Lithium-Ion Cordless Drill

[pint]

Don't be surprised if you open up that uber-expensive Festool that the motors and battery cells are made in... yup... China!

It's sad, but a friend of mine works for a company based in Minneapolis that makes the plastic shell/casing for drills and other tools. The case is made in the USA and is stamped as such, but what's inside is unknown to them. They sell cases to all kinds of manufacturers and the case is generically stamped "Made in the USA" on it. What's inside, nobody knows!? You have to REALLY know what your buying.

 

[spressomon]

Don't be surprised if you open up that uber-expensive Festool that the motors and battery cells are made in... yup... China!

You got me to thinking! So I e-mailed Festool and here is their response:

"All of our tools are manufactured in the same factory in Wendlingen,
Germany.

Machine parts are out-sourced but not all. We do not make the bearings,
cords or battery cells in most cases. All of those components are the
best that money can buy, we use only the best.

I do not know the company or origin of each component, but most if not
all of them are made in Europe. I can't imagine that any of those parts
are made in China, judging from Festool's fanaticism for quality and
China's reputation.

Mark Kalin
Tool and Application Expert"

 

[reffug]

Festool does make some badazz s***.

I have and use several of their woodworking tools and have been uber impressed.

Just don't have the $$ to always buy their stuff.

 

[pint]

My trusty and well served Bosch 13V batteries finally went south...way south . I went and bought the Makita Lithium Ion drill and impact driver set. But after getting it home and discovering (like I was all that surprised ) the damn things are made in China (like 97% of everything you buy today). So back it went...it was the excuse I needed to get the Festool; which is the one I wanted anyway.

Ok...China rant over.

Look like sweet tools. Never heard of them until you posted. I need to go check them out. Nothing pisses me off more than cheap tools...

 

[spressomon]

Look like sweet tools. Never heard of them until you posted. I need to go check them out. Nothing pisses me off more than cheap tools...

I have quite a few of their tools including their vac. I really enjoy using all my Festool tools. The vac catches virtually all the chips and dust too of the saw, router and sander! Definitely not cheap...but anything worth using/having usually is not...

 

[jts560]

You can't beat the Rigid warranty, Lifetime everything, even batteries. I do kitchen and bath remodeling and use a drill almost everyday, the Ryobi's hold up surprisingly well, although they are large and heavy (18v NiCad models). DeWalt is very good. I have used the Li Makita drill for a day and really liked it, very light and compact with good power, and a LED light which is handy when working inside cabinets.

 

[jts560]

Festool's are the tits, but unless you earn a living with them they are probably not worth the $$$$$$$$$.

 

[kulangot]

Festool's are the tits, but unless you earn a living with them they are probably not worth the $$$$$$$$$.

I dunno if I can agree with that. True for a harvey homeowner with no skills, but not for a hobby wood worker. I love my Festool stuff, because it takes up hardly any room, is super portable and the saw can do a lot of different stuff.

When I worked as a cabinetmakers apprentice 20 years ago, we used massive old school stationary tools. Panel saws, huge table saws, large radial arm saws, table sized planers and surface planers and a molding machine the size of a dump truck. We also had a dust collection system that was bigger than a house. That's professional gear. Most of the stuff was build before or right after WWII.

To this day, I have 18 percent hearing loss from that job and I wore ear protection every day.

With one Festool saw you have a panel saw, table saw, edge planer, radial arm saw and a hand held mitre saw in one tool (with dust collection if you have the vac). You can also turn down the speed and use it on ceramic and steel. In a word, versatile. For a do it yourselfer with advanced wood working skills, that's a pretty darn good deal, even if the tool is $$$. Take into account the physical space and what it costs to build a wood shop and the savings really adds up. Heck, a decent panel saw costs more than the nicest Festool saw AND vac and Festool is more versatile and cuts better too.

Look at what all in one welding machines sell for and Festool seems reasonable.

To be fair, your right it is $$$ but so is Lie Nielsen or any other top of the line tool but in my mind, just like Snap-On, Miller welders and Land Cruiser - it's worth it....

A Snap-On wrench costs a lot and is nicer but for the most part does the same job, Festool costs a lot and is nicer too but it also does more than a similar tool can do. I don't care how handy you are, you can't run a Skillsaw down cabinet grade plywood like a Festool running down it's track with anti chipout on both sides of the blade. That is sweet.

 

[reffug]

yup I gotta agree for part time wood work festool is worth the money.

for a weekend home warrior probably not so much.

 

[Spicer '92]

I love my makita lxt stuff!!! I use it everyday in residential construction and they are priceless. Matter of fact I demo'd an entire house with just my drill, impact driver, cordless circ saw and cordless sawzall. With my old dewalt's i woulda spent an extra hour running batteries to and from the charger. With corded tools i woulda spent more than an extra hour pulling cords around and getting them plugged in. The makita tools are amazing, the batteries are superb. The miluakee li-ion tools are nice too but pick up thier drill and then pick up the makita and tell me which you would rather hold all day. The led's on every tool seem like a gimmick at first but are actually a great touch. Just like the belt hook on the drill and driver. Makita pays attention to the little things and builds things right. They build tools for the proffesional and stand behind them. Dewalt builds tools to sell as many as they can. The hitachi stuff is nice but I hate the feel of the grips on all the new stuff. My .02 cents from someone who uses cordless tools everday. I don't have a need for most corded stuff anymore. The festool stuff is great too but the makita are more versatile. With the same battery you already have you can order many bare tools that you might eventually need which is to me an advantage over the festool specialty type stuff.

 

[Spicer '92]

Another thing, a guy that works with me had the ridgid stuff, the dual battery charger fried both his batteries so he took him to home depot. They sent him somewhere else who eventually sent him somewhere else to get his problem solved. Since then his circ saw stopped working. He borrowed a lot of my makita lxt stuff and now he bought the same kit. Ridgid warranty . . . lifetime, takes a lifetime to get them back. I am not sure how my makita warranty stuff might work out though I must add. With 15 or so makita tools none of them have broke yet so I have no Idea . . . . Besides festool and some of the bosch stuff most tools are made in China. Its a fact of life. If a tool manufacturer doesn't do this there is no way they could charge the customer competitively with a similar product. As far as I know however makita is the only company that actually owns and manages its own factory's in aisia rather than contracting it out. . . . Rant over.