A lot of great input here, very grateful for the videos & pictures. I considered one of those track systems. I do have a 2.5 inch peach tree anti static hose I intended to use for this, with my 4 inch dust collector, though I then read that it is unwise to use smaller than 4 inches on a 4 inch collector for one reason or another (more than halves the efficiency & possibly hurts the motor?) So I just gave up & thought “hey, why don’t I use the festool CT?”.
I have the 27mm hose & the 36mm hose. I am about to just pull the proverbial trigger on the festool boom arm set. It would be useful for the CNC as well as every other thing I use the CT for anyhow. Sweepy 2.0 page does say “comes with 2.5 inch adapter & 36mm Festool hose adapter” - so maybe the 27mm goes to the inner wall of the sweepy adapter, while the 36mm goes to the outside wall of it? Similar to how some of the tools themselves work (like ts 55 you can put the 27mm inside the port or put the 36mm outside the port?) - is that the choke-point/potential clog-point you were referring to @WillAdams?
I want that boom arm anyhow, for everyday usage, I guess it would also solve the problem for the way to suspend it over the cnc’s, since we have confirmed sweepy is compatible with at least one of the hoses? I am grateful for more feedback & when I get it all setup I intend to share the outcome & what I ended up going with - I am excited to use the Festool setup since it is anti static, though, also, I think I lose that functionality with the CT Cyclone anyway - I am not sure, seems @Tarheel66 has no problem with static, though & his is not connected directly to the vac either, so maybe it is fine?
I can only speak to the setups which I have had direct experience with.
a tapered Festool hose from 2.5" (at the vacuum/cyclone) down to 36mm is loud and the narrow entry creates a choke point which larger debris is likely to get stuck at — but at least that’s a visible problem, and a convenient place to address it (the Sweepy 1 had this problem only moreso)
a straight 2.5" hose from the vacuum/cyclone is much quieter, and with a good quality anti-static hose, is wonderfully reliable, with almost no choke points, so pretty much all debris gets to the cyclone/bag
After usage vacuuming/cleanup is minimal after either (so long as the cut is not one which might have problems — all bets are off for usage of a vertical fixture or through cuts at the perimeter of tall stock.
That said, I think the 2.5" hose connected to the 4" system is worth trying.
@WillAdams point on it being a clog potential is valid… when removing material along the grain… it will come off in strips and will clog at the entrance to the hose… the 32mm hose DOES NOT fit directly onto the adapter… you can buy a separate 50mm hose end and do it that way… it will work. As far as 4" to 2.5" reduction… if your dust collector is struggling… just open a blast gate or add one on a y adapter to regulate airflow when using the reduced hose. I have the Rockler quick connect system and the handles have an air regulator built in.
**Not for nothing… but your CT will also dump heat in your space like no tomorrow… raises my room temp 10-15 degrees.
I see @WillAdams, so this means I would go from the CT Cyclone to the Sweepy with the 2.5 & still will be able to use that for collection instead of the 4 inch monster-unit taking up too much space that I probably should not have bought - lol - perfect, if so! Sounds like the way to go, I could drape the 2.5 over the boom or even run it auxiliary alongside the Festool hose itself, switching which I am using between woodworking vs cnc woodworking - perfect! That said, I will in fact try that setup with the big collector as well, just to see for myself - it is loud, though. Very, very loud & it gets kind of hot so I am already inclined to avoid it for things other than the jointer, planer & bandsaw! Since CNC jobs could take longer than a few operations on the other tools at a time, I mean.
@OneDudeAbiding - thank you! I had wondered “well, maybe I can just run 2 hoses & alleviate the problem” - this is also how I considered being able to use the big collector with the router table once I close in the router (have a Rockler metal frame table, going to go the “cabinet in a stand build” route with it) - sounds like that will work for the router then, as well as trying it out with the CNC. Now I get to the part about the CT dumping heat - oof! I will need to work out better AC out there for sure, the 5k btu unit in the window right now barely does the 1 car garage & I dread to think how much escapes at the car door - though that is insulated & I have installed insulation stripping around the opening, it is still kind of leaky. I am lucky that the previous owner did choose an insulated door + has done the walls & insulated those (I think they planned to do a hair salon or something, we have a sink out here fixed with the shower-on-a-hose for a faucet & there was a tilt-back hair washing chair here when we bought the place).
I have been running the 36mm directly into the adapter on sweepy. 2 wraps of painters tape it’s a nice snug fit. I do have a big 6" dust collector system, but so far i’m just using my Festool CT with the Pro 5 and other festool hand held tools in this area of my shop.
I just made a new 2x4 gantry/boom for the hose today because i noticed it was getting snagged in some extreme corner situations depending on how it went to the corner.
I just made a gantry with 2x4’s, drilled a 2-1/4 hole in the center, this worked well.
I did switch to full 4", i have a new dust boot that is 4" compatible on the way, the festool filled up too quickly for my liking, i debated about getting the oneida seperator, but like i said, i have a full dust collection system in the shop already, it’s just loud.
I ended up ordering PWNCNC’s V7 4 inch model. I have the same tables Carbide uses in their shop, the Pro XL is screwed down to that top so I ended up limiting myself to mounting options for booms or such. Oof! I am going to be trying the 4 inch boot with the dust collector, but also going to try Sweepy 2.0 with the CT 26/CT Cyclone. It was a lot cheaper to attempt to use another boot than buy the boot (edit - should read “than buy the BOOM arm*”). A phone call with Festool applications department, they told me with the boom + the cyclone it would be ineffective. Not sure how good or bad it would perform, but I definitely do not want to ever run my CT 26 without a cyclone on it - make the bags last as long as possible, even after I end up getting a long life bag!
Excellent! Whenever they fulfill mine, hopefully we will be getting them set up & trading notes or what not! Good to be going into a new accessory together. Did you grab anything else there? I went ahead & grabbed some of the 4 inch rings to throw on jointer/planer/bandsaw/collector itself and an extra ring/round hose end thing assembly for the collector side of the hose. Probably did not need to do that side of the hose, but it’ll make it easier to get it out of the way when it is not doing the 4 inch stuff. I also got the dust covers for the Y axis drive system, looked at those a while back, those were on sale so I just did it. Also got the extra brush/brush track at 1 inch, since that is sweepy’s length. I figure, in the event the suction is too strong, or in the event I want to float a little higher anyway, the video on the boot’s page showed it is effective just floating, so I went for it. I also got their “suckit/festool” adapter, just to try it out on other tools that do not fit the festool hoses natively, in case it fits - worst case, it’ll be there when I do have something it fits, best case, it’ll go on the sander/table saw/router table or such. Yes, I am broke now lol.
BTW what are your impressions on the Shapeoko 5 Pro so far?
I wish I had a Festool here. I would design and 3D print an adapter. I did design one for the original Sweepy to a 2.5" hose a while back before the 2.0 came out with the 2.5" opening.
I have a Festool hose, and I don’t like the whistling of it — a straight 2.5" is much better for long-term usage — I only use the Festool hose these days w/ a brush fitting for cleanup — and found it worth the effort to make a 2.5" brush adapter for the Sweepy fitting:
Been good for the most part, been fighting some issues all week, my new control box shows up today so hopefully that will resolve my issues. Hoping these are all just setup gremlins and not something that will continue. I was looking at the 5 pro and the Onefinity, i went with Carbide based on the lead time (didn’t want to wait 2 months for the Onefinity) and comments about Carbide support. I have some projects that need a full 4x8 sheet, so i wanted a 4x4 with tiling at a minimum, since a decent 4x8 machine was more than i wanted to spend right now.
The bitsetter needs to be removed to run a 4x8 sheet, otherwise you run into it when cutting near the edge of a sheet. So that is pretty annoying, i just keep it loose and slide it in/out when i need to change the bit. Not sure if there is a good solution to get around that.
The 36mm hose fits just fine without any adapters.
That’s what mine is used for now in addition to festool tools.
Hey @cnackers, I saw one of your posts that you had gotten your new board & things seemed to be going well, hopefully still going well! Did you receive your V7 boot? I did. I only just built it today & have not set up all the hosing or used the boot yet. How is your experience so far with it? I feel it went together easily enough & aside from some glue I had to wipe off/remnants of some glue I want to get off of those areas (I used a bit too much on those parts I guess), it all went well & I like the boot a lot. High hopes for how it performs!
I got the extra mag lock rings for the 4 inch tools in the shop. Fits the bandsaw, but a bit too big for the jointer, planer & the collector itself, just slightly, so working on a solution to that for now.
I’ve ran a few jobs with the new board and it seems to be working, so as long as it stays that way
I did receive the V7 boot and have ran several jobs with it, the performance isn’t as good as I was expecting giving the dedicated 4" connection. I contacted PWNCNC and he sent me a insert for inside the collector to direct the suction more towards the bit that he’s been working on. I’m testing that and have modified it a few times in CAD and still more testing. The 2.5" version has the insert, but he just hadn’t had a lot of testing on the 4" yet.
I run my own 4" magnetic connectors that i created on all my equipment, they work really well. I just redesigned a 2.5 to 4" one so get rid of some adapters on smaller equipment like the bandsaw that only has a 2.5" connection point.
Let me know how the dust boot v7 performs once you get a chance to use it.
Interesting, I just bought the Shapeoko 5 Pro 4x4, it came with the sweepy 2.0 and it didn’t come with any adapters… I ended up 3d printing some before I found that link I sent you. All I got was the sweepy with the brush end, the clear plastic end presumably for filming and 2 round cups that don’t really fit in very well.
- perfect, if so! Sounds like the way to go, I could drape the 2.5 over the boom or even run it auxiliary alongside the Festool hose itself, switching which I am using between woodworking vs cnc woodworking - perfect! That said, I will in fact try that setup with the big collector as well, just to see for myself - it is loud, though. Very, very loud & it gets kind of hot so I am already inclined to avoid it for things other than the jointer, planer & bandsaw! Since CNC jobs could take longer than a few operations on the other tools at a time, I mean.
