Thread: Festool or Protool

hi stan and welcome to the forum.

what type of work will you be doing with the drill?

justin.

Depends if you want to use all the Festool accessories like the right angle adapter, offset adapter for drilling close to walls, etc.

They don't fit the Protool drills , and there aren't any Protool equivalents.

Hi Justin
My metabo 12v. is getting tired and batteries are getting toward replacment.
I use a cordless drill in a non commercial environment. From general repairs, cabinets, drawers, sometimes mechanical all manner of things that require screwing or drilling and must be cordless.
Mr Brush mentioned that the offset and right angle attachment of festool does not fit protool and protool does not have that convienience.
Those two things alone would make me swing to a Festool because there have been many times a right angle attachment would be handy. The aftermarket rightangle accessory is almost as large as the drill itself.
Stan

based on what you have said, i would agree with the other poster.

get the festool.

p.s. the protools do have a right angle attachment, but not the offset chuck.

justin.

Sorry for jumping in, but since you were talking about festool/protool.
Anyone got thoughts on the Protool IDC 15-2 TEC LI - it has the centrotec chuck etc..
Can be switched from impact driver to drilling to impact wrench quite easily.

I was so close to buying one today but the fact they don't have a traditional keyless chuck made me think twice. You have to buy festool/protool drill bits to fit into the controtec chuck, which I don't really have a problem with as their quality bits.
However their equilivent to a spade bits are a forstner bit set valued at $399. Also I dont think they have a hole saw set either, if they do, I could only imagine how much it would cost.

I was thinking of using my corded drill for spade bits/hole saw and the 15-2 for everything else.

Anyone have on? I'd like to know how they overcome the "no chuck" issue.

Andy

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.

So most take hex or 1/2" sockets.

The lack of keyless chucks means that they are unlikely to do any drilling using twist bits, spade bits, or forstner bits. So the manufacturers tend to only have one mode on impact drivers, that is to impact. In most cases, as you pull the trigger the driver just drives, then as you pull harder and it speeds up, it also impacts.

Largely because of the Protool/Festool Centrotec system, Protool decided they could offer an impact driver with impact mode and two speed drive mode. Becuase a keyless chuck is not necessary if you have Centrotec accessories. So with a Protool impact drive you can do what most other impact drivers do and drive in (impact on) big screws and bolts, and then you can switch impact off and using a Centotec drill bit, drill regular holes. Many other impact drivers do the impact thing, but you still need another drill to drill the holes in the first place.

hi andy.

i dont own that particular protool impact driver that you have mentioned.

but i have done a lot of research with regards to it.

i am almost sure that it will accept non protool bits in the centrotec chuck.
that is a big plus for sure.

what i dont like.....
1. is the weight.
2. no light.
3. no belt clip.

these 3 points were enough to put me off.
i decided to buy the hilti impact driver instead and it has been fantastic.

if protool do decide to address these issues i am sure i will buy one or two in the future.

justin.

Hi Justin,

I agree it is a bit weighty - this is somewhat due to the larger gearbox to achieve the impact/non-impact modes as I rambled on about earlier.

But if I may, the Protool IDW and IWC do have:
- a belt clip, in fact, one on each side of the battery.
- if you take off the Centrotec chuck, the 1/2" drive has a hex-bit driver in it's middle, just like the Festool drills have in the middle of their spindle when you take the chucks off.

Originally Posted by nt900

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.

So most take hex or 1/2" sockets.

The lack of keyless chucks means that they are unlikely to do any drilling using twist bits, spade bits, or forstner bits. So the manufacturers tend to only have one mode on impact drivers, that is to impact. In most cases, as you pull the trigger the driver just drives, then as you pull harder and it speeds up, it also impacts.

Largely because of the Protool/Festool Centrotec system, Protool decided they could offer an impact driver with impact mode and two speed drive mode. Becuase a keyless chuck is not necessary if you have Centrotec accessories. So with a Protool impact drive you can do what most other impact drivers do and drive in (impact on) big screws and bolts, and then you can switch impact off and using a Centotec drill bit, drill regular holes. Many other impact drivers do the impact thing, but you still need another drill to drill the holes in the first place.

Thanks Anthony, makes much more sense now.

Originally Posted by justinmcf

hi andy.

i dont own that particular protool impact driver that you have mentioned.

but i have done a lot of research with regards to it.

i am almost sure that it will accept non protool bits in the centrotec chuck.
that is a big plus for sure.

what i dont like.....
1. is the weight.
2. no light.
3. no belt clip.

these 3 points were enough to put me off.
i decided to buy the hilti impact driver instead and it has been fantastic.

if protool do decide to address these issues i am sure i will buy one or two in the future.

justin.

Hey Justin,
I attempted to put a Milwaukee screw bit in and it did not fit- maybe I didn't put it in right?
Maybe Anthony can clarify?

Putting a standard bit into the centrotec chuck won't work. The centrotec bits, apart from having the ball-detent recess farther out than normal bits, also have rounded edges, so they can be inserted through the round opening of the centrotec chuck. But if you leave the centrotec chuck off, you can put regular bits straight into the spindle to which the centrotec chuck mounts onto.(but they won't be locked in like on the ball detent chucks of other brand impact drivers.

About the protool impact drivers: I've seen them demonstrated when they just came out, size and powerwise they are more like other brands impactwrenches (the kind that thake sockets rather than screwbits). And they make A LOT of noise. I arlready had a makita 14.4V li-ion impact driver, and I liked it much better (I did get the newer brushless version of that machine later in a tool only deal, which came in a systainer)

Originally Posted by Frank-Jan

About the protool impact drivers.... size and powerwise they are more like other brands impactwrenches

Yeah I agree, it is a bit of a different format to what others are doing in the market... I wonder what the Protool thinking is there.

i stand corrected.

it is unfortunate that the protools dont take other brand bits.
i know the reasoning is purely marketing. so you have to stick with the protool bits.
personally, i think this works against tool companies.
most people want tools to be universal.

with regards to the belt clips anthony.
they are a waste of good plastic.
when my protool drill is hanging off my nail pouch with these plastic clips, you always feel it is ready to slip off.
not a good feeling, when you are 5 metres up a scaffold with an $800 drill!

however, the metal belt clip on the protool duradrive is perfect.
i am sure the next generation cordless range from protool will have the metal clips also.

justin.

Originally Posted by justinmcf

when my protool drill is hanging off my nail pouch with these plastic clips, you always feel it is ready to slip off.
not a good feeling, when you are 5 metres up a scaffold with an $800 drill!

however, the metal belt clip on the protool duradrive is perfect.
i am sure the next generation cordless range from protool will have the metal clips also.

I find the price of the drill hitting the head of the guy holding your ladder make little difference to how much it hurts....him.

Interesting feedback. Personally I am not a belt clip user, so I have not the experience up ladders using the clip like you have. But I can see where you are coming from. Especially the Duradrive, this is an excellent clip.

The new Festool cordless drills (C12, C15, T18) now have a meal clip on the batteries, it can be slid from left side to right side depending on user preference. It's too new for me to comment on how well it works, but I do tend to take Festool drill sup ladders more than Protool, so I should have some feedback soon enough.