Festool Hose Adaptor Box

It seems that every piece of equipment in my workshop has a different sized hose and none of them match the vacuum cleaner I use for dust extraction. In this Instructable I build a hose adaptor that converts between the standard large Festool host and a smaller hose used by a Henry vacuum cleaner.

The design of my hose adaptor is primitive but effective and works well with the way I work. The hose adaptor will almost always live on the floor and just get kicked about so it has to be robust. This solution is great as it’s quick, simple and easy to adapt for other size hoses.

This build along with all my others is also available on my site Wobblycogs Workshop.

Materials

• Two pieces of 12mm or thicker sheet timber approximately 120x120mm (4 1/2"). I used 18mm MDF.
• A length of thin ply, 4mm (3/16") or 6mm (1/4") would be perfect, approximately 120mm (4 1/2") wide by 500mm (20") long.
• 16 Wood Screws 3mm by 30mm or Wood glue

Tools

• Saw - I used a mitre saw for accuracy and speed but a hand saw or any powered saw could be used.
• Hand Drill
• Pillar Drill - this is optional but it makes using a hole saw much easier.

Finding a scrap of timber about 120x120mm and locate the centre.

Fit a 57mm hole saw into the pillar drill and drill a hole. If you don’t clamp the piece down and let it vibrate you’ll get a 58mm hole which will match the Festool hose perfectly.

Check the fit. If it’s not perfect refine it with a piece of sand paper and don’t forget to use dust extraction with MDF.

Find another scrap of timber about the same size as the first and cut one edge flat. Then cut one edge flat on the piece with a hole.

Now gang the two pieces up putting the cut face to the fence and cut them into approximately a square measuring 120x120mm. The exact size doesn’t matter, all that matters is that the two pieces are the same size when you’ve finished.

Find the centre of the piece without a hole.

Drill a 38mm hole. The hose on the Henry is 37mm so the hole is a little large but it can easily be fixed with a bit of tape around the hose. My Henry hose is cracked anyway so it has to have tape around it.

Check the fit of the Henry hose in the just drilled piece. As you can see it’s a good fit, perhaps a tiny bit loose but when under vacuum it won’t fall out.

Cut a strip of 4mm ply or other sheet timber 120mm wide. This will form the outside of the hose adaptor box.

Mark the width of one of the hole pieces on the strip of ply and cut it to length.

Drill, countersink and screw the first side to the hole pieces, if you are willing to wait glue would also work.

Mark out the width of the opposite side then cut to length. Drill, countersink and screw this side on then repeat for the final two open faces.

Sand the ply flush with the hole sides and generally soften up the edges. This helps to prevent the box getting damaged on the floor.

Plug both hoses into the hose adaptor box and find a scrap of wood to test the sanders dust collection on.

Enjoy dust fee sanding.