I got to touch and feel it!

[Leon]

I went to Woodcraft today to do what y'all would expect, buy another Festool. They had the new Kpax SCMS in the store, 8 to be exact. No I did not buy that particular Festool, but did buy a new Festool finish sander. Last weekend I decided to disassemble our 26 year old Cocobolo, Padauk, and Walnut coffee table and flatten the top and refinish the whole thing. Originally and back in those days I sorta "sculpted" the table top with my belt sander and it was not flat. Any way I ran the top through my drum sander taking off about 1/8", then sanded with my Rotex, then finish sanded with my old SpeedBloc PC finish sander. Until I actually sanded with the finish sander I stayed clean. After 10 minutes of sanding with the Speed Block I had a bright orange dust all over me and the surrounding area. Sooooo I decided to go ahead and get the Festool finish sander to help keep the dust to a minimum.

Oh yeah, the Kpax saw was pretty darn nice and makes the competition fall short, but you gotta get past that $1300 price tag. Splinter free cuts with out a zero clearance insert and like many saws it has a depth control so that you can make multiple passes and cut a dado. The blade tilts left and right, has a micro adjust for the blade bevel built into one of the 2 steel bars that the motor slides on. Different than many saws like this the blade and motor slide on the steel bars rather than being attached and the bars sliding back behind the saw requiring room behind the saw. No saw dust was detected escaping during the demonstration cuts using the Festool Vac. It includes an inside and outside angle gauge that greatly simplifies cutting matching mating miters. The feature that really caught my eye was how quiet it is. Most mitersaws are terribly noisy, this saw is about like running a TS.

[marc rosen]

Hello Leon, Which finish sander did you buy?

[Robatoy]

There is no doubt in my mind that I would invest in that Kpax saw if I was doing trim-work as a specialty. My LS 1013 Makita gets me by just fine for those jobs I do, but if I didn't already own this fine saw, I'd probably talk myself into a Festool.

[Leon]

There is no doubt in my mind that I would invest in that Kpax saw if I was doing trim-work as a specialty. My LS 1013 Makita gets me by just fine for those jobs I do, but if I didn't already own this fine saw, I'd probably talk myself into a Festool.

Actually one of the current WW magazines has a comparison test of the SCMS's and the Kpex naturally won. There were something like 10 categories that it was top in, except or 2 or 3. A Makita came in as Best Bet and while the comparison was not neck and neck I think the 2.6 times increase in price over the Makita was the Festool's problem in loosing out.

IF I was going to buy a SCMS I probably would not buy the Festool simply from a justification of price point of view. If some one gave me one I'd thought I had won the lottery.

[Leon]

Marc I went with the RTS 400 EQ, the rectangle bottom sander.

[Robatoy]

LOL... Leon wrote: " IF I was going to buy a SCMS I probably would not buy the Festool simply from a justification of price point of view. If some one gave me one I'd thought I had won the lottery."

I noticed the word PROBABLY in there... mmmmmmmmmmm All you need is a reason, Leon.

Let me help you out a little with a few:

VERY accurate Damned thing is gorgeous VERY quiet Damned thing is gorgeous Excellent dust collection Damned thing is gorgeous Takes up less space than most (THAT is a good one!!) Damned thing is gorgeous Swing would be envious Damned thing is gorgeous You'll have it for life Damned thing is gorgeous What is $ 1300 anymore these days?

I could go on....

[Leon]

Let me help you out a little with a few:

VERY accurate Damned thing is gorgeous VERY quiet Damned thing is gorgeous Excellent dust collection Damned thing is gorgeous Takes up less space than most (THAT is a good one!!) Damned thing is gorgeous Swing would be envious Damned thing is gorgeous You'll have it for life Damned thing is gorgeous What is $ 1300 anymore these days?

I could go on....

"ALL" A B S O L U T E L Y valid points. THANKS! ;~) Have you seen one too?

[Robatoy]

=A0 ;~) =A0 Have you

Are you silly? I won't go near one! "A man has got to know his limitations." I'm weak, Leon.

[charlieb]

Have you noticed that your eyes have become sensitive to a weird shade of green, picking it up even if it's only in your peripheral vision

- at a distance?

And should something that has THAT green on it NOT be a Festool product, do you mentally do an Oh Darn?

Do you look at a tailed hand tool and think "You know, if only that switch or button or lever - were THAT green, I just might buy it."

Are you looking at your portable power tools arsenal wondering how Festool has, or will, improve it?

When checking out a potential More Tools! acquistion, does the price being half to one third the price of a similar Festool product

- make you suspicious of the quality or performance of the tool you're looking at?

When trying a demo tool, do you think - "But it only does this, and it does it like almost all the others do."?

Do you look at the LEIGH FMT or MultiRouter and think "Damn, you sure have to do a lot of stuff just to cut mortises where you want 'em - end grain or not."?

Do you even look at your table saw and fence and think "If they could somehow . . ."?

It's a Euro Plot! AND - "they" are out to convert The Last Bastion of The Imperial System - to METRIC - terrorists cloaked in Black and That Weird Green - out to destroy OUR woodworking way of life! Next thing you know they'll start with Left Handed Only tools.

Bosch was too blatant so they've repackage themselves as

- FESTOOL. Where's HomeLandSecurity when we need them?

Festool is out there - just waiting for YOU! A moment of weakness, a wallet leaving a back pocket, a credit card out in plane view, an unsolicited brochure or DVD . . .

THEY'RE HERE!

charlie b

[Robatoy]

Soon to be released: MEN IN GREEN starring Tommy Lee Jones as KPAX.

[Leon]

Yes. ;~) And, I don't recall what that tool was. Hitachi maybe but a bit too dak green.

Uh huh.

No, not yet.

Absolutely! I was looking at other sanders on the internet to just see what else was available before I bought the Festool Finish sander. I wanted to only look at those with dust collection. The Makita, DeWalt, and Milwaukee models being under $70 simply seemed too cheap. Oh gaud, I'm becomming a tool snob! Not... LOL

No, I have not bought any other brand power tools since I started collecting the Festool stuff and specifically wanted the Festool brand for particular reasons unique to the Festool line.

The Leigh, YES the MultRouter NO. The MultiRouter will do a whole lot more then my Domino and would still be nice to have.

No. Not yet.

Metric in the Festool line does not really matter in most cases. Sanders, no, routers, no, they use 1/2" and 1/4" bits, Drills, no. I think the only tool that it becomes an issue on is with the Domino and IMHO they coule easily swap out the "stepped depth gauge" and I think that would be the only thing that I would prefer to see be changed to inches.

I looked at the Bosch SCMS in the magazine comparison, I noticed all those "UGLY" RED levers and buttons. ;~)

I hope the American tools sit up and take notice! Festool is proving that there are customers out there that will pay for higher/high quality power tools. Maybe, just maybe Feltool will prove that more expensice tools can still be marketed here. Have you niticed that Festool is no longer offering a lower introductory price with a new tool? IIRC the Domino was reduced at a lower cost as well as the accessiries and Domino assortment but none of the 5 to 8 new tools recently introduced have been offered with a price cut. I guess their sales are doing fine.

[jo4hn]

[snip of lustful bad stuff]

I have started a new brand of high end tools called Fistool. My first two offerings are a hand axe (tough, manly looking, rock colors) at only $957 and a stirrer (your choice of oak, padauk, drift, or fine plastic) at only $740 (oak slightly higher in Texas). Go for a real Neander feeling!

gronk, jo4hn

[charlieb]

Any Weird Green on either of them?

[B A R R Y]

So, you guys are saying I should avoid Coastal Tool, my local Festool dealer?

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[Leon]

No! Go on in... Only a girly-man would be skeerd. Fortunately, with Festool's pricing policy, you get to buy from your favorite source with no fear of paying more than somewhere else.

[marc rosen]

Hey Leon, I got a chance to demo the Kpax today and was imediately impressed. Woodcraft Towson MD had on set up next to another MFT bearing the plunge cut saw. It was a very nice looking work station serviced by a CT22. I made several crosscuts of 1x6 walnut. What was most impressive was the saw blade disappeared into the wood with no increase in sound. My RAS (40 year old Craftsman with a Freud blade) and 10 inch SCMS (a 15 year old Makita , similar blade) make a lot of noise on the own, but when their blades contact wood they are much noisier. I could carry on a conversation with the sales folks while I was cutting. That saw really made me think. Of course, the price tag made me think clearly. Anyway, it may never end up in my shop but it certainly looks like it will live up to its expectations. Marc

[Leon]

It is a nice saw, and yeah it is quiet, especially when releasing the switch and the brake kicks in. My Delta will almost blow your ear drums.