Shopsmith Forums

Recently bought the Festool vacuum noted in the title to this post. Just used it the first time today with my PC orbital sander to tackle some drywall sanding. All I can say is WOW! You want to talk about dust free sanding. I was not looking forward to sanding drywall in the bathroom. In such a small room, the dust is overwelming, but this thing is going to make drywall work non-hazardous and a pleasure. After sanding for about 5 minutes, I looked down at the bottom of the wall, absolutely no dust there. Swiped a finger in the corner.....nothing.

The vacuum plugs into the wall, the sander plugs into the vacuum. Turn the vac to automatic mode, turn on the sander and the vac turns on. Turn the sander off and the vac turns off after a 2 or 3 second delay. Variable speeds too, I had it set on low!

Hose and cord store on top of the vacuum, you can purchase festool tool cases that set in place on top of the vac for a very modular look and storage. If fact, all Festool pwr tools come with it own case that sit on top of this vac. It has very large wheels for easy roll even outdoors. All of the Festool vacs: CT-26, CT-36, CT-48 have the same footprint, but increase in height with the larger capacities.

I plan on buying festools cleaning kit that goes with the vac. Another $80, but stores in its own case on top of the vac. In fact you can store many cases on top of the vac, probably limited only by your ceiling height!

So, this festool has my 2 thumbs up!

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What about the noise level ?

Well, you certainly can't hear it over the sander!

Seriously though, it's very quiet for a vac, much quieter than my Rainbow.

137 cfm and 62db on the low setting

I love my Festool mini (the smallest vac.) The variable suction is great with sanders. You can turn the suction down and get few to no swirl marks while still collecting all the dust. Next you "need" to try out one of their track saws. It's the best way to break down sheet goods. I find that the Track Saw for me solves some of the concerns people have about the SS table size.

Only one Festool at a time for me, they are hideously expensive. But, I do love high performance tools. I really wanted to get the RO125 with the vac, but that would have been another $600, so for now, I'll limp along with my PC sander. I was lucky in the fact that the hose fit the PC, otherwise would have to round up an adapter for it. The hose will not fit the tools that came with my Rainbow and of course won't fit the SS dust chutes. Adapters needed!

At this time, I'm using the screen type sanding sheets, cut them to size for the PC. The screen sheets can really breathe when using the vac. It really makes short work on sanding sheet rock joints and filled in areas.

Made my own adaptor for my Shop Vac brand accessories.

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Used 1 1/4" ID vinyl hose from Lowes that I've had laying around for several years.
Pretty stiff until I used a heat gun to soften it up enough to stretch it over both ends of hose and accessory.

After butting them up, it makes for a very tight seal, but not so tight as to make it difficult to remove.

Festool wants $85 for their compact cleaning set, which does come with a 4" deep storage box that locks onto the top of the vac.

With the money I've saved, I ordered the 8" deep storage box (Systainer) to keep my PC sander and ShopVac accessories in.

I might be too late to the party to offer suggestions, but here goes...

1. Don't experiment with too many different Festool tools or you'll find yourself buying them. I know the prices are way, way up there compared to about everything else but you'll find all kinds of reasons to rationalize the purchase.

2. Avoid the compact cleaning set. Instead, step up to a larger set that also contains the 36mm hose. The tradesman and installers sets come to mind. They're a much better deals since they also come with the bigger diameter hose that you'll want later for a track saw, router, etc.

3. The toolboxes festool packages everything in are called systainers. And I'm in love with them. Beware, it can happen to you too since you'll quickly recognize that having the same footprint for all of your portable tool cases makes it easy to store and transport them rather than deal with random geometries from a myriad of suppliers.

Again, beware.

I bought one of the older ct vacuums since it pooped up used on Craigslist locally at a price I was willing to try after my old shop vac died. I couldn't be happier with the suction and the ability touse the thing as a tool cart.

They don't "suck" much better than even a bargain basement shop vac, but they offer some conveniences that make them quite attractive.

Best wishes,
Steve

I've drooled over the notion of a high quality HEPA shopvac that will cycle on/off with power tools...I've done a ton of remodeling with lead-based paint removal/scrapping/sanding and this would be perfect for the job...until I see the sticker price...$600 for a ShopVac...wow! I don't doubt it's worth every penny and if I was staring down a similar sizable job or two, I'd probably consider it, but in lieu of that and given the inevitable tightness of funds, my $60 shopvac does a good enough job for my current needs. They do know how to make that Festool stuff look sexy to the tool sluts in us, however...

I'll have to say, I am wwaaaaayy happy with my CT-26 hepa. I've been doing a lot of drywall sanding in a bathroom (wavy walls). I don't need a mask, am not covered in dust, and if it weren't for the sander, I wouldn't need ear plugs. That vac is the quietest I've ever almost not heard.

Got the 8" deep systainer to hold all my other "shopvac" accessories. I'll be using it to vac out the cars too.

What adapter do you use to hook up to say, the bandsaw, or blade guard?