Anti-static hose adapters for non-Festool tools and machines

[1-FENCE]

Hi, just bought my first Festool (TS55) and CT Mini for quick installation and punchlist tasks on site.

I'd like to use the Mini with various other jobsite machines, e.g. my little Dewalt DW745 table saw (2 1/2" port). Occasionally, I'll also have DDU in the mix, so I'm concerned to keep all my system components anti-static. Determining compatibility of adapters from online and dealer descriptions is nearly impossible without hands-on verification. Looks like Bosch and/or Fein might offer the most useful adapters to go from 27 and 36 mm Festool world to common Imperial ports.

Can anyone help me with specific recommendation(s) for an adapter to connect the Mini's 27mm hose to the 2 1/2" port of my jobsite saw. Also, any listing of other anti-static adapters from Festool hose/connector sizes to common US port sizes would be much appreciated. (I anticipate going to 36mm hose when/if my usage becomes heavier.)

Thanks.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Welcome to the FOG!

Regarding AS fittings, my understanding is that the connection at the tool end is unimportant, since the hose ends are rubber. Where you want to maintain ground continuity is from the hose to the vacuum, for instance joining hoses. The Fein Step Adapter is fantastic for adapting tools and accessories to metric hoses (27mm and 36mm).

 

[joiner1970]

Welcome to the FOG!

Regarding AS fittings, my understanding is that the connection at the tool end is unimportant, since

I don't think you're right there. I know that the plastic festool uses is special conductive plastic so I'm sure the rubber would be too. If it wasn't then it couldn't ground out the tool

 

[semenza]

Hi,

Welcome to the FOG!  [smile]

 The table saw should connect with a Festool D50 hose, or any regular / standard shop vac hose. You probably don't need to bother about the AS for that tool. The D50 hose or a shop vac hose will fit in the CT Mini port. It will just stick straight up instead of having the 90.

Seth

 

[Corwin]

Welcome to the FOG!

Regarding AS fittings, my understanding is that the connection at the tool end is unimportant, since

I don't think you're right there. I know that the plastic festool uses is special conductive plastic so I'm sure the rubber would be too. If it wasn't then it couldn't ground out the tool

No, I believe Tom is correct.  The antistatic hose is not to ground the tool, but to dissipate any static that may buildup due to the friction caused from the dust as it brushes by the inner walls of the hose. 

 

[joiner1970]

Well that's what I was told by a very experienced festool demo guy. That their plastic has a high (carbon or graphite I think he said) content.

So on the ts55 hose port why would it need to be conductive if the hose end going into it wasn't ??

Maybe Shane can explain

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Welcome to the FOG!

Regarding AS fittings, my understanding is that the connection at the tool end is unimportant, since

I don't think you're right there. I know that the plastic festool uses is special conductive plastic so I'm sure the rubber would be too. If it wasn't then it couldn't ground out the tool

No, I believe Tom is correct.  The antistatic hose is not to ground the tool, but to dissipate any static that may buildup due to the friction caused from the dust as it brushes by the inner walls of the hose. 

That was my understanding as well, that the majority of the static was generated while it traveled through the hose. My understanding is that, as Joiner1970 pointed out, the Festool AS plastic hose fittings have a high Graphite contact to facilitate the conduction of a static charge, I just don't see how or why they could or would make the rubber ends anti-static, it seems unnecessary.

That being said, I'd be excited to hear an official explanation one way or the other to alleviate my curiosity  [big grin]

 

[Corwin]

So on the ts55 hose port why would it need to be conductive if the hose end going into it wasn't ??

If the possibility of static buildup within a tool was an issue, why then would Festool include a dust bag with some tools, or offer non-antistatic hoses?

See what I did there?  [tongue]    [big grin]

 

[1-FENCE]

Thanks for the FOG welcome and your responses. I've already learned a lot. However, I find my one specific question still unanswered:

Can anyone help me with specific recommendation(s) for an adapter to connect the Mini's 27mm hose to the 2 1/2" port of my jobsite saw?

I understand that a 50mm hose would be an elegant and more efficient solution, but for now (and for future quick in/out jobs) I'd still like to find a fitting so I could jump in with just the Mini and hose that fits in its garage and make a few clean cuts with my DW745.

Thanks,

Mike

p.s. Given Festool's appreciation for systematic approach, I'm surprised that a not too long (max that would fit in the garage) 50mm hose  from the vac isn't the standard for all CT models so that one could always start there and then whip to a smaller diameter hose as required/desired for tools requiring various degrees of suction vs. flexibility. The "whip" hoses would all have the same vac end configured to mate to the end of the 50. (Consider that the short 50 would already be the ideal hose for Kapex, DDU, and other big dust producers.)

For transport, it seems that the net bulk of the whip hoses could be less than what is currently required if one fills the garage with the 27 that comes with the vac and then adds the larger hoses to that.

As I build up my extractor component inventory, I think that's what I will do. Do you see problems with this approach?

Decades ago, I made a similar move with my tooling: namely, almost every saw/shaper-type tool I own is bored to 30mm, an idea I had heard was common across the pond. It cost me more up front in most cases, and I also invested in various saw bushings and a few custom sleeves, but over many years of usage, it has enabled me to mix and match my tooling to a wide variety of machines, adding flexibility and saving me money in the long run.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

I think the reason Festool ships their vacs with 27mm hoses is because the vast majority of Festools offerings are small, handheld tools. Also, in my opinion 50mm hoses are very cumbersome and I've managed to get by with 27 and 36mm hoses.

Small, light and quick seems to be the Festool philosophy, rather than heavy and stationary.

If you're looking for a vac to pair with your bench top table saw, I'm concerned you'll be constantly filling your bags, you may want to consider purchasing a CT-(X)6 and a 36mm hose.

You're not going to get very good (if any) dust extraction using a 27mm hose to extraction dust from a bench top table saw, but if you really feel compelled to try I'd suggest the "Hose Sleeve, Non-Antistatic Hose Reducer - 452897
" and some duct tape.

 

[1-FENCE]

I've found answers to the questions I posed originally.

To connect Festool 27mm hose to a tool with 2 1/2" port (2 1/2" o.d. / 2 1/4" i.d.), in my case a Dewalt DW745 jobsite table saw, one can use Bosch Adapter VAC004. Its tool end (2 1/4" o.d.) fits inside the table saw port and its outboard end fits around the tool end of Festool 27 mm hose end perfectly. (I believe the outboard end will also fit inside a Festool 36 mm hose's tool end.)

I also bought Bosch VAC002, which adapts Bosch 35 mm hose (and, I would presume, Festool 36 mm hose) to tools with 1 1/4" ports.

These tool end adapters are not made of anti-static material. The answer to one question discussed in this thread remains unclear to me: If the only non-anti-static component in the entire system is an adapter connected directly to the tool, does this compromise the anti-static system? Or, as one contributor reasoned, since the tools themselves are not made of anti-static materials, can the tool-end adapter be viewed as an extension of the tool and therefore not as an element breaking the anti-static chain?