New Festool Product - Cost?

[TheDudester]

I wonder how much this new Festool product will cost....

(note: it launches into a video)

Regards

D

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well, don't quote me on this, but I think it will be of the order of a grand for the compressor and two vac vices. They hold 35Kg each.
S

 

[Slim]

Looks like a cracking bit of kit.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Looks like a cracking bit of kit.

<gloat>
Yes it is, I've had a go
</gloat>

 

[TheDudester]

Looks like a cracking bit of kit.

<gloat>
Yes it is, I've had a go
</gloat>

Please note my assistance in this gloat was purely unintentional

Thanks for the feedback Steve.

Regards D

 

[wizer]

That's a neat idea. I wonder, at that price, how many people will actually need it

 

[Jake]

It looks very much like a time-is-money thing. Or a money-is-no-object thing.

 

[Chris Knight]

Wonder I one can buy just the vac vice. I have a vacuum pump already.

 

[mpooley]

I want it - i want it !

 

[George_N]

I think it sucks!

I'll get me coat

 

[Harbo]

There's a much cheaper (and less sophisticated) system featured in this months FWW - "V-Clamp" for $55 (need to provide your own compressor)

www.vac-clamp.com

rod

 

[Corset]

It would make some sense if the vacuum pump could be used with a bag press for veneering. Is this possible, then the costs would not be so festool insane as normal. Just pondering???
Owen

 

[kmhphoto]

in Germany it is approx £850+tax for the compressor and one clamp. So we can expect it to be a little higher here :-(

 

[DaveL]

Trend used to do a flat vacuum hold down, nothing as flash as that but it did look useful.

 

[neilyweely]

Ok gents, as a relative newcomer to the 'slope' I am still in a position to cast a realistic opinion on this, and I have to say, gents, it is such an over the top, ostentatious, unnecessary piece of kit you would have to be mad to pay anything like a grand for it.

I was gonna add 'and I love it' which is true, and if i won one I would keep it, but guys, get real, unless it does have other uses as corset says,
it is over the top, surely?

 

[Waka]

Lovely piece of kit, but as has already been said, rather expensive.

 

[Bean]

Interesting but it will be expensive and the only innovative part of it is the ability to tilt the vac pot.

seriously unimpressed

 

[wizer]

Just had a look for a similar product. Oddly I found this:

link

which appears to be a British made product, but not available on any of the sit retailer sites listed?

 

[Steve Maskery]

it is over the top, surely?

NW
For the average home woody, yes, of course, you are right. But Festool do not aim their products at the likes of us. They aim for the top end of the professional industrial market, and there are an awful lot of kitchen manufacturers in the world.

I went to Festool a few weeks ago and they took us to a couple of "test" customers. These are small companies who agree to use prototypes in a real-world workshop and then give their feedback about what is good and what needs to be improved before they go into production.

These guys were using it, and I don't mean that they got it out of the box just because we were there, you could tell by the condition of the thing that it was used all the time. Plus they were skilled at operating it (there are a couple of levers for spinning & tilting it, plus a foot pedal for operating the vacuum). For them it was ideal as they could work on all edges of a door without having to rearrange clamps. Plus you don't put the door on a bit of grit on the bench and get a ding. Plus changing from horizontal to vertical takes seconds. Plus... Yes it is a professional tool aimed at professionals, because it saves time.

I sound like a salesman, don't I? It's not intended. Like you, I won't be buying one. But if I were starting a new workshop from scratch, and doing that kind of work for most of the time, I would grumble like mad but still get my credit card out.

BTW, I also went to an enormous woody show in Nuremburg, and there were several other companies there also with new vacuum vices. All very definitely aimed at industry, but some were surprisingly similar to the Festool machine. It's obviously the tool of the time.

Cheers
Steve

 

[wizer]

or just make your own:

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/clamping/*****.jpg