BIFL power tools - is Festool worth the price?

Submitted by Wirecommando t3_z2r99e in BuyItForLife

What’s the best BIFL power tool brand? Specifically looking at a 1/2” chuck corded router. Of course, Festool pops up in every search, but is the $650 price tag justified (vs $250 Dewalt/Milwaukee/Bosch)? [side note: long time lurker, first time poster! This subreddit is awesome!]

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HobbesNJ t1_ixhq5mi wrote

Festool is worth a premium price. The tools are excellent quality and thoughtfully designed. However, the amount of premium over good-quality alternate tools is probably not entirely justified.

If you are a professional contractor/craftsman who uses your tools heavily and make a living off them, then by all means invest in Festool. And if you just want extremely high-quality tools and are willing to pay the high price for them, then they are a great choice. I'm very happy with the several Festool tools I own.

But those alternative brands are also high-quality tools. You can buy those and be very happy with them. For the average home DIYer or home craftsman they are all that is needed, particularly if money is a factor. They will all be BIFL quality for typical amateur usage.

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vacuous_comment t1_ixi9uta wrote

Agree with this.

I have a bunch of Festool and love it. I am not a pro, but I maintain and work on several houses on and off and really value having my Festool gear.

Some of the stuff Festool items were unique on is now available other places.

For example, the Festool drill driver set with right angle, offset, regular chuck etc is great. But Milwaukee now makes some version of it.

Festool track saws are great but there are many others now, including Makita.

I love the functioning and dust pickup on Festool sanders, especially used with the Festool vacuum. They are still ahead of most competition there I think.

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Em_Adespoton t1_ixhp3e8 wrote

Interestingly, Makita makes a bunch of Festool knockoffs that appear to be the same build quality— I’ve had some for 20 years with no issues.

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hagcel t1_ixi7q58 wrote

I'm at 20+ years with some of my DeWalt. As for routers, I hunted high and low for a particular model of Bosch from when they used all metal gearing. I'd love to say it's a BIFL item, but I've probably only put 40-50 total hours on it. Still runs like new, but practically is.

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OV5 t1_ixkwq35 wrote

I don’t think he has done a video on routers but Project Farm on YouTube has single-handedly solved gift-giving to my father for many years. Excellent channel for tool comparisons.

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Loaatao t1_ixnhzf1 wrote

If it’s good enough for the This Old House folks, then it’s good enough for just about anyone

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Wirecommando OP t1_ixoasuc wrote

100% agree with you, but TOH has way deeper pockets and gets much more in SPIF’s for product placements that I’ll ever get…

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Velociraptor2018 t1_iy86yrw wrote

Makita, primarily because their batteries can be replaced easily and work in the older tools. Also for the larger tools and yard equipment they simply add extra battery slots instead of designing a new battery

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Cultural_Vacation_53 t1_ixi9lnj wrote

Very high quality, and at the time I used them, the dust collection was second to none.

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boneman429 t1_ixiekg4 wrote

Porter Cable makes a very solid router. I was looking for one a year or two ago and couldnt find one though. Went with the makita. Edit: my 1/2” is a Bosch, I bought a 1/4” Makita that is pretty nice as well.

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pruche t1_iy181g0 wrote

I tell myself I'll look into getting me some festool or hilti if my makita tools turn out to not be up to snuff, but so far they have been. I haven't been using them for decades end though.

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