Festool T15+3 – All You Need in a Cordless?
Independent Review by Peter Brett
A good cordless drill is surely considered by most DIYers and tradespeople a simple tool and a basic necessity. And there are many simple and basic cordless drills on the market, some good and some not so good. But the Festool T15+3 is not simple nor basic. It is probably one of the most well developed cordless drills I have ever used, in the sense that it is designed to be a single answer to many drilling dilemmas. With this drill, as part of the Festool system, the user may pay a premium price, but you do get premium quality and ultimate utility. For many high end users, this is certainly worth paying for, and if I may get a bit tradesman, “you don’t half get a lot for your money.” At first glance this 14.4v Li-Ion Festool drill doesn’t leap to your attention. It has
a black plastic body with a light grey rubber overmould on the handle and on top of the body. In short it looks dull. The only bits of colour are the bits of lime green detailing on the trigger and other switches and buttons. We are so used to bright, “come and get me” colours on many power tools that this colour scheme goes somewhat against the trend. But don’t let the livery colour put you off, as many of the top quality power tools don’t seem to need to shout “high-visibility” at you. The layout of the drill is a simple T
shape with a flat battery case on which to rest the tool if necessary. The ergonomics are good in that the rubber overmould aids grip but it is not overdone or intrusive. It just feels comfortable to hold. Most of the wide range of controls are in fairly conventional places. For example the speed selector switch is a simple slider on top of the body that slides easily revealing 1 or 2 to show the speed selected. Behind it is another transversely operating slider switch that indicates drilling or driving mode. This too works in a positive way. The lime green trigger is large enough for any forefinger, is carefully sited for comfort and operates progressively. The harder you press, the faster the motor runs. It is also very sensitive, but easy to maintain a constant speed when driving screws for example. Probably one of the best trigger actions on a drill I have used. A conventional layout of a push-through body switch is used to select forward or reverse. This is easily done with thumb or forefinger. The centre position on the switch locks the trigger. Just in front of the selector switch is a very bright LED light that is focused on the working point of the drill. With a fairly standard drill bit and hex holder in place, the light casts a roughly circular illumination area of about 8cm in diameter and is bright enough to light up the whole of the inside of a kitchen wall
after a while using this drill, is that it is pretty well perfectly balanced. This of course makes for less user fatigue and accounts for that sometimes inexplicable desire you have to use this drill rather than another one. I have a few cordless drills, but there are only about three or four that my hand tends to go to automatically when I have a big job on. There
is a slim stainless steel belt hook on the base of the battery that operates for left or right handed users – or it can be removed completely by simply twisting the plastic lug that holds it in place. I rarely use a belt hook as it usually results in trousers lower than I really want. One of my gripes on some cordless
tools is that the press-operated switches that hold the battery in place are not up to the job, so you end up having to wrestle the battery off. In one case I had to lever it off with a screwdriver! There is no such problem here, the release and hold is achieved with a positive click from the retainer mechanism. And a lovely touch of thoughtful design are the two rubber patches on the base where you normally grip to release the battery for recharging. As you would expect there is a three position green LED that shows the state of battery charge on the back of the battery pack. A diagnostic charger and a spare
battery are included as part of the kit, all packed into the customary Festool Systainer case, that can be stacked and locked together for easy transport. But for ultimate flexibility of use the
chucking system is brilliant. There are several chucks available, but the ones included in this kit will give some idea of what I mean. There is a “standard” 13mm capacity keyless chuck. With this
cabinet for example. At the very rear of the body is a 25-position torque setting wheel that works as sweetly as anything – a whole lot easier than many torque collar settings. Heading towards the
battery department there is the large-ish but light 14.4v battery pack. It provides a counterweight to the weight above it, so the one thing you notice
6 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE
chuck in place the length from nose to back is just 22cm. Actually quite compact enough to work in a kitchen cabinet under a worktop for example. By pulling back the green ring on the base of the chuck, it is instantly released leaving a simple hex- fitting spindle that will hold a short driver bit. At a fraction over 15cm long now, it is quite possible to fit the drill into a very confined space. But, that is not all:- a lockable hex chuck could now be clicked into place, making the nose to tail measurement 17cm, but with the convenience of a lockable quick release chuck. For kitchen and shopfitters and more general users like myself, these combinations are probably just about all we would need to keep us happy, but specialist users have a choice of right angle chucks and geared chucks to name but two. For all the reasons mentioned above this cordless drill driver is very much an
end-user’s near perfect solution. It is comfortable, balanced, easy to use, versatile and super high quality. I add the “near” to the perfect only because the only complaint I ever hear about the Festool range is that some users can’t afford to buy into it.
Reply No. 225
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36