Thread: Festool Bragging!!!

Originally Posted by gerhard

This is a great thread! Telling likeminded folks how proud you are of purchases without feeling guilty and having to explain to relatives where the money went. Quite the opposite of disclaimers and warnings that go with bank loans!

My wife complains about not being able to fit the car in the garage, I haven't told her the Green & White boxes are worth more than the car!!!!!

Anyone know why my Trion Jigsaw is "Not To Be Used In North America"...as it says on the systainer...? Is there a reason apart from the voltage.

Originally Posted by Shedhand

Anyone know why my Trion Jigsaw is "Not To Be Used In North America"...as it says on the systainer...? Is there a reason apart from the voltage.

Because it would be hard for you to operate in Tassie if was being used in North America.

Originally Posted by Shedhand

Anyone know why my Trion Jigsaw is "Not To Be Used In North America"...as it says on the systainer...? Is there a reason apart from the voltage.

Yep. Different hemisphere. Ours go down and up, theirs go up and down.

Happy to help

(No idea Sheddy, unless the frequency has some effect, gets too hot maybe.)

It's probably the 50Hz/60Hz thingo. Or what Groggy said--down and up, up and down.

Hi Shedhand,

it's probably because of some minor adjustments needed to conform the machine to local safety rules and guidelines. Between Australia and the USA, there may be differences. It can be insulation thickness, the kind of cord used, sole plate details, way of securing adjustments. I don't know, it can be any little detail.

The Trion is popular in the USA as well, and counts as one of the precisest machines in its category. There are plenty review websites showing this, like:
http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/festool_trion.htm

One of the American testing agencies is Underwriter's Laboratories. Like any proper lab they are ruthless and strict and when a machine is UL-listed and shows UL-approval in its documents or type plate, that really means something. Festo, of course, will meet their standards with ease, its products have recognized quality worldwide and that's quite a reputation to lose.

I don't think this warning is about voltage and frequency. There's proper warning in every manual to take good care to match the tool's power requirements with those of the available mains. Also; when negative advise for use on 60 Hz would be the issue, then why was only North America mentioned? Several South American countries have 120 Volts 60 Hz as well.

But the 50 and 60 Hz argument is in itself a solid one. Electronic tools made for 50 Hertz will have problems on 60 Hz. The time base for the thyristor or triac sine wave chopper circuits (which is largely based on loading and unloading times of small capacitors) will be all wrong and the electronics may be damaged by this. The motor itself will run on both 50 or 60 Hertz.

So for my money, i think it's small differences per country, to comply the tool to local standards. Within Europe, France counts as a country which is very finnicky about this, before it allows a foreign tool on its market. For a while, Bosch tools even sported little stickers mentioning the compliance to French standards. Also, the cardboard or plastic boxes the tools are sold in in Europe, often show the countries in which the tools are allowed to be sold and used, like N, GB, E, I, NL, B, D for Norway, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

greetings

gerhard

Gerhard, you are a handy man to have around

I must say, that of all the Festools I use (of which there's 17), I've never been able to adequately come to terms with the Trion Jigsaw. In fact, I don't think it's as good as my 30 year old Elu! Most of their tool range varies from excellent to fantastic to incredible. But the Trion... just an overrated lemon now gathering dust on my shelf. Unless you use the same blades for every cut, in precisely the same way every time then it's either hopelessly inaccurate or very hard on blades. Every quality manufacturer has its particular specialities, and for Jigsaws the best maker has always been (and still is) Bosch. Better guidance, better adjustability, better speed control, and most important of all, better cuts. For a company that makes Saws and Sanders without peer, and some damn fine Routers to boot, their Jigsaw is a poorly designed, inadequately executed tool that lets the rest of the team down.

sorry you feel that way i have had great luck with my trion. i do a fair bit of thick cutting with it and the bosch i have has not done as well and has excessive sway in the cut, cut quality is not quite there either, though it has much better visibility.. i am not saying the trion is perfect and there are not things i would change but i have had better luck with the trion on thick cuts. each to his own,,,bosch makes fine tools over all

Originally Posted by Ratbag

I must say, that of all the Festools I use (of which there's 17), I've never been able to adequately come to terms with the Trion Jigsaw. In fact, I don't think it's as good as my 30 year old Elu! Most of their tool range varies from excellent to fantastic to incredible. But the Trion... just an overrated lemon now gathering dust on my shelf. Unless you use the same blades for every cut, in precisely the same way every time then it's either hopelessly inaccurate or very hard on blades. Every quality manufacturer has its particular specialities, and for Jigsaws the best maker has always been (and still is) Bosch. Better guidance, better adjustability, better speed control, and most important of all, better cuts. For a company that makes Saws and Sanders without peer, and some damn fine Routers to boot, their Jigsaw is a poorly designed, inadequately executed tool that lets the rest of the team down.

Hmm. I have a bosch (a blue one), a B&D (older than me I think), a De Walt (whose only selling point is the extreeeemly long power cord), an old skill and now the Trion. The only one that will cut an accurate AND perpendicular sink cut-out in a 32mm Laminex chipboard bench is..da da...the Trion. And with no chipping of the Laminex with the upcutting blade I used which came with the Trion. I'm very happy. Send me your over-rated lemon...I'll give you a 100 bucks for it (and 4 old jigsaws..)
PS: I borrowed a demo Trion from the retailer to play with before I bought one.

Originally Posted by Shedhand

Hmm. I have a bosch (a blue one), a B&D (older than me I think), a De Walt (whose only selling point is the extreeeemly long power cord), an old skill and now the Trion. The only one that will cut an accurate AND perpendicular sink cut-out in a 32mm Laminex chipboard bench is..da da...the Trion. And with no chipping of the Laminex with the upcutting blade I used which came with the Trion. I'm very happy. Send me your over-rated lemon...I'll give you a 100 bucks for it (and 4 old jigsaws..)
PS: I borrowed a demo Trion from the retailer to play with before I bought one.

Now now Shedhand. Don't be greedy. You've 5 already!
I gave my Elu away some years ago when I bought the Trion, more's the pity. I've since bought a Metabo, which has the longest stroke length and hence the most aggressive and fastest cut of any saw. But it isn't as accurate as the Festool.
I've had the chance to try the new Bosch on a few occasions, and find that it's the easiest saw to use by a country mile. It goes really slow when needed, just the ticket for sensitive cuts in 3mm. ply. And the smoothest plunge cut of any saw I've used. In veneered or melamine covered boards the Trion wants to bounce all over the place using downcutting blades with the pendulum off because it doesn't go slow enough.
But the most frustrating aspect of the Festool is that to keep it accurate, you need zero clearance on the lower blade guides. Every time I change the blade, or change the pendulum action, or just go from a straight cut to a tight curved cut, the blade tends to overheat and stop cutting in a few seconds unless I break out the Allen/Torx key to back off the lower blade guide clearance, which adversely effects accuracy. Bosch has similar hard metal or ceramic lower blade guides that can be adjusted in the blink of an eye by comparison, keeping the cut much more accurate. Now if Festool could halve the lowest speed it offers, and put quick adjusters on their soleplate and blade guides then it would be a much, much better saw, as other aspects of it's design, such as dust extraction, ergonomics and system compatibility are clearly superior.
But when the choice seems to be between the quality of cuts produced in a variety of materials, and dust extraction then the Trion just doesn''t "cut it" I'm afraid.

Ah, bragging time
I see most of the heavy weights have weighed in even Wongo
Here's my pinch in the world of green and black:

Domino (by far the best festool I have)
x2 QF1400 and all the bits to go with it.
OF 2000 (a beast)
TS55 and Guide rails
RO 150
RS2 half sheet sander
LR 32

Originally Posted by Ratbag

Now now Shedhand. Don't be greedy. You've 5 already!
I gave my Elu away some years ago when I bought the Trion, more's the pity. I've since bought a Metabo, which has the longest stroke length and hence the most aggressive and fastest cut of any saw. But it isn't as accurate as the Festool.
I've had the chance to try the new Bosch on a few occasions, and find that it's the easiest saw to use by a country mile. It goes really slow when needed, just the ticket for sensitive cuts in 3mm. ply. And the smoothest plunge cut of any saw I've used. In veneered or melamine covered boards the Trion wants to bounce all over the place using downcutting blades with the pendulum off because it doesn't go slow enough.
But the most frustrating aspect of the Festool is that to keep it accurate, you need zero clearance on the lower blade guides. Every time I change the blade, or change the pendulum action, or just go from a straight cut to a tight curved cut, the blade tends to overheat and stop cutting in a few seconds unless I break out the Allen/Torx key to back off the lower blade guide clearance, which adversely effects accuracy. Bosch has similar hard metal or ceramic lower blade guides that can be adjusted in the blink of an eye by comparison, keeping the cut much more accurate. Now if Festool could halve the lowest speed it offers, and put quick adjusters on their soleplate and blade guides then it would be a much, much better saw, as other aspects of it's design, such as dust extraction, ergonomics and system compatibility are clearly superior.
But when the choice seems to be between the quality of cuts produced in a variety of materials, and dust extraction then the Trion just doesn''t "cut it" I'm afraid.

Maybe I should use it some more before I make a final comment. When I was cutting my sink and stove top cut-outs I used a little plastic zero tolerance insert and used the upcut blade and it cut beautifully I have to say. I'll have a go with solid Tassie oak board and report my experience.
Cheers
PS: 150 bucks

My name is Nic and I am a Festool addict:

PSB 300 Barrel grip jigsaw
Qf1010 router
Qf1400
TS55
MFT1080
TDK 15.6
C12
CT33 Vac
Domino
Router template
Rails x2
Centronic drill accessories kit
Rotex 150
Sortainers, systainers, roller thingies, clamps etc

I need help!

What I use most - TDK and C12, Rotex, CT33, Domino, TS55 and MFT

What I want - Kapex (but I have to blow up my reasonably new Makita compound first) and probably a few sanders.

Regards,

Nic