Festool Vac combined with workbench

[Greg Parrish]

I'm sure someone somewhere has done this before but as a continuing effort to conserve floor space, I combined my festool CT26, boom arm and Armor workbench into one assembly. This is a catch all bench used for assembly, clamp and glue up, as well as sanding. I've ordered a right angle hose adapter and 16.5' hose to put onto the boom so that I don't have to use the jumper hose they sent with the kit. Its very hard and doesn't bend well. Having a longer flexible hose will allow me to keep it tucked close to the end of the bench since it sits close to the golf cart when it's parked inside. Anyway, it's a work in progress as I plan to add a shelf/drawer type assembly for the systainers under the bench as well.

festoolbench.jpg.jpg

festoolbench2.jpg


And by doing this, I was able to use the vac's prior space to put a sharpening cabinet that also holds my lathe accessories. Holds my grinder and my tormek close to the lathe. Need to do a little more work on the top but it's coming together.
sharpencart.jpg

[Kris Cook]

Greg - that looks like a good solution. I am contemplating a sanding station with local dust collection. I googled the Armor bench - looks nice - kind of spendy. I am curious about the boom arrangement. Is that a Festool item?

[Matt Day]

I think that’s a Festool boom but mounted to the bench instead of the vac? A vac under a bench isn’t new but I like what you did with the boom. Nice work!

[Jim Becker]

Good solution, Greg. I have to think about how I want to handle this once my new auxiliary bench is completed because it's going to be sitting where my Festool extractor has been living for quite a few years now, originally under the now-gone miter station and currently under my MFT that's serving as a temporary work surface while I finish up the bench I mentioned. I'd love to do the boom, but it brings both benefits and challenges for my shop situation, so I'll likely stay without.

[Greg Parrish]

Yes, mine is the festool boom kit. I just removed it from the vac, along with the handle, and support feet, and then drilled my bench top for it to slide through. Lastly, I drilled two holes in the boom to match existing holes in my bench legs and bolted the boom to the bench. Once all reassembled, it seems to fit nicely and allow plenty of movement for the boom and tool to reach back to the bench top easily. Maintains the flexibility that I've come to love over using a standard shop vac hose.

I did order a longer hose and right angle adapter, but it wasn't entirely necessary. I'm just trying to make the bench as compact as possible and the jumper hose festool includes with the kit is big and bulky. Going from an 11.5' hose with 3' jumper to a 16.5' 27mm hose with right angle swivel adapter will mean the flexible hose runs all the way to the vac and it stays tucked in close to the bench. I'll likely order a longer cord as well and then use my original cord/hose whenever I want to pull the vacuum out to travel or use it remotely.

Jim, I already had the boom assembly but you could easily suspend the hose from the ceiling above or near your bench to accomplish the same effect which is to reduce the weight and pull of the hose on the tool while in use.

[Doug Garson]

Just curious, does the Festool boom do anything that a DIY boom made of PVC pipe and a few fittings can't do other than drain you bank account? In my shop my Ridgid shop vac sits out of the way under a shelf and a few hooks in the ceiling let me use it almost anywhere in the shop. The hooks also keep my air hose and power cords up and out of the way.

[Greg Parrish]

Just curious, does the Festool boom do anything that a DIY boom made of PVC pipe and a few fittings can't do other than drain you bank account? In my shop my Ridgid shop vac sits out of the way under a shelf and a few hooks in the ceiling let me use it almost anywhere in the shop. The hooks also keep my air hose and power cords up and out of the way.

nope other than come in a nicely designed ready to go package and mounts to the vac itself. I’ve used it that way since getting it so I didn’t buy it just for my cart. The only other thing is that it can be moved around the shop easily with the vac but with some ingenuity and design work I’m sure you could make your own version just like with most tools or accessories.

[Matt Lau]

Just to add, you can buy a camera boom arm off Amazon for about $50.

I got the idea off some guy's youtube vid. It's pretty slick.

[ChrisA Edwards]

For the boom arm, I use a dog adjustable grooming arm (about $40). I had this as I shear my two dogs.

It clamps to the edge of my table, where I'm working, and I use strips of double sided velcro to hold the dust hose to the arm. It folds over on itself so it's fairly compact for storage.




Right in the center of this picture, below, is the arm clamped, for storage, to the shelf that supports my DC.