Flair Woodworks

I want to address a few of the most commonly asked questions I hear about Suction Controller. If you have others, please ask away in the comments section at the bottom.

Q: Can suction be directed to both hoses, or is it either one or the other?

A: Suction Controller allows full control over how suction is directed to the two ports. The ratio of suction going to each side can be set at any level – just slide it left or right to reduce or increase suction as required. It’s perfect for fine-tuning the suction going to sanders, as too much can cause pigtails and make the tool difficult to control. Or, if supplying suction to two sanders, send 65% to the 6 inch sander and 35% to the detail sander. If feeding suction to the top and bottom of a router, you can use the Suction Controller to direct suction where it’s needed – 70% to the fence’s port and 30% to the top.

Further, Suction Controller can be used with one hose or two. With two hoses, it allows effortless switching between two tools (e.g. mitre saw and sander). With one hose, you can dump excess suction out the empty port so you have just the right amount of suction going to your sander to prevent those pigtails, or suck up all the dust and wood chips off your bench without getting the heavier nuts, bolts, and screws.

Q: How is Suction Controller different from Festool’s Y-Adapter (452898)

Festool’s Y-Adapter is designed to allow you to connect two hoss to a dust extractor. The long neck provides the necessary clearance for it to work with their compact CT MINI, CT MIDI, and CT15 dust extractors which have ports inside the hose garage. However, that long neck makes it stick out a lot from the front of any other dust extractor, including their CT SYS, CTC SYS, CT 26, 36, and 48 models. Made of a single piece of antistatic plastic, it is not adjustable in any way.

Suction Controller, on the other hand, is very compact and protrudes minimally from the front of a dust extractor or workshop vacuum. It is fully adjustable, as mentioned in the previous answer, and is available in either antistatic (CT-Switcher-D or regular (VAC-Switcher-D) models.

Q: My dust extractor already has a variable suction control. Why do I need this?

Many of the better dust extractors do have adjustable suction levels, but sometimes they are stepped and usually they do not go low enough for all situations. Two examples are hand sanding blocks, which require very little suction and with too much “stick” to the workpiece, making sanding difficult; and vacuuming up lighter materials like wood dust and chips and leaving behind heavier items like metal fasteners.

Further, most workshop vacuums don’t offer adjustable suction, and Suction Controller provides a simple and affordable way to add this useful feature to any dust extractor.

Learn more about Suction Controller on Instagram!

After many years of development, I am very excited to announce that my direct-mount Suction Controller is now available. You can order yours here.

Though designed for use with Festool CT 26, 36, and 48 dust extractors, it works just as well with workshop vacuums from brands like Ridgid and DeWalt… it just doesn’t look as slick when installed on those round-bodied tools.

It plugs into the front of a dust extractor or workshop vacuum and allows you to connect one or two hoses. This is useful for one person switching between two tools, or using a tool like a router with two dust extraction ports. It also allows two people to work simultaneously with different tools, such as sanders, using just one dust extractor.

It’s different from a Y splitter in that the suction to each hose can be completely controlled, so you can regulate how much suction goes to each hose. You can have a 50/50 split, a 60/40 split, suction to only the left, or right, or any other ratio.

There are two versions available – the CT SWITCHER-D which is anti-static, and the VAC SWITCHER-D which is not. You can order yours here.