Festool

[Oryxdesign]

Roger did you remove the green splinter guard when you did a bevel cut?

 

[chippy1970]

Roger I cannot see how you can be doing anything wrong, it just puzzles me that you are saying you messed your edge up.

Just found this in the Festool catalogue hopefully its a bit clearer than my 5 second drawing :lol: :lol:

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[MrD]

Hi, this is a great topic.

3 years ago I would not even consider spending that amount of money on any tool in the festool range.... Then I bought my first festool - the ts55 saw - fantastic. I am now a complete festool nut and have many of their tools. Perhaps other brands are better but I know if I spend the extra money on a festool it just does what I want!

Are they overpriced - YES, are they worth it? I think so!

 

[Night Train]

I would be interested in investing in a Festool set up if I cut sheets more often then I do. Takes up much less workshop space then a table or panel saw that I wouldn't use much either.

I also do cut up on supplier carparks and in the street. I also have an inverter in the car so I can use corded power tools. Mostly I will use a little battery powered trim saw. The one I have is a dirt cheap B&Q Pro which I converted to DeWalt batteries and also corded off my car 12v supply.

 

[p111dom]

That's a really good idea I'd never thought of about the inverter. I guess you'd have to leave the engine running so it didn't flatten the battery. Does it give suficient power and how much did it cost?

 

[Night Train]

That's a really good idea I'd never thought of about the inverter. I guess you'd have to leave the engine running so it didn't flatten the battery. Does it give suficient power and how much did it cost?

The inverter I wanted at the time was a 2kW but as I bought one when I needed one on a job I bought whatever Machine Mart had in stock at the time that was big enough for the job, a 600w jobbie at about £70 then.

I ran it for that job with jump leads and it was fine to get the job done. I then invested in some fixed cabling and slow blow fuses and have it fixed in the boot via a battery cut off switch. For short bursts I can run up to 800w which is fine for my power tools and means I can run a small compound mitre saw in the trailer.

I have never needed to leave the engine running but also I don't use it for long at a time. It also depends on how good your car battery is.
The best thing for me is being able to charge up tool batteries in between jobs while driving and to do a quick bit of dusty sawing without having to dust sheet a clients house for one cut or running extension leads out across a busy pavement or road. A slightly bigger inverter and I would be able to microwave my lunch while on site!

I have the inverter in one of the cubby holes in the boot and the isolator switch handle is placed so that I can't close the cubby hole without switching it off first. It means that I generally don't leave it on accidently but I can for charging batteries.

The other benefit I have is that with the installation I now have an 80 amp 12 volt supply, on an Anderson plug, in the boot that I can use to run a small winch when I am pulling trees and an electrohydraulic crane on my trailer.

 

[p111dom]

I see the Festool is 1200W and I can only fine inverters for 1000 and 1500 but the 1500W one is £230. :shock:

 

[RogerS]

I see the Festool is 1200W and I can only fine inverters for 1000 and 1500 but the 1500W one is £230. :shock:

Quick Google came up with this one on eBay

 

[trousers]

Dom

If you take into account the petrol your using to get to your supplier, the petrol your going to use to make sure your battery doesn't go flat, the cost of the inverter, and the cost of the fine you're going to get one day for breaching someone's h&s, you could buy a 55, stay at home and get a supplier to deliver to your door.
Why do you boys make life such hard work?

 

[p111dom]

Because the supplier is only 1 mile away from my house and yet they charge £10 for delivery. As for the fine, its not my problem mate. If I carry the board out of the gates and cut it on the pavement out side its probably not theirs either. It's an industrial estate so you rarely get Joe public walking past anyway.

 

[Night Train]

Inverters seem to have an exponential pricing strategy.
I have little old circular saws and jigsaws that just about work on my inverter which is why I really wanted a 2kW on in the first place. Anyhow, I do less work that needs it now.

I cut my timber in my trailer if I have it with me or I just cut planks to a managable length for the roof rack. I try not to have to cut boards in the street as it is too difficult with passing traffic and pedestrians and also the wind always blowing the wrong way and at the wrong time.

If I am without trailer and in need of low grade cut sheets I tend to go to B&Q and get it cut near to size.