The Festool following is loyal and growing – as is its product range. Professional Builder looks at some of the tools that will help out carpenters
Battery technology continues to advance and with it the range of jobs to which cordless is suited. Festool’s avowed approach is to take a purposeful approach and ascertain how technology might best serve the application in question and optimise the results so that the products are perfect for tasks at hand. The following represents some of the latest developments that see that ethos put into practice.
Cordless Drills
As the name suggests, the 18 V CXS 18 and TXS 18 compact drill screwdrivers are available in the C and T design. The former allows for precise work in drilling and screwdriving whilst the latter ensures easy handling and a short distance from the workpiece. Described as lightweight, compact, versatile and powerful both benefit from an EC-TEC brushless motor. All the attachments within the current Festool 18V cordless drill/driver range are also compatible with the new CXS/TXS 18. A chuck and bit holder in one, it is only half the size and 80 per cent lighter than a standard drill chuck making the tool an even more compact solution.
Reciprocating Saw
It’s the brushless EC-TEC motor, switch-activated pendulum stroke and low level of vibration that allows the RSC 18 cordless reciprocating saw to be smoothly guided through conversion or dismantling work. Whether it’s on wooden beams and roofing boards, cutting out window and door frames or roof and wall openings through chipboard, this tool is an all-rounder. The power of the pendulum stroke is continuously adjusted via an easily reachable switch, with higher cutting speeds allowing for better work progress in soft and medium-hard materials.
Thanks to the special chuck, the saw blade is quickly ejected when it needs replacing, and there is no danger of burning your fingers or hand when removing it. In addition, the clamped saw blade can be rotated by 180 degrees, so that the teeth are facing upwards. The saw can also be used with a Bluetooth controlled dust extractor.
ExoActive exoskeleton
Powered by an 18-volt battery, the ExoActive exoskeleton makes light work of strenuous overhead tasks by actively supporting tradespeople under their arms. For dry mortarless construction, painting, wallpapering, or installation jobs on walls or ceilings, the device provides the wearer with an added boost when their arms get tired and takes the load off their neck. By reducing the stress on the body, you can work more effectively, and focus more on the quality of the work.
The required support level can be adjusted, its comfortable, easy to wear, with no restriction in your range of movement, and can be quickly adapted to the user’s individual body size. The ExoActive provides each underarm with of up to 50 Newtons, equivalent to reducing the load by approximately 5 kilograms and there’s three predefined working areas: from the waist up, from the chest up or overhead.
Ear Protection
Workplace noise will not only damage the ears in the long term, it can also create potentially harmful distractions, and limit interaction with fellow workers. Small, light and convenient, Bluetooth® GHS 25 l ear protection from Festool turns the on-site volume down to a healthy level, whilst allowing you to make phone calls or listen to music. Thanks to built-in microphone technology, you hear only what you want to. You can, for instance, comfortably perceive speech within a safe listening volume (up to 79 dB) without a problem and don’t have to remove the ear protection to speak to colleagues. Loud ambient noise outside the safe sound level of 79 dB (corresponding to EU standard EN352) is, meanwhile, blocked.
When making phone calls, the microphone effectively suppresses disruptive background noise and the earplugs can be recharged in the charging case supplied, with up to 13 hours of runtime.
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