3.5 m or 5m for a boom arm

[jnnikko]

Hi,

I am JN, a week end woodworker fan of festool.
I am thinking more and more of buying a CT26 (I am currently using a Kress with also an auto switch, but having a second vacuum cleaner will give me some flexibility) and want to also order a 36mm suction hose.
The question is, should I buy a 3.5m or a 5m hose. I think that a boom arm will also be part of the collection later on and I am wondering if a 3.5m hose is long enough for being used with a boom arm.
Thank you for all your feedback

Regards,

JN

 

[leakyroof]

Welcome JN. From what I understand, the boom arm has a short 50mm 'feed' hose to allow you to run a longer , and smaller hose from the boom arm/vacuum and out to your tool that you're using.  The 50mm boom arm hose is around 5 feet long, [2.5m?] Then, people use whatever hose they need for the work at hand. Sanders and small tools get the 27mm hose, and larger chip making tools like a track saw, heavy router or miter saw use a 36mm hose for best results.
Check out pictures of a full Festool setup with the boom arm and "feed" hose to see what I mean. Others here can explain it better.  If you don't own any larger tools that need the larger diameter of the 36mm hose, then stick with the 27mm hose as it's more flexible, cheaper and lighter when attached to what ever tool you're using.
Either the 36mm or the 27mm hose from Festool will connect to the 50mm hose ends/sleeves, as they have the 50mm sleeve at one end as well.
However,  I DO believe you'll need a "male-to-male" connector though, for the 50mm female sleeves of each hose to connect to. That is a separate part number. It's been listed here recently.  Hope this helps you out. [embarassed]

 

[Jeff Hein]

I have the boom arm, with both the 27mm and 36mm hoses.

Get the 3.5 meter length. The 5 would be too long, and kind of negate the benefit of having a boom arm (which is keeping the host up and out of the way)

I find the 3.5 length is plenty for pretty much any task (breaking down sheet goods/working at the MFT)

 

[jnnikko]

Thank you for your help. I will then go for a 3.5 m.
I need indeed a 36mm for my Kapex and my TS55. And I will also order a CMS with a OF 2200 (luckily, I live in Europe and get one of those) which will produce quite some big chips.
And I also need a 27mm hose for my domino and Rotex 125. But this one will come by default with the CT26.

Thanks again for your help

 

[VictorL]

It depends... I do have CT-26 with boom arm and 36mm hose with 36mm/27mm reducing sleeve attached.  The length of 3.5m hose is exact from the top of the boom arm to the floor. In most cases it's sufficient, but when I rip 2.5m plywood (8'x4') I need extra length. The solution is move vacuum or use second 27mm hose without boom arm. Another plus for longer hose if you have multiple "work stations". Let say one is workbench for sanding sawing, another one is for Kapex, etc. I vote for 5m hose.

Regards,
VictorL

 

[ccarrolladams]

Like most of us, my first CT22 came with a 27mm x 3.5m AS hose. That worked well with my TS55 and OF1010 plunge router for both hole drilling and actual routing.

A few days later I was talking to my dealer and a very successful cabinet maker. I was there to buy a cleaning kit. They suggested I buy the kit which included a 36mm x 5m AS hose. The thinking was that the larger hose would improve the dust extraction of the TS55, and was also necessary when using the CT22 as a vacuum cleaner with the turbo brush.

From then on I got in the habit of using a 36mm AS hose with my TS55. Several years later I broke down and bough a Festool boom arm along with a second CT22. That time I paid the extra to get it with a 36mm x 5m AS hose. That is what I put on the boom arm, because originally that set up was in my condo to serve breaking down 4 x 8 sheets with a TS55.

In a second and smaller room of my condo I used my original CT22 with a boom arm I constructed from a motion picture senior reflector stand, a senior grip head and a length of 1" thin wall conduit. For that arm I used the 50mm x 3.5m AS hose coupled to my original 27mm x 3.5m AS hose. The primary function of that room was sanding and LR32 hole drilling. Any sawing was short cuts. Mind you, a TS55 with a 27mm AS hose collects most of the dust.

In my new large shop the Festool boom arm serves one of the assembly tables, which is 4 x 16 feet. Virtually the only tasks done on that table requiring dust collecting is sanding. I have not yet encountered a Festool sander needing anything larger than a 27mm AS hose, and usually with the CT turned down. On that boom arm I use a 5m hose and hardly find this ineffective. Of course when sanding there is on guide rail to snag a hose.

Using guide rails my experience for over 5 years has been that the 36mm AS hose snags less than does the 27mm hose. Of course each of us have different experiences.

 

[Corwin]

To clarify an earlier poster, the Boom Arm does come with its own 1.5m length of D50 AS hose and a Hose Connector.  

Here is an older photograph of my Boom Arm with both a 3.5m D36 AS hose and a 3.5m D27 AS hose:

Above, you can see how the hose(s) hang down to the floor, but are not so long as to defeat the purpose of the Boom Arm.  If you use the longer 5m hose(s), they will lay on the floor.  

 

[leakyroof]

To clarify an earlier poster, the Boom Arm does come with its own 1.5m length of D50 AS hose and a Hose Connector.  

Here is an older photograph of my Boom Arm with both a 3.5m D36 AS hose and a 3.5m D27 AS hose:

Above, you can see how the hose(s) hand down to the floor, but are not so long as to defeat the purpose of the Boom Arm.  If you use the longer 5m hose(s), they will lay on the floor.  

Thanks Corwin, I didn't do the Metric conversion over. [embarassed]
It sounds like a boom arm is not right in his future, but at a later point. I missed that when I read his post the first time. I also thought he might not buy the whole kit complete, as I have read about people buying parts and pieces of the boom arm kit since they found a good deal.