CT26 Dust extractor

I’m looking at possibly picking up a CT26 Dust extractor unit. Has anyone used one or any of the other models?

Is it money well spent compared to the less costly shop vacuums around?

Wanted to get actual user inputs before parting with all that money.

 

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum. I haven’t got the CT26 but I do have two Midis that’s are truly the bomb. By the end of the week I’ll have the Festool comparable Oneida dust deputy so I’ll kiss filter bags good bye. If you can get the CT26, I’d highly recommend it. Especially if your getting into Festool. I have heard some great things about the Fein Turbo and the Dewalt and Bosch units too. In my case I have a Midi set up just for the Kapex and my other Midi is assigned to routers, the TS and sanding. That one gets pulled out quite a bit. The Oneida will be attached to the Kapex and its Midi.

Welcome dude, I know very little about festool but chrisk won’t steer you wrong, he’s our local festool expert!

Jimbo

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Thanks Chrisk. I will check out the Midi units too and see how the stack up in size. Most of my work is general contracting and on site. Perhaps the smaller units might be a better fit after all. 🙂

dust deputy is the bomb right there sporting a 4″ flex hose I have filled the bucket at least 25 times and shop vac filter is like new still best investment I made in recent years….

Just for the record the CT26 is a Dust extractor and not a shop vac.

Trident167 wrote:

Thanks Chrisk. I will check out the Midi units too and see how the stack up in size. Most of my work is general contracting and on site. Perhaps the smaller units might be a better fit after all. 🙂

No problem Trident! The Midi is a smaller unit so if you end up going that way you might want to consider getting a dust deputy for the unit but….make sure it’s like the one I got or modified it for anti static electricity. I have read of lots of guys having static feedback kill the mother board on their DC unit. Festool has a great warranty but won’t cover that cost so you have to insure if you do use the dust deputy to 1- play stupid if something bad happens to reap warranty benefits or….2- make sure your using the correct deputy! Here’s the link for the one I got, it’s going to be in tomorrow and I can give you some feedback on it over the weekend as I’ll be using it when I’m doing in the shop all week….

https://www.festoolproducts.com/Oneida-AXD000009-Ultimate-Dust-Deputy-p/axd000009.htm

This is great as it will sit right on top of the Midi and secure with the latches.

I would also echo Regopit in that although you can use the CT26 for general shop use and they are rated to be used to even take in water you should keep a shop vac handy, I’ve got a Ridgid I use for general shop clean up. The filter bags and Hepa filter cost dearly to replace so using for shop clean up although certainly possible is quite expensive! The bags for the Midi cost about $35 for a five pack and I haven’t had to replace either of my filters yet but they’re over $80. You can get a non Hepa for $30ish that will get down to 1 micron but is you go Hepa they ain’t cheap!!

Whats the difference between a shop vac and a dust extractor then ? They are both vacuüm Cleaners no ?

I don’t really think there’s too much in the difference just the ability to collect really small micro participants with the addition of HEPA. I think you could use the Festool or the Bosch or the Fein or the Dewalt DC units for general shop cleaning but it’s the cost of operation that’ll kill you. I do not use my Midi for shop clean up. Totally capable, plenty of power but like I said earlier it’s the cost of the filter age and HEPA filter. I would add that you can purchase a non HEPA and use it thusly which for sake of money might not be a bad idea but you still have to replace those bags. Currently I can purchase a lifetime bag from Festool for about $80 and wouldn’t have to buy the filter bags but my Dust Deputy will filter so much crap that my filter hates are going to last a looooonnnnnnnngggg time. I use my Ridgid for direct connection on my DW745 and for cleaning up big dust piles. No bags, filter is cheap, bucket us huge.

thing about a shop vac without a dust deputy is when it starts to get full it looses suction but with one the shop vac stays the same suction hard to explain…..

I think what regopit is alluding to is that the Festool bags and filters are expensive enough that, for some of us anyway, its better to keep the CTs as dedicated dust extractors for your tools and run a cheaper vacuum for general clean up tasks.

 

I have a midi, that I use mostly for attaching to my sanders. Ill vacuum up carpet after I pickup my drops or little stuff like that with it but if Im going to be cleaning up a flooded basement or cleaning up after cutting in an egress window then Ill pull out a a shop vac that I don’t care as much about.

Yup that’s exactly what I was saying. Can be used as such just $$$$

So I bit the bullet and made the purchase. I ended up with the CT26 for the size. The extra capacity compared to the Midi made more sense for me for everyday use. I might get the Deputy at some point in the future.

I’ll put it through it’s paces in the moring.

Thanks for all the advice ::)

Good for you! I’ll let you know when I get my DD put together. I had class tonight (skipped) but stayed home still recovering from the fluish thing I had so I didn’t install it yet 🙁

chrisk wrote:

Good for you! I’ll let you know when I get my DD put together. I had class tonight (skipped) but stayed home still recovering from the fluish thing I had so I didn’t install it yet 🙁

After being in the store and playing around with all the Festool products, and now buying my first one, I feel I’m about to embark into the world of Festool.

My wallet hates me now…

Trident167 wrote:

After being in the store and playing around with all the Festool products, and now buying my first one, I feel I’m about to embark into the world of Festool.

My wallet hates me now…

But your lungs will love you.

Did u go for the ctl or ctm or did I read somewhere that only ctm is available in the U.S.

Turner85 wrote:

But your lungs will love you.

Did u go for the ctl or ctm or did I read somewhere that only ctm is available in the U.S.

I’ll have to check but I believe it was only CT26 here.

What is the difference in the M or the L?

It’s for low medium high. Basically low is recommended for softwood and other materials that don’t have really fine dust where medium is recommended for mdf, drywall etc.

Poor Trident. I mean……POOR Trident. That’s what you’ll be now. 😉

Might I recommend the TS55REQ track saw or one of their awesome sanders?

I used my RO90DX and my Bosch ROS65VCL with the Midi, my Kapex and my Powermatic to get this absolute horrible piece of wood to literally be smooth as glass for a live edge project my mother in law is working on 🙂 The wood is a shaving plank used to hold compressed shavings in a bundle for horses. Literally a piece of warped ruined slab with a live edge brought to perfect smooth and no dust thanks to the Midi. Hoe stay, a lot of people balk at the tools but when you use them there it’s like an big honkin’ smile erupts and your like……Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhhh! Be prepared to not have any money any longer 😉

chrisk wrote:

Poor Trident. I mean……POOR Trident. That’s what you’ll be now. 😉

Might I recommend the TS55REQ track saw or one of their awesome sanders?

I used my RO90DX and my Bosch ROS65VCL with the Midi, my Kapex and my Powermatic to get this absolute horrible piece of wood to literally be smooth as glass for a live edge project my mother in law is working on 🙂 The wood is a shaving plank used to hold compressed shavings in a bundle for horses. Literally a piece of warped ruined slab with a live edge brought to perfect smooth and no dust thanks to the Midi. Hoe stay, a lot of people balk at the tools but when you use them there it’s like an big honkin’ smile erupts and your like……Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhhh! Be prepared to not have any money any longer 😉

I also got the new Mirka Deros 6″ brushless sander.

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My local shop had one on display the day I went in and I was sold. It\s made to work with Festool. It’s pretty, quiet, and so light. Did I say it’s pretty? I been using it on some drywall work and the combination of the two is amazing. Doing away with drywall dust clean-up and reducing sanding time compared to manually doing it, will make this pay for itself very quickly.

I’m sold on Festool and all it took was a Dust extractor. 

I love wheeling that little buggy around. It’s strange saying that but it feels good. LOL.

 

Now where is my wallet? I need more!

That is an awesome unit! My local Woodcraft has its predecessor and the Mirka dust extractor that’s been a store display for a few yesrs for sale with the entire display for $500 for the whole kit. Awesome price but I’m all set with DC and sanders right now!

chrisk wrote:

Poor Trident. I mean……POOR Trident. That’s what you’ll be now. 😉

Might I recommend the TS55REQ track saw or one of their awesome sanders?

I used my RO90DX and my Bosch ROS65VCL with the Midi, my Kapex and my Powermatic to get this absolute horrible piece of wood to literally be smooth as glass for a live edge project my mother in law is working on 🙂 The wood is a shaving plank used to hold compressed shavings in a bundle for horses. Literally a piece of warped ruined slab with a live edge brought to perfect smooth and no dust thanks to the Midi. Hoe stay, a lot of people balk at the tools but when you use them there it’s like an big honkin’ smile erupts and your like……Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhhh! Be prepared to not have any money any longer 😉

So the Bosch sander will play nice with the Festool dust extractor. Good to know. Thanks, Chris, or maybe I hate you for what you’re getting me in to…. to be determined later. LOL