What's with Festool?

[Jimmy Harris]

Bought one new, hate it. Collects dust for me now.

Superior dust collection is something Festool prides themselves on.

[Michael Burnside]

Superior dust collection is something Festool prides themselves on.

LOL! Well played Jimmy

[Johannes Becker]

I have the OF2200 and love it. Plunge is easy and easy to adjust, soft start, excellent dust collection (it has this transparent collar that you can pop down, hose stays out of the way), easy swap of different router bases and collars, good ergonomics. But in the end it spins the bit the same as my 3.25hp Porter Cable. Yet the PC scarred the hell out of me when I used it free-hand. I feel much safer using the OF2200 when I need a big router occasionally outside a router table -- YMMV.

[glenn bradley]

As mentioned, Festool is marketing off of their superior ROS sander performance. Their router routinely came in somewhere in the middle of the pack in reviews. The original Kapex was a joke for the price. I believe Festool responded to this and resolved some of the issues in their more current offerings. If you have ever owned a Harley, a Jeep, or even Oakley sunglasses and are not blinded by the marketing fluff you know of what I speak. Reliability of a product quality and performance simply based on the badge has been dead for some time.

I have almost every color of paint you can imagine in my shop. I choose the tool, not the tool maker. Make your own short-list of "gotta haves", compare unbiased review sources, and buy accordingly. Things like budget, use-case, and susceptibility to paint color prejudice all influence our decisions and our satisfaction with them.

I just realized this post sounds very negative and that is not my intention. We have to be well educated consumers and speak with our wallets. Let makers know when things fall short, not with wild rants but with solid, repeatable facts. Sellers want to sell products. If we don't give them good feedback they don't have a chance to do right.

[mike stenson]

How is posting here giving a manufacturer feedback?

Serious question.