Mini vac questions

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Can a 36mm hose be used with the Mini Vac?

Is there an accessory elbow adapter needed?

Is anyone else using the Mini with their Kapex, or are most using the Midi because the Mini is filling up too fast?

Thanks.

 

[TOOLTOWN]

Yes, you can use any hose with any vac.

The compatibility of the hoses on the mini and midi is only for storage concerns (the 36mm hose won't stuff into the small hose garage).  You do not need an elbow (and it doesn't exist) the hose will go straight up and out.

We've seen plenty of people using minis with kapexs, but I can't comment on the speed at which the bags fill.

Hope this helps,

Ken

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Yes, Ken. That helped a lot...don't mind if it sticks straight up as long as it works. Thanks, again.

 

[tjbnwi]

The new mini should have the progressive 27-32 mm hose. My Midi with the progressive hose works better than my newer Mini with the 27 mm hose. Not as good as a 36, but not to bad.

If you notice a decrease in dust collection after cutting for a while, check the bag, if that is not the problem clean the blade. It made a major difference on my set up just cleaning the blade every other day. We were cutting pre-finished.

Tom

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Another good tip, Tom! Thanks.

 

[Dave Hale]

Shopvac Right Angle Brush works to create a 90 degree elbow out of the vacuum.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_215752-20097-9067911_0__?productId=1060273&Ntt=shopvac&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dshopvac%26page%3D2&facetInfo=

You just have to remove the 'brush' part. Found this years ago on this site. 

 

[ccarrolladams]

There actually are advantages to using a Mini or Midi as dedicated dust extractor for a Kapex, especially when you want to place the DE under it. This is where having the 32mm hose running straight down through the hose garage. Doing this eliminates a right angle bend to connect the hose to the front of the larger CTs.

As for bag fill, since the Kapex does not generate chips, in practice it fills bags slower than many Festools. In our shop we still use CT22s because they have worked so well for me since 2006 and back then I only wanted to stock one kind of bag. From the day I bought my first Kapex the day we could take delivery in the USA one of my CT22 was dedicated to the Kapex. That Kapex was in use at least 4 hours six and sometimes 7 days a week. Never did a bag last less than a month and usually 6-7 weeks.

The capacity of a Midi bag is about half of a CT22 bag. So assuming others make the same money using a Kapex as I do then the cost of the Midi bag is just not vital. For a hobby user it will take forever to fill a Midi bag with a Kapex, so saving a little money on the vac would buy a lifetime supply of bags,

Remember there is no such thing as too much suction with the Kapex and there also is no need to use the auto start feature. Before it was possible to order the Kapex in the USA I had a lot of experience using them during trips to Europe and Australia. An important tip I learned was that dust collection is improved by leaving the vac running after a cut if finished. There is no downside to having the vac running before starting a cut. The cost of electricity to run a vac continuously instead of using auto-start with a Kapex is deminimus.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

I've been wanting to get a 36mm hose for use with the Kapex but don't want to spend a $150 on a hose just to cut it in half!! Love to find someone with a half hose sitting around [big grin]  Anyone else feel like once the vac gets to about 2/3 full it starts losing suction?

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Woodcraft has a hose for around $30.

Some great tips in this thread. Glad that I asked the question. Thanks, everyone!

 

[fin]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

I've done the "use the bag trick before" they changed from paper bags.  I used Zip tape to seal it. Usually got an extra time out of it.

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Bags...I just want to seal it and toss it...don't want to tee-off any supers by dumping dust into their trash cans. That's why I'm sellingmy Laguna D16 dust canister.
Used my Mini Vac for the first time today with the Kapex, HL 850, RO 90, and RS2E...it is TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Clean-up for a day's dust was about 2-3 minutes.

 

[tjbnwi]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

In the last 7 weeks I went through;

20-CT 36 bags

10-CT-22 paper bags

10- CT-22 fleece bags

20- CT Midi bags

25- CT Mini bags

I find the cost of the bags to be minuscule. I know the cost of the bag and can predict how many I will use. What I can never figure out is what is the cost to me to clean up the dust if I don't collect it. I cannot see cutting the bag open and creating a cloud of dust. Just not worth it to me to save a few dollars.

Tom

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

In the last 7 weeks I went through;

20-CT 36 bags

10-CT-22 paper bags

10- CT-22 fleece bags

20- CT Midi bags

25- CT Mini bags

I find the cost of the bags to be minuscule. I know the cost of the bag and can predict how many I will use. What I can never figure out is what is the cost to me to clean up the dust if I don't collect it. I cannot see cutting the bag open and creating a cloud of dust. Just not worth it to me to save a few dollars.

Tom

Yes, + 1 on that!
Tom, that's a lot of dust! Are you currently employed by Santa Claus?

 

[Kev]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

In the last 7 weeks I went through;

20-CT 36 bags

10-CT-22 paper bags

10- CT-22 fleece bags

20- CT Midi bags

25- CT Mini bags

I find the cost of the bags to be minuscule. I know the cost of the bag and can predict how many I will use. What I can never figure out is what is the cost to me to clean up the dust if I don't collect it. I cannot see cutting the bag open and creating a cloud of dust. Just not worth it to me to save a few dollars.

Tom

I hope you had help! That's a lot of dust in 7 weeks ...

 

[tjbnwi]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

In the last 7 weeks I went through;

20-CT 36 bags

10-CT-22 paper bags

10- CT-22 fleece bags

20- CT Midi bags

25- CT Mini bags

I find the cost of the bags to be minuscule. I know the cost of the bag and can predict how many I will use. What I can never figure out is what is the cost to me to clean up the dust if I don't collect it. I cannot see cutting the bag open and creating a cloud of dust. Just not worth it to me to save a few dollars.

Tom

Yes, + 1 on that!
Tom, that's a lot of dust! Are you currently employed by Santa Claus?

I was a lot of plywood with a lot of cutting and Dominoing. Went through 3 boxes of 180 grit Granat paper also.

I don't get the Santa Claus reference (sorry Im old and a little slow).

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

dunno about you guys but at £5 ish a bag for my midi i had a go at cutting one open and using a vacuum cleaner bag closer to seal it up. even if the bag only lasts 1 more fill up before its clogged its worth a shot.

In the last 7 weeks I went through;

20-CT 36 bags

10-CT-22 paper bags

10- CT-22 fleece bags

20- CT Midi bags

25- CT Mini bags

I find the cost of the bags to be minuscule. I know the cost of the bag and can predict how many I will use. What I can never figure out is what is the cost to me to clean up the dust if I don't collect it. I cannot see cutting the bag open and creating a cloud of dust. Just not worth it to me to save a few dollars.

Tom

I hope you had help! That's a lot of dust in 7 weeks ...

One other person, he made 400 rip cuts and installed 1.5 miles of edge banding, trimmed all of it with the MFK 700, helped sand the pieces. The rest was on me (balance of cuts, dominoing, sanding, stain, finish).

Tom

 

[BMH]

The other day I was thinking the number of vacuum bags used on a project is very telling how big the project was. I am doing builtin closets for my daughters and I was at 3 CT 22, 4 Midi and 3 Fein bags of dust you have me beat hands down.

Having a 36 mm hose on the midi makes a big difference in dust collection with large router bits, kapex and vacuuming dust on the floors. I am going to have to get a second 36 mm for it. I will add that 90 degree Lowe extension. Thanks for the tip.

 

[fin]

ahh see we normally have skips for all the rubbish so when its full cut the bottom open. dump it out and seal it back up with one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reusable-20-5cm-Plastic-Hoover-Vacuum-Cleaner-Dust-Bag-Clip-Slide-Fastener-NEW-/121282086462?pt=UK_Vacuum_Cleaners&hash=item1c3cf9c63e

whats the score with those lifetime bags? are they the same sort of thing with a clip holding the bottom closed?

 

[jbasen]

This has been mentioned in other threads but Matmax makes reasonably priced re-usable filter bags for Festool vacs, including the mini.  They are cloth with a zipper so  you can easily empty them.  Matmax is located in England but will ship to the US.

http://matmax.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=27_68

Jay