Odd; Festool price display policy at Woodcraft- Baltimore

marc rosen · 2011-02-26T01:44:50+00:00

Hey All, I stopped in my local (Baltimore) Woodcraft today and noticedthat all of the Festool items had their price obliterated. When Iasked if this was in anticipation of the March 1 price increase thesales dude told me no, it was a Festool policy not to display theirprices. He related to me that there was one Festool vendor that hadits "license" to sell Festool revoked because they displayed prices.He was not sure if that was another Woodcraft or a more independentvendor. The new Festool catalogue is also devoid of prices. This makessense since they won't have "out of date" catalogues when they raiseprices again but if the vendors can't display prices on the floor itwill require potential customers to interact with the store staff(which may or may not be a desireable task). I do not know if this is national policy or if it is just limitedto Woodfcraft, or if it is just the Woodcrafts owned by the localfranchiser, but it seems counter productive to me. It disrupts myeagerness to buy stuff if I have to ask prices each time I contemplatebuying something. I really doubt this is a nationwwide policy butmaybe it is Festool's version of buying a yacht; If you have to askhow much it is, you really can't afford it. On a slightly different note I'm not that excited about the Rotex90. Unless you really need a small diameter sander the largerFestools appear to have better balance. I have a Rotex 150 and it isvery easy to keep the pad flat when only holding the barrel . The 90feels barrel heavy and I think you'd need to hold down on the head aswell as the barrel. Still, maybe some day I will "need" that 3+ inchdiameter pad for sanding something. If you are a Festool junkie I think you'll also be happy seeingthe new catalogue. There are a couple new battery jigsaws and somenew battery drills including an 18 volt. That's got to be anexpensive drill based on their other models. Not much else to dwell on so I'll head back down to my shop.Hope...

Feb 26, 2011 67 Replies

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TimDrouillard 15 years ago

I have the 12v Milwaukie Impact driver, and I love it. Especially the fact that it has an adjustable clutch on it that many including my Makita don't have.

I kinda thought that way but when it comes to furniture and the smaller #7 pocket hole screws and regular square drive #8 going into hard wood you can very easily split the wood if you put a little too much on it. I still prefer the drill driver for applications where too much torque might screw things up. For rough application where appearance at the screw location is not a factor the impact sees a lot of action.

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Larry Jaques 15 years ago

Yeah, the impactors are designed for construction applications, but once you use one for awhile, you get to know their trigger/torque factors and can control them fairly well.

For predrilled holes, I'd still use a drilldriver on furniture.

-- Invest in America: Buy a CONgresscritter today!

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krw 15 years ago

According to the Makita site, their 12V Li-ion impact driver delivers

800in-lbs (same as the 12V Bosch). The 18V Bosch is 1500in-lbs. >

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Leon 15 years ago

I'm pretty familiar, 6 years so far..., not saying that it is impossible but when I am in a production mode I would rather pull the trigger until the clutch clatters and move on to the next. I certainly have used the impact for quicky situations and certainly when setting up and attaching kitchen cabnets to the walls.

LOL and I try to use the higher speed of the impact for drilling, think the Snappy system.

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Leon 15 years ago

Humm good to know, I knew Panasonic had that feature.

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Leon 15 years ago

No doube however I think the biggest advantage is going to be run time as I think for most applications the extra torque may tear dattachments up faster. I have not yet run across a fastener that my 12volt impact will not drive with a fully charged battery. Now if my 18 volt Bosch and a 3/8" dirve instead of the 1/4" drive..... I

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Larry Jaques 15 years ago

Yeah, I've used the impactor exclusively for hanging cabinets. MUCH better tool, much quicker job. 1/4" hex heads are king there, with a

1/4" hex to 1/4" square adaptor and magnetic bit.

I have and use both. I'm not entirely happy with the impactor batting the drillbits around, but it gets it done in a quick manner.

-- That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. -- Doris Lessing

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Larry Jaques 15 years ago

I think my Makita is 1430 in/lb, enough to take the wheels off my truck. Strong enough for me. I actually twisted a 1/4-1/2" adaptor in two with the Bosch 14.4v Impactor, and a 1/4-1/4" adaptor with the Makita, installing 1/2x6" lag bolts for a deck ledger board. Try that with a drilldriver sometime.

HF, of course. I finally bought a US-made 1/4-1/4 adaptor and it has held up better...so far. And now I just run the lags up with an impactor, then tighten with the 1/2" ratchet.

-- That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. -- Doris Lessing

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