Shop-Made Boom Arms

[Mark]

For non-boomers like myself, I rigged up some bungie cord screwed into a rafter that held the hose and power cord off of the work surface. Worked great and kept my vac mobile. Its no boom arm but between having the hose and power cord drag on the ground and getting a full blown boom arm, this solution improved the operator experience 100% IMHO. Have to try the boom arm next time I'm at the Woodcraft in Hawaii.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

For non-boomers like myself, I rigged up some bungie cord screwed into a rafter that held the hose and power cord off of the work surface. Worked great and kept my vac mobile. Its no boom arm but between having the hose and power cord drag on the ground and getting a full blown boom arm, this solution improved the operator experience 100% IMHO. Have to try the boom arm next time I'm at the Woodcraft in Hawaii.

You know what I'm going to say next...we need photos!

Also, I wonder whether it might be interesting to let your post be the start of a new topic.  Maybe call it something like "shop-made boom arms"?  We already have a discussion about "shop-made sysports."  Yours would be equivalent to that.  Just an offer.  It's up to you.

Matthew

 

[semenza]

Also, I wonder whether it might be interesting to let your post be the start of a new topic.  Maybe call it something like "shop-made boom arms"?  We already have a discussion about "shop-made sysports."  Yours would be equivalent to that.  Just an offer.  It's up to you.

Matthew

      Great idea Matthew! Perhaps this should be expanded to include CT hose and pipe set ups , boom or no-boom? When I get my set up done I will post it.

Seth Semenza

 

[Matthew Schenker]

OK, this is now a new topic!  Use this space to discuss your ideas for shop-made boom arms.
Matthew 

 

[semenza]

Hi,

   This is the set up I just finished putting together.  The gray pipe is 2" conduit. I used conduit because of the smooth curves and bell end connections for a good air flow. It does not swing, but the location  allows the hose to reach both my work bench and cutting table for all the Festool use. I have only tested it out. But will soon use it for a job. I suspect that it wil be changed again, but I will have to do some real work to find out for sure. If anyone has questions or wants details  I will be happy to reply.

Seth Semenza

UPDATE:    I have been using this for close to a year now. And it has worked out very well.  I have not yet found anything that I would change.   The fact that it does not swing does not seem to matter in my set up. Just tha fact that it comes from above keps it from dragging or coiling in the way / under foot.   When Iset this up I did spend some experimental time figuring out the right height and distance from the cutting table  ( http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=3318.0  )  .  For sanding, to make the hose truly free swinging and to adjust the length just right , I put it through a bungie cord hanging from  the ceiling in addition. I think that I would probably do this even if the arm did swing.

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[Eli]

The gray conduit is a slip fit directly to the extractor?

 

[Corwin]

Have you tried running copper wire inside & outside the pipe to complete the antistatic connection?  Might not be too hard to install on your setup -- I'm not sure this would work, but I would try placing a Festool AS fitting at either end of your pipe, run the wires and connect to the AS fittings.  Just a thought.

Very nice setup!  Looks like this will work well for you. 

Corwin

 

[semenza]

The gray conduit is a slip fit directly to the extractor?

Hi,

      No, but it is only about a 1/16" (1.5mm)  too big.  I clamped it to a workbench, and reduced the OD of the conduit with a sanding drum chucked in a handheld drill. I drew a line around the conduit with a marker in order to get it nice and even. It worked well and didn't take long to do either. Any method you come up with (rasping, perhaps a stationary belt sander)  to reduce the OD a little that will give a nice even length of reduction and wall thickness will work. This was also done on the other end so that I could use a regular hose to hose connector joining the hose and conduit.  After the reduction in OD everything is now a slip fit.

Seth

 

[Eli]

Nice, very nice. Has that clean install I think we're always going for.

 

[Ned]

Seth, what's the light green sleeve on the hose near the tool end?  I'm guessing it keeps the hose ribs from catching.  Am I right?  What material is the sleeve?

Ned

 

[semenza]

Seth, what's the light green sleeve on the hose near the tool end?  I'm guessing it keeps the hose ribs from catching.  Am I right?  What material is the sleeve?

Ned

Hi,

    The sleeve material is techflex. Originally suggested to me by programmergeek . It is an expanable , flexable nylon mesh tube. Available in any length and several diameter ranges.  It does cover the ribs and hold the cord to the hose. The ribs don't catch at all on the rail deflector, or most table edges. It does tend to snag  (almost worse) on saw kerfs along the edge of my cut table.  I am not 100% sure I am going to like it for my set up. It seems to be somwhat situational.  I tried it with a sander and it seemed to be real good for that. Allowing the hose and cord to slide back and forth over the edge of my bench with no catching. How good it works will depend on what it is skiding across.    A 15' length of 1 1/4" diameter is just right for the D27 x 11.5' standard hose and cord if you want to do the entire length.  You need a little more than the actaul length because it shorten as it is expnaded in diameter.

Seth

 

[bijeshj]

Hi,
This is a Boom arm that I put together using 1" PVC pipes. while it is not as good a the real thing it has worked for me.
It is attached to my Ridgid shop vac.

OK, let me see if I can attach the images!!

Bijesh

 

[Mike_Chrest]

bijeshj ,
  Thats a good looking boom! How is it attached to the vac? Does it pivot?
Mike

 

[denverdad]

bijeshj,

That does look sweet!

What are the brackets holding the hose to the PVC? Did you use the threaded PVC fittings in case of a clog? What was your total cost on the arm?

I just got my first Festools a week ago, and so far a bungy cord has been working great. I used zipties about every foot along the hose to attach the cord and that made a huge difference as well in controlling the cord and hose. I think I got both ideas off this forum.

Randy

 

[bijeshj]

Thanks Guys.

I already had a 1" PVC pipe. Used threaded couplers to join the pieces together to make it easy to dismantle for storage if I need to. It pivots on one of the bottom threaded joint. Got the brackets from the electrical section in HD, makes it easy to remove the hose. It is attached to the vac by a couple of brackets (not drilled to the container)

It was not very expensive, Approx. cost $20.00.

Regards
Bijesh

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Everyone,
This is a great thread.

I have a question.  How far do you think one could run a dust hose and still be effective?  My shop is pretty small, and it would be great if I could set a CT22 or CT33 in an adjacent room to my shop, then run a dust-collection hose, with a boom-arm, into the shop area.  All told, it would run perhaps 20'.  Does anyone see an issue with this?

Matthew

 

[Michael Kellough]

Everyone,
This is a great thread.

I have a question.  How far do you think one could run a dust hose and still be effective?  My shop is pretty small, and it would be great if I could set a CT22 or CT33 in an adjacent room to my shop, then run a dust-collection hose, with a boom-arm, into the shop area.  All told, it would run perhaps 20'.  Does anyone see an issue with this?

Matthew

Resistance to the air flow is cumulative and bends in the hose also greatly increase resistance so it might be better to not use the boom except in some rudimentary form at the tool end of the line. The bigger the hose the better. You also want to use the biggest hose at the vac end of the run. To save money the big hose could be non-AS and you could bypass it with a wire to maintain the AS characteristic of the hose at the tool.

This should easily be sufficient for sanding and probably sawing but probably not good enough for routing. I sometimes do this with my Fein shop vac (which hangs from the ceiling so isn't too portable) via that inexpensive orange hose sold by several of the WW suppliers and it works.

 

[semenza]

Everyone,
This is a great thread.

I have a question.  How far do you think one could run a dust hose and still be effective?  My shop is pretty small, and it would be great if I could set a CT22 or CT33 in an adjacent room to my shop, then run a dust-collection hose, with a boom-arm, into the shop area.  All told, it would run perhaps 20'.  Does anyone see an issue with this?

Matthew

Hi, Matthew

      The set up I posted above has 10' of 2" ID pipe with the three curves. And then the D27 x 11.5' hose. The 2" and curves are all smooth inside which helps compared to a ridged hose. This goes up and over as shown in the pics. Suction is plenty strong, I can't tell the difference from using just the hose. I also had a test set up of this that was two feet of 2 1/2" hose (not good hose either) then six feet of 2"pipe (pieced together) then another five feet of 2 1/2" hose, totaling 13 feet  then the D27 x 11.5' hose. Same basic arrangement. This also  had the same suction as far as I could tell when using it. I suspect that a CT would draw just fine through a 20 ' pipe with a hose added on at the other end. PVC is pretty cheap, if you really want to know buy 20' of 2" , rig it up  temporarily and see if it works.  I think if you go much bigger than 2" ID you might start running into the problem of not pulling enough air volume through it.

Seth

   

 

[bruegf]

If I remember correctly, the one of the dryer engineers at work told me every 90 degree bend in a dryer hose results in a 20% reduction in air flow.  I assume the same is true of a vacuum as opposed to a blower but I'll try to remember to ask at work tomorrow.

Fred

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Everyone,
This is a great thread.

I have a question.  How far do you think one could run a dust hose and still be effective?  My shop is pretty small, and it would be great if I could set a CT22 or CT33 in an adjacent room to my shop, then run a dust-collection hose, with a boom-arm, into the shop area.  All told, it would run perhaps 20'.  Does anyone see an issue with this?

Matthew

Matthew,

I vacuumed out 3-4 inches of mineral wool insulation from the attic of my house using a Fein Turbo II , its standard 16 ft x 35mm? hose to the end of which I coupled another 12 ft hose and various tool ends.  Although the end of the run nearest the vacuum was an 8 ft drop, the rest was horizontal across the tops of the ceiling joists.  That setup worked fine, and the Fein never whimpered.  The density of the mineral wool and the large amount of shot [little balls that detach from the ends of the mineral wool fibers] is much greater than any wood.  The Festool CT-22 draws more air than the Fein.  Your extended hose setup should work OK.  The planer or router are likely to give it the most severe test.  Sanders will certainly not be a problem.

Dave R.