Thread: Buying Festool Products

The Armor Tools bench has 19 mm holes so not compatible with the Festool 20 mm diameter holes on 96 mm centres standard.

I bought a parf guide kit from Carbatec - exy, but I can make up a disposable bench top from some scrap melamine for an hour’s worth of my time (which isn’t worth much).

Leigh


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But perfect for those using bench dogs, hold-downs, planer stops and a myriad of other bench accessories from Veritas, Armor, Kreg, Axminster, Carbatec and others

Brian

I my case, 25 years ago when I could not afford high quality tools/machinery I was highly attracted to them but now that I can sort of afford them the attraction has somewhat evaporated.

Axminster do a flavour of the fe$tool clamp for a fraction of the price. I've got several and they're great.

MFT tables are stupidly expensive, and I wouldn't bother unless you need their portability (remember that a lot of Fe$tool is geared to tradies who need to pack their van, drive to a worksite, and then do stuff).

Axminster's UJK parf system will allow you to make your own MFT-style tops. Get some of their bench dogs while you're there. Or get a local business to CNC one for you.

To break up sheet goods with high accuracy, I use a TS 55 on a track with TSO's guide rail square and parallel guide system (pic below), so I don't miss having a flip up rail and track. For smaller cuts, I use the track with bench dogs on a home-milled top.

I only needed one weekend of cutting everything out of square to realise it was worth paying for a system that made things easy to get right (which is as much a testament to my ham-fistedness as it is to anything else!)

And again, do NOT import anything that comes to more than AU$1000 including shipping. You will pay import duty on top of GST (think it might have been a total of 27% extra when I did the math, but it's been a while).

Screenshot 2019-12-28 16.50.24.jpg

I am not a pro. I have seen several Festool demos by a Factory Rep.

Let me put it as simply as possible. If I were a pro and doing major work in a customer's living room a Festool would be just about mandatory due t dust control.

Originally Posted by rrich

If I were a pro and doing major work in a customer's living room a Festool would be just about mandatory due t dust control.

Yep, their dust control is outstanding. Ease of adjustment too, but setup accuracy is only a matter of time taken.

mick

I think you do get what you pay for with Festool. However whether the additional quality or features are more valuable than the difference in price between other brands is completely subjective and individual.

I have bought quite a bit of Festool over the last few years and I consider them good value. I particularly place a high value on dust collection - so paid the price of entry for the router, and some of their circular saws (still not great dust collection but way way better than no dust collection as with many other brands) for this feature alone - the fact they also function well and have useful additional features was nearly a bonus for me. I also like that most are made in Germany - that still means something to me.

Some tools like the Domino are quite unique so there isn't really a great alternative - the Lamello stuff maybe?

I have been happy with all of my Festool tools and don't regret any so far. I do somewhat regret buying the corded version of the Carvex Jigsaw- I should have gone cordless. But otherwise no regrets.

I stayed away from their drills, as they seemed expensive compared with others, but I recently picked up their small CXS and absolutely love that little drill. Even the T18 is good - although not particularly amazing - although the right angle and offset chucks do come in very handy at times.

I don't have any experience with their mobile table systems - but I don't doubt they work very well and if you have the cash I doubt you'd regret them.

Take your time and really figure out how you want to work. If you have the space (sorry can't remember if you provided this info) and you think this will be a long-term interest, then you might consider putting the money towards a sliding table saw etc if breaking down sheet goods is a priority.

I don't think that pro or hobby user has anything to do with the decision to buy or not buy Festool.

Cheers, Dom

I don't own any Festool tools, and I don't aspire to own any. The Axminster clamps that Bernmc linked to are made in Taiwan by Ehoma. Dieter Schmid fine tools in Germany also rebrand them. They should be available in Australia, but due to the Importer having an exclusive licence God knows what you'd have to pay.

Originally Posted by Bernmc

Axminster do a flavour of the fe$tool clamp for a fraction of the price. I've got several and they're great.

How do they compare once you add freight? I can’t see how to get a freight price without an account.

Cheers Andrew

Just add to your basket, go to checkout, click 'checkout as a guest' and put your address in. I've found their shipping charges very reasonable (unlike the US), but you will need to buy a few things to make it worthwhile

Originally Posted by Bernmc

......
And again, do NOT import anything that comes to more than AU$1000 including shipping. You will pay import duty on top of GST (think it might have been a total of 27% extra when I did the math, but it's been a while).
.......

Not quite true, but complicated.

Customs duty on most tool imports are 5% of the FOB cost - ie the overseas price.
GST is 10% of the landed cost - ie the overseas price plus freight & insurance plus customs duty. Yep, you pay tax on the tax!

But the ATO has "done a deal" with many overseas suppliers and forced them to collect GST on small purchases and remit it to the ATO. [Example: I bought two books from Book Depository, UK, last week for a gross cost of Aus$56.65 including postage and the invoice specified $5.14 Australian GST was included.]



Cheers

Graeme

Originally Posted by Renato1

.....The reason why I keep looking at Festool, is I'm interested in being able to make cabinets (ie ....., kitchen cabinets, wardrobes etc) and I like the idea of using the MFT3 (or two) with fence and drop rail to make square cuts. Hoping by having two MFT3, I might be able to buy sheets of MDF melamine (2.4 x 1.2) and cut down to size.
......

Renato; welcome to the forum.

A while back I did a total rebuild of our kitchen with HMR melamine sheeting for all cabinets and drawers - 16 cabinets and 28 drawers - and got a local joinery to supply the melamine, cut it to exact sizes (within 0.1 mm) and to edge-band it where necessary. The total cost was about $50 dearer than I could have bought the melamine from a national chain.

The following factors are relevant:

• there were zero risks of errors or wastage from inaccurate cutting,
• I did not have to breath nasty melamine and chipboard dust,
• the silence from not doing all that power sawing,
• their edge-banding machine was much better than any iron-on edge-banding that I could do, and
• Time saved, $$$$ saved, frustration saved!

And I am fighting a Festool adiction!


Cheers

Graeme

Interesting that the price increase is not a uniform percentage across the range.
I've not taken notice in past years but have been keen on getting a mitre saw recently so looking at the kapex models. The 120 has gone from 1999 to 2065 whereas the 60 has jumped from 1229 to 1325.
Festool must determine product by product what the market will bear.

There is a Festool MFT3 for sale on Facebook for $900 if you are interested Renato. The group is Australian woodworking tools / timber buy swap and sell.

cheers Andrew