Festool CTL 26

[Alexam]

I do like the lok of this Festool CTL 26 shop vac, http://www.axminster.co.uk/festool-clea ... -extractor, but wonder if I should compare it with other top quality vac's? Can anyone please pass comment on this machine and any others of high specification that should perhaps be considered.

High filtration is essential as I have Asthma and dust regularly creates sinisitis as well. I need to CLEAN the air as much as possible. Thanks

 

[Roughcut]

Sorry I have no experience of the Festool ctl 26 but as you have asked for other's to consider I would also recommend the Numatic NVD 750 worthy of consideration.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/numatic-nvd7 ... ctor-26932

 

[petermillard]

I haven't owned the CTL 26, but I have the older CTL 22 as a workshop vac and have been very pleased with it; in theory it has more suction than my Midi, but I've never noticed the difference in practice*. The CTL26 is supposed to be better again - though note that (as per the comments in the Axi link you posted) that's the regular version of this vac, not the AutoClean version; not sure how much difference this makes really as the filters on my CTL 22 stay pretty clean regardless.

Be aware as well that these are physically quite large machines - I certainly wouldn't want to lug mine around, hence the Midi. I'm also Asthmatic btw, and have had no issues using Festool vacs - can't comment on other brands, I'm sorry..

HTH Pete

*The current models of Festool vacs all have pretty much the same throughput - this wasn't the case when I bought mine.

 

[Alexam]

Thanks Roughcut. The Axminster one you mention was one I thought may be appropriate, but I have now been reviewing the Dust Deputy to seperate the fine dust that gets back into the shop. That would reduce the amount of danger I think.

Thanks also Peter, the Festool ct22 had good reports and as you say, the 26 should be an improvement.

I gave spent most of today at the computer looking up all the variations, but if I go for a seperator, I would keep it seperate to the CTL 26 as with the one that fits on top, the whole unit looks too tall and I wish to tuck things away as much as possible.

The Brit Workshops by Peter Parfitt are very good and helpful and Peter said that he does without an Air Filter and got rid of his Jet machine.

I would like to just use my Trend Airmask when operating machines or tools, but not worry about the shop normal air, as it is presently getting polluted with fine dust.

The search is on and although I initially thought that dust extraction would be just ok, it is a real minefield when trying to keep shop dust under 0.5 Microns, which is what I would like to do.

 

[KevM]

Alexam,

If you decide to go for a Festool extractor I've got a £50 discount voucher from Festool that you're welcome to, it's good up to the end of August. I think it's for all their extractors except for the new systainer one. I suspect you've probably got to use it with a bricks & mortar store, but it would be worth a call to N&B in W-S-M to see if they'd accept it by post.

Cheers, Kev.

 

[Alexam]

Hi Kev, thats very kind of you to offer.Forgive my ignorance, but which is the systanier one ( I have found this out now) .

I would only go for the CTL26 if I went Festool, so is that OK? Presumably the vouchers can be passed on? Axminster seem to do a good price on the CTL26, would the voucher work with them?

Alex

 

[SteveF]

I have the 26 and the midi

I think they are great..particularly like the auto power socket on the front
less than a minute to change bags

I keep meaning to rig a dust deputy to the midi
from what I read they all have the same suction..just different capacity
the voucher is good for the 26
I got mine from axi and used voucher when I got the midi
Steve

 

[Alexam]

Thanks SteveF,

Although I have not yet seen it, the Brit Workshop demo was superb and I only have a 20 year old Henry as a shop vac. Do you also have an air filter to deal with the fine shop dust, or how do you manage that? Which way do you deal with the larger chippings

Alex

 

[SteveF]

I use the jet 500 for fine dust

I have not got a plan for the big chips yet...not sure I make many as not use a ts

I have a midi on the mitre saw
and use the 26 for router \ track saw \ domino
I need to connect up the bs at some point

also note the bags are not cheap so a dust deputy or similar may be the way forward
I have to say the 26 has a huge bag so takes a while to fill, and could I guess be emptied a few times before binning
Steve

 

[Alexam]

Thanks SteveF.
The CTL26, with a coupled Dust Deputy only had a tiny amount in it as the majority was in the DD Bin, so the CTL26 bags will last for ages. The power of the machine is also a major factor in collecting the larger sawdst/chips. I think that a visit to Axminster is in the offing soon when SWMBO is busy.

Alex

 

[custard]

I use a CTL 26 with a boom arm permanently located by an MTF table, so it get's used for Festool items like routers, sanders, jigsaws, plunge saw, etc. I've also got a Midi which is used as a roving extractor elsewhere in the workshop, but mainly with disc and bobbin sanders plus a router table. Both have the re-usable bags fitted. They're excellent machines, but if I wasn't so locked into Festool kit I'd certainly be open to looking at quality alternatives like Numatic.

 

[Alexam]

Thanks foir the info custard. The Festool, alhough expensive, does look a good machine and as I mentioedearlier, I only have a 20 year old HENRY, not numatic, which puffs dust into the shop eventhough it has a good 'suck'. I have a second hand Clarke 50L drum,whih seems to work well fo the bandsaw ad sanders, although it does miss a little on the sanders and a new ac would help that with some bendy pip in a good location.

ith my Asthma, I need to ensure that the general air is clean so that I do not need mask all the time. I have the Trend Airace, which is half mask and filters well when performing dusty jobs, but just need MORE.

 

[Ed Bray]

I've got a CTL26 and a midi. The CTL 26 i use with a AS dust deputy cyclone, this also has a second socket installed.


My. CTL Midi, is only used with my Kapex as it fits nicely underneath the Kapex in the U G stand.

 

[Alexam]

Hiya Ed,

thanks for the info on thoise two. Did you see much of a diference between the Midi and the CTL26?.

added this ............... I have just been comparing the two machines and bearing in mind that I also intend to use a Dust Deputy to minimise the use of the vac bag I am now considering if the Midi would be suitable. The power is the same, although the airflow is 3700L/min as against 3900L/min it is smaller, bag volume is less but the dust deputy will deal with that and it's £100 less. Any comments appreciated.

Did you install the second socket or was it done by the supplier and is that so you can have a second tool attached to start the vac when the tool starts or what.

Alex

 

[Ed Bray]

Main difference is in physical size, the Midi does not have the capability for a second socket. I got my BIL to come around and fit the 2nd socket into my CTL 26 and he was none to pleased when we found out that it was a straight swap and even the village silly person could do it. Yes it also autostarts if you want, if you don't want you can have it set as a straight through socket. The wheels on the 26 are more robust than those on the Midi.

What are you likely to be using it with? If only for sanding then you may find that some of the dust is too light to be captured by the cyclone, if for other tools then you would be fine with the Dust Deputy.

If you are going to use the combination CT and Cyclone on site or out and about then personally I would recommend the CTL26, but the CT Midi will also do a very good job.

If you are going to buy the Dust Deputy then you need to be buying the full set including the drop box, I made my own drop box and whilst it captures a fair bit, I saw another in use and it was much better at capturing and seperating the bits.

 

[Alexam]

Thank you Ed,
The Dust Deputy would be useful with the Bandsaw (BS400) and the P/T (BS260) for the larger stuff that would be better off in the'bucket' rather than the Vac, particularly with the P/T, which shifts a lot of shavings. I also use two sanders, the Belt and Disc as well as the Spindle sander and hand sand with the Abranet block, which has a dust attachment tube.

I am a 74 year old retired, hobby woodworker and only been at it under 2 years, but love it. I would like to do a little more and get into using routers as long as I can keep the Asthma at bay with good filtration, but would only be working at home at the end of the double garage.

I saw the Brit Workshop video on the 'Ultimate Dust Deputy' and it looked remarkable, although IO am not in favour of the height of the whole kit together as it looks a little top heavy and would prfer to use a DD 'spit' rather than on top of the CTL, that's why I thought the Midi may be suitable, if you follow my drift, but I would buy the whole kit and possibly the latest square box by Oneida, that 'ToolOvation' import and as shown on Peter Parfitt's latest video.

The Midi would not allow the new DD to fit on top, as it was made for the CTL26, but if you feel that would be much better, then perhaps I should stick to my original thoughts.

Alex

A few shotsof the space

 

[Jmac80]

Hi Alexam
I have a ctl26, Midi and a record cx2600 chip extractor with fine filter cartridge.
Just got a boom arm for the ctl26 and use that with sander, domino, router etc.
The midi i have a shortened 36mm hose and use it for the mitre saw and any inside sanding jobs and cleaning the car etc.
The cx2600 i use for my planer thicknesser and bs400 bandsaw as its a chip extractor, it does a great job with both machines.
you always get a bit of dust from the bandsaw firing from the top where the blade is but the cx2600 keeps the entire inside of the bandsaw dust/chip free and has made a huge difference to using none at all.
Also bags are easy to empty, it's quiet as induction motor and doesn't use to much elecy.
Few mods i made to it were taking out the plastic fins by the motor as it kept clogging, It's now perfect.
Cheers James

 

[Alexam]

Hi James,
Thanks for the input on this. I am planning to have a closer look at the Midi and CTL26next week, a I do need a better Vac and these could be used for various tools. I have a 50L Clarke Woodworker extractor which I presently use for the Bandsaw, which works well, as with the P/T for the larger chips, but that still spews chippings around and possibly adding the Festool vac would sort that out, as well as when using the sanders, because the old HENRY I have needs to retire, like me as it's not good enough.

If I do go for the Festool Vac, I could always add that above the sanders to pick up stray dust, poosibly wih a bendy pipe and cowell which could help.

I don't have another filter other than the Microclean MC760, which I have on the bench when hand sanding, but had though of adding a ceiling/rafter air extractor of Microclean 1210/Jet AFS1000 or Record400, but it's all adding up money quickly to more than I had imagined to get the clean air I need.

I was hospitalised a wek ago with my Asthma, but now back to 90% and intend to take far more care on this issue even though it will cost a bit.

Do you find much difference in the power of the Midi and the ctl26 in pulling in the dust?

Not sure what you mean about taking out the plastic fins? Do you have a photo of that please?

Chers for now James

Alex

 

[Jmac80]

Hi Alex
No power difference at all when using the same size hoses, currently the midi seems much stronger than the ctl26 as I have a 1.5m 36mm hose on it for the mitre saw. That thing can really suck!
The Ctl 26 I have a 3.5m 27mm hose, upgrading to a 36mm hose makes a massive difference and I imagine would be highly recommended if your using it for a bandsaw etc.
The plastic fins are on the inlet and outlet of the record cx2600, I guess they are there to stop you sucking up large objects and them hitting the motor/blades and killing it, problem is it gets clogged very easily!
So cut them off and don't suck up large objects or Hoover the workshop with it. Not a problem for me as I keep it exclusively for bandsaw and planer thicknesser.
Cheers James.

 

[Alexam]

Well, I've chatted with Axminster and they have the ctl 26 stocks arriving this week, so will be taking a trip up to Nuneaton on Friday for a good look. From what I have read, seen on video and on forums, this Festool model does seem to be the best. With HEPA quality filtration and its power, I should get a far superior filtration. Next in addition would be the air filter. Possibly the Jet 1000, although from reports I have seen, it works well for a couple of years, then some problems occur with the controls. I need a reasonable size as its a double garage of approx 110 m3, so this would do, unless you know of another air filter that size worth looking at?

When I first considered dust, I had not fully considered the very fine dust that can not be seen and thought anything would do, but looking into this problem has opened my eyes, and will open my wallet a fair bit to keep me operating without health problems. I do believe that there should be far more awareness of the health problems and protection needed when woodworking.