Miter saw Vac - Fein vs Festool

[Curt Harms]

Does the Makita have a laser or other light? I just got a Hitachi 10" slider with the fixed sliding bars. If I plug it into my Fein Turbo II in auto mode the vac turns on as soon as the saw is plugged in. I guess the power supply for the laser/LED light draws enough power even when off to turn the vac on. The dust collection isn't perfect but it's better than I was expecting. Sliding compound miter saws are notorious for difficult dust collection. I did make one worthwhile discovery rigging this up. I have 2 hoses joined with a coupling. That makes it easy to disconnect and reconnect the dust collection. I have the vac in a semi-fixed location and it's convenient to separate the two hoses when I'm not using the saw. I had an old black stiff shop vac hose but needed another 10'. Did a little checking around and wound up with a 10' length of clear PVC hose from Peachtree via Amazon. The stuff is great, very flexible and no 'memory' so it'll lay wherever I put it. I hooked it up, put my hand over the end and turned the vac on. It sucks together from 10' to maybe a foot but maintains its diameter, no restriction to speak of.

https://www.amazon.com/CLEAR-COLLECT...s%2C148&sr=8-4

I did have to get a couple screw-on tapered ends. The threaded portion works, I just had to trim the PVC away between the wire coils in order to get it to thread. It holds so far and if it doesn't there's always hose clamps.

https://www.amazon.com/Shop-Vac-Vacu...s%2C155&sr=8-2

[Dave Sabo]

Do they make a boom arm for the CT Midi or CT Mini?

Festool does not.

This guy does, thoughit's not portable:

http://www.rts-engineering.com

Does the Makita have a laser or other light?

Yes , but there is a switch to turn it off and on independently.

[James Jayko]

FWIW, I have a CT26 and the Fein Turbo II. The smaller size of the Fein is great and I have used it regularly on my Kapex as well as on an older Ridgid chop saw. It has worked great and never given me a problem, either in terms of power or in terms of dust collection. The CT26 is great as well, but a bit of a beast to drag up to the third floor to work on a flooring job or whatever.

I've also used it quite a bit with the OF1400 and the OF2200 (which I would imagine had a larger power draw?) without a problem. Just my two cents.

[Garrad Miller]

I've got a Flex dust extractor that works great using the on board plug with my 15A Delta Cruzer 12" miter saw.

[Curt Harms]

Does the Makita have a laser or other light?
Yes , but there is a switch to turn it off and on independently.

Hitachi is the same deal. The thing is that the switch is after the laser's power supply so the power supply is energized even though the laser is switched off. The power drawn by the power supply is enough to turn on the Fein vac. The Delta CMS I had before was the same although it wouldn't turn the Fein vac on but it would sometimes prevent the vac turning off. It doesn't take much current draw at all to turn the Fein vac on. Mine is from the mid or late '90s, the newer ones may be less sensitive.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have a CT26 and now use it with my Shaper Origin. I have the same issue with the Shaper Origin being powered on all the time, so I added the Festool Bluetooth switch, which just attaches on any part of the hose.

It makes turning the vacuum on and off manually, easy, without having to move away from the tool.

[Dan Gaylin]

I guess I am the dissenter here but I bought a Fein and a CT26 to try them both out about 2 years ago. I found the Festool quieter and more effective, and I returned the Fein.

[Dave Sabo]

I guess I am the dissenter here but I bought a Fein and a CT26 to try them both out about 2 years ago. I found the Festool quieter and more effective, and I returned the Fein.

This has been the conclusion of independent testing too. Price often plays a factor though, so Fein keeps hanging in there.