Hey all, I’m new here and just got a 96x48 CNC table in my shop. I’m looking to add a dust collector. The primary use is for large scale production (cutting small shapes). I’m getting a hang of the machining and is now time to start having fun with it.
I saw a picture from someone’s projects on here. They had what looked to be some special hoses that bent with ease for tight fits. Those types of hoses would be preferred, but not necessary.
Any info would be great.
Thanks!
-Cole
Until just recently I’ve been using a Festool CT26 for dust collection, then I switched to the Festool CT SYS due to its smaller footprint. I use a dust deputy as well and I’m very happy with the results. The Festool hose is very long and small enough to make it easy to maneuver…
I really just Jimmy-rigged my setup, but I’ve been very happy with it. It took some tinkering to make sure I could move all about the table without any issue, but once I had it I haven’t had to change it. If I had a higher ceiling it would have been even easier. It’s just hose and hangers, though I would definitely suggest Powertec hose, it is very resilient and has good motion.
I’m checking out the Festool CT 48 as mentioned above, and it seems like the diameter of the hose it comes with (and connection) is much smaller than the hose you are running.
Is there rigs out there that will give me something similar to what you have?
Thanks for the reply! You’re machine is beautiful!
-Cole
Grizzly $315,
1 micron what’s not to like.
I use a dust deputy (5 gallon bucket) for a machine with a 16" x 16" working area, for smaller parts. You can fill 5 gallon bucket once or twice in a weekend if not more depending on how much milling your doing. (ie production line) I have access to a 4’ x 8’ shopbot, and can tell you, you want a bigger bag for sure. At least something this size.
If you really want to add volume, get one of these babies an put it inline between the grizzly and your end point.
From my experience @FrankWiebenga what you don’t want is a bag. They fill up and then block suction way too quickly. A cyclone is a better option, though as you can see from my picture above I have a Super Duty cyclone, but it filled up too quickly. So I just shoot the dust out the window. No emptying anything and no restriction. Just a pile of sawdust I’m not sure what to do with. 
@RobertCanning I’m actually very happy with my little grizzly 1.5 horse dust collector. Anything more and it would suck in the bristles on my dust boot. Without a bag it has plenty of suction. The only thing that would make it better would be adding a kinetic dust extractor when I upgrade to a spindle.
Lol, no offense taken. But no “tearing apart” required either. I have the wall mount style. All I did was leave the bag off, as easy as that.
I contacted Festool when I first considered using the CT 26 for dust collection on the XC. They confirmed that the vac will work just fine, as it is designed to be used in conditions where it runs several hours at a time. Additionally, unlike a regular shop vac, there is a bypass valve they use so that if the intake suction is blocked the motor will not be starved of air and die.
I’ve probably run mine for 200 hours at this point without any issue, and while the diameter if the hose is small, I’ve never had ANY issues with dust making it out of the boot, whether I’m cutting aluminum or MDF, or even using a fly cutter to re-surface the wasteboard, the machine stays dust-free.
I know that DC’s can be cheaper than the Festool vac in some cases, I just really like the fact that the hose is small, the Festool has a suction setting so I can reduce the air volume and noise, and it has the ability to turn off and on with the Spindle, so with the spindle plugged into the IOT relay, and the relay plugged into the vac, the spindle start command will turn on both the vac and the spindle, and then off again when the job finishes…
Some things to think about 
yeah, 4x8, good point, I missed that…
I’ll bookmark that. Thanks man!
