Dust Extraction

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Hello and Good Morning!

I'd say 80% of my tools are Makita and if not battery then 110. God willing but quite new to me,as Ive only done domestic work, I have 6 months of site work coming up.

I am aware that the HSE has enforced "for my trade" M Class Dust Extraction". Simply put - the amount of tools I need to take on site to fit a kitchen is just ridiculous, now I have to buy a bl**dy hoover to haul around as well.

My question is what is the smallest lightest dust extractor / hoover I can get away with using but still appeases the regs??

I've looked at loads and they all look heavy and impractical for day in day out journeys to and from my van....

Please - Thank you.
 
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We have a £700 festool plus several nilfisk class Ms (£350-400)

Apart from your own health, spreading dust around a client's house should be a concern.
 
Thank you, in a client's house I use a generic hoover for extraction otherwise all cutting is done outside rain or shine.

I don't mind spending £700 on a festool but none of my tools are festool I doubt they're compatible with Makita..??

Cheers...I'll look at the others...
 
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V-Tuf, circa £120 from Power Tool World. Also bear in mind that any corded tools, on luding extension leads and (in many cases) chargers will need to have current PAT test label as well.
 
I have a festool midi. Plug your tool into the midi and the extraction comes on when you power the tool up and goes off after you release the tool trigger. You can get them in 230v or 110. Obviously with your battery powered tools you simply switch from automatic to manual for dust extraction. You can buy adaptors to suit any tool extraction fitting but generally they are usually around 32mm diameter. I bought some spare bags for mine as the originals are very expensive. My spares have a zip at the bottom so you can empty and re-use a number of times.

As Tigercub says, gaffa tape can come in very handy for any loose fits.
 
I bought some spare bags for mine as the originals are very expensive. My spares have a zip at the bottom so you can empty and re-use a number of times.

I have seen those on ebay and wondered how much dust passes through the zip. I guess it depends on what you are cutting or sanding.

I have to admit that there have been quite a few times when I have have run out of bags and had to shake the dust out of them and into a bin bag.
 
I don't think very much comes through the zip because the compartment it sits in is still quite clean. Certainly no dustier than when I was using the genuine bags.

Like you I got fed up trying to empty them out and used to use my Henry, (sorry Hetty), to suck it out the Festool bag and then empty Hetty's chamber into my sawdust bin. LOL
I don't bother with bags on Hetty as the are too small to hold much, just go direct into the plastic chamber and give the filter a good bang on the inside of the dustbin with the lid closed over.
 
Obviously with your battery powered tools you simply switch from automatic to manual for dust extraction.

I have lost count of the number of times I have forgotten to turn my extractors on when using cordless tools.
 
Like you I got fed up trying to empty them out

Yeah, it is a pretty grim job. Two of my Festool dust extractors are CT22, they have paper bags which often split, resulting in the filter being covered in filler dust. Cleaning those is super messy. I now buy the cloth CT33 bags and hot melt glue the "spout" from the old bags on to the new bags.

I have recently purchased a cyclonic chamber with a view to making my own cyclonic separator. I am also toying with the idea of adding a water chamber as well to cut down on bag clogging when sanding filler.
 
Whilst I suggested the V-Tuf (you requested something small and inexpensive), you could always go the other way a bit and buy a Makita cordless vacuum, however whilst these are HEPA filtered, they are only rated as class L. They do have one model, the DVC861LZ, which runs either off a pair of Makstar 18 volt batteries or 110 volt mains. They are small enough to cart around and they do offer a Bluetooth connection for auto start stop with compatible tools on other vacuums such as the DVC864 , but you then lose the 110 volt fscility. The on off switch on all the new cordless vacs is a big black bar across the top which is readily tapped with the foot when starting or finishing a cut, so I don't miss having AWS too much. All these new dual 18 volt vacs drop the dust into a simple plastic bag for disposal.

Haven't had mine (a DVC861LZ) long and have yet to use it in cordless only mode, so not able to give an accurate impression of the run time you could expect on, say, 2 x 6Ah batteries.
 
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you could always go the other way a bit and buy a Makita cordless vacuum, however whilst these are HEPA filtered, they are only rated as class L.

Is the only difference between a HEPA and M class vacuum the pressure drop notification? And would a HEPA L class be allowed on site? All of my extractors are L class but I don't work on building sites.
 
AFAIK yes. As to whether or not they would be allowed on site, that's more of a grey area. I have mine on site and it is legal because I'm mainly doing framing in softwood at present (which requires only class L) - if I were to go to hardwood plywood or MDF (both of which would require class M, then technically I wouldn't be legal whilst cutting those materials.......
 

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