Festool pro-5

[Brewster]

I see some of the new impact cordless drivers now use oil instead of a hammer/anvil approach. Supposedly greatly reduces the noise.

Back in my gear head days, the air-impact driver was a godsend. Nothing worse than removing rusty nuts on leaf spring U-bolts where there is several inches of threads to back a stubborn nut over. Also great for quick tear down of engines (head bolts especially). Didn't use for reassembly of course. I always lusted after one of those 3/4" monsters (based on the claimed torque capacity), but the mass was indeed intimidating.

-BR

[Brewster]

That makes sense.

I'd love to override it, but I didn't see any obvious way. Is there a hidden switch?

-BR

[Leon]

Possibly but not necessarily. Hammer drills when comparing apples to apples, at least with the Ridgid brand Gen5 18 volt Hammer/Drill/Driver compared to the Ridgid Gen 5 18 volt Drill/Driver the torque specs are

700 and 650 respectively. Now if he is using a more powerful class hammer drill compared to the his impact there certainly could be a world of difference.

My son has been borrowing my Festool drill/driver and Bosch Impact a lot lately but he does live 30 minutes away. He was using his friends clutched corded drill for driving screws during a renovation. He complained constantly about the problems with driving and removing screws with that tool. Now he really really likes the cordless Festool because of the slow speed torque. I'm hoping that the Ridgid combo hammer drill/driver and impact will offer the same control and torque, he is getting that for Christmas. I figure that since he does not use the drill as much as I do that the finer features of the Festool might not come into play for him. The life time warranty on the Ridgid and batteries will hopefully insure that he will get a decent amount of use from the drill regardless of how many years that takes. ;~)

FWIW Home depot is not advertizing that the Lifetime warranty is "Your" lifetime and not the tool's life time. That should put an end to the question of whether the tool is worn out from reaching it's lifetime limit.

Yeah I did not really care for that bar, I did not really get interested in a Festool drill until the T handle version came out.

[Leon]

Well that just may be testament to how much driver /drills have improved then. My older 12 volt Makita, even when new, could not drive anything near what my 15 volt Festool drill can do. The Makita impact was a necessity to drive some larger/longer screws especially the 5/16" lag screws.

A BS is hard to beat when resawing but FWIW until I stepped up to a Laguna I more often opted for my Milwaukee jig saw over my Craftsman and Rikon band saw.

For me there is something about just being to go over to the BS set the blade tension and go, I do not leave tension on the blade at the end of the day, and with the Laguna tension is not a particular magical sweet spot. I never had that luxury with either of the other band saws. Guides and tension always had to be fiddled with, with the same blade.

[Leon]

Our mechanics, in the dealership, used impacts at lowest settings and air ratchets to spin the bolts back in during reassembly only to be followed with a torque wrench for proper torque and sequence.

I always lusted after one of those 3/4" monsters

Yes, they were somewhat heavy and bulky compared to a 1/2" LOL We also had to use the compressor on the truck to power that 3/4" impact. The hose on the truck was the only one we had that could supply enough volume of air to power the 3/4" impact. That hose was much too bulky for normal use inside the shop.

[Leon]

Crap!

[Leon]

If yours indeed has the capability to override that feature it should be in the manual. IIRC I had to do a sequence of power button pushes for a certain amount of time to override. The blinking green light would indicate the state the tool would be changed to.

I will say that over riding may or may not speed up the process, the sander may go through the check sequence with each start up. I always start my sander before placing it on the wood so the slight delay is not an issue for me. It does take some getting used to though, I would some times press the switch again thinking that I had not pressed it far enough.

[Brewster]

Ok, I guess not. No LED, power is a toggle.

-BR

[Brewster]

critical, and he had to take it to a "qualified" repair center, no exchanges at the store. Quite a hassle since he was without the tool for several weeks (they didn't stock the batteries). He could have mailed it to a service center, but then he'd have to pay for shipping.

Still a good warranty to have, just not user friendly.

-BR

[Leon]

I considered all of that and figured that he could deal. In Houston there are 2~3 service centers so that should not be an issue, hopefully.

[krw]

Sorry, I don't consider Ridgid, particularly the stuff sold at HD, to be the gold standard of power tools.

LiIon batteries have a long shelf-life. Their nemesis is constant (re)charging. They're best left alone, if not used.

Sears used to say the same thing. Turns out, the warranty was only good for the life of Sears. ;-)

Do you have any idea what it's for?

[krw]

Guess they're only for younger woodworkers. ;-)

[krw]

Sure, I had a 9.6/12V Makita, too. By today's standards it was really wimpy. The 18V drills are much better. I'm not thrilled with non-impact drivers, though. They're great for machine screws. ;-)

I'll buy one but I have a lot of work to do on my shop first. I have a whole basement but it's completely unfinished. I need a place to put it.

I've had my eye on a 14-SUV for a long time. I've told SWMBO that it's on the list, so she won't be surprised. ;-)

[-MIKE-]

I'm extremely pleased with my Ridgid cordless tools and I keep buying more. Their newer generation is much better than previous ones.

I've tried just about every brand out there and they are all about the same quality and performance for the price. There's not much difference, anymore, between all the high end brands and Ridgid sits right up there with Milwaukee and Makita, imo. I'm sure with Festool's price comes a great improvement in performance.

I've started to go all Ridgid for cohesiveness and for their batteries. The batteries are really, really good and I love having a lighted power meter on each one that tells you how much charge it has. The lifetime free replacement thing is a bonus, however, my oldest batteries are operating as good as my new ones. There's a reason they offer such a great warranty and it's due in part to the batteries being such good quality.

[krw]

I didn't mean that they were junk, only that extrapolating the torque of a hammer-driver to a drill, based on one example isn't useful.

I've had many different drills and haven't found anything that I like better than the Bosch. Even there, each model (12V, 18V, impact driver, driver, drill) has its uses. None does it all. I am partial to the 12V units, though. They're nice an light.

LiIon has a lot to do with that. I've only lost a couple of Bosch batteries. A couple early in their lives and one a few months ago. They've all been the 12V variety. I didn't worry about it too much because I got them cheap ($10 or so).

Again, I have nothing really against Ridgid. I don't like their "feel" but that's 100% personal opinion.

[-MIKE-]

Coincidentally, the only other drill I kept after going all Ridgid was my Bosch. :-) I really like it. I've sort of relegated it to the shop drill that stays in the shop no matter what. The Ridgids can get strewn all over and even stay in the van most of the time. So it's nice to have one great drill that I know will be in its place at all times... next to its own batts.

Yes, the LiIon is a great technology. If and when I need to replace the batteries, it will be nice to just get free ones in the mail and not have to buy all new tools, which is generally what has happened in the past.

[krw]

The only reason I bought the Festool sheetrock gun was because I can trust LiIon batteries' shelf life. I don't use these things every day and don't want to have the batteries die before I use it. I have a Roto-Zip that I like for sheetrock work but it's NiCds are dead and the rebuilts were useful once and dead the next time I wanted to use the tool.

I've bought replacement batteries for even old tools and have had some rebuilt (NiCds). You can still buy the Makita "sticks". Batteries are expensive, though.

As I think I mentioned earlier, I have two sets of 12V and 18V Bosch drills and drivers. The second sets were Black Friday deals and were cheaper than the two batteries in the kit (with a spare charger, thrown in).

[-MIKE-]

Christmas and Fathers' Day are great for picking up 2-packs of batteries... that also happen to come with a free tool and charger. At least that's how I look at it. :-)

I'll usually pick up a cheaper drill pack that comes with 2 batteries, just to have the extras plus I leave the drill somewhere like under the car seat as an emergency spare.

The shelf life *is* great. I think I'm up to 8 Ridgid batteries, now, and it's REALLY nice to know I have charged ones on the shelf at all times.

[Leon]

Certainly, but I just picked one out of the hat. I suspect I would find similar results with other brands of "same class" hammer drills and driver drills.

I tried Bosch in 1986, I was using a new Bosch corded hammer drill to drill 1/2" holes in concrete, several hundreds, to anchor work benches in a 40 bay shop. That tool 2 replacement drill to finish. At a HD demo about 15 years ago the rep hande me the Bosch drill to try out and the gears stripped, The motor ran but the chuck did not turn. There has been at least one instance. Obviously I was in the wrong place at the wrong time every time. There would be no Bosch drills if my experience was even a slight sample of actual experience. About 10 yeass or so ago a Bosch Impactor showed up on my door step, addressed to me with no return address and no explanation. I still have it and use it on occasion. The 1.5 ish amp 18 volt Li-Ion died after less than 3% use, time ran out on it as far as shelf life goes. I do not recall recharging the batteries more than 4~5 times. I will keep It around as Battery Plus has the same amp Li-Ion replacement for about $25, that was 2-3 years ago.

I looked seriously at Ridgid when they started introducing the lifetime warranty including the batteries and IIRC that was not an across the board change as it was initially for a limited time period. I thought the drills were too heavy and went for the Makita. I bought the drill kit this time for my son whose main interest is still the work he does in a private windowed office in a Houston hi-rise. His fiance is the one pushing him into home renovation. LOL SHE is not afraid to get her hands dirty and the one that requested that they get a cordless drill for Christmas.