Originally Posted by
Zac wingert
Do not drink the kool aid... just my opinion, though. I have no festool products and have never tried out any, but I can’t imagine when they are so much more than what’s availabile from Bosch, dewalt, etc.. I’m not a professional, but it’s a whole whole lot more money that I’d rather spend on wood. I just imagine that % the tools are better is not proportional to the % of the cost.
As a hobbiest, it just seems silly. I have a 5” Bosch ROS ($70) dewalt 1/4 sheet sander ($50) and two old craftsman 3x21 belt sanders (given to me for free)and the idea of spending about $1k for a sander and basically a vacuum is unthinkable.
Zac
One of the benefits that you are reaping from Festool, is that you're now getting a better quality tool in the "lower tiered" product lines. Tool manufacturers aren't stupid, they have a product to sell and they study the market like a stock broker.
In the 90's and early 2000's most of those companies made absolute junk.
DeWalt in the late 90's was junk in a box. Just awful. Anything from Harbor Freight today is better than what DeWalt was selling in the late 90's. Bosch was slightly better, and Ryobi was just embarrassing in it's junk quality. It was absolute garbage. Makita was somewhere between Ryobi and DeWalt. Porter Cable was circling the drain and only their name continued to sell tool. Once the best routers you could buy, they were now just plastic and cheap aluminum wares. They were being offered at 1/2 price everywhere and they still couldn't sell them. I bought three brand new PC8529's of the blow out table at Home Depot for < $100 each. I have an 890 from that era that I'd give away for postage, but am afraid I'd still be taking advantage of someone.
Festool entered the market and people bought their products. Not just professionals, but home owners and hobbyists. The other manufacturers saw this and realized just how much money a person was willing to pay for any given tool. It took them awhile to respond, but across the board they improved their product lines and now make a reputable product for sale. They keep the price point under Festool, but there are some good, reliable, tools in their product lines
If Festool did nothing else, it aided in improving the quality of tools available to the "average Joe". Internet competition also aided this.
It also isn't so much "drinking the koolaid", but folks found a product line that worked as advertised. You definitely had to pay for them, but they filled a vacuum created by the other manufacturers of the time, in their race to the bottom, putting profit over quality.
I have 4 DeWalt sanders. I actually like them, bit some people hate them. Everyone of them was bought with a yellow "returned tag at Home Depot. I have 4 sanders less than 1/2 the price of one Festool sander. It works for me.
My drills are Makita's, they've been great I really like them. They've taken a fair beating from me and held up just fine. They've also been left in the garage through numerous winters, with the batteries in them, and charged back up in the spring time and still keep working.
For Festool, I have their TS75, two routers, and a Carvex jig saw. When I bought the TS 75, only Hilti was selling a circular saw of that size on par with the Festool. Makita had a 10" and a 12" circular saw, but they weren't cheap either, and neither company had yet to adopt the guide rail concept.
Their routers though are a different story altogether. The OF2200 is simply the best router I have ever used, and I've used a lot of different routers.
The Carvex is a system concept, and you have to have a use for a jig saw to really appreciate what it brings to the table. Bosch used to have nice jigsaws also, but I can't speak about them now. Milwaukee's are barely okay. I have two of them.
If you haven't ever tried any Festool products, you should. If you use routers, give their 1010 and 2200 a whirl. They're both amazing just by themselves without any of the other accessories required.
To the OP
You can spend your $$$$ confidence on Festool sanders, and Vac's. We are now using them at work to remove epoxy and lead based paints. I'd have to ask the painters which models they're using. They like them, because it gets them out of full face respirators. I still like the FEIN vacs over the Festool vac's and it seems as if the Festool vac's have gotten a little louder to me.
Last edited by Mike Cutler; 12-14-2018 at 10:34 AM.
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