CT 36 E good enough for my current shop?

[Hipplewm]

This is where the difference between dust "Extraction" and "Collection" come into play

Extractors are stuff like the CT series, small dust seputy and a shop vac etc..

Collectors are bigger monstronsities that can be piped or plumbed thru the shop etc.

DW 735 needs a collector - ESPECIALLY with the knife blades - BUT - there are several YT videos on how to use a large trash can and a hose and do a pretty good job or collecting what you need due to the DW powerful fan.

I would not connect your 36 unless you have stock in the bag company and even then, I wouldn't do it.

 

[Chainring]

Thanks for the direct link!

If you need links for the other items I bought from Rockler, let me know.

 

[Birdhunter]

I have a 2hp Oneida cyclone collector sucking on my Powermatic planer. I think it is a 20” unit. Not sure about width. It generates tons of chips. It is dramatically quieter than the tabletop DeWalt I had before. The helical head leaves a very smooth finish.

 

[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.

How do you like te G700?

I'm very pleased with it after a couple of years use now. There are limited down-sides to this solution...the location of the inlet means one must carefully plan for placement in the shop so duct work can be attached, although it can easily be used as a portable since it's on casters from the factory. The master power switch is on the back...which for a ducted installation puts it against the wall. Since this is a VFD controlled machine, if one can't physically get to the master switch, one needs to either kill the breaker at the end of the day or make up an intermediate switch...I have the parts for the latter, but just haven't got to it yet. Lastly, the bin doesn't hold as much as the 55 gallon bin did for the cyclone I used at my old shop. No matter, it's just something I've had to deal with and for the $2500 that it cost me, it was half the outlay of another cyclone system with equal or greater performance. It handles my 350mm jointer/thicknesser no problem and everything else including my CNC. And because it's variable speed, it can be dialed down to reduce noise further (it's relatively quiet compared to most DCs) unless one is needing that extra CFM for flattening and thicknessing a very wide board, etc. Between it and my CT and my little "general cleanup shop vac"...I can still make a very fine mess,

 

[sawdust-samurai]

Thanks for the detailed response Jim.  The inlet location is a bit of an hurtle.  I could pretty easily put in in the back right corner of my show with the inlet pointing back towards the left wall.  Unless I wanted to do a 90° pretty much straight out of the G700, I'd have to run the plumbing up the wall at a 45° for a ways... a major waist of precious wall space.

 

[sawdust-samurai]

I'm still researching my options regarding dust collection and have a few more questions regarding the CTs.  How would one of those do at handling a 2 1/4 HP router in a table?  The actual router I have is the DeWALT DW618 mounted in a Kreg table (which I'm not crazy about) via a Woodpecker router lift. Also, what about 6-8 inch tabletop jointer in the future (I currently use a MatchFit type jig on my table saw to joint boards as needed)?

My train of thought now is that I could possibly have several small extractors that were built into my work stations and only setup to service a couple of tools each.  The smaller enclosed collectors would be quitter then a single large unit, require very little ducting and I could get 3 of the CT36s with hoses for the price of the Oneida Supercell or the Harvey G700.  The CamVac all tricked out is small and pretty quite, but it would still require ducting and cost as much as two of the CT36s.

Opinions on this latest line of thinking?

 

[rst]

I use multiple vacs.  An old Craftsman wall hanger for my chop saw station, two Fein’s for my table saw, the under table is connected to the saw thru an Oneida steel cyclone sitting on 20 gallon steel grease can.  I connect my router table to that cyclone thru a two inch hose and a Festool splitter. In conjunction with my Incra Super fence I get negligible dust escaping.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Ultimately, you'll need to match your extractor to the machine, and port size is a good indicator of what you'll need in terms of an extractor.

Typically, CT-type extractors will be suitable for tools with 50mm ports and smaller. So, a CT-36 will keep up with a 2-1/4hp router just fine.

That being said, a 6-8" jointer will likely have a 4"+ port, so you'll want a dust collector with a 4"+ inlet.

One option I haven't seen discussed here is the Oneida Mini-Gorilla. When I was first getting my Shop set up, I was using a CT-style vac for my portable tools, and a Mini-Gorilla to serve my machines with larger CFM requirements. While it doesn't match the high static pressure of the SuperCell, it was sufficient to keep up with the following machines:
-- Dewalt DW735 thickness planer (4" port)
-- Hammer A3-41 16" jointer/planer (5" port)
-- KF700 sliding table saw/shaper (5" port)
-- LT14SUV 14" bandsaw (dual 4" ports)
-- 3hp router in a Incra router table with CleanSweep collection hood (4" port)
-- 16" wide belt sander (4" port). This particular machine was the outside extreme of what the Mini-Gorilla could keep up with, and required frequent filter cleanings (on account of the extremely fine dust), but it carried me until I could bump up to the RL160 I'm currently using. I'm a little surprised this machine only has a 4" port, it seems like it would be better served with a 5" or even a 6" port, as a 4" port really chokes down the available CFM....

The attraction of the Mini-Gorilla is that it doesn't take up much floor space, and is easy to wheel around the Shop. I was using a 10' length of 5" hose and it worked fine. I did try a 15' length of 5" hose and saw a noticeable decline in performance, so I'd recommend sticking with the 10' length of 5" hose, and just move the extractor from machine to machine as needed.

Anyways, the Mini-Gorilla served me well for several years. The only down sides are:
--  When I moved to larger machines like the 16" jointer/planer and the shaper, I would fill the 22 gallon tub quickly, sometimes several times in an hour depending on what I was processing. Not necessarily a problem for hobby use, but when "time is money" it was getting expensive to stop every 20 minutes to empty the tub.
-- This extractor really isn't suitable for any kind of meaningful central ducted system. As my pace of work increased, I needed a central ducted system, so I bumped to the RL-160, which has a 100 gallon capacity, higher static pressure, and a 6" port which is better suited to a central system.

 

[Ebuwan]

If i were going the 36, i would consider the AC.

I don't use the AC function all the time, but its NICE when I have the option to sand drywall or concrete grind.

I've had mine for about 8 years now and no problems.

 

[sawdust-samurai]

I use multiple vacs.  An old Craftsman wall hanger for my chop saw station, two Fein’s for my table saw, the under table is connected to the saw thru an Oneida steel cyclone sitting on 20 gallon steel grease can.  I connect my router table to that cyclone thru a two inch hose and a Festool splitter. In conjunction with my Incra Super fence I get negligible dust escaping.

Thanks.  It sounds like multiple collectors setup for different "stations" might be a way to go for the smaller tools.

 

[sawdust-samurai]

Ultimately, you'll need to match your extractor to the machine, and port size is a good indicator of what you'll need in terms of an extractor.

Typically, CT-type extractors will be suitable for tools with 50mm ports and smaller. So, a CT-36 will keep up with a 2-1/4hp router just fine.

That being said, a 6-8" jointer will likely have a 4"+ port, so you'll want a dust collector with a 4"+ inlet.

One option I haven't seen discussed here is the Oneida Mini-Gorilla. When I was first getting my Shop set up, I was using a CT-style vac for my portable tools, and a Mini-Gorilla to serve my machines with larger CFM requirements. While it doesn't match the high static pressure of the SuperCell, it was sufficient to keep up with the following machines:
-- Dewalt DW735 thickness planer (4" port)
-- Hammer A3-41 16" jointer/planer (5" port)
-- KF700 sliding table saw/shaper (5" port)
-- LT14SUV 14" bandsaw (dual 4" ports)
-- 3hp router in a Incra router table with CleanSweep collection hood (4" port)
-- 16" wide belt sander (4" port). This particular machine was the outside extreme of what the Mini-Gorilla could keep up with, and required frequent filter cleanings (on account of the extremely fine dust), but it carried me until I could bump up to the RL160 I'm currently using. I'm a little surprised this machine only has a 4" port, it seems like it would be better served with a 5" or even a 6" port, as a 4" port really chokes down the available CFM....

The attraction of the Mini-Gorilla is that it doesn't take up much floor space, and is easy to wheel around the Shop. I was using a 10' length of 5" hose and it worked fine. I did try a 15' length of 5" hose and saw a noticeable decline in performance, so I'd recommend sticking with the 10' length of 5" hose, and just move the extractor from machine to machine as needed.

Anyways, the Mini-Gorilla served me well for several years. The only down sides are:
--  When I moved to larger machines like the 16" jointer/planer and the shaper, I would fill the 22 gallon tub quickly, sometimes several times in an hour depending on what I was processing. Not necessarily a problem for hobby use, but when "time is money" it was getting expensive to stop every 20 minutes to empty the tub.
-- This extractor really isn't suitable for any kind of meaningful central ducted system. As my pace of work increased, I needed a central ducted system, so I bumped to the RL-160, which has a 100 gallon capacity, higher static pressure, and a 6" port which is better suited to a central system.

Thanks for the detailed reply, there is a lot of info there to work with.

 

[sawdust-samurai]

If i were going the 36, i would consider the AC.

I don't use the AC function all the time, but its NICE when I have the option to sand drywall or concrete grind.

I've had mine for about 8 years now and no problems.

I have kind of ruled out the AC as I am just a hobbyist wood worker. 

 

[BigDan]

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 ….

[member=81985]sawdust-samurai[/member]

THIS!  I just got one.  Most here will tell you that the DW735 will kill anything that isn't a 55gal drum and I would agree with them.  I actually have a 50' 4" hose running out my window and putting it into my leaf bags on my riding mower.  You have no idea how much comes off one of those and they have plenty of output to not need assistance as it pushes it through my 50' hose. 
I also dont think the shapeoko would be ideal either.  I have a secondary DC for my Shapeoko alone and fill a 5gal bucket every 45 minutes it runs so certainly have to watch it as bags get expensive. 

Otherwise all the tools you mentioned are perfect for the CT36, I actually have a 26 with the festool cyclone separator on it and haven't had to change bags in a long time... probably why the cost is so high.. have to recover the loss in sales of bags.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[sawdust-samurai]

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 ….

[member=81985]sawdust-samurai[/member]

THIS!  I just got one.  Most here will tell you that the DW735 will kill anything that isn't a 55gal drum and I would agree with them.  I actually have a 50' 4" hose running out my window and putting it into my leaf bags on my riding mower.  You have no idea how much comes off one of those and they have plenty of output to not need assistance as it pushes it through my 50' hose. 
I also dont think the shapeoko would be ideal either.  I have a secondary DC for my Shapeoko alone and fill a 5gal bucket every 45 minutes it runs so certainly have to watch it as bags get expensive. 

Otherwise all the tools you mentioned are perfect for the CT36, I actually have a 26 with the festool cyclone separator on it and haven't had to change bags in a long time... probably why the cost is so high.. have to recover the loss in sales of bags.

Cheers,
Dan

Thanks for the reply Dan.  I was looking at the 36 over the 26 due to the extra holding capacity inspite of the very small increase in size for the 36.  The price difference is also very small.  The 36 just seems to be the best bang for the bucks (it's Festool, it can't just be "buck" lol).  If I go this route, I would put the Oneida Dust Deputy that I already own on a 5 gal bucket between the 36 and my tools.

That said, I'm leaning towards the CamVac to run most of my tools on and adding the 36 later on as a dedicated collector under my to be built worktable for sanding and routing duties.