ROS upgrade and Vac Suction

[Mr Eddie]

Thanks to the others for their user-based recommendations for the sanders.

I really would like to find someone locally who would let me check out their Festool sander.  I might just be convinced after trying it out.

For me, dust collection is a top priority because my shop is in the basement.

Where are you located?

[Mr Eddie]

+1  CT 26 and Mirka Ceros with Abranet.  Deros is the replacement for Ceros.  It doesn't have a transformer.  Check CL - I bought both my Festool vacs for about 50-60% of new price.


Lonnie

[Strokes77]

+1  CT 26 and Mirka Ceros with Abranet.  Deros is the replacement for Ceros.  It doesn't have a transformer.  Check CL - I bought both my Festool vacs for about 50-60% of new price.


Lonnie

I'm not a Festool salesman, nor do I care what you buy...  

But, as far as festool goes.  You have a 30 day money back guarantee. Buy it, use it for a month, if it's not for you, return it and get every cent back.

[arnman]

Where are you located?

I used to have my location shown. It must have switched off with the site update. Now I can't find how to show my location.

I am in Des Moines, Iowa.

[photobug]

I asked a similar question a while back.  I was considering a Festool ROS vacuum combo, but at the high end of the spectrum I was looking at $1000.

I ended up buying a $100 Lunchbox vac and using my old sanders, a lighter smaller vacuum has made dust collecting while sanding nicer and work well with my 6" Rigid and 5" Bosch ROS nicely.

[greatscott]

Coming from a Porter Cable 390K sander, I tried out the $99 Festool Pro 5 sander just to give it a try.  One year later, I now also own a Festool ETS EC 125 and a 36 CT vacuum.  All of my Festool purchases came come via Craigslist finds so I haven't paid full price for any of them outside of the $99 Pro 5 sander deal so if you're patient, you can find deals out there on Festool items.  That being said, I'll never use another sander again - I love using the EC 125 sander and the fatigue difference between that and the PC was night and day.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I have an older CT22 Festool vac, an older Fein Turbo II vac, the ETS 125 pro and a 6” Ridgid ROS German made. I too started out with a PC 333 and a small square pad Dewalt. I thought I had great sanders until I got the Festool and Ridgid.

If buying new I’d probably buy a Fein vac because they’re just as good as Festool but cheaper. I did have to vent mine for suction relief being it’s not VS.

What many don’t realize about the first generation 6” Ridgid is that it’s an orange Metabo made in Germany. It’s an excellent sander. As good as the Festool 6” ROS? Probably not but still an excellent sander. These German made Ridgid sanders can be bought used on the auction site for as little as $50-$75. You can tell the difference by the black button which changes the stroke setting. The button is on the side of the lower metal housing. The model is R2610. The China versions won’t have this button—R2611. If on a budget, you can’t beat the R2610.

I do agree with others that good sanding equipment isn’t appreciated until you’ve tried it.

[arnman]

I haven't made any decisions yet - I have been too busy. I did look at the new Fein vacs. and I see they have a new design (actually is not that new, but I am probably behind the times a bit). They have a box shape instead of the cylinder shape. They have good cfm and lift values, and are quiet, but comments seem to indicate they value-engineered a few things.

They want about $450 for a good-size vac with tools and HEPA filter, which is a lot but easier to swallow than the Festool. I think the models I was looking at are the Fein 9-20-28 and the Festool CT 36E. I never thought I would deliberate so much about a vacuum. Oh - I mean dust extractor - I had to correct my wife this morning to condition her to a higher way of thinking, so I should practice what I preach.

[arnman]

I have finally narrowed the list of vacs to two.  It will be used for general shop clean up and sander dust extraction.

Nilfisk Attix 30 (135 cfm, 90” static lift, 59 decibels, variable speed for suction control, 1.5” hose, 8 gallons).  The HEPA version is $590.
https://www.sylvane.com/nilfisk-alto-attix-30.html

Nilfisk Aero 21-01 (127 cfm, 84” static lift, 64 decibels, sliding hose port for suction control, 1.25” hose, 5 gallons).  The HEPA version is $285.
https://www.sylvane.com/nilfisk-alto-aero-21-01.html

This will remain stationary in my shop, so portability is not an issue.  The absence of tool-triggering is a non-issue for me.  Actually a positive because I like the simplicity.  Also have read enough reviews of those failing over time.

I will run it through a clearvue mini cylclone, so size is not an issue.  For big chip pick up I will use the 1 7/8” Ridgid orange hose.

I like the simplicity of sliding hose port of the 21-01 for suction control.

Unbelievably, the cost swing is a factor of 2!  Is the extra 8 cfm/6” lift going to be noticed?  After looking at these things so long, I have analysis paralysis.

[fredhargis]

I'm sure you won't notice the difference in suction, but I'd sure give that VS close consideration, even then it may not be worth $300.