Review of Festool Boom Arm (Product No. 492 753), Handle (Product No. 452 921), Suction Hose Holder (Product No. 487 072) and Antistatic Y (Product No. 452 898) (not sure everything made it to the subject line)
The Boom Arm and Handle is perhaps some of the best money I have spent on a Festool accessory. It greatly enhances the use of any Festool tool by making the CT vacuum hose and power cord more manageable, especially when used in conjunction with a guide rail. I bought my Boom Arm and Handle used for a great price, but even at the current pricing and after using it for several months, I think it is a great deal and something that I whole-heartedly endorse. It may be one of those things that someone does not fully understand or appreciate until you use it and see how much easier it is to sand, saw and route without fighting the cord and hose. I am no longer tripping over the hose or stepping on it as I move around my shop and the Plug-it cord is not getting caught on the edge of my work piece any longer, reducing frustration. This is much safer and prevents me from damaging the hose or my work. Since the hose and cord are held from above it keeps the tool moving freely across the guide rail or the work piece. It also puts the hose and cord at the optimum height for sanding or sawing at the MFT/3.
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You need to buy both the Boom Arm and the Handle in order to have the pieces to attach everything to your CT. For those that have the handle, you can just buy the Boom Arm itself and you will have everything you need. Festool also has a special offer that includes a Boom Arm Tool Holder (Product No. 493 558) with the Boom Arm and the Handle for a savings of $61.00 (at the time of this posting) off of buying everything separately. The reason why I have so many item numbers in the subject line is because I also use the Suction Hose Holder along with the Boom Arm and Handle to keep the hoses manageable and off the floor at all times. I can easily roll my CT22 around my garage shop with this set-up and it and it allows me to quickly store my CT when not in use. The Suction Hose Holder allows me to keep the large section of 50 mm hose off of the floor as well as the extension cord that runs from the CT plug to the Plug-it Cord that is attached to the Boom Arm. I use the Antistatic Y-piece to allow me to use two hoses together (such as with the Plexiglas Template).
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Included with the Boom Arm itself is a short section (5 feet) of 50 mm hose, the Boom Arm comprised of 3 steel tubes that connect together; 6 hose and cord clips that will accommodate either a 27 mm or 36 mm diameter hose as well as a Plug-it Cord (neither of these two hoses or Plug-it Cord is included); a short piece (5 feet) of 15 AMP extension cord; two side arms that fold flat against the machine when not in use as well as cross-brace (not pictured) that connects to the bottom of each arm when extended to keep the CT balanced when using the Boom Arm at right angles to the CT. The Boom Arm connects to the Handle and it held in place at the bottom with a small hose-clamp and a wire clip that attaches around the bottom steel tube. This keeps the tube perpendicular to the handle at the CT extractor. The Handle is very useful in maneuvering the CT around the shop and would be a worthy investment by itself. It includes two places to store accessories such as tubing from one of the cleaning sets to make them more accessible.
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The Boom Arm is very well constructed and rugged. The previous owner had an incident with a garage door that came down on the Boom Arm side and it sheared the bolt that prevents the Boom Arm from swinging in a 360 degree arc. It bent the tub along the edge (you can see where the paint is chipping away); however, this has had no ill effect on the operation or use of this accessory whatsoever. If the bolt were installed it would limit the arc of movement of the Boom Arm to 140 degrees, but I really like the convenience of being able to swing it anywhere around the MFT/3 and I have read that some users actually take the bolt out to allow more movement.
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The Boom Arm still allows you to stack several Systainers on top of the CT without issue. There is about 42 ½ inches between the tube of the Boom Arm where it bends upward to the base of the CT. This allows you to stack two Sys 4’s and two Sys 3’s under the tubing without restricting its movement. Pictured are two Sys 4’s, a Sys 3 and one Sys 2. I keep several Systainers attached to my CT at all times and I find that it helps stabilize the set-up. The Boom Arm can also support the use of two different hoses and the Plug-it cord. I use the heavier 16-gauge Plug-it cord so that I can use any tool without having to connect or disconnect the power cord. I also installed a 36 mm hose in the clip and then use hook and loop strips to secure a 27 mm hose alongside the 36 mm hose. This has worked great and I can swap hoses to accommodate different needs.
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While I have this installed on a CT22 extractor, it also works with the CT 33 with the same parts (this will not work with the CT Mini or CT Midi extractors). If you own one of the newer CT26 or CT36 extractors, you need to buy a different handle (Product No. 495 802) and a support bracket (Product No. 496 780). Regardless of what CT you currently own, I think this is a fantastic accessory and I encourage anyone thinking about one to try it out. It has made a tremendous difference to me in the shop allowing me to focus on my work and not having to worry about the hose or power cord.
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The Boom Arm and Handle is perhaps some of the best money I have spent on a Festool accessory. It greatly enhances the use of any Festool tool by making the CT vacuum hose and power cord more manageable, especially when used in conjunction with a guide rail. I bought my Boom Arm and Handle used for a great price, but even at the current pricing and after using it for several months, I think it is a great deal and something that I whole-heartedly endorse. It may be one of those things that someone does not fully understand or appreciate until you use it and see how much easier it is to sand, saw and route without fighting the cord and hose. I am no longer tripping over the hose or stepping on it as I move around my shop and the Plug-it cord is not getting caught on the edge of my work piece any longer, reducing frustration. This is much safer and prevents me from damaging the hose or my work. Since the hose and cord are held from above it keeps the tool moving freely across the guide rail or the work piece. It also puts the hose and cord at the optimum height for sanding or sawing at the MFT/3.
[attachthumb=#]
You need to buy both the Boom Arm and the Handle in order to have the pieces to attach everything to your CT. For those that have the handle, you can just buy the Boom Arm itself and you will have everything you need. Festool also has a special offer that includes a Boom Arm Tool Holder (Product No. 493 558) with the Boom Arm and the Handle for a savings of $61.00 (at the time of this posting) off of buying everything separately. The reason why I have so many item numbers in the subject line is because I also use the Suction Hose Holder along with the Boom Arm and Handle to keep the hoses manageable and off the floor at all times. I can easily roll my CT22 around my garage shop with this set-up and it and it allows me to quickly store my CT when not in use. The Suction Hose Holder allows me to keep the large section of 50 mm hose off of the floor as well as the extension cord that runs from the CT plug to the Plug-it Cord that is attached to the Boom Arm. I use the Antistatic Y-piece to allow me to use two hoses together (such as with the Plexiglas Template).
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Included with the Boom Arm itself is a short section (5 feet) of 50 mm hose, the Boom Arm comprised of 3 steel tubes that connect together; 6 hose and cord clips that will accommodate either a 27 mm or 36 mm diameter hose as well as a Plug-it Cord (neither of these two hoses or Plug-it Cord is included); a short piece (5 feet) of 15 AMP extension cord; two side arms that fold flat against the machine when not in use as well as cross-brace (not pictured) that connects to the bottom of each arm when extended to keep the CT balanced when using the Boom Arm at right angles to the CT. The Boom Arm connects to the Handle and it held in place at the bottom with a small hose-clamp and a wire clip that attaches around the bottom steel tube. This keeps the tube perpendicular to the handle at the CT extractor. The Handle is very useful in maneuvering the CT around the shop and would be a worthy investment by itself. It includes two places to store accessories such as tubing from one of the cleaning sets to make them more accessible.
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The Boom Arm is very well constructed and rugged. The previous owner had an incident with a garage door that came down on the Boom Arm side and it sheared the bolt that prevents the Boom Arm from swinging in a 360 degree arc. It bent the tub along the edge (you can see where the paint is chipping away); however, this has had no ill effect on the operation or use of this accessory whatsoever. If the bolt were installed it would limit the arc of movement of the Boom Arm to 140 degrees, but I really like the convenience of being able to swing it anywhere around the MFT/3 and I have read that some users actually take the bolt out to allow more movement.
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The Boom Arm still allows you to stack several Systainers on top of the CT without issue. There is about 42 ½ inches between the tube of the Boom Arm where it bends upward to the base of the CT. This allows you to stack two Sys 4’s and two Sys 3’s under the tubing without restricting its movement. Pictured are two Sys 4’s, a Sys 3 and one Sys 2. I keep several Systainers attached to my CT at all times and I find that it helps stabilize the set-up. The Boom Arm can also support the use of two different hoses and the Plug-it cord. I use the heavier 16-gauge Plug-it cord so that I can use any tool without having to connect or disconnect the power cord. I also installed a 36 mm hose in the clip and then use hook and loop strips to secure a 27 mm hose alongside the 36 mm hose. This has worked great and I can swap hoses to accommodate different needs.
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While I have this installed on a CT22 extractor, it also works with the CT 33 with the same parts (this will not work with the CT Mini or CT Midi extractors). If you own one of the newer CT26 or CT36 extractors, you need to buy a different handle (Product No. 495 802) and a support bracket (Product No. 496 780). Regardless of what CT you currently own, I think this is a fantastic accessory and I encourage anyone thinking about one to try it out. It has made a tremendous difference to me in the shop allowing me to focus on my work and not having to worry about the hose or power cord.
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