Festool Dust Extractor

Accessories
1

Hey everyone!

I’m hoping someone could please shed some light on this one for me.

I’m considering something like a Festool M Class dust extractor together with a Dust Deputy.

I understand the difference between low volume high pressure (which this is) vs high volume and low pressure.

I’m just wondering if anyone is using this type of machine and if it is really suitable for this kind of work, considering it will have to run multiple hours at a time?

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

This is what I’m looking at getting:

https://sydneytools.com.au/product/festool-ct-15-e-hepa-1200w-15l-wet-dry-hepa-class-cleantec-dust-extractor

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I used my Festool dust collector/dust deputy with the boom arm and Suckit dust boot and had no problems with it. Now I have a Fein hooked up to the dust boot. The only reason I switched was because I wanted to use the sander hooked up the the Festool while doing a carve.

I have an early version of the dust deputy on the festool so one thing I had to do was control the static. I don’t know if dust deputy has better static control now or if they still recommend using the aluminum tape.

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3

I also have a festool dust extractor like the power take off so when i turn on router extractor turns on as well. No issues as of yet.

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4

Sweet! Thanks very much Dave. :grin:

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Thanks for your reply too Jack. Much appreciated.

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I have that exact Festool extractor and it’s been really good. I bought a Bosch 35mm hose as an upgrade (far less expensive than the Festool 35mm) and run that through a Dustopper separator, then into the Festool. Has worked great for me.

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7

I recently purchased a Festool CT 48 to use with my Journeyman… I use it in conjunction with the cheap Harbor Freight Seperator that sits on a 5 gal bucket. I have a 2.5" hose connected to a suckit dust boot.

At first, I connected the hose that came with the Festool (27mm i believe) to the HF Seperator. I was disappointed in the amount of suction at the boot. I replaced the festool hose with the approx. 2.25 inch hose that came with the HF Seperator (it actually fit nicely in the festool inlet). The larger hose between the festool and the HF Seperator made a lot of difference.

I replaced a craftsman shopvac with the festool CT48… I will say that the craftsman produced a lot more air flow than the festool… but the shopvac just wasnt made to run continuously for hours and it burned out after 3 months. The Festool flow/suction is adequate with MUCH less noise! I would purchase it again… but you definitely need a slightly larger hose IMHO.

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Thanks very much for that info Bill! Very helpful and I will certainly upgrade that hose right away.

Cheers!

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Thanks very much for this reply as well. The salesmen at the tool shop showed me all the available options and said he would go with the Festool any day for it’s quality and size compared to something else that will do the same job. Glad I got that one then.

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One more question if you guys would be so kind to share, please…

I am having a hard time figuring out where to get the correct size hoses and fittings for my Festool CT 15 in order to connect that to a Dust Deputy and then to the Suckit Dust boot.

Everything in AUS is cm and mm but the fittings Im reading up on are all inches with outside and inside diameters and Im confused.

I basically just want to upgrade the hose to a larger 2.5" diameter from the standard 1.25’.

What size connectors would you use on that hose to and from the Dustbudy to connect both the dust boot and the Festool then? Any links would be much appreciated if possible so I can try and find something local hopefully.

I can get this hose locally. Just need to figure out the fittings for it as mentioned above:

BTW: Got an email from DHL this morning so not too long now before the Journeyman shows up! Lots to do still!

Thanks again guys!!

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Hey Josh,

I own a Festool CTM MIDI I with cyclonic dust separator CT-VA-20. I use it as workshop vacuum cleaner and as dust extractor for some hand power tools that make dust, and also for drilling holes into the wall and into the ceiling (see drilling dust nozzle). I don’t plan to use it for the Onefinity CNC for the reasons explained here and also because I also own a thicknesser which requires a high air volume flow dust collection system anyway, but I think as long as you don’t have such a dust collection system, you may well use a mobile dust extractor/workshop vacuum like the Festool for the time being. To buy the largest dust hose available is the right way then (50 mm in this case). I would take care to use / 3D print a dust boot or adapter that does not reduce the cross-section area of the chosen hose.

I think that even if a dust collection system with high air volume flow is the better solution for a CNC machine, usually you need a workshop vacuum cleaner anyway (if you work with wood in your workshop), so in most cases you would buy one anyway.

Note that if you buy a CT 15, you don’t have dust class “M” but for extracting wood dust you should use one with dust class M for health reasons. Wood dust is carcinogenic. The dust class describes how high the harmful substance load at the workplace is, i.e. what is allowed to come out of the back of the device. That’s why I bought one with this dust class. You can choose a model suitable for wood dust with the Festool application advisor.

Note that Festool dust extractors allow you to attach a hose to their exhaust-air outlet as well, if you have the possibility to direct exhaust air outside the building.

As far as running a workshop vacuum cleaner on the Onefinity CNC for a long time, many hours, I think the Festool can handle it (it is explicitly made for “Increased loads during commercial use, according to IEC/EN 60335-2-69”) and it’s not quite as loud as some cheap workshop vacuum cleaners. But Festools are not cheap. For the money of a Festool mobile dust extractor and a separate cyclonic dust separator, you are already near the price of a high air volume flow Dust collection system that would be better suited for the larger amount of chips that a CNC machine can produce. This becomes especially relevant if you are upgrading to a spindle that will allow you to achieve high material removal rates/high chip loads that are not possible with the Makita hand trim router. Also a dust collection system would be quieter and last longer since it does not require servicing motor carbon brushes, because dust collection systems usually have induction motors that have no commutators and run more quietly and at lower speed.

Festool is a german manufacturer of high-end power tools, so of course their suction hoses are measured in millimeters. For their Mobile Dust Extractors they offer hoses with 36 mm and 50 mm, called D36 and D50, e.g.

The Festool suction hoses are expensive, but they are known for their high quality. They are antistatic and you can stand on them with your body weight without them breaking.

If you are looking for a local vendor, I suggest you go to the International Festool website and select your country. If you are in Australia, you can go to www.festool.com.au directly and click on “Find Your Nearest Dealer”.

The hose connectors that Festool uses are their proprietary system. If you want to combine Festool dust extractors with cyclonic dust separators from other manufacturers, you will need to buy or to 3D-print some adapter. Of course you could also put the adapter directly in front of the Festool dust extractor and buy cheaper, non-Festool hoses. But be aware that then you have to take care of earthing and bonding against the danger of electrostatic buildup yourself.

Note that Festool offers their own Cyclonic Dust Separator CT-VA-20 with disposable bags that nicely attaches on top of the dust extractor. It fits the MINI/MIDI models too. Also I would not buy a CT series mobile dust extractor without the Handle SB-CT, useful to push the device around and also as a small backrest in the break.

International versions:

Versions for the U.S. market:

(with specs given in imperial/US customary units and suitable for girly power):

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12

Here’s some info that may help.
I use the Dustopper which comes with a short 2.5 inch hose and two elbows.
https://tinyurl.com/3e8s7dwe

The short Dustopper hose goes from the Festool to the Dustopper.

From there, I use this hose to run to my dust boot;

How you connect the other hose end to your dust boot depends on which boot you use.

Hope that helps.

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PS: According to the workshop photos shown in the thread “Lee’s Fold Down Wall Mounted Table” and also here in this thread, Lee seems to use the Festool CTM MIDI I on the Onefinity CNC. Maybe Lee @TDE can tell you if using this mobile dust extractor is satisfying on the Onefinity?

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14

At the manufacturing facility where I work we use a Fein vacuum on the small grit blast cabinets in the production area and it runs continuously and I have never heard of them giving any trouble.

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I use the festool midi for about 5 hours a week, I also use a cyclone in line though so none of the dust makes it to the unit, it does the job, I run it at 50% power and it works fine, when I get my bigger workshop I will be upgrading purely because I will have several stations running at once and need something a bit more industrial for that.

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