New CT26 dust collector to replace Sears shop vac

[sprior]

This last weekend I bought the ETS 125 EQ sander, the CT 26 dust collector, and the Universal Cleaning kit.  I already own the TS 55.  My goal was to use the dust collection for the sander and the saw, but also to replace the Sears shop vac with the CT 26.  But I'm noticing that the nozzles with the Universal cleaning kit seem toy sized compared to the ones that come with the Sears vac and for example what seem like small chunks of wood from cutting things on my bandsaw which I'd normally just suck into the vac aren't going to fit past the Festool nozzle, yet this nozzle size appears to be the most common size in any of the Festool accessories.  The only bigger option seems to be the Industrial Cleaning kit which has a 50mm hose, but seems to be less commonly owned.

So I'm starting to wonder if my expectations are incorrect.  If the CT26 is ONLY meant for sawdust and not a real replacement for a shop vac then I should probably have gone with a smaller unit.  Otherwise maybe I bought the wrong accessory kit.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kev]

My thoughts centre round the fact that the CT's are great, the antistatic hoses are great, the various cleaning kits are naff.

The nozzles are no better than what you'd get with a cheap home vac for the house.

(I've got the most basic kit as well as the professional kit ...)

They do have different nozzles, but they're very expensive and there's nothing that's "magically Festool" about the vac nozzle and handle accessories.

The CT's will pick up your stuff - it's just a case of the accessories suffering little nozzle syndrome !

 

[nickao]

You can get many nozzles etc online that will fit the Festool for pennies(well compared to the Festool accessories). I use my Festool CT's for tool dust. When I want to clean I use a 30.00 crap shop vac, which is what a large Festool nozzle cost. I catch my kids cleaning up the shop for anything other than sawdust with my CT's and they get yelled at.

For me personally, the Festool CT is a tool for dust collection and a shop vac is a tool for cleaning crap and larger pieces. I just don't like using a 675.00  dust collection device to suck up large pieces of wood and misc crap.

 

[mouppe]

I think you'll be better off with the tradesman or workshop cleaning kit than the universal cleaning kit. It comes with a 36mm hose as well which will be more useful for the saws and routers than the 27mm hose, and the tubes are aluminum instead of plastic. The floor nozzle is much better too.

The CT vac is not a very good substitute for a shop vac when it comes to hoovering up hand plane shavings, or being attached to a planer or some other machine that generates a lot of big chips fast. But it is the best complement for the festool tool range, whether it be sanders, routers, jigsaws, saws etc.

I have a shop vac and a CT22 and between them they cover all needs. One is not a replacement for the other.

 

[NoBreyner]

I have a top mounted Dust Deputy on my CT Mini and don't worry about bags or what I suck up so much as most/all of it ends up in a 5 gallon bucket before ever reaching the vac.  I still have the 27 mm hose and the small opening is a pain for sucking up the larger things, but that's an issue I'll have to deal with until I can get the 36mm hose.  I use the accessories that came with a wet/dry vac for the Mini, but the extensions are the same diameter as the 27mm hose's end.  I got a rubber 1.25"x1.25" rubber hose connector that has two hose clamps from plumbing at Lowes and synched one clamp tightly to one extension and tightened up the other hose clamp so it's just snug on the 27mm end connector so I can slip it on and off and will not fall off.

The ply on the top is to keep the lid from caving in.  I've had this setup for just under a year and the lid was slowly giving into the suction and finally caved in so it wouldn't seat on the bucket.  I forced the outer lip back down then put the ply on the top and solved that problem.

I regularly vacuum the garage floor, remove all but the first extension and a brush attachment to vacuum the car, attach a crevice tool on the first extension to clean in tight spots around and in the lathe and drill press.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I suggest you try to use the hose and accessories from your Sears vac with the CT26 for general cleanup.  There's a good chance the hose will fit.

 

[nickao]

Brice is right on. I just checked and most of my Craftsman, Shopvac, Rigid and no name nozzles and misc attachments(and I have about 30) fit the Festool ends and some of the hoses push into the Festool CT itself as well.

 

[cgmojoco]

Don't take a Ferrari off-roading

Seriously though
Here is my take on where things fit

GOT DUST with your Festools?  Use Festool 'extractor' ---the boom arm setup makes a difference in workflow and the Festools love it and you will live longer without breathing in dust on common/routing, jigsawwing, sawing to size with tracksaw etc).
Got Shavings ?  Use larger dust collector system for non-Festool products (thickness planers/jointers) and or shavings left around by your planes/gauges/chisels.
GOT LARGER DEBRIS?  Use a cheapy vac.  (But don't suck dust up with that; it'll get clogged fast!)

My Festool dust extractor doesn't move around the shop much----pretty much tied to the 'MFT area' for sanding/cutting and I use the heck outta the boomarm attached to it---night and day workflow.
My Fein turbo vac (ok not a cheapy vac in the traditional sense but I got it for $40) I use for all general cleaning including large wood shavings etc. left on the floor.

If I'm running an industrial machine like a planar or jointer, I'm using a central dust collector with 4" ports.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Don't take a Ferrari off-roading ..............

I disagree.  I use my My CT26 to suck up the nastiest stuff, plaster dust, concrete dust, nails/screws, I even cleaned up rat feces before.  These vacs can handle it no problem.  It's more like taking the Ferrari to the race track than off road.

 

[sprior]

@Richard - I checked the the Tradesman, Universal, and Workshop cleaning kits all use a 36mm hose, the only Festool kit that's bigger is the Industrial hose which is 50mm.  I don't think I care about the straight hoses being metal, but the Tradesman nozzle does look bigger.

I should have clarified my workshop setup more for my question.  I've got a Delta 1200 CFM dust collector with a garbage can cyclone top for bigger shavings - I have a lathe so large batches of shavings either get shoveled or sucked into the garbage can for eventual disposal outside.  That dust collector also gets used for my jointer and thickness planar.   So that's in place for the really high volume stuff.  Before this weekend I just had the shop vac for everything else, general sweepings which can include small chunks of wood made by relief cuts at the band saw.  When I turn any material (like plastic for a pen) that I wouldn't dump outside I'd also clean that up with the shop vac.

One thing that REALLY bugs me about the shop vac is the filter is constantly getting clogged and the suction goes to nothing and the fine dust gets blown back out.

While I like the TS55 and the sander and will use them often enough to appreciate them, it'd probably take a LONG time for me to fill a CT 26 bag with just those two tools.  If that's all it'd get used for I should trade it in for a Mini or Midi.

So I'm not sucking up nails or anything, but I don't want to have to be too fussy about what I clean up with the CT26 and smallish chunks getting caught in that dinky 36mm nozzle from the Universal kit would get old fast.

Thanks for the tip about the hoses and nozzles from the Sears vac fitting - don't know why I didn't think of that.  Don't know now whether I should keep the Universal cleaning set for some special occasion or return it and just use the shop vac hose for floor cleaning and the anti-static 27mm hose for the TS55 and sander.

 

[sprior]

Actually, with the HEPA filter I'd think the Festool is what you'd want to use for concrete dust and rat feces since it'll keep that stuff out of the air instead of blowing some back like the shop vac will.

 

[sprior]

The CT26 is a tool - I'm not tempted to Armor All its wheels every weekend.  [big grin]

 

[Brice Burrell]

The CT26 is a tool - I'm not tempted to Armor All its wheels every weekend.   [big grin]

And why not.  I'll let you know I have the sweetest looking CT wheels on the block. [tongue]

BTW, here's a shot of my CT26 getting down and dirty.  These puppies really can handle anything you throw at them.
[attachthumb=#]

 

[Kev]

You can even use them to block the door against intruders ...

 

[cgmojoco]

Don't take a Ferrari off-roading ..............

I disagree.  I use my My CT26 to suck up the nastiest stuff, plaster dust, concrete dust, nails/screws, I even cleaned up rat feces before.  These vacs can handle it no problem.  It's more like taking the Ferrari to the race track than off road.

I guess my situation is particular to me ---  I hope the OP finds what he needs, but for the sake of discussion, my habits are dictated more by my particular setup and workflow rather than by what I think the vac can do.

I've got my Festool 36 AC tethered to my boom arm and between routing, sawing, jigsawing, sanding, that baby fills up often enough that I feel I get full use out of it.  I don't really move it much around the shop with it being tethered to the Festool boom arm  (A custom boom arm might be easier to remove and reattach a vac, but I'm happy with the Festool one for the time it took to research and build (0).  If I do a concrete job or drywall job, I'll take off the boom arm and bring the 36 AC to the site as this vac can handle tasks like those nicely (though I'm not  finding myself needing to do these jobs---its there if I need it).

Can the $600+ vac handle anything short of radioactive or bio waste? Most definitely.  Is it worth getting another HEPA vac that does the crap jobs?  For me yes (only cost me $40 off Craigslsit).

Am I going to suck up anything but wood into my $600 + vacuum?  Not really.  I do have the tradesman set and it has attachments that pick up anything of size that I want going in that vac.

Its a personal preference, but I'm the guy that is going to baby a machine like that a little --- and besides I don't WANT it to fill fast, as I want a vac always ready to go to sand, saw, jig RIGHT NOW without worrying about whether I need to add time to clean out the Vac).

I don't have a problem sucking crap stuff wet/dry up with my other HEPA vacuum that I toss around like a rag doll (I don't actually have a cheapy shop vac) --- I take that with me on sites and use it with my Festool gear too  on short site jobs  where I don't want to bring the big guy

I've found that the larger more expensive HEPA vac bound to the shop 99% of the time, with a cheaper dust extractor without fancy stuff like non-static hose, variable suction, etc.  (though you can probably get a smaller Festool vac that still has those feature for reasonable cost too), works for me.

Having two HEPA vacs really helps me with my workflow...one main that can handle the woodworking needs, and one cheaper model maybe...that can handle the other  stuff.

Just my two cents ---  oh, and my main vac I keep in the shop stays pretty!

Christopher

 

[mouppe]

@Richard - I checked the the Tradesman, Universal, and Workshop cleaning kits all use a 36mm hose, the only Festool kit that's bigger is the Industrial hose which is 50mm.  I don't think I care about the straight hoses being metal, but the Tradesman nozzle does look bigger.

That's what I meant- all kits come with a 36mm hose so you are not losing out on hose diameter by getting a different kit. I can see the ambiguity of what I wrote, though, sorry!

 

[sprior]

Figured I'd add a picture of my workshop to compare to the environment Brice's CT works in  [smile].

Out of frame are my Delta dust collector and the power tools on mobile bases (table saw, band saw, jointer, thickness planar).

This picture is how I leave my shop after every project and usually at the end of the day during a project.  Feel free to picture
a garbage can's worth of shavings in front of the lathe.  The new CT26 won't get Armor All on its wheels every Saturday, but
it won't be treated like a jobsite vac.

[attachthumb=#]

 

[FOGNewbie]

More of a question than advice. Would one consider the CT 36 Auto Clean instead? At 137 CFM that is more that the HEPA Dustless Technologies shop vac I have(116 CFM). With the Auto Clean feature it seems like you wouldn't have to worry about the filters plugging up. It seems like this vac really covers the full spectrum. Well minus large debris anyway. Personally, that is what a garbage bag and hands are for.

Any thoughts?

 

[sprior]

I actually thought the autoclean was now standard on all their vacs, but now I've done more checking and understand it better.  The CT26,36,48 all have the new self-cleaning bag technology where when turned off the bag collapses to crack off any caked dust off the inside of the bag.  All of these vacs are HEPA certified.  The CT 36 Autoclean is a specialized version of the vac which is actually NOT HEPA certified and the autoclean function is a backwash valve which pops every 15 or so seconds which causes back pressure to cause dust to blast off the top filter (not the filter bag), but that dust just goes into the cavity and gets sucked back into the filter eventually.  This function is really meant for drywall dust and the pop is a noticeable noise which might bug you in normal use.  In addition the autoclean function (which is only available on the CT 36 in the US, but in all three sizes in Europe) adds about $100 to the cost, and then if you want the HEPA filter you have to swap out the filter to add it (and then you're still not HEPA certified) and I assume they didn't include the HEPA filter for a performance reason since it's standard everywhere else.

Also, if this is for non day to day contractor use as just a dust collector the CT 36 is probably major overkill.

 

[Sean.M]

Don't take a Ferrari off-roading ..............

I disagree.  I use my My CT26 to suck up the nastiest stuff, plaster dust, concrete dust, nails/screws, I even cleaned up rat feces before.  These vacs can handle it no problem.  It's more like taking the Ferrari to the race track than off road.

I expect it to do everything except wet work, mine is mobile so carrying a separate vac will just be a waste of  cargo space. It is a tool with a good warranty so put them to the test is my way of thinking.