Festool CT-22 Vacuum ?

[Ken]

Hello all,

I'm considering the purchase of one of these to use as my general shop vac- not so much as a dust collector for other machines.

(The motor on my *20 yr old* shop vac was emmitting sparks and smoke the other day. I smacked it around and it is functioning for now, but its days are numbered.)

I have read all the sales lit. and am aware of all the great selling points, but I still have two concerns.

Can anyone who actually uses this machine please comment on:

1. Is the Festool CT-22 really strong enough (enough suckage) for general shop clean up chores ?

1. Are the recommended paper-bag-liner-filters a blessing or a curse ? A pain in the neck to order and have on hand ? What about 10 yrs down the line (should the machine last that long), will they be available ?

These are my main concerns (besides the cost), but any other comments would be appreciated also.

Thanks, Ken

[Mike at American Sycamore]

Ken,

The school has three Festool vacs. I run one without the bag for general use and two with the bag that are hooked up to the sanders. I was told that with the bags they are more effective for very fine dust. Very powerful ,nice and quite, and the company has been in business for years. Just as good a chance that they will be in business as well as anyone else in the future.

Mike from American Sycamore

[Richards]

I have several Festools products, Circular saw, Router, Varcuum, edge guides. All of the products are top quality. The vacuum works great with the saw and the router.

Mike

[Christian Aufreiter]

Hi Ken,

I have a CT 22 which I like a lot. I use it hooked up to my handheld power tools and for general clean up. IMO the Festool vac has plenty of suction. A larger dia hose that the 27 mm hose which comes with the vac might be a good investment if you have really large chips. As someone already mentioned, it's not necessary to use bags but I'd use them. This prolongs the life of the vac and you don't have to mess around if you want to empty the vac. Festool guarantees that all accessories/spare parts are available at least 7 years after a tool is discontinued. As far as I know the CT 22 is Festool's most popular vac so I can't imagine that it will be discontinued soon.

Whenenver I have questions regarding the Festool line I email Bob Marino at [e-mail] Bob's knows a lot about Festool because he uses the tools himself. I recommend that you contact him for additional information.

Hope this helps,

Christian Aufreiter, Austria