Over the last couple weeks, there has been a huge buzz around KMS tools about our new line of woodworking related power tools.  Festool is a German made high-end professional tool manufacturer centered around woodworking.  The idea behind Festool’s “Faster, Easier, Smarter” slogan is selling you into a family, not just a tool.  Festool sports an industry leading 1+2 Year Warranty (first year they pay for all of the shipping, the following two, you pay for one way).  The Festool family revolves around four key pillars most tool companies overlook: Dust extraction, Multifunction Tables, Guide Rails & Systainers.

Festool’s approach to Dust extraction is second-to-none for several reasons.  Clean air is not only important for the operator, it’s important for the tools themselves, as well as the space you’re working in.  Picture this:  you’re performing a $100,000 kitchen renovation and keeping dust from building outside the workspace is arguably as important as the final finished product.  You want your clients to feel comfortable and at ease with you and most of all, you want referrals for other work.  Being a small business owner you want to work efficiently and not have to run down the hall, then the porch, down the front steps and onto the driveway every time you have to make a cut on your mitre saw.  What if you could do all the cutting right in your workspace?  With Festool’s Kapex Mitre Saw and one of several Festool dust extractors, you can achieve 91% dust extraction, compared to under 50% on most other mitre saws:  and that’s only part of the Festool advantage

Festool’s Multifunction Tables are what happens when innovation meets practicality.  They will make cutting, sanding, routing and assembly easier than it’s ever been so you can concentrate on your craft, not on messing around with cumbersome clamps and jigs.  With quick clamps, angle adapters, stop flags, and several after-market accessories available like the popular Qwas Dogs, the possibilities are truly limitless.

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about the different guide rail saws from Hilti, Makita, DeWALT, and how they are based on Festool’s idea (since their patent ran out).  What most people don’t know is that Festool first pioneered this technology almost 50 years ago, way back in 1964.  Because Festool is that grandfather of the power tool rail, they have developed many accessories that fit their eight various sized rails: a 32mm line boring attachment for doing European shelf pins, a router attachment, a suction kit to keep the rails from moving on flat surfaces, deflectors and clamps.

One other thing that sets Festool apart from other manufacturers is that because they take a systems approach opposed to a tool approach, they really build their offerings to work harmoniously.  Systainers are one great example of this.  When planning your job, you have to transport several bins, bags & containers one by one into your truck, then onto the site.  I bet you have problems keeping track of your tools and keeping your tools from getting banged around, breaking parts and loosing trueness.  Festool has thought thoroughly about all of these factors, and their solution is the Systainer.  Each tool they sell comes packed nicely in a uniform case that is stackable and latchable to other Systainer cases.   You can attach all of these cases together and then mount them to one of the four Dust extractors with a Sysdock, so all of your tools are accounted for, are on wheels and arrive un-damaged.  They also offer Sortainers which provide you with storage for smaller items while also locking to the Systainers.

Those are four great individual reasons to invest in Festool’s system.  The biggest reason of all which takes us back to their slogan “Faster, Easier, Smarter” is that Festool will not only save you time during your job, but it will also save you time with setup and cleanup, both of which eat up a lion’s share from your bottom line.  The dollars Festool saves you is more than enough to recover their premium price.  Know that Festool isn’t only a great performing product; it’s also miles above the rest in quality, standards and tolerances.