CT 26/36 Questions

[ADKMedic]

Hello everyone!

While I'm a new member on the forum, I have been "lurking" here for almost a year.

I have a T15 and TS55, plus a few accessories.  I'm seriously thinking about the RO150.  Since I'm thinking about the sander, I'm also thinking about a CT26 or CT36, and have some questions...

1)  The specs seem mostly the same, except (of course) for the capacity.  The CT26 is only a little over 8% cheaper than the CT36, so why would one opt for the CT26 over the CT36?

2)  I need help with convincing the spouse...  I'm trying to avoid "poking the rattlesnake".  I already have two other Craftsman shop-vacs, which work perfectly fine.  I can even put a HEPA filter on one of them.  The auto-on feature doesn't work...  She would say I'm just being lazy for not wanting to turn on two tools.  Anyone have any ideas on points she can't argue with???  [big grin]

Thanks in advance!

Andy

 

[MTRANGER]

The festool dust extractor is variable speed.  This allows you to turn down the suction when you are doing your sanding.  If you run you vacuum on full speed it will suck the sander down to the work piece, and either leave swirl marks or in my case the dust extratrion on the sander was not efficient.  I turned down the suction and it word perfectly.

 

[monte]

Hello everyone!

While I'm a new member on the forum, I have been "lurking" here for almost a year.

I have a T15 and TS55, plus a few accessories.  I'm seriously thinking about the RO150.  Since I'm thinking about the sander, I'm also thinking about a CT26 or CT36, and have some questions...

1)  The specs seem mostly the same, except (of course) for the capacity.  The CT26 is only a little over 8% cheaper than the CT36, so why would one opt for the CT26 over the CT36?

2)  I need help with convincing the spouse...  I'm trying to avoid "poking the rattlesnake".  I already have two other Craftsman shop-vacs, which work perfectly fine.  I can even put a HEPA filter on one of them.  The auto-on feature doesn't work...  She would say I'm just being lazy for not wanting to turn on two tools.  Anyone have any ideas on points she can't argue with???   [big grin]

Thanks in advance!
Andy

hmmm,

The Value of your hearing.
The sucking capacity of a CT over what you already have, ergo the Value of your breathing.
On that same note the CT would catch a whole lot more of the fine sanding dust.

Try this experiment to move things along,
Pick a sanding project in your house, something with sanding down freshly set drywall mud.
Near the kitchen perhaps, when she's home.
Use the "shopvac" you have and sand away.
She probably won't like the sound or the thin layer of dust everywhere,
that would be a good moment to bring up the CT issue.
.....and reference my points above.

ps. If she reads your posts, pm me and I'll delete this one. [eek]

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

If you look at the filter bag costs, it becomes cheaper to own the 36 pretty quickly.

20 bags for CT 26 = 104 liters capacity = $124.00 USD
15 bags for CT 36 = 108 liters capacity = $106.50 USD

You've already started making up the difference in the price of the CTs.  [big grin]

 

[AlexThePalex]

It seems the factor of cost is almost nil in America. Pretty strange because here in Holland they differ over 100 euros in price or 20%.

Only remaining difference I can think of is the ease of hauling it around. When they fill up they can get quite heavy. I have the CT22 right now and it becomes quite heavy when it's almost filled up so I bet the CT36 will be even more difficult to lift with its extra 14 liters capacity. 

So if you simply want it to stay in the shop I'd suggest the 36 but if you want to use it around the house or take it on jobs I'd go for the 26.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Also remember that here we have 30 days to decide if it's the right one or after that, you are able to just purchase the lower tub to change the size of the CT26 or CT36 which you couldn't do with the older models.

 

[grobin]

Right now IMHO the 26 only makes sense if you are constrained on space.  i.e. you haul them around in your car, truck, boat, ATV, ….

 

[fdengel]

I think people are starting to answer the question of "which CT" when the original question was more like "why a CT"?

I think one of the earlier responses was dead-on: you need the variable suction to be able to use the sanders correctly.  Without it the quality of the work will be diminished.

If you don't have one already because of the TS55, you will probably need the Festool hose (which is included with the CT) -- need a 27mm end for the sander.

The "value of your breathing" comment is a good one.  Not so sure about the "value of your hearing" one since you won't be able to hear the vac over the saw or the sander anyway -- unless the shop vac is really that much louder?  Either way you'll want to be using hearing protection with either of those tools if you want to keep your hearing intact...

 

[ADKMedic]

Thanks for all of your help everyone!

I'm heavily leaning towards the CT36.  I do already have a hose for the TS55 that I can hook up to my craftsman wet/dry vac.

I've looked in the manuals for the RO150 and the CT36.  How do you know how much suction to use?

Andy

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

How do you know how much suction to use?

Andy, there's no documentation because it varies. Depends on the sander you're using, the grit of the abrasive and the material you're sanding. Generally, with the Rotex 150, you can run it wide open (at 6). For other sanders, it's really just a "feel" thing. You can tell when the suction breaks free as you turn the suction down. Too much suction can cause swirl marks and other problems with your finish.

Edit to add video. Check out this video starting around 4:20.

Festool Sanders_Dust extraction.mp4

 

[ADKMedic]

Thanks for the help Shane!

Andy

 

[Kodi Crescent]

My wife hated Festools because of the cost, so I understand the potential argument with the spouse.

I do a lot of home improvement projects where I need to cut into drywall.  I don't tent the areas because I'm kind of lazy when it comes to stuff like that.

In the past, I would sand drywall by hand and use the shop vac to suck up the dust.  There would be dust everywhere, and she'd be really upset about the mess.  It would take weeks to clean up all the dust that got spread around.  If I tried to use the shop vac while sanding she would complain that it was too loud and she'd ask me to stop.  I couldn't win.

We then had a flood and I had to replace a bunch of drywall in a bedroom and in the ceiling next to the kitchen.  I used my ETS 125 and CT22 to do the sanding.  Again, no tenting.  There was virtually no dust.  There were also no complaints about the scream of the shop vac.  After that my wife stopped giving me grief about buying Festools.  She understood and began to accept them and the cost.

This past weekend I built some shelves in the garage using my Festools.  There was a lot of wood cutting involved.  In my pre-Festool days, I would have built up a large pile of dust in the garage which would then be tracked into and all over the house.  Not anymore.  Very little dust left, and it doesn't get tracked into the house.

Use these points in the negotiation.  And if she still doesn't buy it, ask her to be open minded while you try it for 30 days to show her you weren't just making this stuff up.

 

[Brice Burrell]

....Use these points in the negotiation.  And if she still doesn't buy it, ask her to be open minded while you try it for 30 days to show her you weren't just making this stuff up.

Very well said. [thumbs up]

 

[monte]

My wife hated Festools because of the cost, so I understand the potential argument with the spouse.

I do a lot of home improvement projects where I need to cut into drywall.  I don't tent the areas because I'm kind of lazy when it comes to stuff like that.

In the past, I would sand drywall by hand and use the shop vac to suck up the dust.  There would be dust everywhere, and she'd be really upset about the mess.  It would take weeks to clean up all the dust that got spread around.  If I tried to use the shop vac while sanding she would complain that it was too loud and she'd ask me to stop.  I couldn't win.

We then had a flood and I had to replace a bunch of drywall in a bedroom and in the ceiling next to the kitchen.  I used my ETS 125 and CT22 to do the sanding.  Again, no tenting.  There was virtually no dust.  There were also no complaints about the scream of the shop vac.  After that my wife stopped giving me grief about buying Festools.  She understood and began to accept them and the cost.

This past weekend I built some shelves in the garage using my Festools.  There was a lot of wood cutting involved.  In my pre-Festool days, I would have built up a large pile of dust in the garage which would then be tracked into and all over the house.  Not anymore.  Very little dust left, and it doesn't get tracked into the house.

Use these points in the negotiation.  And if she still doesn't buy it, ask her to be open minded while you try it for 30 days to show her you weren't just making this stuff up.

.

[thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thumbs up]

You said it better than I did earlier.

 

[ADKMedic]

You guys are all awesome!

Maybe instead of the FOG, we can rename this board the FUSG...  Festool Users Support Group!!!

My name is Andy and I'm a (new) Festool-a-holic.

Andy
[big grin]