Festool Longlife Filter Bag for sanding wood?

[GregorHochschild]

Hi,

I am going through too many filter bags. I already considered multiple solutions (cyclone, larger vac etc). One temporary option would be the Festool 204309 CT Mini/Midi-2 Longlife Filter Bag. However, I am unsure whether they are suitable for sanding. Drywall sanding does not seem to be a good idea but what about sanding wood? Otherwise the vacuum gets used with the router, drill press, TS55 and some cleanup.

Thanks!

 

[sancho57]

I use them in both my CTs. I think you do lose a little suction but they do seem to work good for me

 

[Paul_HKI]

The long life bags are for coarse chips and debris, not dust.  Loss of filtration is likely down to finer dust building up in the main filter(s), or it's because of the bag itself retaining dust after shutdown, something not usually a factor with the self-clean microfiber disposable bags.

I'm all in favour of the reusable bag, but I wouldn't want to use it for primarily sanding duties.  It's not designed or intended for that and it won't work as well as the disposable bags will for capture and primary filtration. 

 

[ChuckM]

By cyclone, do you mean the dust deputy or the like?

If so, I could hardly imagine how you could fill a bag with dust quickly? After months of use (Kapex and previously the DF500, too, before i got a CT15), there's always only little dust in the vac. The pail for the DD, on the other hand, is filled quite often, and I usually get it cleared about once every three months.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I've had a longlife bag for a few years and severely disliked it. Mostly used with sanding, emptying the bag is a very dusty event and didn't seem to be very healthy for me.

For sanding I always use a standard throw-away bag, except when I'm doing plaster or drywall, then the cyclone is added in between to save my bags. I also use the cyclone when I know I'm going to do a lot of sawing in one stationary place.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

The guidance I’ve received from Festool is that the Long Life bags are really intended for routing/planing where you’re producing chips. So, really not suited for sanding (including wood dust). Not saying you can’t, but as Alex points out it’s a dusty mess when you empty.

I’d suggest bumping your mark-up a bit or otherwise adjusting your pricing to allow for your bag consumption (I assume you’ve already built in other consumables such as sand paper, blades, bits and the like into your budget).

Alternatively, you can shift to a HEPA-filtered vac that uses plastic liner bags (HILTI, Starmix, Nilfisk, etc...), which tend to be lower cost than fleece self-cleaning bags, but you’d have to sort out if buying a new, likely more expensive vacuum with less costly bags is less expensive than buying bags for the vac you already have.

The cyclones efficiency drops off with smaller particles, depending on how much fine dust you’re producing you run the risk of clogging/saturating your fleece bag before it fills (this was my experience).

 

[ear3]

Just in case you weren't aware, there is an off-brand option for CT bags that runs a little more than half the price of the Festool version.  Softens the blow a bit.

I worked with long life bag for a few years, though as a few have suggested, it's a pain to change when generating primarily sanding dust (it is not recommended for use with drywall sanding), and certainly best done outdoors if possible.  But one day I carelessly sucked up some embers into my CT, and by the time I noticed the smoke coming from the machine, a bunch of holes had burnt through the long life bag, making it unusable (CT was fine, though).  Replaced it with another long life bag that I managed to pick up a little cheaper on the FOG.  Then 6 months later I was testing the Shaper Origin I had just recently gotten, trying to get a feel for depth of cut, feed rate and the like, and sent a bunch of smoldering wood chips into the vac, successfully suiciding my second long life bag.  So now I just use the cheap, replaceable ones.

Hi,

I am going through too many filter bags. I already considered multiple solutions (cyclone, larger vac etc). One temporary option would be the Festool 204309 CT Mini/Midi-2 Longlife Filter Bag. However, I am unsure whether they are suitable for sanding. Drywall sanding does not seem to be a good idea but what about sanding wood? Otherwise the vacuum gets used with the router, drill press, TS55 and some cleanup.

Thanks!

 

[MaineShop]

I am a huge fan of the CT dust separators, they work fantastic and I use two of them. My bags last forever and i fill those bins a couple times a week. They are way to expensive for what they are like all festool but I can justify the price simply because they work so damn good.

 

[ChuckM]

Just in case you weren't aware, there is an off-brand option for CT bags that runs a little more than half the price of the Festool version.  Softens the blow a bit.
Snip.

I think this substitute option is a good solution for those who need to take their extractors to a job site as it's less practical to carry the DD around to work as effective as it may be in drastically reducing the use of filter bags.

 

[Vondawg]

Agreed…..and they don’t seem inferior…haven’t had one blow out or rip

 

[ChuckM]

This one is interesting for the CT15, Mini & Midi:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B7GKFF...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Reusable for hundreds of cycles.

 

[GregorHochschild]

Just in case you weren't aware, there is an off-brand option for CT bags that runs a little more than half the price of the Festool version.  Softens the blow a bit.

Thanks for the suggestions. I might check them out. They seem to be for the old mini/midi though. I am also getting confused about this. I have a Festool 574845 CT MINI I and buy these bags: Festool 204308 CT Mini/Midi -2/5 Filter Bags

It doesn't look like POWERTEC offers an alternative for these bags or am I missing something?

 

[Jim_in_PA]

One of the reasons I generally do not use my Festool vac for cleanup...I have a small Ridgid "shop vac" for that...is to not use up the filter bags. Dust from sanding is the primary thing going into the CT with a little coarser stuff from the Domino from time to time or from the track saw.

 

[HarveyWildes]

I've got a CT36 and the cyclone separator, and it has cut my bag usage way, way down.  I assume you have the older MINI, but perhaps you could put something together with the basic Oneida separator that would do the trick.  In addition to the basic separator, Amazon also sells a variety of kits so that you don't have to build it yourself.

 

[squall_line]

I have an older Mini and the CT Cyclone fits on it just fine using both 90 degree elbows.

I wouldn't say it's the most efficient airflow in the world between the lower CFM of the Mini and the multiple 90 degree bends, but it fits and connects and works.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I don't use mine for clean-up very often. Generally it gets used for the Domino, track saw, and routers, which are bigger than sanding dust. Bags usually last about a month, because the regular shop vac gets used for higher volume stuff, like the router table. I have been using the Powertech bags, for about a year, with no noticeable change in performance.

 

[xedos]

Just in case you weren't aware, there is an off-brand option for CT bags that runs a little more than half the price of the Festool version.  Softens the blow a bit.
Snip.

I think this substitute option is a good solution for those who need to take their extractors to a job site as it's less practical to carry the DD around to work as effective as it may be in drastically reducing the use of filter bags.

While I don't necessarily disagree with this I do question the underlying reason for it in the first place. Why even concern yourself over a few dollars a vac bag ?

Clearly you aren't worried about costs since you're using festool in the first place.  A much bigger savings would be realized if you had a Karcher vac, grizzly track saw, ryobi drill, and bauer mitersaw.  Besides , the customer pays for it all; and these days contractors aren't falling all over themselves to be the cheapest like the were in the go go days around '08.

A hobbyist's perspective may be different, but I'll still question buying an expensive German tool in the first place - only to complain about operating costs.

 

[ChuckM]

I don't have a CT26 now, but $18US  for a pack of 5, it's just the cost of a cup of coffee for a bag:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Self-Cl...-Bag-for-Festool-CT-26-5-Pack-75037/307340668

Anyone know how much the Festool pack of 5 costs?

 

[squall_line]

I don't have a CT26 now, but $18US  for a pack of 5, it's just the cost of a cup of coffee for a bag:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Self-Cl...-Bag-for-Festool-CT-26-5-Pack-75037/307340668

Anyone know how much the Festool pack of 5 costs?

$42 per pack for Festool.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

A hobbyist's perspective may be different, but I'll still question buying an expensive German tool in the first place - only to complain about operating costs.

Some people try to save sandpaper cost by buying bulk or going for alternatives. I don't think the equipment's purchase price is necessarily a factor in how a user goes about buying consumables.