CT 36 E good enough for my current shop?

[sawdust-samurai]

Hello everyone,

I am just starting the downward spiral that is Festool and I'm eyeing the CT 36 E dust extractor as my first purchase (a sander might make it into that purchase as well).  I would appreciate some feedback from those of you that already have one of the CTs.

Here is my current modest tool list that I would want to use the CT with:

Makita compound miter saw
Makita track saw
Bosh dual mode sander
Dewalt DW735 thickness planer
Delta 5" disk/belt sander
Kreg pocket jig

In the not too distant future I plane to add a Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC to the shop as well.

Other than adaptors to fit most of those tools, I'm pretty sure the CT can handle them all.  The one question I have is about the DW735 planer.  Is there any issues with it having a blower on it when used with the CT?  Is the CT big enough to handle that planer?

I don't plan on every taking the CT out of my home shop (3 car garage), so having a truly mobile dust extractor is not a must of me.  It will need to be mobile around my shop until I get everything setup the way I want it though.

Thanks for any insight you can give this future FestFool.

 

[Birdhunter]

My experience with planers is that they eject huge volumes of debris. I doubt a normal dust collector would be adequate. Also, a helical head planer is a wonderful improvement over a knife planer.

 

[Chainring]

The 735 will overwhelm any Festool dust collector. You'd need to step up to one of the big air movers to handle the crazy amount of chips that thing ejects with the built-in blower. I use one of the Rockler Dustright bags with a 4" elbow and some 4" flex tubing. There's hardly any dust leftover with that setup.

 

[ChuckM]

Re Dewalt planer. I believe its fan extraction performance is similar to my Ridgid's. I used to hook up the Ridgid to my 1 HP Dust collector and the result was very good, but it filled up the bag quite quickly if I had a lot to plane.

Then I tried and found out that the fan itself was more than good to extract the chips without any help, say, from the dust collector. So, I have been using the built-in blowing feature with very happy results. I run a 4" hose from the planer's exhaust to a large paper bag that sits inside the compost bin (I didn't know I shouldn't fill the compost bin with saw dust or loose chips directly):

[attachimg=1]

I just picked up a pile of oak flooring this morning from someone, and will use the same method of dust collection for the planer when thickness planing those boards sometime this week.

[attachimg=2]

 

[Cheese]

The Festool CT married to a DW 735 will not be a match made in heaven. Don't even think about it, just let the Dewalt do what it does all by itself.  Just plumb it into a trash barrel so it's easy to dump.

I have a Jet 2 HP dust collector and I don't even turn it on when using my 735, as the Dewalt just pumps all of those chips into the Jet...done.

 

[sawdust-samurai]

My experience with planers is that they eject huge volumes of debris. I doubt a normal dust collector would be adequate. Also, a helical head planer is a wonderful improvement over a knife planer.

Thanks for the reply Birdhunter.  I thought the planer might be a bit much for it.  There are some helical heads for that planer that I've been looking into for a future purchase.  However, with a new set of knives installed, it actually does a really good job as is.

The 735 will overwhelm any Festool dust collector. You'd need to step up to one of the big air movers to handle the crazy amount of chips that thing ejects with the built-in blower. I use one of the Rockler Dustright bags with a 4" elbow and some 4" flex tubing. There's hardly any dust leftover with that setup.

Thanks Chainring. I'm not a big fan of the huge bagged systems.  They take up too much room and are just too loud.  The other two dust collectors that have been on my research short list are the Harvey G-700 and the Camvac.  I've been pretty impressed with the reviews and videos of the Camvac I have seen online.  It is small and fairly quite for a collector.  Dennis of Hooked on Wood has a very nice setup for the Camvac and seems to be very pleased with it.

The 735 will overwhelm any Festool dust collector. You'd need to step up to one of the big air movers to handle the crazy amount of chips that thing ejects with the built-in blower. I use one of the Rockler Dustright bags with a 4" elbow and some 4" flex tubing. There's hardly any dust leftover with that setup.

The first time I ran the 735 I just pointed it out my garage door at 3:30 in the morning and let it rip on some big box pine 2x4s.  lol  When the sun cam up there as tons of debris in front of my shop.  I have an Oneida Dust Deputy cyclone, but I keep forgetting to put that in between the planer and the shop vac.  I've found that the shop vac helps with the noise from the planer... even if the vac adds its own noise to the mix  [sad]

 

[sawdust-samurai]

The Festool CT married to a DW 735 will not be a match made in heaven. Don't even think about it, just let the Dewalt do what it does all by itself.  Just plumb it into a trash barrel so it's easy to dump.

I have a Jet 2 HP dust collector and I don't even turn it on when using my 735, as the Dewalt just pumps all of those chips into the Jet...done.

I've seen a couple of videos of the 735 over powering some smaller DC systems.  It sounds like may just a direct dump from the 735 into a container of some type might be the way to go.

 

[Cheese]

I've seen a couple of videos of the 735 over powering some smaller DC systems.  It sounds like may just a direct dump from the 735 into a container of some type might be the way to go.

Ya, well if it will overpower a 2 HP dust collector with a 4" inlet, it will certainly overpower a 1 HP vacuum with a 1-1/2" inlet.  [big grin]

 

[sawdust-samurai]

I've seen a couple of videos of the 735 over powering some smaller DC systems.  It sounds like may just a direct dump from the 735 into a container of some type might be the way to go.

Ya, well if it will overpower a 2 HP dust collector with a 4" inlet, it will certainly overpower a 1 HP vacuum with a 1-1/2" inlet.  [big grin]

Good point, but aren't Festools supposed to be magic or something?  lol

 

[rmhinden]

Besides the overloading a Dewalt DW735, I don't think a CT 36 will be able to keep up with a Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC.

Bob

 

[Cheese]

Good point, but aren't Festools supposed to be magic or something?  lol

Ya, the only thing magic about Festool is reducing the size of your checking account. Here today...gone tomorrow.

 

[smorgasbord]

Besides the overloading a Dewalt DW735, I don't think a CT 36 will be able to keep up with a Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC.

I have a Shapeoko 4 Pro CNC and my Makita VC4710 keeps up with it just fine. Remember, these really are just trim routers in a big jig. If you're running 8mm shank bits in a VFD, then maybe, but I bet even then you'll be fine. Just don't use smaller than the 36mm hose - the larger the hose the better.

 

[Cheese]

I have a Shapeoko 4 Pro CNC and my Makita VC4710 keeps up with it just fine. Remember, these really are just trim routers in a big jig. If you're running 8mm shank bits in a VFD, then maybe, but I bet even then you'll be fine. Just don't use smaller than the 36mm hose - the larger the hose the better.

A trim router and a planer are two very different machines. We're talking apples & oranges. 

 

[luvmytoolz]

Besides the overloading a Dewalt DW735, I don't think a CT 36 will be able to keep up with a Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC.

Bob

I've been using a CT36 for around 12 years or so with my CNC running a spindle and a Dust Deputy in front. The DD is a godsend for even a low amount of dust.

 

[festal]

Dewalt planer will be fine without DC.  it has a fan that ejects chips.  All you need is a garbage can or one of those powertec bags attached directly to it.  With the straight knives chips are big and will be ejected straight into the bag.  Rest should be fine.  Shapeoko should be ok but I think it will work better with Dust collector.  I have Mini gorilla 1.5HP and it use to work fine with dewalt but I did upgrade to spiral head on it which reduces size of chips vs straight knife.  It also does fine with my stepcraft M1000 cnc although i didn't try my CT Mini with it as Mini Gorilla works and i just 3d printed 4" to 2.5" hose adapter

 

[Steve1]

You need another plan for the planer.
It will fill you Festool bag in a couple of minutes.
Adding an Oneida Dust Deputy cyclone is one solution.  The nice thing about the DD is that it will capture 99+% of the chips and your (expensive) Festool bags will last almost forever.  The very fine dust will get through the cyclone and reduce air flow -- happens very slowly so you might not notice until finally you say "I could swear the 36 used to pull harder".

As mentioned, the DW735 has a good blower in it and you don't necessarily need to hook it up to a dust collector.  I ran my DW735 for many years like this until I got a full sized dust collector.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Consider the CT26 with the CT-VA-20 cyclone separator instead of the CT36. If you’re doing a fair amount of work, it will quickly pay for itself in bag savings alone. Mine hit the spot after only five months ….

[attachimg=1]

 

[Jim_in_PA]

OP, I use a G700 for my shop dust collection system, hard piped with quick connect from Blastgate Company. It covers all the "big tools". My old CT22 services all the powered hand tool machines (almost all Festool) which is where it's ideal. As others have noted, the CT you are considering isn't ideal for something like a thickness planer...and IMHO, that's true even with a pre-separator. You have "suction", but you do not have the volume of air flow measured in CFM to do a great job, especially when you happen to run something that isn't narrow through the machine.

 

[Chainring]

Thanks Chainring. I'm not a big fan of the huge bagged systems.  They take up too much room and are just too loud.  The other two dust collectors that have been on my research short list are the Harvey G-700 and the Camvac.  I've been pretty impressed with the reviews and videos of the Camvac I have seen online.  It is small and fairly quite for a collector.  Dennis of Hooked on Wood has a very nice setup for the Camvac and seems to be very pleased with it.

Steve1 has already replied with a picture of what I was describing and use on my 735. Just a hose and just a bag, directly connected to the 735. I end up with hardly any stray chips and dust using that setup.

Link is for the Rocker version of the bag, but Powertec has the same thing.
https://www.rockler.com/30-micron-replacement-bag-for-dust-right-650-cfm-wall-mount-dust-collector

 

[sawdust-samurai]

Besides the overloading a Dewalt DW735, I don't think a CT 36 will be able to keep up with a Shapeoko 5 Pro CNC.
Bob

Thanks for the reply Bob.  I've been reading on the Shapeoko that quite a few people are using various CTs with them and seem to have pretty good results.  Some have pointed out that using a 2.5" hose from the CNC to a cyclone of some type before the CT does work better.  I need to do more research on that.

I have a Shapeoko 4 Pro CNC and my Makita VC4710 keeps up with it just fine. Remember, these really are just trim routers in a big jig. If you're running 8mm shank bits in a VFD, then maybe, but I bet even then you'll be fine. Just don't use smaller than the 36mm hose - the larger the hose the better.

Thanks for your experianced feedback on the 4 Pro.  I'm planning on getting the VFD with my 5 Pro, but I don't know yet if I'll be running that many big bits.  I guess time will tell.

I've been using a CT36 for around 12 years or so with my CNC running a spindle and a Dust Deputy in front. The DD is a godsend for even a low amount of dust.

Thanks for the confirmation on your CT to DD to CNC experiance.  What size hose are you running between each of those?

Dewalt planer will be fine without DC.  it has a fan that ejects chips.  All you need is a garbage can or one of those powertec bags attached directly to it.  With the straight knives chips are big and will be ejected straight into the bag.  Rest should be fine.  Shapeoko should be ok but I think it will work better with Dust collector.  I have Mini gorilla 1.5HP and it use to work fine with dewalt but I did upgrade to spiral head on it which reduces size of chips vs straight knife.  It also does fine with my stepcraft M1000 cnc although i didn't try my CT Mini with it as Mini Gorilla works and i just 3d printed 4" to 2.5" hose adapter

Good to know, thanks.

Consider the CT26 with the CT-VA-20 cyclone separator instead of the CT36. If you’re doing a fair amount of work, it will quickly pay for itself in bag savings alone. Mine hit the spot after only five months ….

I'll need to look at the CT-VA-20 much closer and in person to see what advantages it gives beyond just stacking on top of the CT.  $420 seems like a lot for just the cyclone part of the system.

OP, I use a G700 for my shop dust collection system, hard piped with quick connect from Blastgate Company. It covers all the "big tools". My old CT22 services all the powered hand tool machines (almost all Festool) which is where it's ideal. As others have noted, the CT you are considering isn't ideal for something like a thickness planer...and IMHO, that's true even with a pre-separator. You have "suction", but you do not have the volume of air flow measured in CFM to do a great job, especially when you happen to run something that isn't narrow through the machine.

How do you like te G700?

Steve1 has already replied with a picture of what I was describing and use on my 735. Just a hose and just a bag, directly connected to the 735. I end up with hardly any stray chips and dust using that setup.
Link is for the Rocker version of the bag, but Powertec has the same thing.
https://www.rockler.com/30-micron-replacement-bag-for-dust-right-650-cfm-wall-mount-dust-collector

Thanks for the direct link!