Festool Dust extractor or Built in shop collection System?

[Jonathan Spool]

My friend insists that I would get better dust extraction using a Festool dust extractor liek a CT33, than I do using my Jet DC1100C which posts at 1100cfm. He says the high speed of the CT33 makes all the difference with handheld tools, while the high volume of the Jet is better for the stationary tools. I haven't used my one Festool (MFK700) with a dust hose attached yet (I'm kinda slow learning new tricks) but My wife just ordered me an OF2200 for my Birthday, and I want to get a RO125FEQ sander. I WILL start using dust extraction for my hand tools as I am sick of the dust, especially with MDF. Being that I have a built in extraction system in the shop, do I need a seperate Festool dust extractor? Will it work better?

[Larry Marley]

Hi Jonathan,
I have to agree with your friend. The dust extractor works great with your hand power tools. It also does a respectable job on my Dewalt SCMS. It will also improve the performance of your Festool sanders and will extend the life of your sanding disks.

Larry

[Wade Lippman]

Dustcollectors move a large volume of air, but with little power.
Vacuums have a lot of power, but don't move much air.

If you kick that around for a couple seconds you will see they are completely different tools. If you hook a DC to a handtool it won't have enough power to pull anything through those little holes. If you hook a vacuum to a drum sander it won't move enough air to catch very much dust.

You don't need a Festool vacuum. I had one for a week and my wife made me sell it because she couldn't stand the noise she claimed permeated the house. I replaced it with Black&Decker and it works just fine on my various handtools.

If you don't want to spend much money, pick up a $35 shopvac; it will be fine. You can get a Fein hose end for about $15 that will fit Festools and Porter Cables; maybe more, but all my handtools are those two brands so it is all I am familiar with. Festool makes a hose end but it is much more expensive.

(it wasn't as bad as it sounds; I bought it used and sold it for a pretty good profit...)

[Michael Schwartz]

I own and use a festool vac in my shop and I use it with my festool sander, domino, as well my routers and hilti circular saw.

The festool vac is designed for dust extraction on handheld power tools. It puts out really high suction, but not enough CFM for stationary power tools.

If you are running a jointer/planer, tablesaw, shaper etc... you should invest in a shop dust collection system.

If you primarily use handheld power tools you should invest in a good vacuum such as the festool, or even the Fein which is also very effective.

If your use is light a shop vac might be more than enough for you, but in my shop I enjoy having the festool. The Fein works almost as good, but I chose the festool since I would be using it with other tools on their system.

[Rob Price]

I've been contemplating getting a small vac for handheld tools. I love my DC unit, it's great for my TS/CMS/router/downdraft table ect. but hard to connect to my hand tools. I have a 16 gal shop vac, but that 2 1/4 hose is bulky, often weighs more than the tools I'm using and gets in the way. Plus when I cut it down to a small opening it sounds like it's suffocating.

I think I'll get something small that's designed to use a smaller, lighter, more flexible hose for my hand tools/plunge router etc.

But I agree, two different machines for different uses.

[Joe Hardesty]

Jonathan,

I have both a CT33 and a DC. The CT33 provides superior dust extraction, especially when paired with Festool products, but the DC has an advantage of handling large volumes of chips like produced from a planer.

In my shop, I've found the ideal setup is to use the DC for the planer and band saw, and use the CT33 for all of the hand tools, table saw, router table, etc.

[Scott T Smith]

Jonathan,

I have both a CT33 and a DC. The CT33 provides superior dust extraction, especially when paired with Festool products, but the DC has an advantage of handling large volumes of chips like produced from a planer.

In my shop, I've found the ideal setup is to use the DC for the planer and band saw, and use the CT33 for all of the hand tools, table saw, router table, etc.

+1 This seems to be the common recommandation from the posters thus far too. The Festool/Fein's work better on small dust, and the DC works better on large volume.

[Ed Hazel]

+2

I have a Dust Gorilla Cyclone for the big ports and use a Ridged shop vac with a dust deputy also from Oneida for the small port stuff the combination of the 2 works great.
My wife wants to know why I have 2 central vac systems and she doesn't have any.

[Dave Falkenstein]

Same song. There is a place for both in your shop.

The auto start feature on the Festool vac is a nice-to-have feature. You don't "need" a higher-priced CT33, unless you need the larger bag size. In my home-based shop, I seldom replace the bag on a CT22 used primarily with hand power tools.

I had to smile at the suggestion that a Black and Decker shop vac is quieter than a Festool. What was that, I can't hear you, my B&D vac is running. Oh well, gotta keep the ladies happy.

[Jonathan Spool]

Thanks everyone for the clarification. I can't say I understand the differnce between the two as in my mind CFM is CFM, and if you neck the DC down to a 1" hose I would think the speed of the air is the same, but experience of many others superceeds my kerfuddled logic. With all the great things I've heard about the Festool dust extractors, I'm sure I'll be happy with one. I'm sure as heck not happy about the B&Ds and the ShopVacs I've owned. Thanks again for the responses.
Jonathan

[Joe Hardesty]

I understand the differnce between the two as in my mind CFM is CFM

It is not so much about CFM as it is volume. Imagine hooking up a planer to any shop vac (I have done this). You can easily fill a 9 gallon bag in 10-15 minutes of planing and have no clue it is full until the planer bogs down, and stops. Then you get to change the bag and clean out the vac, hose, planer, etc....every 15 minutes.

A DC has a much larger bag/can which is often transparent so you can see when it fills up.

[Roger Jensen]

I couldn't bring myself to buy a $500 Festool vacuum, so I repurposed my old HD Shopvac with an Oneida Dust Deputy on a rolling cart. I purchased a power activated switch (not sure what you call them) from Woodcraft so that when I turn my sander the vacuum comes on.

It's not as good as the Festool, but it is fun to cobble stuff together.