Festool TPC 18/4 Quadrive Hammer Drill Review

[@beefbosssupreme]

Just got this thing as a set with the TID to replace my makitas that are around 12 years old. I would say that I do prefer the ergonomics of makita's impact more than the TID but the TPC18 a huge step up. Much quieter at max speed and having 4 different speed ranges is a nice addition. The gearbox shift can be a bit tricky though... It gets stuck in between gears sometimes if you slowly shift gears. The box it comes in is also really nice. Hopefully this set lasts as long as my makitas if not longer!

[@martinluthierking]

that big hammer drill is beautiful

[@dfs7979]

It actually replaces the PDC which was a design disaster. I'm fairly sure with this one they either license the gearbox design or have Fein actually build it for them. I sold my Milwaukee M18 Gen 3 drill and impact and bought the TID18/TPC to replace it. The M18 had more power but it was a wild beast and so loud. The TPC is much more refined but is also extremely conservative with the overload protection. I do like it but similar to the M18, it's too heavy for a daily driver. I too wish the CXS/TXS was redesigned. I'm not sure what they are going to do about the battery. If it were up to me I'd have them start making a full 12v line but they really don't have much an 18v line at the moment. My biggest complaint about the TPC and Festool drills in general is centrotec. There's no support in the US market for it. I had to grind other drill bits to make them work with the centrotec chuck. They should either release a 1/4" chuck or step up the game and flood the market with cheap, high quality bits that fit both 1/4" and centrotec. Maybe they could get people hooked on the bits to then drive tool sales.

[@CrookedSkew]

Why was the PDC a design disaster? Just curious. I don't like the lack of torque on the TPC 18/4 but my understanding, at least from reading the festoolownersgroup is that it's not a replacement for a 40V Makita 140 nm drill. It's precision vs power despite Makita's chucks being so precise. I have a 12v Fein brushless - it's really great - 4 speed gearbox works very well and looking at the Festool gearbox in the video on the TPC 18/4 looks identical in function change.

[@TwinbeeUK]

I wish all these reviews on KZbin concentrated more on the accuracy and smoothness of the trigger itself.

[@tempero96]

An old dog once compared my old Milwaukee driver to a toy and told me it is far too angry for the amount of work it gets done whereas his festool driver gently whispers screws in faster than I could with any brand tool. A lot of these reviews tend to just be about how fast can a driver put a screw into some wood. Any driver can do that and whichever has the faster rpm will probably win. A truer drive will make a cutter into metal cut far better and a tool that responds more accurately to your inputs allows for optimal cutting speed which will in turn make you faster overall with less effort instead of attempting to push screws through as hard as you can.

[@mathewmunro3770]

I bought a Fein 4-speed drill. It also comes with interchangeable heads, including a right-angle adapter. It's nice to have the extra speed available. It actually didn't have enough torque to drill any faster in 4th than 3rd gear with a 12mm into steel, and in fact, I think it went slightly faster in 3rd gear, because you could press harder. Sucks that the Fein doesn't have a hammer-drill function though, and also sucks that Fein don't make many different tools. I'm tempted to sell my Fein 4-speed drill & Fein hammer drill and get this new Festool 4-speed hammer drill, but I've also got a couple of adapter/chucks, a couple of batteries & chargers & an impact in Fein, so it will cost quite a bit to change to Festool, since I'm unlikely to be able to sell the Fein gear for anywhere near what I paid for it, and unlikely to pickup this new Festool drill much below list price. The Fein 4-speed drill model name is 'ASCM 18 QM Select'. Its no-load speeds are 400/800/1,950/3,850 rpm. Up to 90 Nm. For reference, the Festool TPC 18/4 no-load speeds are 500/800/2,350/3,600 rpm. 75 Nm. 75 Nm at 500 rpm for the Festool vs 90 Nm at 400 rpm for the Fein means that they should have almost, if not exactly, the same torque in second gear (~45 Nm) where they're both doing 800 rpm (presuming they've got real 4-speed gearboxes, and it's not just electronic trickery).

[@danyvuong4145]

The new Fein ASCM 18 QM (P ) ampshare is a real BEAST it beat Milwaukee gen3/4 in concrete by divide/2 of time

[@CrookedSkew]

Solid review. I just bought this drill. You got your wish with the new 18v CXS and TXS : ) The gearbox smells like a Fein from their ASCM 12v / 18v range.

[@CrookedSkew]

@@toolcurve Looking forward to a reviews for the new CXS and TXS!

[@michael.knight]

I doubt they could make the CXS as light weight as it is with an 18V battery, which would then kind of defeat the purpose. Maybe if they made a very lightweight small 18v battery, it could work.

[@jronmanbuilds]

The high power 4.0's uses 5 of the 21700 cells. Europe has a 10 cell high power battery that recently came out which I would expect to arrive in the north american market 6 months or 1 year later. Also Festool removed the eccentric chuck from the t18 and c18 kits and they swapped out the airstream charger with the slower charger. The t18 has not gotten an update to include the always on light feature. I wouldn't mind getting a tpc 18 but I have other tools I want that are higher priority.

[@woodmasterguy]

I do home repair and I own alot of Festool. For my business on site, I use just about the whole line of Milwaukee M12, light and powerful and more than what I need. I use Makita 20v as well with some Milwaukee M18. Now I do own about 6 Festool drills, the old ones, T15, T18, Impact and a few cxs. I love the CXS in the shop, light weight, 10v battery lasts forever. Other Ts have Nicad batteries and just too heavy and bulky. I just don't see myself moving over to Festool battery side of it. Once these nicads die, if they ever do, I will let these drills go...

[@robertcasey3528]

Festool impact is nice looking tool. Doesn't look like a transformer toy.

[@CrookedSkew]

Just curious if those screws that you drove had pre-drilled holes?

[@pt17171]

Nice tools but with compact drills/drivers Festool and Hilti are not offereing anything above Makita, Millwauke,Bosch or DeWalt.

[@tempero96]

This is not true. I have run Milwaukee for the 12 years I’ve worked in construction and always thought it the best. I recently got sick of my 2 gen 4 drivers overheating under certain applications and decided to buy the hilti nuron driver after a fair amount of research. It constantly continues to impress me with its torque and finesse. My workmate picked up the festool drill and driver last year. I have not come across a drill or driver with better accuracy. Even my hilti doesn’t spin as true as the festool driver and Milwaukee drill chucks are well known for being rubbish. If I’d looked at them a few years back when I lacked as much knowledge and skill In the industry I would not see the advantages either. Now that I have good trigger control and can feel the correct speed to spin the screw at to cut at peak efficiency, I have a lot more respect for these tools. It’s like having a tool that is an extension of your body and responds exactly how you want it to. I also don’t ever use the clutch on a drill because they annoy me. I just let go of the trigger when I want the drill to stop. I don’t use hammer functions either because that’s what an actual hammer drill is for and I don’t carry non sds masonry bits.

[@ron1martens]

After my tools were stolen I replaced my pdc with a dpc. Is that correct? The hammer function with a non hammer function. I was told the non hammer function tool had more power. I think the pdc which propably means percussion has more power. Yes, the issue I had was changing gear box settings and it was very difficult to change gearbox speed. I have since seen this fein design drill which I wish to obtain. I put a laybuy on the new cordless plunge saw with 1.8 mm kerf blade which is brushless, anti kickback. The new batteries look impressive. So we have an higher output battery being 4 amp hour. This seems similar to the metabo 5.5 amp hour high density batteries for energy dependant tools such as a grinder. I have one 6.2 amp hour festool battery. I was going to buy another 6.2 amp hour battery for the plunge saw. I now feel I would like the high density 4 amp hour battery. It will be interesting to make a comparison. Also as the machine in the case of the plunge saw I'm wondering the power outage between the higher density batteries or if you use two batteries one been a standard battery along with a higher density. I'm thinking get two high density batteries. Then buy the quad drive drill.

[@jronmanbuilds]

I would wait for the high power 8.0 ah battery. Europe just got it and usually North America is 6 months or 1 year behind on releases.

[@jb8656]

Makita dxt16 or 12

[@brandonmitchell265]

Makita by no means makes the best impact

[@kk__21]

@@robertcasey3528 so it’s still Milwaukee?

[@robertcasey3528]

Makita is one of the best made even though it's not as fast as Milwaukee or Flex.

[@fancraft1266]

Milwaukee is not reliable

[@tempero96]

I agree makita is definitely not the best driver but they aren’t the worst either. Most of the big brands are pretty comparable and will get the job done no problem even at an industry level. Even ryobi stuffs not terrible anymore. Skill probably has more of a part to play. I would say Milwaukee is better due to the higher torque and rpm and also I am biased towards Milwaukee as I have run mostly Milwaukee for years however the overheating on the gen 4s can become a nuisance depending upon your applications. None of them compare to the torque of the hilti or the accuracy and finesse of the festool.

[@fancraft1266]

@@tempero96 Milwaukee don't last a lot unlike Makita. And also they don't sell a lot of spare parts

[@maf2018]

similar than FEIN

[@fancraft1266]

But the Fein is 1.7 times more powerful than the Festool

[@EUnotsogreat]

Learn your facts before you push the record button. A lot of guesses and chancing in this video. Please learn your facts and stop bluffing viewers.

[@paulhopkins1905]

There is absolutely zero reason to buy Festool drills/drivers. They consistantly get absolutely smoked by the competition at a much higher price. The big three kill them, and even Ryobi out performs them

[@tempero96]

The only thing a ryobi driver has over a hilti is that it’s a quarter of the price. My workmate runs all ryobi so that he can just buy a new drill for $100 whenever he needs. I banter with him at times but I respect his knowledge and years worked in the industry and understand that goes a lot further than whatever brand tool you’re using. I love my job and I love working hard and getting stuff done. I want my tools to be able to perform for whatever task it is when I require it. I’ve run Milwaukee up until recently when I discovered the drivers overheat under certain applications so I bought a Hilti nuron driver after some decent research and it’s awesome. At the same time, if something needs getting done, I will pick up whatever tool is nearby and get the job done regardless of brand.

[@paulhopkins1905]

@@tempero96 The difference is, even Ryobi makes a more powerful driver than Fescult