Dusty surprises

[fcraven]

Yesterday at the job site, I was packing up my TS55 so I could show it to an old friend who is in town for a few days. On the way out our head painter said he needed to do use the (circular) saw to cut some hardboard for exterior soffit. Precision was not required. I through down a couple of 2x4s to support it, set the cutting depth, drew a line, put down the guide and cut away. I even did a little free hand cutting.  No Vac.

WOW, WHAT A LOT OF DUST.

I am constantly amazed at how well the dust extraction works with this saw. I have always been a proponent of using dust extraction, but it's easy to forget when you're used to only a little dust. All it takes is a good sized non vac reminder now and then! I cannot believe that carpenters (and other builder types) are content to deal with and breathe dust, whether it be wood, tile, fiberlass, solid surfacing, etc. etc.

I would like to read some other stories from your dusty experiences festools. Those times when you thought "I'll just do this without the vac".

 

[Mirko]

A few days ago, I was using the RO 125, so I turned down the suction on the vac to half way, so the pad runs smoother without sticking from the suction.
Anyways later that day I made four, eight foot long cuts on three sheets of 3/4 melamine, that were stacked up. Dust extraction and cut was great as usual, I didn't realize the setting on the Vac was set to mid way!! Wow now thats engineering eh, Festool must of designed the suction efficiency, based on the lowest amount of suction possible.
I was very impressed.

Mirko

 

[ejantny]

A couple of time i had the hose come off mid way through a cut. All of a suddent there is dust all over. Now I make sure the hose is secure every couple of cuts.

 

[Barry]

I just received my RO150 yesterday and was dying to give it a try.  As a test I put some P40 cristal on the there, put it in ecc and went to town without my CT33 hooked up.  Dust was flying everyplace, made a mess in no time flat.  Then I hooked up the CT and reran the test, what a difference, almost no dust.  

That is why I paid a high premium for Festool equipment, dust collection.  In 30 years I still wanna be able to breath....

 

[greg mann]

I was using my RAS115 to clean tile mastic off a hardwood floor and felt the DC wasn't up to normal standards. This is a tool that will never be as good as the other sanders but on this particular job it was worse than I expected. It wasn't until I needed to change a disc that I realized I had forgotten to put in the little brush strip that seals off and directs the dust into the vacuum port. Life got much better after that. It is true, we forget just how much mess some of these tools make.

 

[Tinker]

Every once in awhi;e, i do get surprised as the hose pops off my ATF or one of my routers.  A quick and easy fix to correct such problems. 

Along with my Festool collection, i have WoodRat.  Believe me every time i use that, or my band saw, I really appreciate the efficiency of the Festool system.
Tinker

 

[Wim]

I started my Festool adventure with a TS55 and a CMS, followed after a few month by the router OF1010. At that time I thought I did not need a DC. So it was quite normal for me to end up ankle-deep in sawdust after an hour behind the CMS. I tried to hook-up a normal vacuumcleaner (1000 Watt) but after a few minutes it started to smoke. I disconnected the powerline and the "smoke" turned out to be sawdust from the ripped bag, ripped by a woodsplinter. With a new bag, the vac stopped after 10 minutes, caused by a thermal cut-off devise. After that it was sawing ang routing "au naturel".
In January this year I bought the Domino and the CT MINI. And now I was surprised. The first few cuts were interrupted continuously by me to check if I was really cutting wood! I did see so little sawdust.
In Februari I helped a friend with a wooden floor after she moved to a new house. I made my cuts in the paved garden, ofcourse with the CT MINI hooked on. Total cutting length about 100 meter and just a spoon full of sawdust on the pavement. A neighbour was helping with the gardenfence and he could not believe I was sawing with a blade with teeth and not with some kind of knive. He did not see clouds of sawdust around me. I advised him to check the Festool website and also this forum and two weeks later he had the TS75, the CMS and the CT22.

 

[MarkF]

I was using the vac conected to a sander and needed to make a quick cut on on a piece of 1/2" ply on the MFT.  I was tired and didn't feel like dragging the vac and hose so it stayed with the sander.  It had been a while since I used the TS55 saw and neglected to check the blade depth which was set for trimming 2X4s.  The dust created cutting through the MFT was impressive.  I quickly put a piece of blue tape under the table and packed the kerf full of wood putty and called it a day.  It sanded off flush the next morning.
Check that blade depth!

 

[Tinker]

I was using the vac conected to a sander and needed to make a quick cut on on a piece of 1/2" ply on the MFT.  I was tired and didn't feel like dragging the vac and hose so it stayed with the sander.  It had been a while since I used the TS55 saw and neglected to check the blade depth which was set for trimming 2X4s.  The dust created cutting through the MFT was impressive.  I quickly put a piece of blue tape under the table and packed the kerf full of wood putty and called it a day.  It sanded off flush the next morning.
Check that blade depth!

Mark, thanks for a good idea.  When i first started using my ATF 55 on the MFT, i had never used a saw like this.  i was accustomed to just putting the saw to the wood and plowing thru.  I used my old type circul;ar saws for rough carpentry outside.  inside, i had always used TS & RAS.  For both of those, i had always left atleast 1/4" of teeth beynd the cut, either above or below, depending on TS or RAS.  With no experience with the ATF, and not having observed anybody using one, i did set the depth.  the only thing is, i set the saw to cut atleast 1/4" below the wood i was cutting.  That was not so terrible until i did a couple of angled (tilted) cuts.  what a mess.  i was talking to a friend at the toy store who told me he could cut plywood stacks without showing any signs of cutting into the lower sheets.  i went home and tried setting as fine as possible.  WOW!!!.  I was amazed.  I had a small project of building a couple of cabinets for my shop, so I decided to give the stack cutting trick a try.  I cut all the sides, tops, bottoms and shelves right on my truck.  I did not move a sheet until it had been cut.  There was just the tiniest feather of wood still attached to each sheet as i finisshed my cuts.  a quick snap upwards and the cut to dimension piece was free.  i quick zip with the block plane, and I was in business.

But I still have that horible wide groove from those old "learning" cuts.  I was not upset and so never gave a thought to patching.  It has been sort of a reminder.  I will go down and fill that groove and give it the once over with the Rotex later today.  thanks for the idea.  I feel kinda dumb for not thinking of it before.
Tinker

 

[ejantny]

But I still have that horible wide groove from those old "learning" cuts.  I was not upset and so never gave a thought to patching.  It has been sort of a reminder.  I will go down and fill that groove and give it the once over with the Rotex later today.  thanks for the idea.  I feel kinda dumb for not thinking of it before.
Tinker

Same here, just got a new tube of Minwax filler that will do the job.

 

[bdog01]

I had to rip a straight edge on a 1.5" thick, 8' long soft maple board and thought..... "no need for the vac, I'll just make this cut really quick". I was shocked at how much dust it made!!!! My garage/shop was covered in the stuff. After using the TS55 with the vac for so long I forgot how messy woodworking is.....

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

I mentioned this before, I think--I'm a physician so very aware of the health aspect of my hobbies; but in addition I'm allergic, and sawdust has always been noxious to me even short-term, much less the long-term risk of inflammation of the lungs. I use a dust collector on the table saw, and on a random-orbital sander; but it's never that effective compared with the dust extraction on the TS 55. And yes, just having the hose fall off or deciding to leave it off 'just for this one cut' shows instantly what a difference it makes.
Also: that HEPA filter really clears out the fine particles that get down in the lungs, much better than the fabric bag on your typical dust collector.
Yes, think about your lungs! Use your vac!

 

[Tinker]

I recently set up my newly purchased boom.  i discovered immediately how much simpler it is to work with vac hose and power cords dropping down from over head instead of all curled up on the floor for me to trip over.  I would not say it increases the use of my CT 33 in tandem with any of my Fetool toys.  i never run them without taking advantage of the entire system.

however, i do have a toy that has proven to me a major factor in the manufacture of dust.  My WoodRat is on the far wall of my shop from my MFT work area and whenever i have used that, i have had to wheel out my old Milwaukee shop vac. A real PITA as it is heavy, clumsy and noisy.  I also keep it running constantly, as I do not have it hooked to any integral type switch as with the CT's. I have discovered that with the boom, i can now run my vac hose and power cord over head to my Rat.  I don't capture any more dust, as that toy spits out dust and chips no matter what i have tried.  The difference is, it is much simpler now to just hook up hose and cord to a permanent vac system (CT 33) every time i use the Rat.  It now becomes more interresting to figure better ways to capture dust from that side of my shop without resorting to the old shovel & broom methods i have been using.
Tinker