The Festool PLUNGE: is it worth it?

[Jesse Cloud]

You can expect a wide range of answers on this board. The suggestion of looking at festoolownersgroup dot com is a good one - a little less venom over there...

Personally, I have several Festool tools and an MFT. I have a good range of stationary tools as well (unisaw, dj20 jointer, drill press, band saw, miter saw, etc). For me, the festools take up about 10 percent of the space and do 90 per cent of the work.

I sold my non-Festool routers and sanders, just never used them after the green got its nose in the tent. The tablesaw doesn't get much use anymore, mainly for a large number of repetitive cuts or to use a couple of jigs I haven't converted to Festool yet. The other time I use the TS is when I have a setup on the MFT that I don't want to break down yet. Oh, and the TS makes a nice assembly surface.

As Chris said, the pieces work together beautifully. There is one power cord that plugs into your saw, sander, router, domino, etc. No clutter. With the rail and the mft, I make just as precise cuts as I could on the TS. And with the dust collection, theres almost no cleanup at the end of the day, and you are not blowing black snot out of your nose - those two things are worth the price for me.

I do still use the miter saw, though probably more for rough cuts than anything else.

One thing the MFT is not, however, is a hand-tool workbench. Just not rigid enough. Its fine for power tool use and assembly, but not for heavy duty handplaning.

It depends a lot of what kind of work you want to do, but maybe one could generalize that if space is a premium, dust control is important, and you aren't doing a hundred reps of the same cut, Festool could be for you.

[Paul Demetropoulos]

I have a small shop and am in dire need of a good workbench.I saw the Festool MFT 3 and Plunge saw(either model) and have been wondering if it would be worth the money to bypass the miter, circ, and "made" table and get the festool combo.
Tim

Tim,

Not sure what is it you mean by a "made" table, are you referring to a workbench you would "make" yourself?

[Eddie Shih]

I am a professional woodworker and as far as I am concerned, judging by the few pieces that I have used, including that clumsy saw, its a cult. I think there is probably a secret handshake as well, but I was not allowed in the cult as I have a shop full of real tools.

Overpriced, and in no way comparable to stationary tools, and I don't for a minute believe they will improve your lovelife!

Not a Festoolian.....

There is no such things as overpriced. Only if you are willing to pay for it or not.
For ripping a 4' x 8' board, MDF, plywood, you name it. The TS55/75 is the best tool to use, it just makes your life so easy. I am not strong enough to lift the big board on to my TS. For me, it is so much easier to cut the board to smaller piece by just moving my TS75 on the rail. MFT is also a great tool with the FESTool clamps.

FESTool sells their system. This is scary . It will eventually make you buy more FESTool tools.

The sanders from FESTool are best in the market especially with their dust collection. Sanding the wood is excellent. However, when you tried you sand the dry wall, you will appreciate how good FESTool dust collection can be.

Anyway what I tried to say is that I think FESTool is expensive but they are not overpriced. It is worth every penny you spend.

[Peter Pedisich]

Tim,

I have a MFT and ATF55, as well as some of the EZ Smart stuff.
They all work well.
But my miter saw is sitting there all set up waiting for me to just pull the trigger...makes life so much easier.

I could not give up my miter saw and table saw easily. Efficiency is my top priority. But if forced, I'd give up my table saw before the miter saw.

The one Festool I have that I've never questioned the price of is my CT22 vac, it made the most dramatic change in the way I work.

Pete

[jason lambert]

Shory answer Yes, but I would not be without a miter saw. The trouble is the MFT is so usefull it alwas has something on it. I do have 2 MFT's for sale a 1080 and 1080 basic if you are intrested in saving a couple bucks.

[Loren Hedahl]

I freed up a bunch of space by getting rid of my contractor saw. The plunge saw works for most of the cuts I was previously using the table saw for, except long thin rips. For that I acquired a small bench saw.

For cross cutting I normally use a MFT 1080, however on occasion I just use a short guide rail with a couple of pieces of scrap the same thickness to keep the guide rail positioned.

I still keep my old Makita miter saw around, but it spends most of its time under the bench next to its cousin, a DeWalt 745. There is also a DeWalt miter saw stand folded up in a corner. These are only used in good weather when I can take them outdoors and not worry about the sawdust mess.

Like others here, I initially grit my teeth over the initial cost, but the alternative for me was to build a larger shop. When I considered the cost of that potential decision, the Festools became a bargain.

So I can empathise with most of the viewpoints stated here. I have a little problem understanding how deciding to purchase a few Festool products makes me a member of a cult, but -- oh, well, I've certainly been accused of worse!

[Mike Gager]

some of their stuff looks nice but its all way out of my price range

[Tim Allaire]

Okay so expensive or not I am dropping the coin on table, saw and dust extractor. Questions is which saw the 55 or 75 (for general uses only) and the dust extractor the 22 or 33? Worth the extra money for both or go the cheapest route?

[Mike Gager]

can someone explain why the table thing they offer is so expensive? i can understand the tools but the table just looks like a piece of mdf with some dog holes, t tracks and card table legs. is it better looking in person?

[Chris Padilla]

Mike,

EVERYTHING with Festool's name on it is expensive; just the way it is but you pretty much nailed the table: that is what it is. Go to Woodcraft and look at one in person.

[Jesse Cloud]

Okay so expensive or not I am dropping the coin on table, saw and dust extractor. Questions is which saw the 55 or 75 (for general uses only) and the dust extractor the 22 or 33? Worth the extra money for both or go the cheapest route?

Hey Tim, Good picks - those are probably the best bang for the buck, but don't think you can stop mid-slope.

Personally, I am retired and make furniture for a hobby. I'm in the shop five or six days a week,but its a one man shop. The CT22 is more than adequate or me. Unless I'm routing out dovetails, a vac bag will last two or three months, so the 33 might extend that 3 months to 5 - not worth the $$ to me...

The TS75 will cut thicker material than the 55, but I don't need that very often. On the other hand the 75 is considerably heavier than the 55 and you do pick up the saw after each cut, so I prefer the 55.

Explore the Festool combo packages. When you buy a saw and vac together you get a price break. There are table combos, too.

Don't forget to save some $$ for festool clamps. The combination of the mft and the clamps is awesome - clamp anything anywhere...

[Bill Esposito]

We had a guy on another board who went for the TS75 against most everyone's recommendations and after a couple of days with it he returned it for the TS55. The TS75 is undoubtedly a good saw but it is big and heavy. Most of us use our Festools for sheet goods where the TS55 excels.

[Chris Padilla]

I have older cousin of the 75, the 65. I've never used the 55. I got the 65 just for depth of cut but must admit that I have probably never used it for such and the 55 probably would've been just fine. The 65 is heavy but since that is all I've ever used, it is no big deal. Sometimes a little heft can be good....

[Tim Allaire]

Looks like there is a combo with the ts 55 and ct 22 ($900) but I am assuming it will be worth the money in the long run....along with the mtf3 1500 and change...yikes! Is the table as ridgid as they claim (it will be my only work surface until I can make my own workbench)

[Jim Becker]

Tim, the MFT is pretty sturdy, but it's MDF...so it's fine for general work, but not a good thing to "pound" on. You can mitigate temporarily by floating another piece of MDF or ply on top when not cutting to help you preserve it and keep from any unnecessary sagging. MFT is a very nice portable solution, but not the equivalent of a heavy workbench.