Shop vac

[mtr1]

In the next few days I am going to be purchasing a shop/site vac, it will be one of the festool range, either the 26 or the 36. Do any of you guys own one of these? do I just get the smaller one, that's about £100 less? or are there advantages to the bigger 36 apart from the capacity, I notice on the 36 there is some kind of air port..air tools? what's it for if not?

 

[Gary]

are there advantages to the bigger 36 apart from the capacity

Ask the Mrs. :lol:

 

[Shrubby]

Bigger vacs can be cheaper to run.You should consider long term running costs and compare manufacturers
Matt

 

[Max Power]

I have the 36 and its brilliant, cant fault it. The reason I opted for the larger machine was for the increased bag capacity. The bags for the larger machine were only marginally more expensive so will will work out more cost effective than the smaller ones

 

[mtr1]

I have the 36 and its brilliant, cant fault it. The reason I opted for the larger machine was for the increased bag capacity. The bags for the larger machine were only marginally more expensive so will will work out more cost effective than the smaller ones

Thanks Alan, so what does the blue valve do then?

 

[Max Power]

That is on the LE version and is a compressed air outlet. The regular version for electric tools doesnt have that on Mark. Remember you can buy a reusable bag for these but I didnt fancy the idea of collecting all that dust and then breathing half of it in when I was emptying the bag.
Another option to explore is the Nilfisk Alto, an excellent machine which looks the same as the bigger festool but is considerably cheaper.
The only thing that swayed me away from it was it didnt have variable suction

 

[cambournepete]

The only thing that swayed me away from it was it didnt have variable suction

Which can be very useful when sanding.
I find the suction at full power when sanding can hinder the movement of the sander as it sticks to what you're sanding.
I have the older CT22 and can't fault it.

 

[mtr1]

Another option to explore is the Nilfisk Alto, an excellent machine which looks the same as the bigger festool but is considerably cheaper.

Yeah-but, it won't match the rest of my gear :lol: Do you have a linky linky

 

[Recky33]

Which model Nilfisk Alto is the same as the Festool please ? Had a look on their site but cant see any

 

[Max Power]

Some of the Attix range of Nilfisks look very similar to festools SR range

 

[Shrubby]

Festool have always 'bought in' the SR vacs from Wap (Alto bought Wap and Nilfisk bought Alto just to confuse you)
Starmix(Mafell,Metabo etc) have a systainer dock and Karcher (Flex ,Dewalt etc)have launched a modular vac for systainer users if cross compatibilty is important to you.
If you choose a machine with only one vendor you are tied to their consumables and can't shop around
Matt

 

[mtr1]

These two were the only one's, I could find that were similar.

There is a bit of price difference, as you would expect.

On a slight deviation. I'm a bit confused, are festool subbing out there production of vac's to other factories now then.

 

[hamburglar]

I have a Nilfisk Alto 50 21 xc. Personally think it is amazing. Was used in the house for weeks before it ever made it to the garage. Self cleaning filters, not quite as gucci as festool, but, was better value. Variable power, automatic take off and very rugged. Quite tall. Overall still delighted with it.

DM Tools sometimes have them on offer.

 

[Max Power]

I'm sure that was the one I looked into hamburglar, an excellent machine and much better value than the festool but the alto dealer told me they didn't have adjustable suction now

 

[mtr1]

I ordered the festool CTL 26 today with some extras, then won £100 on a scratch card so will be cancelling that tomorrow, and ordering the 36... bonus

 

[Max Power]

Good choice Mark, you'll be well pleased with it

 

[pooka]

I compared the Festool CT22, the Alto Attix 360-21, and the Fein QA35E some time back in this thread. Might be of some use to anyone trying to decide between what are (or were at the time, at least) very similar machines in many respects.

 

[mtr1]

Ok my CTL 36 arrived today, I'm very pleased with it, its so quiet. One thing however, does the hose stay curly whirly forever? And does anyone have the boom arm? Or has anyone made something similar?

 

[Chems]

My hose lost its curly wurly after a while.

Someone on here made the boom arm but what ever you did a boom arm would be perfect. Think you need another hose too for the arm.

 

[mtr1]

I do love festool gear, but it would seem that you have to constantly buy extras to make them truly perfect. I posted the same thing on the FOG, and they came up with a couple of methods. First place in the tumble for a bit and hang up straight, and secondly a hot water bath and hang up weighted also. I will give the second a go, as I don't have a tumble dryer.