CT 36 or CT 36AC?

[Hawk15]

I'm about to jump into the Festool line. I'm a self employed a dental lab tech. I also have a well equipped woodworking shop. As a second source of income I do a lot of reno work primarily involving built-ins, kitchen cabinets etc.
I'm hoping the Ct 36 can be dual use between my wood shop and lab. In the lab I use a "Dremel" type tool which I use to grind/carve acrylic dental appliances. Currently I use a full size Oneida dust collector which is nice because of the power but in my small lab it is loud and creates alot of heat. I plan on trying to use the Ct 36 with the hose on a overhead arm directed close to the bur of the Dremel. I have doubts whether the CT 36 will have the power for this purpose but look at it as a bonus if it does, as the primary purpose is for woodworking and reno work.
Question: I can't decide if the CT 36 or the Ct 36Ac is the better option. In my reno work quite often there is some dry-walling involved. I prefer to have a hepa filter in the extractor but realize it's not suitable for drywall dust. I have read conflicting views on this board that a hepa can be installed in the CT36AC but have also read the opposite, that it is not advised. Are there any negatives to installing a hepa in the CT36AC when not being used to pick-up drywall dust? And if a hepa is installed will it work as well as the CT36?
Will the hose supplied with the CT36AC work with the TS55 and 1010 router?
Any difference in bags between the 2?
If I do go with the CT36 can the Hepa filters be cleaned if they do become clogged with the occasional small drywall clean-up?
I plan on purchasing the TS55, the 1010 (possibly the next size up) router, LR 32 system and possibly the MFT. 

 

[Brice Burrell]

First, welcome the FOG!  I don't think you need the AC version since the regular CT vac can deal with small drywall sanding jobs just fine.  The AC hose is a D36 and it won't fit the OF1010 router, sanders or the Domino.  That's another strike against the AC, add the additional cost and I'd rule it out.  If you plan on sanding drywall on a regular basis, as in once a week or more, only then would I consider the AC.

 

[Holmz]

Unless it is for teeth for T-Rex or some other Godzilla sized creature you surely do need to look at the CT36.... Maybe the Midi?

Personally I would look at Nilfisk, Mirka, Metabo, Bosch and Mafell vacumes to.
And probably looking at noise.

 

[semenza]

Welcome to the forum!  [smile]

  I am with Brice on this. I think the regular CT36 will serve you better unless you are doing a lot of drywall. Though the included D27 hose will fit and work with and is good for most Festool tools, you may want to get the D36 hose also since it improves performance on some tools, and it would increase the airflow for your Dremel tool use idea. But you can always add that later after you have tried out the D27. You will most likely want both hoses down the road.

  Also if you are transporting the vac from lab to home on a regular basis , you might want to consider dropping down to the CT26 or even Midi for ease of carrying and handling.

Seth

 

[Holmz]

Ok after rereading the post... I have a better picture.

I am running an 8-mm router and track saw on a CT26.
The CT 36 has more dust volume but no more suck-power.

I find that the 26 is relatively portable, and I would not care for it to be larger.
For a shop the 36 might be great. For "handy man" work, the vacuum wheels to the work, or gets carried.

 

[tbellemare]

I have a Ct 26, 36 AC, and MINI.

I started with the 26 and consider it the best all-around. Our home vacuum quit a few years ago and I brought the 26 in to cover the "gap" until we could get another. My wife wouldn't give it back so I got her a modern MINI and that was a smart decision.

The MINI is easy enough for my wife to carry around our tri-level house and strong enough to be used with the Turbo Suction Brush to clean carpets. By the way, my wife is about 5'-4" and weighs about 110#. She uses the Universal Cleaning Kit, which has nylon tools and a 36mm non-antistatic hose. It works great.

When I go to do finish type work, I take the MINI and nylon tools. I use a Workshop Cleaning Set in my shop but everything in there is tough. I don't want to take steel tools to a finishing situation. Dropping one is always possible and the damage can be significant.

All of the current series of Festool dust extractors sold in North America have almost equivalent suction so choose the one that best fits your needs.

In my opinion, the 36 AC is primarily for drywall. It can be, basically, a regular 36 by adding a filter bag and turning off the auto-clean function. It is the most expensive CT sold in NA and is designed to eat drywall dust. Any of the others will work with drywall dust but not very long when used with the Planex. If you're using the Planex, get the 36 AC. Otherwise, you're wasting money.

When using any of the non-autoclean CT's with drywall, stop the machine, (which stops the CT), pretty often so the drywall dust cake will break loose from the inside of the filter bag as the bag deflates. Remember, the bag is a 5 micron filter. Drywall dust has an uncanny ability to make concretions on the inside of a filter bag and clog it.

I use a CT MINI and a DTS 400 commonly on drywall dust and it works great. Don't try that with the Planex... The Planex, because of its big head, (225mm), makes a LOT of dust FAST.

Tom

 

[Hawk15]

Thanks for the replies,
If the ct does get used for drywall clean-up, does the hepa get cleaned in any way other than just shaking it out?
Interesting that all the units have the same suck power. I'll definitely consider the smaller units.
Concerning using a CT with a Dremel type tool. After 24 years in the business I'm still looking for a good way of collecting the debris from this tool. The problem with smaller shopvac type units is the burr needs to be almost directly at the hose opening to capture the debris. But what happens is that the object being worked on is being manipulated in different positions and invariably you move too far from the stationary hose end and the "suck" is lost. That is why I eventually went with the over-sized Oneida with several ports throughout my lab. The Oneida has a 6" hose extending from below my bench basically up through my legs. I use the dremel in a sitting position just above my lap. Without dust collection the debris ends up covering me from belly button to just below the chin. The only way I see the CT working is to have the hose coming from above over my shoulder between my stomach and the dremel bur.  The Oneida works great at capturing acrylic debris, plaster dust and polishing compounds but at the cost of comfort (sound and heat) in the lab. If the CT unit I eventually get happens to work with the Dremel in the way that I use it, I would buy a size appropriate dedicated unit for the lab.
Thanks again for all the great replies, just the info I was looking for.
One more question:
The rail that comes with the TS55, can that be joined with the rail that is used with the LR 32 system to create an extended rail that could be used with either the saw or the router?

 

[Brice Burrell]

As you probably already know the Festool vacs use a two stage filtering system.  That is a fancy way of saying there is a per-filter bag like your house vacuum and a second main filter.  The filter bags catch almost all the dust from woodworking and most, but not all, of the fine dust from drywall sanding/cleanup.  Assuming you always use a filter bag (and I'd strongly recommend you do) your main HEPA filter will only need to be occasionally taken out and lightly tapped to clean it. 

The regular guide rails are the same as the "LR32" rails with the exception of the holes.  I'd suggest you talk to your dealer and see if they are willing to give you the LR32 "holy" rail with your TS55.  Some dealers are open to these kinds of things and some not. 

 

[semenza]

Thanks for the replies,
If the ct does get used for drywall clean-up, does the hepa get cleaned in any way other than just shaking it out?
Interesting that all the units have the same suck power. I'll definitely consider the smaller units.
Concerning using a CT with a Dremel type tool. After 24 years in the business I'm still looking for a good way of collecting the debris from this tool. The problem with smaller shopvac type units is the burr needs to be almost directly at the hose opening to capture the debris. But what happens is that the object being worked on is being manipulated in different positions and invariably you move too far from the stationary hose end and the "suck" is lost. That is why I eventually went with the over-sized Oneida with several ports throughout my lab. The Oneida has a 6" hose extending from below my bench basically up through my legs. I use the dremel in a sitting position just above my lap. Without dust collection the debris ends up covering me from belly button to just below the chin. The only way I see the CT working is to have the hose coming from above over my shoulder between my stomach and the dremel bur.  The Oneida works great at capturing acrylic debris, plaster dust and polishing compounds but at the cost of comfort (sound and heat) in the lab. If the CT unit I eventually get happens to work with the Dremel in the way that I use it, I would buy a size appropriate dedicated unit for the lab.
Thanks again for all the great replies, just the info I was looking for.
One more question:
The rail that comes with the TS55, can that be joined with the rail that is used with the LR 32 system to create an extended rail that could be used with either the saw or the router?

So you are using the Oneida DC like a down draft table type set up?  Do you have ideas on positioning / holding the CT vac nozzle?  Have you looked into Loc-Line?

Seth

 

[Greg M]

I've got several of the Festool vacs.  I do have the CT36AC for use with my planex.  When I'm not using it for drywall dust I put a regular bag in it as well as a HEPA filter and use it for the over the table dust collection on my table saw.  I just have to be careful that when I turn it on I don't turn the knob all the way past manual and kick on the AC. 

The CT48 stays in one place for sanding and other tools, one MIDI in the van and one MIDI connected to the Kapex.

My only input to this is that if you choose to go with the CT36AC you can use it as a HEPA vac or a drywall dust vac.  It won't pass the requirements for lead removal but that doesn't change the fact that you can adapt it for HEPA use.

 

[Hawk15]

Thanks for the replies,
If the ct does get used for drywall clean-up, does the hepa get cleaned in any way other than just shaking it out?
Interesting that all the units have the same suck power. I'll definitely consider the smaller units.
Concerning using a CT with a Dremel type tool. After 24 years in the business I'm still looking for a good way of collecting the debris from this tool. The problem with smaller shopvac type units is the burr needs to be almost directly at the hose opening to capture the debris. But what happens is that the object being worked on is being manipulated in different positions and invariably you move too far from the stationary hose end and the "suck" is lost. That is why I eventually went with the over-sized Oneida with several ports throughout my lab. The Oneida has a 6" hose extending from below my bench basically up through my legs. I use the dremel in a sitting position just above my lap. Without dust collection the debris ends up covering me from belly button to just below the chin. The only way I see the CT working is to have the hose coming from above over my shoulder between my stomach and the dremel bur.  The Oneida works great at capturing acrylic debris, plaster dust and polishing compounds but at the cost of comfort (sound and heat) in the lab. If the CT unit I eventually get happens to work with the Dremel in the way that I use it, I would buy a size appropriate dedicated unit for the lab.
Thanks again for all the great replies, just the info I was looking for.
One more question:
The rail that comes with the TS55, can that be joined with the rail that is used with the LR 32 system to create an extended rail that could be used with either the saw or the router?

So you are using the Oneida DC like a down draft table type set up?  Do you have ideas on positioning / holding the CT vac nozzle?  Have you looked into Loc-Line?

Seth

The 6" hose is just beneath the bench top with the hose opening near the front edge facing me. Sitting in my chair when I'm using the Dremel I position myself so my hands are just in front of the hose. The Oneida is powerful enough to capture the debris even though the suction and debris are traveling in opposite directions.
Using the CT, I was thinking about making a hose support arm out of pvc pipe. I never thought of Loc-Line, that's a great idea, thanks. I see Loc-line has a 2.5" vacuum hose which is too big for the CT but if they did make a 2" line I think that would come in handy for certain situations like mine.

 

[RC]

I bought a CT26AC and have not needed the AC functionality a single time yet. I try it time to time when sanding drywall when repainting parts of the house, but realistically you don't need it for small jobs as was mentioned above as well. You'll never use AC for wood dust. Pocket the difference or purchase the cleaning kit with the included 36mm hose if you ever plan on running a router or a Kapex on your vac.

Also if you don't REALLY need the extra 10 litres of dust storage capacity I'd take my CT26 any day over a 36 just because the 26 becomes heavy enough when it's full to carry around that I would not want anything larger. Also physically the 26 is a tad lower in height and fits easier in rooms than the 36.

As for your lab use I would really look into a good down draft table to be able to move freely on your work surface and have the suction distributed over the whole workspace rather than being limited to working by a hoze nozzle. Don't know if a high air volume shop vac would work better in that configuration though? I guess how small a work surface you have.

I Like To Make Stuff - Down Draft Table

 

[semenza]

Using the CT, I was thinking about making a hose support arm out of pvc pipe. I never thought of Loc-Line, that's a great idea, thanks. I see Loc-line has a 2.5" vacuum hose which is too big for the CT but if they did make a 2" line I think that would come in handy for certain situations like mine.

    The LocLine shop vac adapter would fit directly into the Festool vac or into a Festool hose to hose straight connector or any other shop vac straight connector. I would run a shop vac hose from the CT to a LocLine section attached to a stand of some type.  Assuming that a set up like that will work out for you. But I suspect based on your description and using a Dremel on occasion that you will need the air flow volume from a DC like you are already using. But if you are getting the CT anyway then you might as well give it a test even in a quick and dirty set up just for testing.

    I see that LocLine comes in antistatic too.

Seth