Dear Festool
   As a leader in machine tools, how about setting a standard?

So many different (and misunderstood) sizes in exhaust ports,
PIck ( < 3) sizes, internal and external specified and talk to your 'competitors' (who are NOT) in this field.

Then make your customers smile?

Honestly, it's not that hard. 

I think you are misunderstanding what type of a "leader" Festool is. Certainly not a volume leader even in the professional market.

A (high end part of) the high end market manufacturers like Festool do not have the market power to set any "standards" by the sheer lack of a market power.

The only ones which happen to be "set" is when a certain pioneering design (think Systainers or the long-running FS/FS2 track series) becomes so ubiquitous that after patents expire the other manufacturers decide to make literal clones even with same sizing to be able to "lure" the high end maker's customer on price grounds.

That said, I believe Festool does a very good job of setting internal standards and sticking to them for decades. That on itself is no small feat. I am sure a pile of compromises must be made when a new tool is being designed so it can fit "into the system". Some maybe even deal-breaking. That "system" is a core part of the Festool "product" as it increases the design and eventually manufacturing costs but provides long term cost efficiencies to the customers.

There is no commercial advantage from Festool trying to "impose" or push the industry to use Festool standard sizes. They cannot prevent others to make compatible equipment, sure, but there is no business sense pushing intrinsically cheaper manufacturers to  get someone like Festool you out of business by making their cheaper kit compatible...

Besides, the Makita range is mostly make compatible as much as it can. Making a "compatible but cheaper" version of many of the initially Festool tool as well as accessory designs where they see the mass-market for them.

It's easy; buy Festool tools, buy Festool extractor... never worry about the hose fitting or not. The odd one out there is the CMS-OF, requiring the D36 hose. All the other stuff either takes the D27 inside the port (and the D36 over) or the D27 over the port.
With Festool; the more you buy, the more you can enjoy the 'system' in it. Eg the rails shared between router, jigsaw, circular saw. The clamps shared between the rails, CS50, MFT. Even the plug-It cord shared across machines.

If you buy anything else; apply tape as needed.

But even something like the Bosch GDE 16 fits the Festool D27 hose perfectly;

Maybe you should ask other manufacturers to conform to the same

One manufacturer can not set a standard. Festool can't force anybody else to follow their standard. In fact, nobody can, it is free country, well, at least most western countries are. Sort off.

Sort off, you nailed it. It seems sensorship is on the rise...

That said, Festools 27 and 36 mm hoses are more or less the standard in Germany and surrounding countries. Not because of Festool, but because bigger brands like Bosch and Metabo started to use those sizes a long time ago. And 35/36 mm is also the standard here in Europe for household vacs. Also more or less dictated by Germans, who are just the biggest suppliers of technology in Europe.

Yes, and almost all decent bicycle lights are also made to German specification, because they have the most detailed legislation on that part.

Quote from: Alex on November 20, 2020, 01:32 PM

Also more or less dictated by Germans, who are just the biggest suppliers of technology in Europe.

They even matched our time to theirs  (or is that joke too cruel?)

Do you mean they also use 60 minutes in an hour? That's cool.

Festool follows the standard size.  When brands use a size that Festool doesn't, it's because they're being poo poo heads.