Thread: Protool or festool drills?

hey justinmcf
wow what a way to start a debate...but i'm game so here goes
i have never owned a makita bat drill but many others..in our joinery shop we use festool only( its probably a joiners thing) they are terrific and we love them....but they never go onsite. only the panisonic 15.6v and the hitachi ones are used on site. why ...well for us it is because on site somone else always wants to borrow or it get lost or stolen or a thousand other reason they go missing. we have found the panasonic absolute bullet proof and a favorite by far. the festos are used constantly in the shop and for big hours as well, but we have killed many of them on site because you tend to do more than a bat drill should. roofing screws are a big killer of these drills. and bugles too. they need alot of torque. yes they will do it, just ask the rep...but in real world conditions, they are a joiners tool and not for bigger stuff. my choice of drill to buy is deffinately the panasonic 14.4v as it is light and robust.. the 18 is much heavier but widely peferred by many.. but we have found once you need to put in 70 or more roofing screws the power srewgun does a faster and easier job despite getting a lead out.
much of the battery drill work done is door hanging and brackets and bits and peices. the 14.4 kills it. i love the festool gear but use it where it is ment to be used and it wont let you down.
good luck
glen boulton
ps . we did use the milwaukee gear but when on a job in sydney the site conditions made us tag it because it was over the 22v limit of exclusion from taging.. so we dropped the idea quickly. its costly enough to tag all our other gear.
now i might duck for cover......

from what it sounds like in your case i would say the Protool would be more suited for your applications. The main differences it has compared to the festool are:

• It has belt hook on both sides of the machine-for when you are up on the ladder
• It has a hammer option if you buy the pdc model
• it is a 4speed with a max speed of 3800rpm in 4th gear
• more torque than the festool
• it has rubber mouldings on the body to allow you to rest it on its side on a pitched colour bond roof
• it is available in a 18v platform
• there will be alot bigger range in protool 18v platform tools to come in the next couple of years

Dont get me wrong the Festool also has some great features over the Protool like:

• lighter weight
• finer adjustments in the clutch settings
• finer speed sensitivity
• the option of a offset attachment
• the option of a drywall screwdriving attachment

I purchased the Festool T15+5 only 2 weeks ago. It is a great drill. I do not go on-site. I am not an on-site guy. I also had a chance to test the ProTool 18V. This is one serious drill with heaps of grunt and also has speed of up to about 4000 rpm. I can only imagine that it would be more suited for on-site work compared to the Festool drill.
Les

hey i have a festool c12 drill that i use every day to drive screw in. on site and in the work shop. i also got a protool 18v with hammer drill on it and its awesome i use it for hole saws drilling holes to drive screws in cabinets that the festool drill doesnt do as well because of its lack of speed it spins at. its not to good for hole saws.


i think you need one of each 1 x protool 18 v hammer drill ( the hammer works awesome) 1 x festool with angle attatchment with off set chuck

bryan

thanks for the replies so far guys.
protool is ahead by a whisker.
maybe in the future i can afford both!

cheers, justin.

I have the 18V protool hammerdrill and a makita 14.4v li-ion impact driver, If one of them got lost or stolen I would buy each of them again without hesitation.

My father and I both bought the makita 14.4 li ion impact drivers as soon as they came out over here (they were the only 14.4V li-ion tools available at the time, a year before the introduction of the panasonic).
Makita has started selling its li-ion line of cordless tools in systainers recently, and I took advantage of it by getting tool only versions (drill and systainer, no batteries or charger) of their new brushless version of the impact driver, an I like the new version better than the old one, . (they claim you 40% more out of a charge, but the endurance was allready great, main advantage for me is way better control because of the speed settings, and slightly better ergonomics, because my hands seem just a tad too big for the old version)

hi frank-jan, i am also a big fan of the makita drivers, when the lithium ion 18 volt range became available in the u.s. i bought 6 of them and 2 combi kits also.
i sold some of the tools and kept the drivers/drills and saws.

the drills have been a big disappointment. i dont like having to spend money on repairs when i know i have not abused a tool. the clutch broke just after 1 years normal use, it cost me 1/3 of the original price to get it fixed.

i use another in my garage/workshop, it only had about 2 hours use, (cabinet making) and it has the exact same problem. i dont want to spend the money to get it fixed now, i prefer to buy new.

based on that, i will never buy the makita range again. 2 breakdowns on 2 drills with hardly any abuse tells me there is a flaw in the design.
i will sell all my makita tools and buy the protool drill next.
hopefully they will add more to their cordless range in the future.

i never use the hammer feature on cordless drills, i have 2 cordless hilti rotary hammer drill that take SDS drill bits instead. so i will buy the protool model with no hammer action.

regards, justin.

you can buy the protool model in two ways.

PDC 18-4 TEC LI AUS 240V
The multi-talented tool that makes an impact
Technical data Accu-battery voltage18 V / Li-Ion 2,6 AhNo-load speed 1st gear0-400 min[-1]No-load speed 2nd gear0-850 min[-1]No-load speed 3rd gear0-1850 min[-1]No-load speed 4th gear0-3800 min[-1]No-load Impact frequency 1st gear0-8000 min[-1]No-load Impact frequency 2nd gear0-17000 min[-1]Impact count 3rd gear0-37000 min[-1]Impact count 4th gear0-76000 min[-1]Torque hard/soft60/40 NmDrilling (wood/steel)50/12 mmDrilling diameter in brickwork10 mmChuck clamping range1,5-13 mmWeight with CENTROTEC and battery pack1,9 kg Important characteristics:

• Brushless EC motor for maximum service life, extremely efficient
• Lithium ion battery for maximum power density at minimum weight
• EC motor combined with lithium ion battery for almost 100% greater fastening capacity
• 4-speed gearbox capable of 3800 rpm for rapid, clean drilling results
• Axial impact feature (PDC) that can be deactivated for drilling in brickwork

Accessories included:

2 battery packs
CENTROTEC chuck
CENTROTEC bit holder
Bit
Charger
Keyless chuck
Auxiliary handle

the right angle attachment for the Protool's part no. is 635865

or you can buy the set version of the above cordless with the right angle attachment part no. is 636494s

Of coarse it works out cheaper if you buy the items in the set version rather than buying them seperate