There has been a few threads on the use of cyclones with Festool vacs in the last month or two. What if Festool made a CT vac with an integral cyclone. I'd buy one, would you?

That's what I was thinking.

Hi,

        Oh that would be     Maybe Jonny Round Boy would like to do a Sketchup model?     For a home made one how about a Systainer - V  with a bucket and lid type cyclone inside. Like the one Bru recently posted   http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=386.0    Maybe the bucket could be cut short enough to fit in the systainer.  No real purpose served , just kinda cool if it was in a systainer.


Seth

Seth - I'd be happy to, but unfortunately I only have a CT mini, not a 22 or 33. Trying to draw festool gear from catalog pictures is near impossible, I always measure from the real item.

But if anyone's got a CT22 they want to send me FOC......

Marrying a mini-cyclone to a CT makes a lot of sense , and, also negates a need for the larger size bags. To keep the overall height down I think a 22 is a better choice than a 33. True, it would work with either if it works at all but the whole idea is to keep the dust out of the bag as long as possible, right? A mini or a midi would work but at the sacrifice of some power. Perhaps this is one of those "What we would like to see from Festool" issues: A well-engineered mini-cyclone with big machine power on a lowest possible profile configuration.

The cyclone mitigates the need for a bag but I don't think it negates the need altogether. Dust collection and air filtration needs to be done in stages, I think. The cyclones gets the dog and cats, the bag (even a small one) gets what gets through and protects the HEPA filters from premature clogging. As Bill says, take the bag out and the HEPAs are too vulnerable. That is why my old Rigid vac with no bag was useless. The filter was blinded off in minutes from fine dust and only the biggest dogs fell to the bottom of the unit. Now I use it with a mini-cyclone and it will run for hours without clogging the Cleanstream filter. The only time it failed in this regard was when I got arrogant about its capabilities and vacuumed up a bunch of handplane shavings. They were too big to drop out of the cyclone and got sucked through the cyclone outlet and into the Rigid. Even then it pretty much filled the Rigid before I heard that telltale increase in amperage going through the motor. The filter did not blind off until there was no place for the shavings to go! Cyclones rock.

I like the idea that is going on in this thread.  The older thread had the cylone on top the CT, but question about getting all the dust and chips from the lunch box planer was never answered.  I have a lunchbox planer and normally just plane boards with it out on the driveway, if they made it in a Festool box, and it worked with the planer I would buy it in an instant.

From the older thread does a Dust Deputy connected to a lunchbox planer then to a CT work, or does the whole thing just choke on the amount of material?  Just wondering because I have been looking at the Dust Deputy.

Gene,
 
Depends on what you're planing. I have a clearview and it works good for hardwoods/shallow cuts but if I take a full width/max depth cut on softwood it will clog the cyclone. I still try to use it as much as possible.
Mike

Hey, ya' know that smell when you open a brand new Systainer?    Ohhh, Maaaannn, I love that smell.


Seth