Festool Dust Extracor with Dust Deputy

[Larry Frank]

What are the advantages of using the dust deputy with the Festool Dust Extractor? I had some great responses about the differences between the Fein and Festool dust extractors. Several of them noted the use of the Dust Deputy with the Festool and there is a Dust Deputy specifically made to use with the Festool.

The price of the Dust deputy built for the Festool is not cheap. I read that the advantages are that it traps 99% of the dust and makes the filters last longer on the Festool. I am trying to understand the economics of using the Dust Deputy. Will using it with the Festool pay for itself in a reasonable time ?

I guess that I am trying to come up with and estimate of the costs of the sytem including any accessories that I would need for the Festool Dust Extractor and if I need to include the Dust Deputy. I need to submit an estimate to my boss and Chief Financial Officer (wife) and make a case for an entire system.

[Jeff Monson]

Larry, I guess my decsion would be based on what you have the Festool vacuum attached to...I have 2 ct22 vacs. 1 is used for sanding and domino's, the other is attached to a kapex. I fill up the bags very quickly on the kapex vac and not too often on the sander vac. So I purchased the dust deputy for festool vacs for my kapex setup. It works great, I have no dust in the bag and I just empty out the container every month.

I think the main advantage of the festool deputy is it can attach directly to the vacuum itself in the same way a systainer does. Other than that the function of the pail model and the festool model are the same. The festool kit does come with all the
hoses and fittings which is nice.

[Phil Thien]

If you're just using the vac for sanding/sawing/around the shop clean-up, I don't there is much call for a separator. The Festool uses bags, which do a fine job of keeping the filter clean.

Where separators shine is when you're collecting a large amount of debris (form a planer, for example), and you don't want to fill the expensive bags too quickly.

[Ken Whitney]

Larry,

I had to sand a large redwood deck, and I used a Festool Rotex sander and dust extractor. I bought the Dust Deputy add-on specifically for this job (it is expensive), and it did a fantastic job. The dust bin was filled with an enormous amount of very fine redwood dust. I would have probably gone through several (also expensive) bags for the job.

Good luck,

Ken

[Matt Meiser]

I got mine so I wasn't filling expensive bags with debris from the floor, etc. I just bought the standard model with the buckets. I mounted the outer bucket to a piece of 1/4" MDF which cut to fit the top of the vac--it locks right in the way a Systainer does. If I'm taking the vac out of the shop, I just snap it off and leave it behind. I also found I really needed 2 90's on the ends of the hose to make everything fit together neatly. I found those of all places at Lowes--just buy two of the right angle brushes from the shop vac section and snap off the ring that holds the bristles.

The one minor drawback is that I've found the lid can be accidentally snapped off the drum pulling the hose. I think a bungee or two would solve that when I get that round 'tuit.

[Matt Winterowd]

The economics are that it doesn't take very many Festool bags to equal the price of a Dust Deputy (at least, the non-festool models). When you have a separator attached, it would take a very long time to fill a single bag.

[Keith Hankins]

Well I have the CT33/e and the dust deputy. I bought it for two reasons. One was as you mentioned the saving on bags. On that one it delivers as advertiesed. It fits in the top and is very convenient. I also have the boom arm attachement and it fits together nicely. Personally I like for that reason. The second reason was I liked the concept of the bag in the DD to make the empty easy. On that one it did not quite live up to it's expectation. Concept is cool it uses vacuum from the hose to keep the bag our against the sides. On ocasion when almost empty, it would pull the bag into the hose. I finally just bagged (pardon the pun) the whole bag thing and just use it and dump it into a bag when full. It's easy to do. I simply remove the lid, slide a kitchen garbage bag over the tub, invert and slowly pull the tub out. It's pretty neat. You could get the non festool version and it would work, but if you move your DC around like I do, you'd have to move it seperately or rig something. For me the convenience was worth it. It will definately cut down on bags. I bought it when it first came out and I'm still on the same new bag. Hope that helps.

[Joe Cowan]

I have the DD and the boom arm. Love it. Not to have to worry about how full the bag is as well as the cost of these bags is worth alot to me.

[James Baker SD]

I bought the Festool CT-22 primarily on orders of my lung doctor. I like how when I have to replace the bag, I can seal the bag with the included cap and really trap the dust inside while I move the bag to the trash. This is a big plus for me. Emptying a DD would put at least some of that dust back into the air that I have to breathe (I get the wife to empty the Oneida Cyclone's bin) so I live with the cost of the bags rather than the risk to my (already marginal) lungs.
That said, I have a friend (professional chair maker/instructor) with healthy lungs and he has the CT-22 with the DD and he loves the convenience of just emptying the DD most of the time.
Guess, the reason you got the Festool system in the first place is part of your answer. I got mine for health reasons.

[Eric DeSilva]

I'll do the math. At $31 for 5 CT22 bags, its over 40 for the "Festool" version. And that doesn't include added hardware; if you want to stick with Festool's antistatic hoses, that can be pricey. I couldn't justify the payback in any reasonable amount of time based on the rate I use bags. Then again, I've got a cyclone in my shop that does most of the DC.

[Matt Meiser]

Only 15 or so bags if you are OK with the bucket version instead of the version with the overpriced Tupperware container (seriously, that thing is more expensive than a couple Systainers.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Tommy Mac from Rough Cut has the festool DD and he put a plastic bag inside so when he has to empty it, he just opens the lid and closes the bag and replaces with a new bag.

I have the regular DD and CT33. It works excellent and I like to use the festool vac now for all sorts of vacuum jobs and not just connected to tools.