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Thursday, December 07, 2017

Festool CT 36 E AC CleanTec Dust Extractor Review

Pro Tool Reviews: When you start looking for a quality dust extractor to supplement your work, there’s a lot more to consider than just price. The Festool CT 36 E AC is a top choice among Pros, but what attracts so many to it?

Hang around Festool for very long and you’ll hear them talk about tools as systems. The amount of care our German friends put into their designs crosses the border of obsessive. And that’s exactly the kind of mentality you want when you’re producing high-quality results.

5 comments:

Drew H said...

The first line of this article kind of threw me off. It says there is more to consider when buying a dust extractor than price. Sure, this is true, maybe don’t buy the $10 Harbor Freight vacuum, but when that sentence is at the beginning of an article about Festool it has another meaning. In this case, it seems to me that “there’s a lot more to consider than just the price” means ignore the price and get the price and dish out whatever you have to for the best. This is really not feasible for a lot of people and I think tradesman who know they can’t afford Festool might be put off by this idea. Either way, this is a great vacuum, or should I say “dust extractor.” Festool is widely known for its incredible dust collection. It is really one of the only features of Festool that I know stands out from other companies. Their line of dust collectors is quite impressive, all have power through to allow the vacuum to run when the tool is on, they all act as carts for your other systainers and they all are extremely well made. I hope to purchase a Festool vacuum one day.

Jeremy Littlefield said...

Oh, Festool how I have come so far in my love-hate relationship over the past few years. There are things that I both love and hate about many of the tools that Festool puts out. However, i do have to say that when you have the full system running, it makes for a nice clean and pleasant working environment. Far too often have I had to stop and take a minute to clean up the overwhelming piles of sawdust that now has blocked my view or board from laying flat. With this full set up those problems almost disappear. On the other hand, though it does cause a few other issues. First, the incredible anti-static hose has ribbed edges that catch on the edge of the work surface disrupting any flow that you had in the middle of your cut. Secondly, the older models I had worked with were a pain to clean, an issue that it looks like they might have resolved. The only thing I can genuinely tell people is that you have to try it and see what you do and don't like for yourself. Don't always trust the Germans.

Kimberly McSweeney said...

Wow. I have never took so much into consideration when looking at, basically, a vacuum. These ProTool guys definitely take power tools and their accessories seriously and have a good point when they say at the top of the article that Festool engineers “cross the border of obsessive”. These people are willing to sacrifice obvious features that the common man would want to see, a longer universally compatible hose for example, to be even more efficient and powerful than the average dust collector. One aspect of dust collection I hadn’t considered before reading this review is the functionality of having an auto-clean filter in the system to shake off the filter and keep the device running at optimum suction without user intervention. I think that’s a very considerate feature for Festool to add in, but at the same time cleaning every twelve seconds seems a little obsessive for an average drywall or woodworking job – their target market.

David Kelley said...

Oh Festool why do I love your tools so much? You are far, far more expensive than what I can actually afford. Every time I look at a Festool Tool general start by saying oh that a really cool tool than I start looking for the price hoping the this would be the first Festool tool that would actually be with in my price range of what I can afford, I know it’s just hopes and dreams but to quote angels in the outfield “eh it could happen.” And after I get over the shock of the price of the Festool tool which tends to be almost double as most other American brands, I start wondering if these tools are really worth the price tag that they are demanding and in their lies the real crux of this problem all they really worth that you pay to get them? Iwould honestly probably say that yes they are but just barely.

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