Fein vs Festool

[mastercabman]

I need a vacuum to install under my workbench. It's only use will be hooked up to routers and sanders. I would like something very quiet.
I think I narrowed the choices down to the Fein Turbo II and the Festool CT Midi.

Or maybe there is another consideration???

Thanks
Dave

i have the fein turbo 2.i use to have the mini,now i have the ct22.both fein and festool are great.quite,lots of suction and good quality product.

 

[Hotwheels]

"I can't recall having tipped either the CT MINI/MIDI, CT HEPA or Fein over. And I love pulling extractors around by the hose. If they have, it's been a one-off and not enough to be memorable."

    I can own up to pulling over the Ct22 with the Boom arm attached ... I lugged the vac with boom into my living room to do some sanding on a floor installation ... With the boom arm, the hose was at its limit as I sanded the floor. I was not paying close enough attention and pulled the vac hard enough so that it tipped over and the boom arm crashed into my LCD-tv ... it was not pretty.  Stuff happens.

 

[Brad Evans]

My question is therefore "how 'tippable' are the Fein and Festool extractors, particularly when pulled by the hose"?

I can't recall having tipped either the CT MINI/MIDI, CT HEPA or Fein over. And I love pulling extractors around by the hose. If they have, it's been a one-off and not enough to be memorable.

Same here, pull by the hose - has never tipped over. Same with a Porter Cable vac I have (I'm a vac nut...).  As long as the centroid of mass/weight is within the footprint of the wheels it will be stable and not tip over.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I can't recall having tipped either the CT MINI/MIDI, CT HEPA or Fein over. And I love pulling extractors around by the hose. If they have, it's been a one-off and not enough to be memorable.

Looks like I'm rather heavy-handed with them! :-[    They usually tip when they "trip over" something, like either their own cable or the cable of a tool I'm using. Naturally I should go back to the machine, lift it over the obstruction like an elderly dog, and put it down on the other side with a pat on the head, but I'm afraid that impatience often gets the better of me!

Forrest

 

[Brad Evans]

Yikes!

Some more discussion here:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=71415

 

[Anthony]

I can own up to pulling over the Ct22 with the Boom arm attached ... I lugged the vac with boom into my living room to do some sanding on a floor installation ... With the boom arm, the hose was at its limit as I sanded the floor. I was not paying close enough attention and pulled the vac hard enough so that it tipped over and the boom arm crashed into my LCD-tv ... it was not pretty.  Stuff happens.

Damn. On the positive side, at least you had a vac real handy to clean up the mess. The big question - Did you ding up the boom arm at all, that would have been a tragedy.  :'(

 

[Dixon Peer]

They're both good vacs, how's that.    And I base this statement totally on a feeling I have, and I can't back it up with facts or scientific data.

 

[Brice Burrell]

 I'd like to make a few more points. The first thing, the mini/midi filtration question has come up before, and Timmy C. called Festool and asked, 99.97% collection of particles to 1 micron was the reply. This same question is on two other forums that I know of (sawmill and woodnet) on one of the other thread some also mentioned the Fein being more robust. I've never had an issue with my Festool vac not standing up to the hard, day in and day out professional (job site) use I put my vacs through. The Fein may be more powerful, but I feel the Festool vac have all the suction I need to use it with my tools and the small clean ups I use them for.

 And last, but by no means least, and I will stand by this comment. There is no better or equal vacuum(s) to the Festool line for use with Festool sanders. In my opinion, dialing in the suction is the only way to get the best possible results out of your Festool sanders. The AS hoses, rubber ends on the hose to fit all of my Festool tools and the variable suction are features that make the Festool vac line up the best for use with my tools, especially my Festool sanders.

 Buy any vac you want, it makes no difference to me, but mine say Festool on them.

 

[Brad Evans]

I've never had an issue with my Festool vac not standing up to the hard, day in and day out professional (job site) use I put my vacs through. The Fein may be more powerful, but I feel the Festool vac have all the suction I need to use it with my tools and the small clean ups I use them for.

Same here, except I side with the Fein.  The Festool Midi is a fine vac, just that for what I do, the Fein is a better and more robust choice (and no need for me to use BOLD letters to make that point.) It connects great with all my tools and works perfectly.

And it's not even a matter of the Fein being more powerful and having greater capacity - the midi is perfectly sufficient for sanding.  As I said above, all the advantages the Fein enjoys are basically mice nuts in the big scheme of things compared to the one issue that's paramount for me and others who might care about air quality, and that's superior HEPA filtering.

That shouldn't be dismissed lightly.  That's why Festool's standard vacs are titled as the Dust Extractor CT 22 HEPA and the Dust Extractor CT 33 HEPA - it's a feature worth having.

 

[Dixon Peer]

Well, I'm going out tomorrow and buy one of the Fein vacuums so I can do a scientific test to see which one sucks better, the Festool CT33 I have in my shop or the new Fein.

 

[Bob Marino]

I need a vacuum to install under my workbench. It's only use will be hooked up to routers and sanders. I would like something very quiet.
I think I narrowed the choices down to the Fein Turbo II and the Festool CT Midi.

Or maybe there is another consideration???

Thanks
Dave

I think  a better comparison is the Fein Turbo 1 to the MINI or MIDI, or the Fein 11 to the ct 22 or 33. None of them are perfect  but all are excellent. Some may have the features that are more important to you. I would love to incorporate some features of each. Fein does have a larger capacity, but the filter configuration (wrapping around the walls of the vac) may not give you a true picture of the capacity - at least when I owned one several years ago. The Feins are quieter, no doubt about it, but the tools being hooked up to the vacs are usually way louder than the vacs. I much prefer the rubber wheels on the Fein to the plastic wheels on the Festool I like the larger diameter hose on the Fein for general shop cleanup, but like the fact that the Festool hose and vac is anti-static - may prevent that shock and for sure keeps the dust off the vac and hose. All the Festool tools stack, lock and can be transported on the CT's.
Tough choices, but seems to me, no bad decisions.

Good luck.

Bob

 

[Brad Evans]

Well, I'm going out tomorrow and buy one of the Fein vacuums so I can do a scientific test to see which one sucks better, the Festool CT33 I have in my shop or the new Fein.

Nah, get the Sears "6 HP" vac for $100.  I bet is sucks real good... 

 

[Bob Marino]

I think  BWTTER COMPARIOSON IOD EITHERN THE

What you saying Bob...?
[/quote]

  Just typing before looking!

Bob

 

[Michael Kellough]

I need a vacuum to install under my workbench. It's only use will be hooked up to routers and sanders. I would like something very quiet.
I think I narrowed the choices down to the Fein Turbo II and the Festool CT Midi.

Or maybe there is another consideration???

Thanks
Dave

I think  a better comparison is the Fein Turbo 1 to the MINI or MIDI, or the Fein 11 to the ct 22 or 33. None of them are perfect  but all are excellent.

I agree with Bob. I have the Festool Mini, Fein Turbo II, Festool CT22, and WAP Turbo (and a Meile vac for the house). If someone could make an adaptor sleeve to allow mechanical suction adjustment for the Fein vacs they would nearly have the best of both worlds. But, there is still one feature that gives an advantage to the Festool vacs, you can stack a bunch of Systainers on top.

 

[Anthony]

Hi all,

I am going to go back on a thing or two I mentioned because I was not paying close enough attention and became disorientated with the (non)naming convention of Fein.

The Fein dust extractor available here is the Dustex II. You guys were talking about the Turbo II. What you have named in NA as the Turbo I is the same as our Dustex II. This is the machine I have been using and was basing my comments on that model. So I absolutely agree with Brad that the Turbo II bag is bigger than the CT MIDI.

But the Turbo I (Dustex II in Oz) bag is smaller than the CT MIDI. See pic.

All other comments of mine remain the same. I did not wish to imply that either machine has a switch of superior quality to the other, or that the physical properties of the switches of any machine can cause a danger. It's the circuit/switch logic I am referring to. I will explain what I meant by the Fein switch logic being different and why I think this is potentially dangerous. At minimum, annoying IMHO for a regular Festool dust extractor user.

As most people know, the Festool CT MINI/MINO and CT-HEPA have a single dial switch that is either OFF, MANUAL, AUTO (switching with the tool). OFF is off for both suction and power at the outlet, MANUAL switches on suction regardless of what the power tool is doing, and AUTO switches on suction when the tool is switched on.

The Fein has two rocker switches, one for ON/OFF, the other for AUTO/MANUAL. The ON/OFF switch switches the suction on or off. The AUTO mode switches the suction on if the ON/OFF switch is also ON, and the power tool is switched ON. The MANUAL mode switches suction on if the ON/OFF switch is also ON, regardless of the power tool being switched ON or OFF.

The power outlet on on the Fein is always live. So for people who rely on the dust extractor being off as a second to the tool switch being off before they adjust their tool, they could be in for a surprise if they accidentally activate the tool switch.

Regarding the collapsing container body, my neighbour was not doing anything abnormal and using the Fein dust extractor as instructed. But it did have a reverse hernia wich he pushed out whist it was still hot as malleable. The below picture shows the slight depression still evident.

 

[MarkF]

"If someone could make an adaptor sleeve to allow mechanical suction adjustment for the Fein vacs they would nearly have the best of both worlds."

Micheal,
Never underestimate the skill of an old "Inhalation Therapist".  I used a standard Fein Wye w/cap and a 1/2 inch drill.

Fein Turbo II "Full Suction Mode":

Fein Turbo II "Sander Mode":

 

[Bob Marino]

"If someone could make an adaptor sleeve to allow mechanical suction adjustment for the Fein vacs they would nearly have the best of both worlds."

Micheal,
Never underestimate the skill of an old "Inhalation Therapist".  I used a standard Fein Wye w/cap and a 1/2 inch drill.

Mark,

As one old "Inhalation Therapist" to another -  good job!

Bob

 

[dave tinley]

Thanks to all for the posts. I had posted this same question on some other boards and the general results are about the same.
The vacuum I purchase will be mounted under a mobile work bench so the casters, tool storage, flat top vs round top are really not an issue
to me. But I am sure there are some that have read this thread and will weigh those in on their decision.
Noise and suction seem to be about equal, the capacity is relevant. The hose issues were a factor, as was the ability to hook up to my sanders and routers with out using up a roll of duct tape  ;D
So all things concidered here is where i am at-
Fein Turbo II =  $264.00
Festool midi =    $330.00
Festool CT22 =   $450.00
All have free shipping, and no tax when purchased via internet.

As was said earlier- decisions,decisions-  ???
Thanks again
Dave

 

[Brad Evans]

Dave,  I know I've yapped on way too much on this subject, but if it's important to you to have HEPA filtration, you need to add an extra $90 to the Fein II.

At that point, at least from a features perspective, and even though it's more money, I'd closely look at the CT 22 HEPA. Especially if you can combine that with a tool for an even lower price.

Just my opinion...

 

[greg mann]

While there is general consensus that the Feins are quieter, it is probable that the only time one has either vacuum on for extended periods would be during sanding. I almost always have the power turned down when I use my sanders. The Festool is significantly quieter when the power is down and probably significantly quieter than the Fein at that point. If I run at full power with a saw I can't hear the vac anyway and it is only for short durations. Either vac is a good choice but, for me, I think the seamless integration with my sanders and other tools, the stacking capabilities, and quieter operation at lower powers (and the ability to have lower power settings) when used with the relatively quieter tools tips it towards Festool. I bought both of my CT22s in package deals so that also helps the price differential. It is nice to have good choices, eh?