Festool DOMINO Affecting Leigh FMT Price?

[charlieb]

Been going thru the Highland Hardware catalogue that came today. On page 65 I see that the Leigh FMT jig price has been cut from $799 to $599 - about a 25% price reduction (assuming that it was, in fact, selling for $799). And this is the FMT's "base price" - jig and one set of five 5/16" Joint Guides and one 5/16" HSS up-cut spiral end mill bit.

For another $38 you get the 8 piece 1/4" Joint Guide Set $20 you get the 4 piece 3/8" Joint Guide Set or for $75 you get "All three Guide Set Sizes"

Does the Leigh FMT use only one size bit - a 5/16" spriral up-cut bit?

Wonder if the Festool DOMINO, and the positive response it's getting in several of the woodworking magazines has anything to do with the $200 price reduction on the FMT?

OR - is Leigh going to come out with one or more new versions of their FMT - sort of like they did before announcing their new DT jigs?

Interesting.

charlie b

[Upscale]

Maybe it's just Festool attempting to trounce any possible competition into complete submission before they even get started.

[Patriarch]

charlieb wrote in news:46D7A9CE.2FB0 @accesscom.com:

I was always of the opinion that the FMT was overpriced at $800. A fine piece of gear, just staggeringly priced, when all was considered.

And I have been known to buy some pricey stuff, at times. Ask my wife.

Patriarch

[Leon]

When you basically have a one of a kind tool, you charge what the market will bare. When competition steps in, you become competitive.

[Charley]

I believe that Leigh may have lowered the price of their FMT jig, partly as a result of some of their new competition, but also because of some improved manufacturing methods and capabilities (CNC equipment) that they have recently added to their manufacturing lines allowing them to build it faster and at less cost. In the past 2 years they have also significantly changed (lowered) their prices on several accessories for their dovetail jigs and also come out with new upgraded versions of some of them. The D4 dovetail jig was recently significantly enhanced, making it into the new D4R with several significant changes to not only make it better, but reduce the number of parts and manufacturing steps required to build it. Then they added the lower priced and smaller D1600 dovetail jig followed recently by the 3 new sizes of it for those who don't need all of the capabilities or the size of the D4R. It's clear to me that Leigh has been very busy improving their market position as well as the quality and variety of their product lines.

To CharlieB:

The FMT can handle a range of 1/16 up to 1/2 inch size spiral upcut router bits, but the 5/16 router bit and the 5/16 template set are the only ones that are included in the base FMT package. Three other inch sizes of templates and router bits are available as options in addition to a full set of metric templates and router bits for those who live in the metric part of the world. One really cool feature of the FMT is that you can combine one size of template with another size of router bit to expand the FMT's capabilities beyond just the 4 template size ranges allowing you to make M/T joints as small as 1/16" X 1/8" up to as large as 1/2" X 5", all with the ability to make very fine fit adjustments to as small as .001". The quality of fit is accomplished by turning a graduated dial and not by switching to over or under sized versions of the template.

Charley

[Ogee]

I paid $699 for my Leigh FMT in february 2006, from Lee Valley. I see that they now sell it for $599.

[charlieb]

Slick how they use "MSRP" (manufacturer's suggested retail price) as the reference for their price reductions. Lee Valley usually has good prices - but I doubt they undersell the competition by 12% on things in the $700 to $800 price range.

These "new price" things are getting like Horse Power.

charlie b