terry Fogarty]

Most the links at the Domino URL above come up empty in Firefox and MSIE. For example: Domino Dowel; Domino Biscuit Joiner; Benefit and Features; At a Glance; Applications. Are they blocking packet responses to the US?
Howdy John:) Down here in Australia we have had the Domino (lovinly refered to as the Dominatrix:D ) for about 6 months. I have one and let me say its the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is just brilliant. Have a look here at the Aussie forum for the tread on it.

Just google ubeaut forums and go to the Festool forum section

At the start i was a non believer because of the price and then gradualy got hooked and went and purchased one, now i carnt stop raving on about them to anyone who will listen:o


(http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=29917)

[Bob Childress]

Thanks Lig. Your link works perfectly and we can see what's coming from Festool. :D

If you follow the link to the Aussie forum, you can then find a link from there to the Aussie Festool site which has all the videos, etc. Cool!

Hey Lig, your forum looks pretty interesting. Any objection to us Yanks dipping in now and then?

[Jason Roehl]

Pssst. Some Festool speak here, just to simplify things a little:

RO 125 = 125mm random orbit (125mm = ~5")
RO 150 = 150mm random orbit (150mm = ~6")...and so on...

Personally, I prefer the Rotex, but I only have access to one because of professionally refinishing floors, not because I could afford that "luxury" item in my own shop.

[Terry Fogarty]

Hey Lig, your forum looks pretty interesting. Any objection to us Yanks dipping in now and then?

Bob anything at all you need to know about the Domino you just have to ask:D
pop in any time to the forum you will be very, very welcom. We already have some of your members registered. Just a few days ago John Nixon came and showed us his fantastic loose tenon vid.

Must say im surprised the Domino isnt available yet in the States. Strange:confused:

[Bob Marino]

[Must say im surprised the Domino isnt available yet in the States. Strange:confused:[/quote]

Lin,

Nah, not strange - aggravating maybe, but not strange. Between UL issues and the extremely high demand in Europe, we won't see it until Spring 07. When UL isn't familiar with the technology, it adds to the delay.

Bob

[Scott Thornton]

For what it's worth...

Fine Woodworking just did a tool review of Random Orbital sanders.

The Bosch won and was up against the Festool among many other brands. If you're in the market for one, I'd suggest picking up this month's issue and reading about them.

The Festool, while hands down the most expensive, finished probably 4th or 5th down the list...

[Terry Fogarty]

[Must say im surprised the Domino isnt available yet in the States. Strange:confused:

Lin,

Nah, not strange - aggravating maybe, but not strange. Between UL issues and the extremely high demand in Europe, we won't see it until Spring 07. When UL isn't familiar with the technology, it adds to the delay.

Bob[/quote]

Youl have to come to down to Aussie for a holiday and ill let you have a play with my Domino. You will be hooked:D

[Dave Falkenstein]

For what it's worth...

Fine Woodworking just did a tool review of Random Orbital sanders.

The Bosch won and was up against the Festool among many other brands. If you're in the market for one, I'd suggest picking up this month's issue and reading about them.

The Festool, while hands down the most expensive, finished probably 4th or 5th down the list...

FYI, the article mentioned by Scott is available to read online, but only if you are a member at the FWW site:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=26254

A monthly membership is available for $4.99 or annually for $34.95. Hmmm.

[JayStPeter]

For what it's worth...

Fine Woodworking just did a tool review of Random Orbital sanders.

The Bosch won and was up against the Festool among many other brands. If you're in the market for one, I'd suggest picking up this month's issue and reading about them.

The Festool, while hands down the most expensive, finished probably 4th or 5th down the list...

Festool has a large number of sanders in their catalog. I think the Festool sander FWW tested is meant for finish sanding. So, it sorta makes sense why it didn't compete well when agressiveness was the main criteria. In fairness to FWW, it is the only Festool sander in their 5" palm grip category. The new RO150 discussed in this thread is an entirely different beast (one I'd like to add to my arsenal someday).

[Gary Curtis]

A telephone call to Festool -USA in Santa Barbara revealed a few facts.
The Domino is awaiting safety approval (UL Labs in the US, CSA in Canada). They expect sales to begin in January.

A second reason for the delay was "overwhelming success". Sales in Europe quickly outstripped the productivity of the subcontractors Festool uses. They are shopping around for suppliers who can meet the demand and the specification criteria.

The gentlemen who sold me my table saw spoke with the Festool folks from Germany at last summers AWS show in Las Vegas. He asked them if the Domino was intended to supplant biscuit joinery. The Germans just gave them a sheepish grin, but would not say anything.

Looking at that example of a complex Domino joint posted today, I think we all have our answer.

Gary Curtis
northern California.

Gary Curtis
northern California.

[Bob Marino]

[quote=Gary Curtis]A telephone call to Festool -USA in Santa Barbara revealed a few facts.
The Domino is awaiting safety approval (UL Labs in the US, CSA in Canada). They expect sales to begin in January.

A second reason for the delay was "overwhelming success". Sales in Europe quickly outstripped the productivity of the subcontractors Festool uses. They are shopping around for suppliers who can meet the demand and the specification criteria.

The gentlemen who sold me my table saw spoke with the Festool folks from Germany at last summers AWS show in Las Vegas. He asked them if the Domino was intended to supplant biscuit joinery. The Germans just gave them a sheepish grin, but would not say anything.

Looking at that example of a complex Domino joint posted today, I think we all have our answer.

Gary Curtis
northern California.

Gary,

I don't think the Domino will be available here before Spring 07 - see my previous reply in this thread.

Bob

[Dave Falkenstein]

For what it's worth...

Fine Woodworking just did a tool review of Random Orbital sanders.

The Bosch won and was up against the Festool among many other brands. If you're in the market for one, I'd suggest picking up this month's issue and reading about them.

The Festool, while hands down the most expensive, finished probably 4th or 5th down the list...

Scott - I read the FWW article, and it is way beyond me how you conclude that the Festool sander "finished probably 4th or 5th down the list" of the nine sanders tested. The only comparisons in the article are in the summary chart, and there is no mention of any relative ranking in that chart at all, other than the "winner".

The article mentions an 8 hole pad being available for the Festool sander, but Festool does not sell one. The article also says the tester used Norton 3X paper, but (to my knowledge) Norton does not make nine hole paper for the Festool sanders. If the center hole is covered, the sander would work far less effectively than it was designed to work, skewing some of the test results negatively. That part of the article left me confused and doubtful.

The article ranks Bosch as Best Overall and Best Value, but makes no attempt to rank any of the other sanders, other than to state the test results in the chart. Personally I would need clarification on how the Festool sander was tested to validate the test results. My own personal experinece with Dewalt, Porter Cable and Festool tells me the Festool sander is way, way better.

Finally, the Festool ES125 has a rather small sanding stroke (2.5mm), making it great for finish sanding, and not very aggressive. I wonder if the test is comparing apples to oranges. Certainly, the tester put a lot of weight on the aggressiveness of the sanders, putting the Festool sander at a disadvantage because of the small stroke. The aggressiveness issue makes me question the validity of the test results from yet another perspective.

[Ken Lara]

Aloha,

Bob Marino wrote:The RO 150 will be available August 1. The Domino will hopefully be available April 2007.

Thank you Bob. Any idea on how much each of these will be in $US? Gotta start saving up! :D

Aloha :cool:

[Bob Marino]

Aloha,

Bob Marino wrote:The RO 150 will be available August 1. The Domino will hopefully be available April 2007.

Thank you Bob. Any idea on how much each of these will be in $US? Gotta start saving up! :D

Aloha :cool:

Ken,

The new RO 150 should be ABOUT/AROUND/SOME WHERE IN THE VACINITY OF, etc. etc. $400.00 introductory price.
The Domino - just not sure, but nowhere near the $800.00 price mentioned.

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

Ken,

The new RO 150 should be ABOUT/AROUND/SOME WHERE IN THE VACINITY OF, etc. etc. $400.00 introductory price.
The Domino - just not sure, but nowhere near the $800.00 price mentioned.

Bob
I will stick with the prediction I made last January that the introductory price for the Domino in the USA will be $475.

[Mark Rios]

Ken,

The new RO 150 should be ABOUT/AROUND/SOME WHERE IN THE VACINITY OF, etc. etc. $400.00 introductory price.
The Domino - just not sure, but nowhere near the $800.00 price mentioned.

Bob


HOLY PACHEEBIES................ That's alot of money

[Bruce Benjamin]

HOLY PACHEEBIES................ That's alot of money

I'm not necessarily a Festool enthusiast for various reasons but having looked at the Domino on the AU Festool website from top to bottom I gotta say that I was very impressed. If you are usually more interested in using a power tool to perform a task than hand tools, (I am) then the Domino looks pretty useful. Compared to a biscuit joiner the motorized cutting mechanism looks much more complicated and sophisticated. And it looks like it will do nearly anything a biscuit joiner will do and form a stronger joint too. If it cost about $400 I'd say that it was a fair price, based on the pics and videos I've seen. How much does the most expensive biscuit joiner cost?

I wonder how long it will be before another major tool company has something comparable. Right now there's nothing else like it that I've ever heard of. I don't know much about patents and the like but if someone like PC or Dewalt or Bosch can come up with a tool of similar function it will almost certainly be less expensive. A PC router is less expensive than a Festool router and, depending on the model, is a very dependable and functional router. However the competition works out, I would love to have one and if I had to, (and had the money) I'd pay $400 for one.

Bruce

[Bob Marino]

If it cost about $400 I'd say that it was a fair price, based on the pics and videos I've seen. How much does the most expensive biscuit joiner cost?

Bruce[/quote]

Bruce,

The Lamello Top 20 is the most expensive biscuit joiner - $799.00.
Here's the link - http://www.csaw.com/lamello/lamtop20.html

The Lamello Classic C3 is over $400.00.
Here's the link - http://www.csaw.com/lamello/lamclassicc3.html

Frank,

Though the intro price won't be $800.00, I am sure it will be well over $475.00.

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,

Though the intro price won't be $800.00, I am sure it will be well over $475.00.

Bob
I have a feeling of dejavu here Bob. I curently owe you a beverage should we ever meet based on a bet that we had about the introductory price of another Festool product. You won that bet

So would you like to go for double or nothing? I will stick with $475. You provide a price and whoever is closest wins.

[Mark Rios]

I have a feeling of dejavu here Bob. I curently owe you a beverage should we ever meet based on a bet that we had about the introductory price of another Festool product. You won that bet

So would you like to go for double or nothing? I will stick with $475. You provide a price and whoever is closest wins.



OOooooohhhhh....go for it Bob! Sounds like money in the bank to me........Or maybe beverage in the tummy....or something like that. :rolleyes: :D

[Bob Marino]

I have a feeling of dejavu here Bob. I curently owe you a beverage should we ever meet based on a bet that we had about the introductory price of another Festool product. You won that bet

So would you like to go for double or nothing? I will stick with $475. You provide a price and whoever is closest wins.

Frank,

I will take you up on that bet - I say $476.00:D ;) :D;) :D ;) :D ;) :D

I honestly don't know what the price will be - or when it will get here. However, I think $475 is not really close or realistic - I have just posted that the Lamello Classiic C3 is over $400.00, let alone the $799.00 for the Top 20. I know the demand in Eurpoe has far, far exceeded supply. UL approval also adds to the delay. I guess we will all have to wait and see how this develops!

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

[/B]

Frank,

I will take you up on that bet - I say $476.00:D ;) :D;) :D ;) :D ;) :D

I honestly don't know what the price will be - or when it will get here. However, I think $475 is not really close or realistic - I have just posted that the Lamello Classiic C3 is over $400.00, let alone the $799.00 for the Top 20. I know the demand in Eurpoe has far, far exceeded supply. UL approval also adds to the delay. I guess we will all have to wait and see how this develops!

Bob
Although I kind of think you are cheating by saying $476, :) the bet is on Bob.

[Ken Lara]

Aloha,

Steve Schoene wrote:"I don't doubt you can find someone to sell them to you, but you will have to figure out the effects of using tools designed for 50 cycle current (240 v) instead of the US's 60 cycle current. Not within by kenn."

Hey now! I just noticed something...here's a few links that give you a look at a few items not available in the US and the option of choosing what voltage you run on. Hmmm.
http://www.doorhandledirect.co.uk/products/item421.cfm
http://www.doorhandledirect.co.uk/products/item174.cfm
http://www.doorhandledirect.co.uk/products/item55.cfm
http://www.doorhandledirect.co.uk/products/item452.cfm

Here's one of the first pics of the new Rotex I've come across.

Interesting to look at to say the least.:D

Aloha :cool:

[Simon Auchterlonie]

Howdy Ken.....It's standard in the UK to offer both 110v and 240v in the higher end power tools. 240v is the standard house hold current and is chossen by most nonpros, but if your working on site then you have to have all your powertools running on 110v for saftey reasons.

Simon