Does anyone have any experience with the Festool circular saw and the Festool shop vac? I saw a demo of this combination a few years ago and was very impressed that practically no dust escaped the saw when sawing a panel. I can’t remember whether the panel was MDF or plywood.
I just bought a Ryobi circular saw with a dust port on the blade housing (about in the same position as the Festool’s port). I attached the saw’s dust port to the built-in vacuuming sytem in our house (there’s a port in the garage), as I don’t have my shop set up yet with my dust collection system. The vacuum system is very strong.
The Ryobi dust port makes a right angle turn out the back, right side of the saw (a blade-right unit), then straight back at the operator. I was diappointed that a fair amount of dust escaped from the saw, everywhere along the blade line. Although a great deal of the dust did get sucked into the vacuum system. I was sawing Melamine-coated MDF. My experience with this stuff is that it makes more dust than does sawing plywood.
I think I’ll get much better results when I get my DC system set up and use it with this saw. But I wonder if the immediate right angle turn of the dust port hampers the saw’s dust extraction.
Does anyone use the Fetool system? Does the dust port make a right angle turn out the back of the blade guard, or does it exit straight back? Does much dust escape the saw?
Rich
Replies
Answering my own question, the Festool port comes directly out the top back of the blade guard, no turn involved.
But I would appreciate hearing of any experiences with that saw/dust extraction combo.
I have the festool vac and and love it. Any vac attached to a festool saw should extract very well, as i believe the DC is a function of the saw more than the vac. Although the Vac need to be able to hold the dust and not spray it else where which is the short comming of most shop vacs.
Comparing a Ryobi to a festool is like comparing a geo metro to a cadilac. Don't mean to belittle your tool as i have owned a few Ryobi's in the past and still use some today, but the two are on completely different levels.
As far as your shop's DC system goes, shop vacs in my opinion are best at collecting dust and chips from small portable tools and the large DC systems for stationary tools.
I think alot of people love the festool for it's nearly 100% dust collection when working in a clients home or office. I don't think you will find many people complaining about the festool other than the price.
Aaron
Aaron,
Thanks. No need to worry about any hurt feelings comparing the Ryobi to the Festool. I bought the Ryobi over the weekend as part of a sudden "must do" project. The price was right at $59 and it has performed very well. The only other saw at Home Depot with a dust port was the Porter Cable Mag blade- left model. I need a blade right machine. I would have taken the PC if it had been a blade-right, even though it was twice the Ryobi's price.
The Ryobi just has too much open space between the blade guard and blade compared to both the Festool and the Porter Cable saw, allowing a lot of dust to escape there.
You have confirmed my memory of the Festool being able to contain just about all the saw dust. There was just no dust in the room with the vacuum hose attached. Just to prove that the saw was really cutting, the rep pulled off the vacuum hose in the middle of a cut, The amount of debris coming back out the dust port was impressive.
never used the ryobi, but i own the festool saw and vac.
the dust port comes straight out the back of the blade shroud into an adjustable angled fitting that allows you to move the hose out of your way more easily.
the efficincy of the festool saw dust collection seems to have a lot to do with the totaly enclosed nature of the saw (the blade plunges out the bottom instead of the guard moving out of the way) there is also a splinter guard that butts up to the blade on the left side attached to the guiderail, and a similar splinter guard attached to the saw that butts up against the blade on the right side.
so the blade comes out a small slit in teh bottom of the saw, all of the dust created by the leading edge of the blade is thrown back into the housing where, due to the totaly inclosed design, is directed right into the dust hose.
there is really very very little dust that is not captured, I can cut MDF all day long and barely have to sweep anything up.
and we aren't even talking about the added advantages presented by the saw guide system...Festool definately has my vote for the best engineered tools on the market today...
as far as using your dust collector for this purpose, i've always found that on small sized dust ports on hand held tools a shop vac works much better than a DC. I think it has something to do with the increased velocity created by these types of vaccumes compared to the high volume and lower velocity of a DC unit. Anybody else notice anything similar?
cscwem,
Can't say I have had the same experience with DC airflow.
A small unit like a shop vac can move a very small amount of air at high speed, and can maintain a high static suction (closed system). But it cannot move a large volume of air with much speed at all. Its small fan simply does not have the "capacity."
A DC can move a very large volume of air at a speed far above that which a shop vac can (for that volume). It has very large "capacity." It can also maintain a high static suction, usually higher than that of a small capacity fan. If the DC's air flow is restricted through a small hose, such as typically used on a shop vac, the flow rate through that hose is often higher than a shop vac can sustain.
If the DC can't move air through a shop vac size connection, as well or better than can a shop vac, something is wrong with the connections or the DC impeller/shroud design which "leaks" when the "circuit impedance" is too high.
in my experience small tool dust collection is more about velocity than volume...
the amount of dust created by a small saw or sander is minimal and well within the capacity limitations of a shop vac type device.
i have a good sized dust collector and have found my festool vac to be much more efficent than choking down a 6" or 4" line to a 10' length of 1-1/2" hose to connect to the tool...it just doesn't seem like it has the same velocity...
i don't have all of the formulas to figure out velocity and staic pressure loss for a certain size pipe over a certain distance, but maybe somebody does and can help us with some calculations here...
As others have said, a DC is pretty much useless with portable power tools.
If you end up with a Festool saw, don't think you HAVE to buy their vac. I use mine with a Fein, but I have used it with a variety of other vacs -- including a crummy Shop Vac. No matter what kind of vac it is hooked up to, there is virtually no dust spewing around.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Does Festool make an adaptor to fit a 1 1/2" shop vac hose? I have a few aftermarket vacuum adaptors and none will fit the dust port on my Trion jigsaw. I'm attempting to hook up the saw to the vac but need something to fit the jigsaws dust port.
I can't speak to the Ryobi but I love my Festool vac for use with handtools. Particulary the automatic start of the vac when the tool is plugged into the vac power outlet. I now use it for all ROS sanding operations and for my new Dewalt Plunge router. NO chips when plunging mortises.Frosty
I believe they do, but I did buy their hose -- the 27mm, 11' version, which I think cost about $72.I tried a Porter Cable hose which I had; it fit the Festool ports ok, but it is a cheap hose (maybe $15-20), and it kept kinking. The Festool hose is vastly superior, and the vac side of the hose fits all my vacs without an adapter. But like all of their stuff it seems overpriced.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
The circular saws I've had over the years:First a Skil, sort of cuts
Then a Porter Cable, cuts well, but I destroyed it (when you cut bluestone, it sort of slags up the motor--learn from my stupidity)Then I got the Festool.Oh my, it has replaced my tablesaw when I cut sheetgoods--the vac they make is expensive and topnotch, but you can do without it, but you do need one that will work with a long flexible metric hose, but that should be doable, but get the guide. It's the only saw of its type with a splitter, they make great blades,and the guide makes you rethink just how you work.About the only type of person who couldn't use it is a roofer, since it's a plunge cutter.
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