Here's what I found when looking for an adaptor that would allow me to hook my Makita BO4900V half sheet sander up to my new CT 36.
The first thing I tried was the hoses themselves. I have 27mm and 36mm hoses, and I knew that they wouldn't work, but I waited until I had the sander in hand to verify it.
Of course, Makita wants you to buy their hose (and their vacuum), and that's what you'll find first if you go looking. Found it on Amazon, ~$27 with Prime shipping. I was confident that the tool side of the hose would fit, but it didn't look like the vacuum side would. Besides, I didn't want to have any more hoses hanging around. So I decided to try adaptors first.
The next thing I tried was the Woodcraft Universal Tool Adaptor:
http://www.woodcraft.com/product/142173/woodcraft-universal-tool-adapter.aspx. It was off the shelf at Woodcraft. I really thought it might work, but the tolerances were all wrong. The smallest ID was just over 5/8", and wouldn't fit on the 3/4" OD port on the sander. None of the larger fittings exactly matched the hoses either. The plastic was thick and inflexible. Odd that it was just not quite right for Makita and Festool - not very universal.
The next thing I tried was the Rigid Universal Power Tool Adaptor:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Universal-Power-Tool-Adaptor-VT1407/100206293?keyword=Rigid+hose+adaptor. It was off the shelf at Home Depot, and it pretty much looks just like the Woodcraft one. I really thought that it wouldn't work after my experience with the Woodcraft adaptor, but I was wrong again. In this case, the smallest ID was just under 3/4", and fit perfectly on the 3/4" OD port on the sander. The plastic was a little stretchier, but that was OK because it just made for a tighter squeeze on the port. It feels like you can fit it to the 36mm or the 27mm hose. I'm going to try it with the 36mm hose, and if that doesn't work, I'll cut it down for the 27mm hose.
Today I found a reference to a Makita adaptor for the Makita 9903:
http://www.cpooutlets.com/makita-12...le-adaptor-for-9032-belt-sanders/mktn122652-8,default,pd.html?start=8&cgid=makita-accessories-dust-collection-accessories. I ordered this before I got the Rigid adaptor. It's hard to tell what the actual sizes are, as they are not documented even on the Makita web site, but I finally found a French site that said 18mm, and I can read 18mm even in French. I'm not sure how the hose end will fit. I took a risk and ordered it anyway. I'll give an update when it gets here.
The Fein adaptor that seemed to be the old standard is no longer available, but there is a newer one available. If the above two items don't work as expected, I'll try it eventually. I tried to get it at my local Woodcraft, but they weren't stocking it any more.
