Looking to buy yet another vac. This one to be dedicated primarily to chop saws etc when trimming. Things that matter: quiet, dust collection (not leaving 50% on the floor), not tripping breakers when coupled with a CMS. Things that don’t matter: cost. Already know they’re stupid expensive, don’t care. Figure more of the Knotters would have used these than those at Breaktime, and you’re a little easier on the senses. Feedback? Muchas Gracias.
“There is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair” J.F.Kennedy
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Check http://www.festool-usa.com/portando/index.cfm
I have the Fein, and I can't say enough good things about it. It is very quiet. The tool activated switch works well. It has plenty of power...
I once work with a guy that had the P-C. The opening was so small that things were always clogging it. Furthermore, the casters were broken after only a couple months.
Kyle
I have the Fein, there both fairly equal. Fein is quietier, I'm happy and would buy another one if some thing happened to this one. Ron
amazon has the fine fein turbo II for $210 til the end of the month- best price i've ever seen- now that i think of it, i think A&I tool is about the same, too
m
Edited 12/14/2002 4:39:38 PM ET by mitch
I have the fein and it works extremely well as a vac for my sander, router, etc. does not have the strength for jointer planer or table saw. It's quiet, well made and better than all the others I've used for the same purpose.
Appart from the vac, consider a partial enclosure for the saw that is connected to the vac. This will catch most of the dust thrown arround by the blade.
the festool is quiet strong and well designed, they also have great sanders
I have the Fein vac also. For sanders and small tools,and as a shop vac for job site clean up, it's a great tool. However, I don't feel it has the CFM to handle a chop saw. I don't know about other saws, but my Bosch sliding compound blows dust every where. A 1000+ CFM dust collector with a scoop gets most of it, the Fein vac only got a fraction.
Good luck, Glendo.
Well to give you a bit more balance, I have the Porter Cable. I purchased it along with the drywall sander. The system works fine, it did 3 houses of sheet rock and is now connected to my chop saw.
I drug it all over 3 homes, filled to overflowing with drywall dust, never had a problem with casters breaking.
The size of the hose that comes with the vac is reduced to fit the sander, and a hand sander, router etc. The opening in the machine is a standard 2" opening and it works fine with any 2" flex hose. I have a 2" hose connected to it all the time. I use the supplied hose to connect to a sander, BTW its about 10' long and very flexible.
The system is quiet and has adequate power. It also has an outlet for a tool and it is auto one when switched that way.
It uses bags, two types. One is for hazardous material, the other for dust. It also has a separate filter system that is cleaned with a little pull lever to knock the caked on dust off. The filter is washable. HEPA system seems work well. It was designed for drywall dust which is very fine.
I find it a nice quiet system. My old noisy sears vac will likely suck the guts out of it for power, but it also sounds like a 727 engine.
I recommend it. I have owned it for about 10 years, its used often.
Curt
Thanks to everyone for chipping in. Despite my preconceived notions, now that I've read here and nosed around, I'm not as sure of the Fein. Amazon, in particular, has some not so nice commentary about the Turbo III, illiterate posters notwithstanding. The Festool link was great. They look like very quality machines. The decision now I guess, counter what I said earlier, is how much do I really want to spend. I'm leaning Festool, but they are a little steep. I'll try to convince myself somehow, probably by reminding myself how glad I am I've invested in Hilti tools in the past.
" You are young, my son, and as the years go by time will change and even reverse many of your present opinions. Refrain therefore awhile from setting yourself up as a judge of the highest matters." - Plato
generally i take those amazon reviews with a cup of grainy salt. Most just review to toot their own horn. It goes without saying they cant even play a note....
Understood. " You are young, my son, and as the years go by time will change and even reverse many of your present opinions. Refrain therefore awhile from setting yourself up as a judge of the highest matters." - Plato
I like my Fein's just fine. The Turbo II does all I ask. The wife liked it so much for doing the floors I bought her the Mini. Even the hose is great - 16' long with swivels that actually, well swivel. Plus you can get parts. Even the swivel hose end is available for when you step on it and crack it as I did. I sometimes use 'em both. I use the mini to run the vaccum hold down table and the big one for the sanders. Since the Fein vacs have bypass cooling I can wrap the fluted, tapered rubber connector (from Carter) on the vac table with plastic so all the power holds the part. You need to order the tool kit from Fein because they're not US standard sizes. I got the Turbo II from Junior's for $168 on a price match deal - the ad they matched was probably a misprint. If you're checking around I've heard the WAP's are very good also.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
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