ct multi blast gate box

[Bill in seattle]

Here is a idea I came up with to help with the constant changing of cords and hoses.
I have several tools that I use on a daily basis . To speed up work I built a blast gate box that each tool has its own power and vac to. All I have to do is open the gate and turn on the tool. This greatly reduces the wear and tear as well as extra time pluging and unplugging tools pwr and vac lines.
Each tool has about 35' of hose/pwr to it so it can be used anywhere in the shop. All tools plug into a power strip and it  plugs into the ct 33 so all the tools trigger the vac. I added a air adapter as well so air tools will turn on the vac too.
the box is made out of mdf and the gates of corian,thou you could use mdf or acrylic as well.
the box has a vacuum gauge which helps let me know when the bag is getting full as well as performance monitoring.
There is a extra port with pwr and vac hose for those tools that need to be changed as needed.
the box is connected to the ct with a 50mm 2.5m vac  hose to reduce restrictions and the box is mounted on a 2''emt boom arm like post high enough to allow  opening and emptying the ct's bag when full.
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Bill In seattle

 

[Eli]

Holy Crap! That is cool.

"I canna give you no more power Cap'n, I'm givin' you all she's got!"
-Scotty

 

[semenza]

HI,

      That is one serious pile of hoses!   Do you have any trouble with then getting tangled up.?  Plus how about some details on the vacuum gauge?

Seth

 

[Bill in seattle]

Holy Crap! That is cool.

"I canna give you no more power Cap'n, I'm givin' you all she's got!"
-Scotty
[the ct 33 has been warp driving for eight years now and has plenty of power. /quote]

 

[Bill in seattle]

HI,

      That is one serious pile of hoses!   Do you have any trouble with then getting tangled up.?  Plus how about some details on the vacuum gauge?

Seth

seth
The hoses are fine as long as you put each tool back in its hangar as you use them. If you set one on a bench, grab another and so forth then you end up with spaghetti hoses. 
The vacuum gauge is a automotive type that read 0-30'' vac in 1'' increments. you can get them at auto parts stores,or better hardware places I put a fitting on the box and tied it in. the ct will pull about 6-9''closed and about 3-5'' tools running. If I took the time to seal up some leaks it would do better but it works just fine now.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

[attachthumb=1]

 

[semenza]

 

The vacuum gauge is a automotive type that read 0-30'' vac in 1'' increments. you can get them at auto parts stores,or better hardware places I put a fitting on the box and tied it in. the ct will pull about 6-9''closed and about 3-5'' tools running. If I took the time to seal up some leaks it would do better but it works just fine now.

  Do you know how that figure relates to the 90" stated in the Festool catalog?  I realize that the longer the run, the more connections and turns , etc- the more it drops. But that seems like at lot less.  Also any chance you could measure this with just one AS hose attached directly to the vac?  I am just curious.

Seth

 

[Mike_Chrest]

Wow,that thing is cool!!! Is that a huge random orbit sander hanging next to the octopus? Let me guess, for fairing boat hulls? How about a new thread posting some boat pics?

 

[Bill in seattle]

Seth
Off the top of my head I believe that 90" is how far strait up a 1'' hose it would lift water. This is a common unit of measurement for vacuums. I have not really given it to much thought, its just more of a reference point/starting point to monitor conditions. When its 1-2'' it means somethings amiss to me,(bag really full,several blast gates open) thou I can usually tell by diminished dust collection.
I will do a check  with one hose when I get a chance and let you know.

Bill

The vacuum gauge is a automotive type that read 0-30'' vac in 1'' increments. you can get them at auto parts stores,or better hardware places I put a fitting on the box and tied it in. the ct will pull about 6-9''closed and about 3-5'' tools running. If I took the time to seal up some leaks it would do better but it works just fine now.

  Do you know how that figure relates to the 90" stated in the Festool catalog?  I realize that the longer the run, the more connections and turns , etc- the more it drops. But that seems like at lot less.  Also any chance you could measure this with just one AS hose attached directly to the vac?  I am just curious.

Seth

 

[Bill in seattle]

Wow,that thing is cool!!! Is that a huge random orbit sander hanging next to the octopus? Let me guess, for fairing boat hulls? How about a new thread posting some boat pics?

Mike
Yes, that is a monster 16''random orbit sander. I made a 12'' sander years ago driven by the RO150. It worked fine for quite some time and then I just decided to make it bigger. I make solid surface countertops, and my theory is after 20 years of sanding, bigger is better and faster. 16'' of area vrs 6'' is about 266% more better and faster on the countertops. Sanding all day sucks, so I now gettr dunnn with the big 16''.
It would also work fine on boat hulls but the boatyards I've shown it to have not shown interest yet. I have built several boats and have worked on many yachts as well. Boy, are they missing the boat on this. I have been thinking of revitalizing the old 12'' rotex. It was a mean machine. I was hoping festool might have done one. Maybe the planex will do the job, I will defiantly put it to the test.

Bill

 

[John Stevens]

Holy Crap! That is cool.

"I canna give you no more power Cap'n, I'm givin' you all she's got!"
-Scotty

Yeah, what he said.  You oughtta add some red LEDs down the side.  Make sure some of them blink.  Just for appearance, of course.

I'm surprised there's not too much pressure drop.  I learn something new here all the time.  Thanks.

Regards,

John

 

[greg mann]

Yes, that is a monster 16''random orbit sander. I made a 12'' sander years ago driven by the RO150. It worked fine for quite some time and then I just decided to make it bigger. I make solid surface countertops, and my theory is after 20 years of sanding, bigger is better and faster. 16'' of area vrs 6'' is about 266% more better and faster on the countertops. Sanding all day sucks, so I now gettr dunnn with the big 16''.
It would also work fine on boat hulls but the boatyards I've shown it to have not shown interest yet. I have built several boats and have worked on many yachts as well. Boy, are they missing the boat on this. I have been thinking of revitalizing the old 12'' rotex. It was a mean machine. I was hoping festool might have done one. Maybe the planex will do the job, I will defiantly put it to the test.

Bill

Actually, Bill, the surface area with your 16" inch monster is over 7 times greater! I only point this out because folks often think about the 150 series sanders as being on 1" bigger than the 125 series, which is true if you are only a linear thinker.  ;D The difference in area is much more pronounced as is true with the RS2 as well. If the 150 was only 20% larger than the 125 there would hardly be nedd for both. I applaud you on your creativity to come up with solutions for your specific type of work and would be interested in how you handled dust control, etc. Not that I am anticipating following suit, mind you. My boats are kayaks and don't need that square footage.