Here's my $20 Boom Arm

[rnt80]

After receiving some inspiration from a number of different forums I went out this morning and put together a rudimentary boom arm for $20. It only took one 10' piece of 2" pvc, two 45's, two caps, some velcro strips and a threaded male and female adapter so that I can easily take it apart. I put the disconnecting joint just below the surface of my table in case I needed the entire surface of the table to work with. The bracket that holds the pipe was made from some scrap 1/2" ply and there's a cap on the bottom of the pipe so that it can swivel freely. My CT22 sits on a sliding shelf on one side of my sanding/assembly table and it usually stays there. The only reason it comes out is for installs. I didn't plan on taking the arm to jobsites so trying to adapt it to my vac wasn't really a concern.

 

[nickao]

Looks like a great idea!

Actually in my shop I hate that the boom arms are attached to the vac. I never move the vacs but sometimes the placement of the boom arms is aggravating.

I may use your idea here.

Nick

 

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks!   I think that something sililar might work for me.  I will report back in this thread if it does.

 

[BarryL]

Wow RNT...I am going to have to keep an eye on you....that is not bad at all!  I love the looks of your shop....very nice and clean....would love to see more.  I just received a boom arm and handle for Christmas and for me, I will need to roll the vacuum around for a while until I can complete my shop (building doors for the garage currently)  I like the permanance of your setup and would actually prefer it so for now, I will roll around for a while more. 

 

[vicc]

RNT80, that is a well implemented idea.

If you don't take the vacuum hose off the boom arm much you could consider putting most of the hose inside the poly pipe.

Cheers

 

[rnt80]

I never thought of doing that.  I only have the one hose now so it wouldn't be that advantageous to me.  I think it would be too much of a hassle taking it out each time I needed to.  I wonder how much movement would be allowed if the hose ran on the inside?  I realized after working with it a couple of times that using a 14' hose would make it more functional.

 

[alanz]

My thought was to use the pipe as part of the run.  It could be easy to attach fittings to each end of the boom arm and make it part of the suction assembly.

 

[GreenGA]

While I have not looked-into/thought-about using PVC to extend the reach of my CT22, last year I fitted the entire house with electrical PVC pipe when I installed a central vacuum system.  I used electrical PVC because of the color which most people would assume had power in it and less likely to cut into; thinking were it white, most people would assume it was jut a vent pipe and think it was safe to do something with.

That said, it should be rather easy to use PVC to extend the reach of a stationary CTxx.

My thought was to use the pipe as part of the run.  It could be easy to attach fittings to each end of the boom arm and make it part of the suction assembly.

 

[Deke]

Having just set up my DC with PVC, I like this a lot! Thanks!

By the way, you are going to ground it right? ;-)

 

[Dave Ronyak]

RNT80,

Great design and execution!  I have the Festool Boom Arm, in which the original plastic swivel fitting warped.  Let us know if that is a problem over time with the PVC pipe you used?  I highly recommend getting another hose so you can leave one installed on your Boom Arm, to save you time of switching out the hose.  I purchased a 5m long 36mm AS hose and installed that on my Boom Arm.  I then made up a short length of 27mm hose with a pair of Festool tool end fittings (Reducing Sleeve Item number 487071) on each end.  This short adapter will friction fit into the tool end fitting of the 36mm AS hose and enable use of the Boom Arm setup with any Festool machine requiring the smaller nozzle, e.g. the 1010 router and sanders and old model RO 150.

Dave R.

 

[Rescue U]

I have the same type of set up, only mine is connected to my vac.  I will try to post pics tom.