Thread: Festool or Protool

Not a huge poster on here and forgive me for reviving an old thread but if I may reply to one or two things I have read only today.

nt900 wrote: "The thing to note about impact drivers is their lack of keyless chucks, because it is likely that a keyless chuck would bind up and never come undone again due to the impact motion of the drill."

I purchased a corded industrial quality impact drill in the late seventies with a keyless, dustproof chuck; the chuck has never given trouble.

justinmc wrote: "what i dont like..... 1. is the weight. 2. no light. 3. no belt clip."

Spoken like someone who really knows. I, too, am put off buying if even the most basic of items like a belt clip is missing. What else am I going to need on a roof or out on a job somewhere and it won't do it?

If you want real grunt the largest of the large Bosch cordless can get it done for you. Others too probably. Ignore the 1.5amp battery, it gets its stay power from those 36 volts unless I'm wrong. But it's a big heavy monster to use, has no belt clip and is just not a goto tool. With Protool/Festool, I have no doubt either/or can get the job done but neither are onsite tools in my opinion. Neither are goto tools by a longshot. And then there was Makita. Their top end stuff seems to have everything you need and nothing you don't. Another thing, don't confuse impact drills, hammer drills, impact drivers & etc (you know what I mean). Get the one for the job it's designed to do. Most tradies I know can't be pharqed friggin' around window shopping gooing and gahing at all the choices around. They will go for the goto item they need. Ok, rant over.

It does have belt clips, one on each side. But Justin does not like its design.

Anthony, I really enjoy reading your posted articles, you are most helpful on here and over the phone; we've spoken before. Don't get me wrong; I was simply trying to lay a few facts out for those undecided on their tool of choice by someone who has been at trade level, not criticise any one tool too much. As you may have guessed, the goto factor is high for me.

No stress on my part. In fact I fully expect the Protool impact driver will not fit all users needs. Because it is not a small impact driver like say the most common Makita seen about the place. Because it has a 1/2" socket drive fitting as well as hex bit fitting it is more suited to larger driving than many people (especially woodworking users) need or require.

I wish they'd kept the smaller 15v version here is Australia, but it was discontinued locally. I liked that version myself.

I do disagree though about the Festool and Protool being onsite tools. I have seen quite a few survive building sites, even thought they look very worse for wear. But, I can see why people might not want to use them on site.

Having said that, I think Festool tools are clearly intended for workshop and installer use, not heavy construction. But just because something is intended for a situation, does not mean it wont survive another situation.

QUICK EDIT: Festool just released a T-18, and for those who don't already know, the replacement C12 (my favourite of all Festool/Protool drills) with Li-ion and a C15 are also in the line up now.

Back to your goto factor again for a sec. How important are quick bit release type devices to you?

...Anytime spent away from achieving the primary task isn't welcome in a commercial environment. (For a commercial operator) So, anything with the word "quick" in it is good. Some cordless tools have these 24V & 36V monster batteries that we have difficulty removing because of the placement of the two release buttons. One must have the strength and hand size of Andre The Giant to do a quick changeover mid-task. Just how do the designers get away with this? Likewise the drill/screw bits. It would be wonderful if they were quick changing but we dont want to be paying the big bickkies as was quoted earlier in this thread, leave it at it is thanks. In production work the bits don't need to be changed much at all; on small jobbing work it's all the time. The Yankee screwdriver had it right over half a century ago. The wheel has already been invented.

Go-to. It's the one you simply go to all the time like a good pair of fluffy slippers. It does the job, you don't need to think about it or worry about it, you know you can rely on it, there's less down time. Justin mentioned earlier about him not being at ease with his Protool hanging of his nailpouch. Don't blame him and this tells me it's not a goto tool for me for three reasons:

1) Not feeling at ease with it hanging from a toolbelt and it occupies the mind where it shouldn't,
2) when it drops a very expensive tool is likely to get damaged
3) site theft.

The first two have largely been taken care of by two prominent makers. I don't have an answer to the third. Take a look at some trade quality cordless drills, sabre saws, screw guns, & etc. They have hanging/belt hooks, one manufacturer has chrome wire and it works fine. You pick the thing up, you use it, you hang it back. Simple. First principles taken care of. With none of these that I have worked with do you pay tens of dollars for a hanging clip/hook that proves to be ... er.. ah.. a... waste of time and money and patience. Some trade tools have rubber-like padding in strategic places and I am sure this helps in point #2. A fall from a workbench is one thing but a fall from a roof onto a concrete floor is another. It happens, we can't deny it. Point #3 just pisses me off. The last to be removed from my possession was a new low profile Kress jigsaw.

A few years ago I saw some shopfitters working in a shopping mall in Brisbane. They were screwing together some sheets of hoarding using an ancient and very broken up cordless (trade quality) drill. This thing had it's back broken, the motor shaft and chuck moved around inside the plastic housing something terrible. It wobbled when they drilled and screwed and looked a sight to use. It intrigued me so much I walked up to them and began discussing their brand of drill/driver, well known to the general public but not in tool making. They said they used this thing all the time. It simply delivered the goods.

Go to. Got it?

hi dakotax3.

i have had similar issues with the huge batteries. you need a third hand to release them from the tool!

with regards to the 18 volt protool drill.
i much prefer it over the milwaukee and makita that i have.
it is most certainly my go to drill at the moment.
it would be a perfect drill if it had the light and a proper solid steel belt clip.
those plastic thingys on each side might be good for picking ear wax out of my ears, but definitely not for supporting the drill on a nail belt.

i actually need another cordless because i cant afford to keep changing bits when working.
and the fact that the milwaukee and makita are getting are few grey hairs and need replacing fast.
i really would like to buy another protool drill.
maybe anthony can tell me if it is possible to buy a protool drill and attach a protool metal belt clip to it myself?
i would be worried about damaging the battery cells, and i would probably void the warranty.......
what do you reckon ?

justin.

For fear of getting too far off-thread, one could fashion up your own holder/clip if that is the only thing missing. I experimented starting off with thin low tension wire just to get shape and ergonomics then moved onto high tensile; the latter not being so easy to shape. Mounting it is another thing and was where I stalled. I imagine flattened or looped wire to allow the passing of the body screws; this being nowhere near the battery. I've made many handtool clips this way out of scrap in minutes flat but not power tool clips. No doubt the manufacturers will be unsettled with warranty issues but I confess to ignoring warrantees anyway; the tool must be totally workable and without holders they are not. Holsters anyone? I've had one and it was an expensive & useless failure.

Thankyou Stanislaus, back to thread.