New to the forum & need a little help - Kapex advice needed

[geo4848]

I've been looking at the kapex for a long time now. I just picked up a really big Interior trim job so I think now
is the time.Now for the help part, tons of 5 1/4 crown, lots of wall moldings & about 6,000 ft 10 in base.
Now what Dust Extractor should I get for the Kapex? & what eles might I need?

Thanks  Bill

 

[ajones]

HI bill a ct26 or 36 would be a good way to go you need a 36mm hose also

 

[Alan m]

welcome to the fog.

all of the festool vacs will work great for the kapex. althow the more capacity the better.
get a 36mm hose (shorter the better.
maybe some type of stand. maybe the ug stand and wings if you use it on site a lot

 

[Theshipstore]

[welcome] To Fog and in answer to your question the CT 26 with the 36mm hose on it will blow you away with its efficiency. The easy way to get the 36mm hose is to purchase a Tradesmen Vac Kit, this is the best pricing and bang for your buck for this hose and the attachments work well with any other cleanup that need to happen.

Sal

 

[semenza]

Hi Bill,

Happy first post !  [smile]

Sounds like you are doing a whole house. So in addition to a vac ,I think the quick set up  of the UG stand and wings would be great for moving the saw around.  Note the fact though that the Kapex crown stops will not fit on the UG extensions.  So you need to either modify or cut on the flat. Lots of threads on this , do a couple searches.

Seth

 

[ccarrolladams]

Hi Bill,
[welcome] to FOG,

Kapex is a system and quickly becomes a way of life. Given that you are buying a Kapex for a specific job on site, then for sure you will need a stand. One way to go is the MFT/Kapex but that is not so handy when you need to move from room to room. From what you shared about the job a UG stand with extensions would be your best choice to support the Kapex.

You will need top-quality dust extraction. My suggestion is the CT26 or CT36. Those use the same top with the motor and blower, as does the CT48, so if you start with say the CT26 now later you could purchase just the bottom of a CT48 for added capacity.

Kapex needs the shortest possible 36mmAS (anti-static) hose. What has worked well for me since the Kapex arrived in the USA is to buy a 36mm x 7mAS hose and two extra sets of fittings. Then I cut the 7m hose into 3 equal lengths. Those 2+m lengths are enough to connect a Kapex to a CT26 or CT36 without kinks.

If you decide to buy a Tradesman Clean-Up set, make a deal with your dealer to up-grade to the 36mm x 7mAS hose. In that case only buy one set of connectors and cut just over 2m from the long hose for the Kapex. This will leave you a most useful almost 5m of hose for cleaning. While you can clean with non-AS hose, cleaning is even better with AS hose. You really benefit from AS hose for extraction on all Festools.

 

[Neill]

Bill,

Most of all I want to say welcome to the FOG.  Great place to be to get a lot or a little, if you so desire, information on Festool and other woodworking issues.

Looks like you have gotten a lot of good advice in response to your question.

I am a hobbyist and of course laying out $1,300 for the Kapex was a lot of money for my purposes.  I can tell you though that there is not a day goes by that I regret having made that purchase.  I look forward to using it.  Mine has never needed an adjustment and I do check it fairly frequently.  The standard blade is a gem.  On some woods your cut will result in a near glass finish.

I think one of the most ignored features is the ease with which you can cut and regulate the depth of dadoes and rabbets.  You may or may not need that feature for your current project but I am sure that you will at some point in time.

Good luck to you.  I know you will be pleased.

Neill

 

[ajones]

Hi Bill,
[welcome] to FOG,

Kapex is a system and quickly becomes a way of life. Given that you are buying a Kapex for a specific job on site, then for sure you will need a stand. One way to go is the MFT/Kapex but that is not so handy when you need to move from room to room. From what you shared about the job a UG stand with extensions would be your best choice to support the Kapex.

You will need top-quality dust extraction. My suggestion is the CT26 or CT36. Those use the same top with the motor and blower, as does the CT48, so if you start with say the CT26 now later you could purchase just the bottom of a CT48 for added capacity.

Kapex needs the shortest possible 36mmAS (anti-static) hose. What has worked well for me since the Kapex arrived in the USA is to buy a 36mm x 7mAS hose and two extra sets of fittings. Then I cut the 7m hose into 3 equal lengths. Those 2+m lengths are enough to connect a Kapex to a CT26 or CT36 without kinks.

If you decide to buy a Tradesman Clean-Up set, make a deal with your dealer to up-grade to the 36mm x 7mAS hose. In that case only buy one set of connectors and cut just over 2m from the long hose for the Kapex. This will leave you a most useful almost 5m of hose for cleaning. While you can clean with non-AS hose, cleaning is even better with AS hose. You really benefit from AS hose for extraction on all Festools.

Im not sure the tub of the ct48 is interchangable with either the ct 26 or 36 anyone know for sure?

 

[DKurzweil]

I ran into this problem a few weeks ago.  I bought my first load of festool tools, including a ct48 an boom arm kit.  The boom arm kit did not fit on the ct48 because the tub is not just taller, but also wider and longer.

It was an easy fix, but I do not want to see anyone else make the same mistake, or worse purchase a smaller vac thinking the power head can be switched onto the ct48 tub. 

Hope this was clear and not too jumbled,

Daniel

 

[Steve R]

Hi Bill,
[welcome] to FOG,

Kapex is a system and quickly becomes a way of life. Given that you are buying a Kapex for a specific job on site, then for sure you will need a stand. One way to go is the MFT/Kapex but that is not so handy when you need to move from room to room. From what you shared about the job a UG stand with extensions would be your best choice to support the Kapex.

You will need top-quality dust extraction. My suggestion is the CT26 or CT36. Those use the same top with the motor and blower, as does the CT48, so if you start with say the CT26 now later you could purchase just the bottom of a CT48 for added capacity.

Kapex needs the shortest possible 36mmAS (anti-static) hose. What has worked well for me since the Kapex arrived in the USA is to buy a 36mm x 7mAS hose and two extra sets of fittings. Then I cut the 7m hose into 3 equal lengths. Those 2+m lengths are enough to connect a Kapex to a CT26 or CT36 without kinks.

If you decide to buy a Tradesman Clean-Up set, make a deal with your dealer to up-grade to the 36mm x 7mAS hose. In that case only buy one set of connectors and cut just over 2m from the long hose for the Kapex. This will leave you a most useful almost 5m of hose for cleaning. While you can clean with non-AS hose, cleaning is even better with AS hose. You really benefit from AS hose for extraction on all Festools.

Im not sure the tub of the ct48 is interchangable with either the ct 26 or 36 anyone know for sure?

Not tops and bottoms of CT do not mix and match.

 

[Alan m]

iv heard this a few times lately. could shane or someone else check to be sure

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I know the 26 and 36 are interchangeable.

Not sure about the 48.

 

[atomicmike]

Looking at EKAT, the housing for the CT 26, 36, and 48 are all part number 496243. Since that is the part that mates to the tub, it would certainly seem that the tubs can be swapped out.

- Mike

 

[Kev]

Regardless of interchangeability, the 48 is a very big unit. I was tossing up between the 26 and the 36 - empty, there is only half a kilo difference ... so I opted for the 36. The 48 is another 4.5 kilos again over the 36. Further, the price jump between the 26 and 36 is quite small, but you have a bigger jump to the 48 ... this probably makes the 36 the best cost/capacity equation. Ongoing too if you consider bags!

Flip side to this, the 26 with a cyclone on top is a fairly compact option ... bigger capacity on the DC unit itself is just extra bulk when you have a cyclone!

Further on the 48 - I'd call that a shop unit. IMO it's to big too load and unload ...

I suppose though, I am a wimp - to the point that I have a CT-Mini for sanding round the house as it's nice and portable.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Im not sure the tub of the ct48 is interchangable with either the ct 26 or 36 anyone know for sure?

Yes, they are interchangeable without any issues. The CT 26/36/48 tubs can be swapped at will.

 

[RC]

If I say bought a CTL 26 to start off with and find out that it's too small for maybe routing with my OF1.4k I could effectively upgrade it for only the plastic part & bag prise to a CTL 48?  [eek]

What are the part numbers for the CTL 36 and CTL 48 tub parts? I tried looking it up on Toolfest with no luck...

I'd love this news if the tub parts are priced reasonably enough that it's economically feasible to have tub changing as an upgrade path from CTL 26 -> CTL 36 -> CTL48 if needed. Now that would be system thinking big time  [big grin]

Especially since there is only one of me using a vac, the possibility to change just the bottom for working inside with a big tub and outside with a smaller one for portability would be extremely nice instead of having to buy two whole vacs. 

 

[peter halle]

Members have mentioned here about having a couple of sizes of tubs and then quickly swapping out them out based on the situation at hand. If you are thinking about swapping out one size tub for another, unless Festool sells the entire bottom as an assembly, there are other parts involved like wheels, axles, castors, etc.  I looked up the CT's on the electronic parts catalog and did not see an "assembly."

It would be great if a bottom "assembly" was available.

Peter

 

[tbellemare]

I posted this in another thread but it might be helpful here, also...

I just calculated the entire tub assemblies...

There are quire a few other parts involved if one wanted to be able to swap the head from tub assembly to tub assembly, $237 worth actually.

The tubs themselves are:

• CT 26 - $82.62
• CT 36 - $92.59
• CT 48 - $102.60

So, for the tub assemblies:

• CT 26 - $319.62
• CT 36 - $329.59
• CT 48 - $339.60

Tom

 

[RC]

Hmm... [scratch chin] Took a tour of ekat for the first time and I'm really positively surprised that one can get actual blow-out diagrams of a tool to look for spare parts  [jawdrop]

By comparing CT 26 E AC, CT 36 E AC and CT 48 E AC for the lower assembly part numbers it looks like you need only to buy a few parts to upgrade a VAC if you are prepared to dismantle the original bottom and rebuild it with the larger container.

If I read this correctly the following should be enough for a container size upgrade (but obviously doesn't leave you with a snap-on choice of VAC size like in Tom's calculations above):

CT 26 -> 36 upgrade would require the acquisition of parts 496267 (larger hose screen $17.83) and 496232 (the tub/container $92.58) and similarly = $110.41
CT 26 -> 48 upgrade would require the acquisition of parts 496267 (larger hose screen $17.83), 479841 (front wheel support $3), 498634 (Container $102.60) and 479809 (rear axle pipe $9.54) = $132.97
CT 36 -> 48 upgrade would require the acquisition of parts 479841 (front wheel support $3), 498634 (Container $102.60) and 479809 (rear axle pipe $9.54) = $115.14

Now I don't know if EKAT prices are with or without VAT or can anyone order spare parts for the quoted prices or how easy the reassembly would be, but theoretically it looks like it could be possible to invest in a small CTL 26 VAC first and then upgrade with a reasonable extra $$$ to the right size VAC if a 26 feels too small.

Ideas? Anyone tried this in reality?

Next stop - try to figure it out on the German EKAT for the European models... you have it so simple in NA with only a few models...  [popcorn]

 

[peter halle]

Next stop - try to figure it out on the German EKAT for the European models... you have it so simple in NA with only a few models...  [popcorn]

Rub it in. [sad]

But our website is easier to navigate.  [thumbs up]

Peter