Something smaller, but with the features you want (low noise, auto start, variable vacuum, etc) will be more cost effective. One thing to keep in mind, no matter what brands are in the running.if you are using the unit specifically for dust extraction from small, hand-held electric tools and not for general cleanup, you do not necessarily need the larger units with vast amounts of storage for debris. But with silica or other really harmful dust, that is probably not a good idea, unless you are using a cyclone intended for the purpose. You could certainly add a cyclone to make any of these vacuums a two-stage unit. So there is no way the bags will actually contain 8 gallons of dust when full. In reality, the HEPA filter is inside the dust collection area and takes up at least a third of the internal volume, maybe more. The other thing is that even though this can hold 8 gallons of dust, that is only theoretical. The fleece bags for this unit have a paper flap which is used to seal the opening when the bag is removed - this is great for wood dust, too.ĭownsides to this unit? Price is one - but all similar units are in this price range, more or less. One of the characteristics of a silica-certified dust extractor is the ability to remove the collection bag without allowing dust to escape. Along with additional safety gear, of course, it works great for this. Also I am slowly grinding smooth the concrete floor in my garage workshop, so I wanted a unit which was approved for silica dust. It's not rated as highly as the top-of-the-line Hilti, but it's close. It's much more quiet than a standard shop vac, and has great suction. The filter never clogs due to a feature which automatically cleans the filter every few seconds. So eventually I got rid of that and purchased the Milwaukee 8 gallon HEPA filtration OSHA-compliant silica dust extractor, model 8960-20. I added a small cyclone to it and that helped a little, but not that much. It had good suction but was very loud and the filter clogged super-easily when that occurred it was virtually useless. I have a large 5hp DC for my big tools, but at one time I used a big-box shop vac (Rigid) for smaller tools and cleanup. That being said, I am now playing with third party hoses (powertec or some such) that I've wrapped in the same fabric material as the FT hoses and achieved nearly the same performance. And, one can fit the Festool hoses to the Bosch one way or another, so no worries about native fit to the various tool outputs. I truly wish there was no difference, but there is.īuying again, I think I'll try the Bosch and better ear protection but I don't regret spending the previous money. I've used a regular shop vac with the right hose, etc, to hook up to tools prior to this, and yes there is a performance difference in the expensive unit - for the most part, zero dust emerging from the unit post bag/filter. I can tell just from the smell in the room that no dust emerges from the FT, but does from the shopvac. I use a regular shop vac for regular tasks like floor cleanup, and the CT-26 for tool hookup. The price was yes, a wince-inducing purchase, but I gotta say, I use it daily, it never quits, and my lungs thank me. I did not like the FEIN, it did not seem to perform as well as the other two. My only problem with it was the noise, it was significantly louder to my ear than the CT-26 (I did not measure it so I have no real data for you).
In the end I went with the CT-26 for the filter and the ease of integration with preexisting tools, but the Bosch unit is a touch less investment and was pretty darn close in performance. I own and regularly use a Festool CT-26 and prior to purchase I obsessively played with it, and a Bosch VAC090AH, and a FEIN Turbo in the 5.8 gal size. The other units are similar capacity, however. (Doesn't include some Euro options that get mentioned from time to time, however) But this last chart in the article shows that cost for this level of performance still isn't chump-change.but relative to that, this is a larger Festool CT36 which isn't really necessary for small tool collection and costs whole lot more. There's a review article from 2018 I just found via Google search for "Alternatives to Festool Vacuum" ( ) that has some interesting information and shows some units from the "names" relative to performance, etc.
#Extractor vacuum vs shop vac full#
More recently, the familiar names have been introducing quieter, more full featured options because of the increasing popularity with contractors for actually using dust extraction from hand-held tools.
There have been various discussions over time about this and to my recollection, at that time, "equivalent" units for performance, noise and features aren't that different in price.
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