Festool vac and metal?

[Nonparous]

The question was posed to me if Festool vacs were any good for metal cuttings and fillings. I have used mine to suck up some small filings after filing and drilling metal and never really thought about it. And they were very small amounts.
Thoughts?

 

[Birdhunter]

I use mine as do you for cleanup. Never sucked up metal chips that might be hot.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Personally, I would be reluctant to clean up anything cut with a coolant using my Festool vac, but dry cuttings and grinding dross get sucked up all the time in my shop.

 

[Packard]

The busy tool room at the place where I used to work, used dust collection for all their grinders and milling machines. 

The cutting oils they used were all water-soluble and were all used diluted with water.  The grinders did not use any coolant and the chips were hot enough to be miniature branding irons.  The dust collection had metal shrouds that fed into the plastic hose.  That must have been sufficient to allow the chips to cool and not melt the hose. 

In my shop, I chose a horizontal band saw for cut offs on metal rather than a grinding cut off.  Less airborne crud and it finishes the cuts unattended.

I was reluctant to get shop dust collection as it seemed to add nothing to productivity, but the service company that provides 24/7 service on my oil burner said that they would not renew my contract unless I did something to reduce the saw dust which was wreaking havoc with the oil burner. 

In retrospect, that service company did me a favor.

 

[Cheese]

You're fine if the chips are small and short, the size you'd get from using a file, a saw blade or a drill. However, you want to avoid long stringy chips because while the vac will pick them up, they can & will get stuck in the hose. This then turns into a plug when you use the vac for picking up wood chips & dust.

 

[Packard]

When I was installing a new dryer vent, I was surprised to read that sheetmetal screws were a no-no. (The points capture lint, which becomes a fire hazard.)

I was also surprised how well the foil tape worked holding the ridged sections together (I did not use any of the flex hose).

When I installed my shop dust collection, I ran the bare copper wire “ground” inside the hose as recommended.  Is that practice still recommended?  Experts keep changing recommendations.

When I was a kid, two eggs, home fries, toast with butter, and bacon followed by a small bowl of dried cereal and whole milk, was a good breakfast.  I wish experts would stop changing their minds. [eek]

 

[bertv]

An oldtimer Festoolian once wrote on a forum I follow that there used to be a Festool vac accessory spark filter. And that is the extent of my k/l about this.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I get some aluminum chips in mine from time to time, but we don't really deal with steel very much.
As long as you stay away from stringy stuff, it should be ok.
Obviously, nothing hot/sparking etc. the bag is fabric, after all.