Anyone Have Two Shop Vacs? What about the Fein Turbo I?

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I'm happy with my large, 25 year old Craftsman shop vac and hope it continues to run for 25 more years. Its great for sucking up massive amounts of dust and dirt, but its not really designed to connect to portable power tools. I really want to get high quality vac with auto-start for that job. It'll be mostly sucking up very fine sawdust from the orbital sander, spindle sander, or 4" belt sander. I'm looking at the Fein Turbo I and wonder if the ~5 gallon capacity will be a hinderance. I like the idea of using a replaceable felt bag instead of replacing the filter.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I’ve used a Fein I for years without any problems. Love the flat top so I could mount a small Dust Deputy on top and never worry about bags.
The auto start feature works great and runs a few seconds after trigger release. Noise is in the acceptable range.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I’ve used a Fein I for years without any problems. Love the flat top so I could mount a small Dust Deputy on top and never worry about bags.
The auto start feature works great and runs a few seconds after trigger release. Noise is in the acceptable range.

Thanks, what capacity is your vac?

[Mike Tekin]

I have a Festool CT26 and just bought the smaller CT15 on the recon site. I also have a smaller Ridgid Vac in my miter saw cabinet with a homemade dust separator. Between my CTs and the Super Dust Deputy attached to my Grizzly 2HP dust collector, the dust in my shop is minimal and its just a better working environment. I think its essential to get a Hepa rated vac with power tool port and adjustable suction at minimum if you sand, use routers, etc. Doesn't have to be Festool. But, the HEPA rating is critical as even if you buy a HEPA filter for your vac, the vacuum most likely will leak around the filter at other points.

[Rush Paul]

I've had two Fein vacs over the years and both were great. The first from 20+ years ago finally had to be replaced due to motor failure after a lot of work. The new one has been going for a year now and seems just as good. Both were very quiet, both had great suction.

The new one, a Turbo I with 5.8 gallon canister, has the same specs as the larger 8.4 gallon capacity Turbo II model, the difference is just the smaller canister. Both models operate at 66dB noise level, 151 CFM flow rate, 98.4 inches water lift, and 1100 watt motor. I got the smaller canister because I run it with a small cyclone and dust pail so don't need the capacity.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a Fein Turbo II and it has all the features you are looking for. It uses a replaceable filter bag. It is extremely quiet and does not use the suction air for motor cooling.

[Keegan Shields]

I recently sold my Bosch 9 gal vac which worked ok and replaced it with a used CT-26 (6.8 gal). The blue tooth switch option on the Festool is pretty awesome. I think it all depends on what tools you plan to use. Obviously routers will fill the bags up faster with chips than a track saw will with saw dust. I had good luck with both sizes and never found that I needed more capacity. To get the full capability I would definitely use the internal filter bags. They really don't cost all that much more. You'll like the upgrade either way. Both models of dust extractors were much quieter than my Ridgid shop vac.

[Steve Fish]

I’ve got an oldish rigid shop vac and a CT26 as well. The rigid has a cobbled bucket separator and gets used for general clean up and the smaller port tools and fences. It will accept the original rigid or festool hose. I picked up the ct mostly for the festool sanders but I’m finding the auto on feature very convenient for all the smaller hand held tools.
I just don’t like changing vac bags so if I have a lot of track saw cuts, dominos or routing I still use the rigid. I’m cheap and the FT bags are a little pricey when I have to factor in shipping cost.

[Mike Wilkins]

2 shop vacs are a great idea. I have had a Porter Cable tool-triggered machine for over 15 years and it works great, although I sometimes have to resort to duct tape to make a connection to the tool.
I recently got the Festool CT15 mainly for its variable suction capacity. Nice having options.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I’ve got an oldish rigid shop vac and a CT26 as well.
I just don’t like changing vac bags so if I have a lot of track saw cuts, dominos or routing I still use the rigid. I’m cheap and the FT bags are a little pricey when I have to factor in shipping cost.

I've been using these with my CT26, about half the price of the OEM.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZBWDEA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

[johnny means]

I have several Fein and Festool vacs. The Festools, imo, are better engineered with more thoughtful design, Both strike me as similar quality.

[Steve Fish]

Thanks Chris! That’s about a 60% discount for me

[Jim Becker]

I have a Festool CT for small tool extraction and a Ridgid "shop vac" for cleanup type work. I actually have two identical of the latter because I brought the one my father owned north after he passed away a few years ago and in my current shop, it lives upstairs where I break down boards from storage for general cleanup purposes. That one will eventually live in the garage here in the new property when the other two get to move into a new building...someday.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Hi I am Todd and I have a shop vacuum problem.

I 3--well actually 4 if you count the one I keep up at the house.

I had one for general shop duties and using with some small power tools.

Then, last year I bought a Festool sander and decided, in for a penny, in for a pound and bought a CT26.

Then, in my pursuit of better dust collection, I read how it is common to have a dedicate shop vacuum for the smaller over arm DC on the sawstop. So, now I have third shop vacuum in my shop, just for the overarm collection.

This is all in addition to the central DC system I use.

BTW, I am hobbyist who has not actually had a chance to use any of the tools in my shop for woodworking in 6 weeks dur to work, family, etc. :)

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Well, I guess that answers that question! I appreciate the feedback — it gives me different ideas about how to go about collecting dust. Right now I wear a mask when using the shop vac. It’d be nice to ditch that and get the auto start feature. The fein is powerful enough to handle a small seperator?

[Rush Paul]

My Fein Turbo I works fine with a Clear Vue CV06 Mini cyclone. Any cyclone addition will drop the suction power somewhat, but I still get plenty of suction with great dust separation.

[George Yetka]

I have a bunch. Mainly just use 2 ct26 for small tools and miter saw in the garage with a cyclone. and in my basement i have a rigid with a cyclone for night time sanding. (My daughters bedroom is above my garage). I also ran some 2" pvc to the finished part of basement to my reloading press. When im trimming brass it the trimmer is very loud so i dont need the shopvac screaming at me too. I dont know how bad it is for the ridgid to be bushed down to the festool size but i do it anyway. the rigids are very inexpensive compared to the Fein/Mirka/Festool

[Bobby Robbinett]

I have and still use the Fein Turbo 1 that I bought several months ago. I use it only for my sanding station and swap the connections between my Festool RO125, a 6” Porter Cable direct drive sander, a Bosch finish sander and a 3x4 Surf Prep pneumatic sander. I love this thing and will soon add a cyclone once I get my overhead stand assembled which is where the Turbo 1 will reside.

I wanted a Festool for using their boom arm and easy setup dust deputy that you can get specifically for their vacs. The issue I had that made me decide against the Festool was price. The CT MIDI, the CTMini and the CT15 will not attach to the boom arm nor will they work with the Dust Deputy that was designed for the CT’s. The CT26 is the cheapest model that will work with the boom arm and Festool specific Dust Deputy.

With the boom arm being $450 and the DD being $325+ plus the cost of the CT26 being $600-$700+ I decided that I could spend significantly less and get similar vac performance with the Turbo 1 and a DIY boom arm and a DIY dust deputy. So that is the route I went. I don’t need the auto start feature as I have no issue with turning the vac on and off manually. I saved even more money by buying my Turbo 1 used. It did not come with a hose so I bought a $35 hose on Amazon and it has two different rubber boots that will hook up to any of my sanders with ease. Very happy with my Turbo 1.

[Curt Harms]

Thanks, what capacity is your vac?

The benefit of the Dust Deputy or similar is that the capacity of the vac is pretty much irrelevant. The vast majority of material vacuumed up ends in the Dust Deputy's container, not the vac.

[Jim Dwight]

I have two Rigid shop vacs plus a Ryobi cordless. I have one with a very small dust capacity in the shop hooked to a dust deputy and sucking through a Bosch 5 meter hose on my domino XL, sanders, and track saw. Occasionally it gets a long 2.5 inch hose on it for cleanup. Both Rigids have their "hepa quality" filter which I agree is not the same thing as a hepa vacuum. The vacuum with the dust deputy also has an auto on switch that is big enough for the track saw. The built in auto on function is sometimes pretty limited in capacity - might be something to check.

The other shop vac is what I use outside the shop and also has a hepa quality filter.

Both are noisy and work well.

[Todd Zucker]

I have a Festool CT26 that I have used for years for the track saw and all other handheld power tools and the oscillating sander with some fittings from Rockler. I also have a shop vac 6.5 hp and a rigid 6.5 hp that I never used because the supplied hoses were not very flexible. I recently replaced the hoses on those and put one next to the bandsaw and the second next to the router table and have been using for general cleanup. Couldn’t be happier, and wondering how I ever got along with just the CT26

[Randall J Cox]

I am on my second Fein Turbo II. First one lasted about 15-17 years. Liked it so much, bought another one, love the long hoses. That one is going on about 10 years now. I use with a dust deputy and bags in the Fein (that only fill up if I don't empty the 5 gallon bucket soon enough). I use the bags because they filter better than the felt bag it comes with. Randy PS I also have a central dust control system. Just a hobbyist.

[Rich Engelhardt]

We have 6 or 7 Ridgid 12 gal 6 HP.
Home Depot used to have them on sale for about $20 on Black Friday.
That included a spare filter.
Since filters were about $10 - we bought two filters & got a free shop vac.

We've managed to use all of them - at various job sites - - @ home and - - in the rentals we own.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have had 2 Fein vacs hooked up to my CNC for hold down not for dust in fact the one has never had any dust in it. When I run both at the same time I can still carry on a conversation.