Looks pretty decent, except for this bit …
Usually ships within 1 to 3 months.
I wouldn’t consider anything under 2HP. See the previous link to Bill Pentz.
That can’t be right, if it was you would think it would have poor reviews and people would mention the slow shipping in their review
Only thing about 2hp collectors, is they take up a ton of space, and I don’t need the gigantic collection bag for 1 machine
As much as I hate to say it, if you’re looking for something “small” but still quiet enough and will handle the duty cycles, you should look at the Festool CT series, or the Fein series.
Both have HEPA filters, are quiet, work very well for the XC, and can be adapted for use w\ other tools in the shop when not carving.
They’re on wheels, can roll under a bench or around the house where needed, and have variable speed.
Since you’re just collecting for a small router, you could also use the auto-on feature of the Festool (I think Fein has it as well) so that it will stop and start w\ the carve…
Those are expensive, but I’ll definitely look into it. Would I still need a dust deputy with one of these?
The big advantage of a cyclone (dust deputy) is that most of the dust is directed into the cyclone bucket and not the vacuum cleaner. This means the filters will last longer.
Thanks so much for all of the help guys, this is such a great forum. So far I am leaning towards a Festool vac, but I don’t understand the difference between their models except for capacity. I really like how portable they are, and how little noise they make, but I am concerned with how long you can keep them running
I’m in this same boat. My XCarve is in our undersized 1-car garage with very little free space. I have a laser coming so I need to upgrade from my Rigid shop vac.
I think I’m gonna end up biting the bullet and get a Festool sometime soon. Small & quiet. Then I just have to stay on top of keeping the HEPA clean.
@JoeFicarri - Please post back and let us know what you go with & how you like it.
I am also in a tiny garage. I use a dustboot on my machine and one of these units. It has made a HUGE difference in the amount of dust settling on flat surfaces (like cars), so I know it is helping my lungs. MDF is the worst and I always wear a mask while cutting it and miling it and keep this air cleaner running (it has a timer that I set to 4 hours so it keeps cleaning after I vacate).
It is mounted right behind me as I stand at my x-carve and is mounted to the ceiling. The remote is handy and I made a mount for it right next to my x-carve controls. So I remember to turn it on whenever I am in the shop (garage).
So I have the CT26, I decided to buy a dust deputy as well, so I purchased the static-free model and a systainer that stacks on top of the CT26 and cut a hole in the top for mounting the dust deputy.
I mainly did the dust deputy so I would have to replace the HEPA bags less frequently. I can’t attest to how long it increases the lifetime quite yet, but I’ve been using my CT26 for over a year, I do a LOT of shop projects, many of which include a lot of Kreg pocket holes (I use the Foreman) so there’s quite a bit of large chips that never see the bag. I empty the systainer probably every 10-14 days.
As for runtime, the Festool vacs are designed to run pretty much non-stop, since they’re “commercial” style units, and they have thermal overload protection. I had several projects since the purchase of mine that were home remodeling marathons where I ran the Festool non-stop all day for 10+ days just sanding drywall with the Festool orbital sander. The vac never missed a beat, never blew any hot air or acted odd, and it was extremely quiet. The same exercise with a shop-vac would have driven me insane.
As for sizes, when I priced the 26 versus the MIDI (mini?) and the bigger model, it was really just a matter of use. I’m not a contractor, so I didn’t need bigger capacity (which meant more $$ for replacement bags). The 26 and the larger model both have the same attachments (handle, boom arm), the mini model didn’t, that’s what pushed me from the mini to the CT26.
I absolutely love mine, in fact I gave away my old friend (Craftsman shop vac) soon afterward. If I had to buy another vac today, it’d be the CT26 in a heartbeat.
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These Festool collectors are expensive, but so is a new set of lungs! Right now I’m really liking the MIDI (not the same as mini), the MIDI has 4 gallons capacity while the mini has 2.6 gallons. I can’t justify spending an extra $125 for the CT 26 for 3 more gallons capacity since I’ll be using a dust deputy anyways. I’m also looking at this Dust Deputy, instead of the one specifically made for the Festool dust extractors, which is $150 more and I don’t know if it would do that much better of a job, although it is supposed to be antistatic. As you can tell, I still have a lot to figure out!
Another thing to consider when making a dust collector choice is the amount of time the thing runs. The Festool, Fein and other shop vac type collectors use a whole lot less electricity, something to think about when starting a carve that takes hours. A 2 hp dust collector eats enegery and may need a dedicated circuit, mine does, 30 amp.
Sure the Festool is an expensive machine, or so I thought until I bought one. Everything they make is very well built, thought-out, and engineered. The machine does not run hot, as mentioned above, and the exhaust is directed in a way as to not blow residual workshop dust around. Mine is at least 10 years old and has easily more than a couple thousand hours on it. Ive probably never run it more than 4 hours at a time non stop, but I wouldn’t hesitate to.
The last time I looked at new Festool vacs it looked like the specs on the mini and the midi were the same except for the storage volume. The larger CT machines have a higher cfm and static pressure rating.
So it does. That’s good to know. The last time I looked was probably 5 years ago or so. About the time the midi came on the market. My large CT has been tied to the shop since I installed the boom arm. I was looking for a smaller one to put in the van for installs, I ended up using my older Fein (also a great vac, only no vs) as my portable. It’s larger than I would like in the van but it’s paid for.
I really can’t see anyone being disappointed with the Festool,
For the time being, I might just get CT 26 for the extra capacity and hold off on a dust deputy. I’ll add that later on down the road. I really like all of the positives you’ve mentioned such as less energy consumption, very little noise, ability to run continuously, and great build quality. Another minor concern is, would this be able to vacuum metal chips?
You guys have sold me on Festool. My wife will be displeased with you.
Here’s a site that has very good plans for making a dust separator that works quite well.
The plans can be found in the forum section.
Aluminum? Should be ok with the size chips coming out of an xcarve. Need a good shoe tho.
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Not sure why the way it looks should matter for a dust separator. I have a Dust Deputy which admittedly works slightly better than the Thien baffle for me, but my out of pocket expense for the Thien was less than 10 dollars for some threaded rod and nuts. The rest of the parts came from the scrap pile / junk drawer.