Have any of you lads got one? I currently rely on trusty old Henry the hoover for extraction and cleanup, still going strong after over ten years of use. I have been looking at the CTL 26 or the MIDI. Preferably i'd like to get it in 110, so it will work with existing tools, one of the reasons i have been looking at the Festool range. And if you haven't guessed, it will be a very green Christmas for me this year as i am going to purchase a few Festool bits from Nuts and Bolts.
Just missed the £50 off promotion. I have the Midi one in 110v and works really well. It comes with a very long power lead and hose. You will need to buy "tools" - cleaning tools as it doesn't come with any. The sets start from around £30.
So you get all the bits you would need for extraction and then have to buy the tools for using it like a normal hoover? I think i would still keep Henry in the van for rubble and large chunks. I don't fancy using the festool for that sort of work at that price tag. I have seen looking around that almost everything to Festool is an add on. Notably the TS55, the rail clips and kickback stop are all separate. I saw a Rotex in action with a painter taking back an artex ceiling today, next to no dust I was amazed!
It is pricey but worth the investment. The trick with Festool (like most brands) is to watch out for the deals and what items you really need as some products sets come with items that cost more when bought separately. What I have found with things like the Rotex, I can get rid of several other sanders - belt sander, random orbit, finishing and palm sanders and just have the one. The other thing with with their extraction is that it makes the disks last many times longer I always thought Festool was very gimmicky and for posers but using their products over the last 6 months has changed my mind.
Sos, do you have a long life bag? I've got the two bags that came with the extractor, but it seems the long life bag might be slightly better than purchasing the disposable ones. Big difference in the price though: http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-selfclean-filter-bag-sc-fis-ct-midi-5.html http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-longlife-filter-bag-longlife-fis-ctl-midi.html
Open up and cut the end off one of the bags you have, fold it over a thin dowel and push a suitable thickness of split plastic pipe over to seal.
Don't have a long life bag, unless I have read incorrectly the long life bag is mainly for larger wood chips and savings. When I last bought some I got them for about £12 for 5 so wasn't to bothered at £2.50 each
Festool do a reuseable bag which I think is what we're talking about which costs around £60 I think or you pay £2.50 a bag and I can get through 3 a day if cutting loads.
Yes thats the one, Mine is only a CTL Midi but seems to take quite a while to fill through a mix of sanding, routing and sawing. Its so compressed could almost stick it on a fire as a log