Can't decide


Gixxerjoe04

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So I sold a enough stuff last weekend at a show to where I figured I should treat myself to a new tool or two.  Since I already have a domino and tracksaw and no dust extractor, and them being on sale it would be a good choice.  Can't decide what would be best, the Midi or the 26.  Seems the only difference is capacity, so is it worth paying an extra $100 for 3 more gallons of dust space when the bags are reusable I assume?  Also thought about getting one of their sanders, thinking either the ets ec 125/3 or 150/3, wasn't sure again if the $100 was worth the extra inch of disc.  Any suggestions of what you have and like, or any other sander model I should look at?  Don't have to get the sander right now, may wait and see how the de works with my current bosch sander before dropping $4-500 on a sander. 

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Joe I have the ct26 and it is fine for my needs if I needed more portability I would get the smaller size.  I also have the dust deputy so I don't worry about the bags.  As for the sander the 150/3 is better because it will cover a lot more area than the 125.  It is a noticeable difference.  Plus I already had the RO150 so discs are the same. 

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I am pretty sure the 26 is the smallest vac that has the capacity to store the hose wrapped on top and systainers can lock in over the hose. In a small shop or jobsite this can make a big difference. 

As to sanders I was wearing out Bosch sanders in less than 2 years. My ETS-150-3 is over 8 years old and going strong. I did a comparison on sand paper and even with the higher Festool price the longer abrasive life makes it more economic . In a hobby setting the numbers could be wildly different.

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I would get the mini and the dust deputy. I have a ct26 with the dd and it is too big for nothing. They didn't have the mini/midi available in Canada when i got mine.

I would look at the ets EC 150 sander. Its the newer model, best sander I've ever used. If the decision is between 125 or 150, definitely 150.

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Don't really need portability since it'll just be used in my shop, but want to be able to be organized, stacking my systainers on it and putting it all away would be nice.  So will systainers sit on the midi or just the 26 and up?  Wife might kill me dropping $1,000 when we have to buy stuff for a new house we might be getting.  Since no sale on the sanders, can wait until later to spread the pain out of spending that much haha.

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I have a 26, and I use the self clean bags.  I also made my own arm, and it works very well.

I fill a self clean bag about once every 6 months or so, and get two uses out of each bag.  It would take many years of bag use to offset a super DD.  I use about $10 in festool bags per year, so about 35 years to get my payback.  I bought 10 bags, plus it came with one, so I'm good to go for a long time! 

That being said, I dont use the vac for general clean up.  It is used mainly for my kapex, domino, and ets. 

It is ocassionally used for my kreg jig, and I just got an appropriate mm diameter hood for my hh router, so my bag consumltion will likely increase  moderately in the future.

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I have a 26, and I use the self clean bags.  I also made my own arm, and it works very well.

I fill a self clean bag about once every 6 months or so, and get two uses out of each bag.  It would take many years of bag use to offset a super DD.  I use about $10 in festool bags per year, so about 35 years to get my payback.  I bought 10 bags, plus it came with one, so I'm good to go for a long time! 

That being said, I dont use the vac for general clean up.  It is used mainly for my kapex, domino, and ets. 

It is ocassionally used for my kreg jig, and I just got an appropriate mm diameter hood for my hh router, so my bag consumltion will likely increase  moderately in the future.

Ya i guess it depends how much you use it. I use the festool vac for everything, all my festool sanders , domino, kapex, festool routers, tracksaw, jigsaw, ridgid oss/beltsander, extra dust extraction (on table ) when resawing, vacuming my entire shop (often) and vacuuming off all the stationary tools, vacuuming the cars, extraction while sanding plaster and general construction/reno stuff.

I would be burning through alot of filters/bags. The other thing to take into consideration is as the filter gets blocked efficiency drops. With the dust deputy almost nothing makes it to the filter ensuring full suction all the time.

When I bought my dust deputy it was 224$. I just checked Atlas Machinery and its now 350$ !! Whoa, thats a big chunk of change. I will probably still buy it though because for me its been worth it.

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10 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

Ya i guess it depends how much you use it. I use the festool vac for everything, all my festool sanders , domino, kapex, festool routers, tracksaw, jigsaw, ridgid oss/beltsander, extra dust extraction (on table ) when resawing, vacuming my entire shop (often) and vacuuming off all the stationary tools, vacuuming the cars, extraction while sanding plaster and general construction/reno stuff.

I would be burning through alot of filters/bags. The other thing to take into consideration is as the filter gets blocked efficiency drops. With the dust deputy almost nothing makes it to the filter ensuring full suction all the time.

When I bought my dust deputy it was 224$. I just checked Atlas Machinery and its now 350$ !! Whoa, thats a big chunk of change. I will probably still buy it though because for me its been worth it.

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I use another vac (with DD) for the general tasks.  Don't the self clean bags protect the filters?

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Ya i guess it depends how much you use it. I use the festool vac for everything, all my festool sanders , domino, kapex, festool routers, tracksaw, jigsaw, ridgid oss/beltsander, extra dust extraction (on table ) when resawing, vacuming my entire shop (often) and vacuuming off all the stationary tools, vacuuming the cars, extraction while sanding plaster and general construction/reno stuff.

I would be burning through alot of filters/bags. The other thing to take into consideration is as the filter gets blocked efficiency drops. With the dust deputy almost nothing makes it to the filter ensuring full suction all the time.

When I bought my dust deputy it was 224$. I just checked Atlas Machinery and its now 350$ !! Whoa, thats a big chunk of change. I will probably still buy it though because for me its been worth it.

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

I use another vac (with DD) for the general tasks.  Don't the self clean bags protect the filters?

I believe so to a certain extent. The filter is there to...well...filter ? It has to be filtering something. I don't think the bag filters the super fines, thats the filters job.

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I sell a bunch of different stuff at craft shows, nothing fancy but have quite a variety and usually different than the other woodworkers at shows.  Of course I don't know what other guys make at shows to compare what I make but I think I do well at them.  Plus since I work a full time job, doing craft shows on the side helps buy me new tools so the wife can't complain.  My last show last year was my best one so far, ended up buying a domino xl and grizzly 15" planer afterwards haha.  

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1 minute ago, Gixxerjoe04 said:

Haha, I don't want to get laughed off wood talk for making simple stuff with all the amazing work other people make.  

If you're selling them then, it doesn't matter what people here think.   You're making money from them so, you obviously know something we don't!

 

 

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