If you want to do 32mm spacing holes the festool way, there's this offering from Bosch:
I respect your opinion and can agree with it. You can buy Festool everywhere and their line-up is very extensive.
At the risk of sounding biased, I do think that there is another argument to be made here. And that is,
is said eco-system really as much an advantage is you think it is? You re-enforced the "for me" part. So I'll now add to the discussion my "for me" argument
It's been
my personal experience that Festool's ecosystem is marketed
really well and it all looks awesome. In reality however, it requires you end up buying extras for just about everything to make it work the way it's supposed to in the first place. You end up spending more money and carrying more stuff taking up more physical space.
Mafell makes a lot less products, but their stuff doesn't need all kinds of accessories to work as intended and get a job done.
For 32mm spacings the Mafell way: - DD40 in systainer
- Template guide rail
- Switch out your 2 bits for 5mm bits.
- Align your template guide and clamp it down with the integrated clamp.
- Start drilling 2 holes at a time.
Total items needed, 1 systainer, 1 template guide.For 32mm spacings the Festool way: - Festool router in systainer
- Guide rail with 32mm spaced holes
- LR-32 kit in systainer
- I'll call this optional, 2 F-style clamps to clamp your rail
- Insert a special centering bit to align your router to the LR-32 base plate that rides the guide rail.
- Srew the router to the LR-32 rail adapter plate.
- Switch out centering bit for 5mm bit.
- Set the distance on 2 parallel arms and attach them to your guide rail to align it.
- Insert 2 F-clamps on either end of your guide rail and clamp down your rail. Again, let's even call this optional.
- Take off the LR-32 kit parallel arms.
- Start drilling 1 hole at a time.
Total items needed, 2 systainers, a guide rail, 2 clampsAs a sidenote, I'd like to point out that the duodoweler template guide isn't just used for 32mm spacings, it's also used for precise dowel joinery. Which takes me to my next point, the DD40 is a dual purpose machine. It does joinery and it does shelf pin holes. If you look at Festool to do those jobs, you need to buy an additional expensive tool, the Domino.
Connect 2 guide rails the Mafell way: - guide rail
- guide rail connector
Connect 2 guide rails the Festool way: - guide rail
- guide rail connector
- screwdriver
- straight edge or betterly alignment aid
If you want to use a betterly connector to align 2 festool rails, you'll again need to buy and carry an extra accessory. You still need 2 connector bars, one on top, one on the bottom. And a special screw driver to secure the connectors.
Mafell guide rails need 1
toolless connector, which stores on the rail itself and aligns your guide rails automatically.
I don't know about you, but I've found that the products Mafell offers are more economical, save me time and take up less space. And as icing on the cake, their build quality is even better than Festool's. And it just so happens it's like that with most of their gear. This shouldn't be confused with a limited line-up. It's just designed better in my opinion.
Many people just don't know how their equipment works and Mafell itself is clueless about marketing. If they were to make instructional videos like Festool does, it would go them a long way.
All in all though I think we need to stop thinking both brands work the same. They both have their own approach to getting a job done. For instance, Mafell doesn't offer a workbench to make square or angled crosscuts, that's what their guide rail angle attachment and KSS saws do.
So I'll re-iterate my question, does the festool ecosystem really help you get your job done faster, easier & smarter?