[OP]
Member
Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to the Festool brand? Seems like I read about a source somewhere but failed to make note of it. Someone cut a gash across the hose that came with my CT 22 more or less in the middle of the danged thing. Those shop gremlins that appear in the middle of the night are a real nuisance. Working with an 8' hose is about to whip me. I was thinking about getting a longer hose before the mishap.
Contributor
Bosch makes a hose that is identical to the festool hose. I have the festool ts55 but could not justify spending $100.00 on a vacuum hose for it. The Bosch hose fits like a charm and works perfectly with my shop vac. Let me try and find the model number for you...
Contributor
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000A...827908-0725165
Several buyers say that it's identical to the Festool hose. Read the reviews to be sure though.
Guest
That looks exactly like the hose that came on my fein, too.
Contributor
John,
I'm not sure if this will interchange although it's a lot cheaper, made in the USA, pretty tough material, very flexible and 12' in length.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-w-Acc-amp-box
Mac
Member
The Bosch VAC005 is compatible but not even close to the same as a Festool hose.
It is not anti-static for a major difference. The hose material does seem similar to the non-antistatic Festool hoses.
The vac end will plug directly in to a Festool Vac, Fein vac, most regular 2.25" shop vacs, and Bosch vacs previous to the newest one with the special lock. It won't lock into place on a Fein like the 30mm hose but the 50mm Fein hose doesn't lock either.
The hose is 35mm but the end is similar to the Festool end on a 27mm hose so it goes over the small sanders and in a TS55, etc. The quality of the rubber/plastic tool end is far inferior to the Festool and will not hold up as well. At the price, you can buy two or you can get a Festool 27mm replacement tool end on with some work.
If you can live without the anti-static, then it does seem to have a good use since it is 5 meters long and has the small Festool end. I assume a 5 meter Festool 27mm hose has some resistance being that small and that long.
If you can live without the anti-static, you can do what I did. Buy two of the VAC005 hoses. Take the end off of one and save it for when the end wears out on the other. Use that one for small Festool tools. Buy a Festool 36mm tool end and put it on the hose you removed the Bosch end from. Now you have two 5 meter Festool compatible hoses, one for small tools and one for larger tools. This worked great for me as I'm using Fein Vacs and didn't have anti-static in the first place.
Last edited by Greg R Bradley; 05-07-2013 at 1:09 PM.
Member
Can verify that this is true. I've bought the hose and it works perfectly to go from Festool CT 26 vac to Kapex. The Bosch hose looks like it comes from the same factory as Festool and Mirka but costs a fraction of the price though it isn't anti-static.Originally Posted by Dimitrios Fradelakis
Contributor
HD and Lowes sell hoses that fit the CT vacs perfectly. They are normally the same as the mid sized 36mm hose. I have not seen any sized like the 27mm hose there. Of course they are not anti-static and the tool ends tend to be no where near as flexible but I find them useful at times and the price is right.
Guest
What is the virtue of the anti static hose other than dust not sticking to the outside?
Member
I think it really depends on your area. I have both and don't see much difference. Others say there is a big problem with static making the dust stick to the outside AND inside and they are actually shocked by some tools that move lots of dust like a production router.
I did see some issues with static working in Park City, UT in the wintertime. I was only running sanders and tracksaw.
Last edited by Greg R Bradley; 05-07-2013 at 3:03 PM.
Guest
I don't have an antistatic hose, but here in wpa, there's not really been a time that I thought the hose on the fein lacked anything. As much as that static protection costs, I'd rather go without it and have it as an option instead.
Member
There's thread on FOG about inserting the Ultimate Dust Deputy between the tool and the vac. Some said the static buildup created by the break in static grounding caused an electronic board within the vac to fry. One said the board fried without the static grounding break. Whatever the case, I got the impression static can wreak havoc on the electronics in the vacuum, if it makes its way to the circuitry.
Guest
I wonder if that's happened on the fein vacuums? I'm guessing not since the vac comes with the cheap hose, but I can break one of the feins and buy another one for the same price i can get the festool up the street (there are a lot of places here that have festool..I should say up the street, down the street, across the road, the next town over from any of those).
Member
The Fein vac does not have anti-static system so never used an anti-static hose. Festool always promoted the antistatic function that seemed a solution in search of a problem to me. I've heard about places that have problems with static but never saw a need myself. They must have convinced some people they need it since the newest Bosch units are antistatic. I can't remember the name of the company that makes the Bosch but several tool companies sell that as "their" vac.
I would think a dust collection system would be more likely to need antistatic due to the much larger volume of air and longer run time. So the question is does anyone see a big problem in a vacuum that is solved by going to a Festool vac?
Member
FWIW, I posted a question on FOG about static buildup frying CBs in Festool vacuums. One of the Festool employees said if you use Festool hoses and accessories, there would be no problem with your warranty. Using a Dust Deputy or other third-party accessory may void your warranty.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote