Will Two CT48E Dust Extractors in Parallel Handle These

[GerryV]

Besides my Festool stuff, I have a Dewalt DW735 planer and a Shopbot BT48alpha CNC Router. I sold my stationary Oneida Gorilla dust system when I decided to downsize a lot for retirement (still underway).

I was going to get a portable Oneida cyclone with HEPA but am now wondering if I use two Festool CT48E extractors in parallel using a Y connector I might have enough flow to handle these machines assuming they're not running at the same time. I could also stick a Veritas cyclone lid on a garbage can in between if necessary but this isn't a commercial operation so holding volume is less important than having adequate CFM.

I think this approach would actually cost me less as I could sell my smaller capacity, existing Festool vac., have the benefit of more portability and likely be able to save a bit of space. The only possible downsides I see are (1) I may not be able to use the tool triggered operation but that's no big deal and (2) the HEPA filter on the Festool is dramatically smaller than even the small Oneida ones, especially if they don't take to cleaning very well or at all, so that could get expensive. BTW, are bags a must in these vacs or is it okay to use the tank only?

Is anyone running a parallel dual setup like this - especially with the DW735 planer?

 

[SPARKY FROM WINNIPEG]

I thought the Dewalt had a blower on it and a bag you placed over a garbage can to collect the shavings.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Although I've never tried what you attempting, I think you're on the wrong track with the Festool vacs for these applications.  Maybe someone out there has experience and will chime in here. 

As for using the Festool vacs without the filter bag, it is not advisable, especially with high a volume chips/dust that your larger tools will produce.  As long as you use the filter bag your HEPA filter will last a very long time.     

 

[canadamike]

In my shop I process alot of lumber direct from trees that I cut or I buy from a local sawyer. For dressing rough lumber I use a large cyclone (Clearvue), and it produces about 35 gallons of chips in 30 minutes. It gets dumped in a steel bin with a liner that I can empty with out too much effort.

For all the detailed work (cutting to length, width etc) I use the MFT system with a Dust Deputy on a CT36. It works like a charm.

The Festool CT works very well for me when doing things that do not produce a pile of chips. When you need to do some serious milling, I find a bigger chip collection system is needed.

 

[Kev]

I'm not sure connecting to DC's in parallel will work optimally ... I'm tempted to find a "Y" piece and see what happens [wink]

Probably need a decent air flow meter too!

 

[ScotF]

I think the issue is volume of air...you can only push out so much volume in  27 or 36 or 50mm hose.  Two vacs sucking air through a certain diamter is not going to improve performance that much.  I think a portable DC would be better fitted with a 4 inch goes.

Scot

 

[snowman996]

For the thickness planer you would be better buying a cheap chinese 1hp dust collector because you need a lot of air to collect the chips, in my opinion, there is no way two Festool vacs could produce enough air movement for that purpose.
At my shop I have two dust collecting systems , first one is  a Oneida 3hp Gorilla cyclone with 5" metal duct  plugged to each big machines. The second network is made of a Festool CT26 plugged to a small Clearview cyclone (made before Oneida sued them) connected to central vac type ducting network that goes to each of my work stations (Kapex and two assembling workbench) with Festool blast gates (self cleaning and totaly sealed)

 

[tbellemare]

Is anyone running a parallel dual setup like this - especially with the DW735 planer?

I run a DW735 using a 50mm hose connected to a CT 26 w/ Long-Life bag. It works fine but fills up fast. I used to run it using the same set up and a CT 22. The planer has a good blower so the dust extractor isn't doing most of the work but it is helping at least contain the fine dust. I wouldn't want to run this set up with less than the 50mm hose.

Until I fill the bag, it contains virtually everything. When the bag gets full, it gets obvious...

Tom

 

[GerryV]

Really appreciate all the feedback so far, thanks. I've also been scouring other forums for Q/A's specific to the DW735 planer and have been doing a few calculations myself. In no particular order here's a summary of facts and impressions so far in case anyone else is thinking of doing the same thing... and in case I'm wrong on some of them.

First though, let me better clarify "why" I'm trying to eliminate the need for a large dust collection system. It's not just because of the reduced flexibility and portability but because I'm looking to build the smallest possible but still safe and functional workshop, knowing in advance that Canadian and American perceptions of "small yet functional" are vastly different (larger) than most Europeans Thus, it's not the few hundred dollars more or less for one DC or another, it's the tens of thousands difference in building the shop and I'm determined to go in the direction of the European model - not right or wrong, just personal preference.

1. The DW735 has a built-in blower that is very effective so rather than presenting a resistance to the DC it likely adds a degree of capacity. This is pretty much proven as several users report that it blows the lid off (literally in this case) when the LV/Veritas cyclone lid is mounted on too small a drum - large drums seem to be fine.

2. Those depending on the (now discontinued) Dewalt collection bag or lower cost portable DC's find that fine dust is a problem, which is to be expected.

3. While most lower cost shopvacs can't handle the CFM being pushed out by the DW735's blower, a few users, including here have found that set up correctly, even one Festool can indeed handle the CFM needs, at least with moderate use like mine would be.

4. Chip/dust holding capacity was where most people ran into problems using "shop-vac" type units but then, that's a pretty well recognized issue for anyone running a reasonably capable planer and the solution is very straight forward - a bigger drum or bag. Therefore, I'd mount a low cost Super Dust Deputy with a large drum between the Y and the planer. In fact, I'd mount it on a modified tall, narrow Sonotube to minimize footprint while maximizing holding capacity with height.

5. For this part, I'm working on the assumption that the engineers at both Festool and Dewalt have designed their machine port sizes to match their CFM requirements. The DW735 has an actual 2.5" port with an adapter to fit a 4" flex hose. That say's that even with the benefit of their built-in blower, 2.5" will handle the planers max output. The area of a 2.5" port is 4.9 sq. in. The area of a 50 mm Festool hose is 3.04 sq. in. so I could run into trouble if I ran the planer at its capacity keeping in mind that its blower is pushing more CFM than one Festool extractor can pull. But, it would seem, not two Festools with 50 mm hoses @ 3.04 each = 6.08 sq. in. of area vs. the DW735's 4.9 sq. in.

6. Based on all of this and especially the final assumption in item 5, it "seems" like it would be a fairly safe bet that hooking up two Festool dust extractors in parallel through a properly sized Y connector "should" provide all of the CFM I need to handle that planer and I'm pretty confident that my Shopbot typically running no more than 1/2" bits at around 4 inches per second would produce a lot less dust than the planer would chips and dust.

All that said, I could certainly be wrong on some of this so hoping that if any of you have the time, you'll either back up to some degree or point out weaknesses in these assumptions with further feedback.

Thanks kindly,
Gerry

Addendum: I forgot to note that the Y connector would not be the standard Festool one because, with two 50mm hoses drawing on it, the frontside of the Y leading to the cyclone (or directly to the planer) would need to be at least a 2.5" diameter to handle the combined draw without throttling.

 

[Sparktrician]

I recently purchased a DW735.  The output goes into a 4" elbow, then a reducer to 2.5".  That feeds a hose going to the Dust Deputy's input.  The output of the Dust Deputy goes to my older Shop Vac via a 2.5" hose.  I haven't had time to use it much, but the Dust Deputy sure does fill up quickly while the bag in the Shop Vac has seen little filling.  I anticipate having to shift to a larger cyclone at some point, but for now, the assembly seems to work well. 

 

[Michael Kellough]

I'd try the dust deputy before buying another vacuum. With the biggest hoses it just might work.

 

[jallen03]

No vac needed for the 735...I just an old 2.5" shop vac hose fed into the inlet hole of an old used CT36 bag that I have sitting in a trash can.  I cut a slit at the end of the bag opposite the inlet that I clamp with 2 pieces of wood for emptying.  The fan on the 735 blows the bag up pretty good, never had any chip issues.

 

[GerryV]

Hi, jallen, I understand about there being no technical need for DC for the 735 but; it's not the chips I'm worried about, it's the carcinogenic fine dust from the different machines I'll use the DC with. This means I need at least a wee bit more pull from the dust collector than push from the planer. Believe me, I'd rather do it the easier way but health is more important for me.

 

[Ben H]

I thought the Dewalt had a blower on it and a bag you placed over a garbage can to collect the shavings.

There is one available. I don't think it comes with it though. At least mine didn't.  Works well.