CT Midi or CT 26 E Dust Extractor or Other?

[Patrick Cox]

Hello,
I am new to woodworking and plan to get started with an TS 55 Req saw, an MFT3 table and a Dust Extractor. 

My question is - which Dust Extractor would be the best fit for my needs?  (I am thinking either the CT Midi or CT26E.) 

I am only a hobbyist and will work out of one stall of my garage where space is at a premium.  I plan to make things like a bench for our front porch and a linen cabinet for our master bathroom.  I hope to buy a router soon as well.  I am guessing that since I am just a hobbyist the dust capacity should be OK on the Midi but I would appreciate comments on this.  But one concern I have with the Midi is I have read that the elbow where the hose connects to the Dust extractor can get blocked so I want to better understand if this is a real concern or just internet chatter.  And then are there any other reasons that I would want to go with the 26 over the Midi?

Thanks so much for any comments!

Pat

 

[Shane Holland]

Welcome to the forum.

The primary reason to consider the CT 26 over the MIDI is the availability of accessories, such as the handle and boom arm, for example.

Otherwise, it's a choice of physical size / capacity for the most part.

Shane

 

[erock]

My first Festool purchase was the TS55, MFT/3 and CTmidi.
I wish I would have bought the CT26 to begin with.
Like you,  I planned on adding the OF1400 at some point back in the day.  When I did buy the OF1400 I realized quickly how fast the OF1400 could fit up the midi bag.
Now I have the CT26 as my main extractor and the midi lives under my Kapex.
The CT26 has double the bag capacity than the midi.
You'll be in good shape with the CT26.

Go for the 26.  As Shane stated, if you ever want to add the boom arm or handle you need a CT26 or bigger.

Eric

 

[Shane Holland]

Oh yeah, and there's a 15% off promo on all dust extractors for May/June, which will help you get the CT 26 in your budget.  [wink]

Festool 15% off sale

 

[RKA]

Patrick, I would suggest the 26.  I have a mini and a 26.  I've only had the hose on the mini clog when the bag filled up on me.  Turns out a planer/router can fill those bags faster than you might think.  The 27mm hose on the mini/midi comes with a hard 90 degree at the vacuum.  Then inside the vac is another hard 90 before the chips land in the bag.  This will impede flow a little bit.

If you're looking for as much flow as you can get, budget for a 36mm hose on either extractor. The saws also benefit from the larger hose, but it's a bit stiffer and heavier so you may not like it with a track saw.  In any event, the 36mm has a straight connector, so that eliminates one 90 degree bend on a midi.  But realize the hose will come straight out of the top preventing you from setting systainers on top of the extractor.

I still like the mini...it's the one I carry around the house for clean up jobs or to set up under the miter saw.  The smaller size can't be beat.  But if I had to have only one, it would be the 26.  The greater dust capacity and slightly better flow trump the extra weight.

 

[Holmz]

[member=61142]Patrick Cox[/member]

For a Festool vac the 26 is a good choice.
There are also Bosch and Starmix vacs in Europe, but your name sounds more like US or UK.

If budget is important, which it should be with the unseen extras like a router table and bits, etc.... Then you can hook about any vacuum up to almost any track/plunge saw, sander or router.
The routers tend to throw more stuff out, and a large diameter hose may help... But a router does not have 99+% collection like most sanders.

I like hand routing, but a table can be handy. Bits are needed for a router, and one can spends a bit of they try (pun)... People often choose a different router for hand routing than they use for table routing.

Back to your question...
I have a 26, and can give you good reasons for it as well as for the smaller one. In a garage I would choose the 26. If you are on the hoof, then the 26 is big enough, and going up stairs or onto a roof, the smaller one could be handy.

 

[djhb20]

Another vote for the 26. I'm also just a hobbiest, and I've got one (that I chose over the mini) and even it fills up pretty fast. I recently built some new shop storage for the garage using about 6 full sheets of plywood and the bag is largely full from the TS 55 and Domino. It's not actually full but it's pretty close. I'm sitting here wishing I had even a bigger one (ain't that always the way).

That said, I almost exclusively work in the garage and it has to roll a few feet here or there. If you're lugging it around or whatever, then that's an advantage for the mini. But even for a hobbiest, you can fill up bags pretty quick. If I had a mini, I'd have filled up the bag already just from cutting up 6 sheets of plywood (into pieces no smaller than 2 feet by 2 feet) and routing some mortises with the domino.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Thanks for all of the replies!  They were all very helpful!  Sounds like it's the 26!  8)