Thread: OF2200 - honest opinions?

Nothing wrong with Hitachi, I'd stick with that, If it was Ozito go for it but the Festool will not give sufficient improvement to justify the outlay.

Elan, you probably know that you will get two types of answers - those who have a 2200 will say it's the bees knees and nothing will compare. Those who don't will almost certainly say there are other alternatives, which will of course be cheaper - but have they used a 2200???.

The people you need to hear from are those that have used a 2200 as well as other routers of similar power, and who are not FFB (Festool Fan Boys).

FWIW I haven't used a 2200, and I have the big Triton. It is now confined to table use, but the few times I used it out of the table I found it ungainly and top heavy. I have absolutely no doubt that the 2200 is better than the Triton.

Yeah I was hoping I'd get at least a couple of people who have used both.

I'm a bit of a FFB (although I'm positively NOT sold on their sanders, Mirka CEROS all the way), but I don't really need the extra grunt or variable speed so it's more a look-and-feel thing than a features thing. I guess I'll have to try one and see how it feels. The dust extraction would be nice though...

I use the 1400 and love it so i'd imagine the 2200 would be even better. Just slightly bigger than anything i'd need. If you can afford it, enjoy it.

I currently have the Festool OF1010, OF2200 and the ELU MOF96, MOF177E and I have found that I definitely prefer to use the 2200 for most things (great dust control) but if I need to see the cutter or don't mind being covered in dust I will use the ELUs.

Both of the big routers spend most of their time mounted in benches. The 1010 is used for horizontally trimming edgebanding and LR32 drilling with the accessories and you really notice that these types of accessories are not available for the ELUs.

If you do get the 2200 get the accessory kit to complete it as a system.

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. Is visibility a problem with the 2200?

It's a problem in that the clear plastic guard that ensures that the dust gets collected and fully encloses the cutter gets covered with a layer of dust so that its hard to see thru especially when you have a swirl of dust flying around.

It can be removed but then not all of the dust spray is collected. Most of my freehand routing is done with a template or jig so I rarely need to see the cutter.

If you are routing out an inlay then it is easier to remove the router to see if all of the material has been removed rather than peer thru the guard.

Pretty much everything I do is edge routing with a bearing, but sometimes I need to stop at a mark so I need to see that

Stopping at a mark is OK but I wouldn't want to have to follow a line.

I am not a FFB. It is a case of horses for courses. I have the OF2200 as well as the big Triton and a couple of smaller, other brand routers. I find the Triton terrific in the router table but ungainly for hand-held use. The OF2200 is beautifully balanced so it is my choice for jobs like big dovetails with the Leigh jig or other hand-held work that requires power.

I wouldn't say it was perfect though - I used the 2200 in a Festool router table for awhile but didn't find that setup very satisfactory and the 2200 did not like being covered in chips - even the famed dust extraction choked up and the plastic around the drive shaft got chewed out.

I also have the QF1010 but use a Makita 3612C for heavier work, other than dust extraction the Makita does everything needed of it and I wouldn't get the larger Festool simply because it isn't going to lead to a better finished product or save time and that means to me the outlay isn't worth it. However if I had to replace the Makita the QF2200 is probably something I would look closely at. Festool are well balanced however so are some of the other brands it might be worth going to a demonstration day and just see how a 2200 feels in your hands sometimes the dream is far better than the reality.

When I did my trade training at Lidcombe TAFE, the "student use" big routers were 2200s. Tells you something about how bullet proof they must be.

Originally Posted by Bohdan

I currently have the Festool OF1010, OF2200 and the ELU MOF96, MOF177E and I have found that I definitely prefer to use the 2200 for most things (great dust control) but if I need to see the cutter or don't mind being covered in dust I will use the ELUs.

Both of the big routers spend most of their time mounted in benches. The 1010 is used for horizontally trimming edgebanding and LR32 drilling with the accessories and you really notice that these types of accessories are not available for the ELUs.

If you do get the 2200 get the accessory kit to complete it as a system.

Hi Bohan

I have not used the Festool routers, so I am interested in your opinion as I have Elu (which others may also appreciate as the Elu routers are available as DeWalt).

About 20 years or so ago I was in the market for a large router. I narrowed it down to the Elu 177e and the Festool 2200. I went with the Elu because it felt better balanced and the controls were smoother.

At the time the dust control factor was not something that concerned me. Recently, I discovered that I could get parts made for the Trend router (a copy of the Elu, in the UK) that added dust control.

I also have the MOF97, which comes with excellent dust control, and recently was given a MOF 96. I added the Trend dust control for this one as well.

The Elus are excellent routers. They are made today as DeWalt (Elu was bought out by Black and Decker in 1994, and DeWalt was their high end line of tools). These same routers are available, and buyers will ask these same questions.

My question is, which is better balanced in the hand? Better ergonomics and reliability?

Below: 177e, 97, 96 ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

When I got my ELUs, about 30 or 40 years ago, I thought that they were the best available at the time. I used the 96 as a dedicated dowling setup and the 177 as a general router. It is a nice well balanced router but the dust spray was getting to me. I have recently bought the dust extraction fitting from England but haven't fitted it yet.

I bought the 2200 and found that it was so much better that I almost never used the 177.

Eventually I mounted the 177 in the middle of an MFT1080 table. I modified the 177 to enable height adjustment from the top of the table but as I don't have the shaft lock changing bits is a bit of a drag.

I got an LR32 kit and found that the 2200 would not fit it so I adapted the 177 to fit the LR32 base, only needed two holes to be drilled. I should have used the 96 but it would not fit an 8mm collet. The 177 on the LR32 kit was too much effort too use so I got the 1010 and really like it as a small router.

Scored a Basis table cheap (precursor to the CMS) so I added a CMS-OF module and fitted a small power feed to it and now it is my prefered goto router setup.

By the way the ELU 177 and the Festool 2200 have interchangable collets.