Health and Safety Legislation has
caught up with something many users have known for a long time:- namely that dust is dangerous to your health, not just a nuisance. There are now literally hundreds of vacuum cleaners available, some part of sophisticated tool manufacturers’ systems, some stand-alone. They vary enormously in their capacity, power and flexibility, and while there is good value to be found in some areas, the usual truth applies – you get what you pay for.
The Flex 25 L MC is part of
the Flex range of power tools, many of which are best and most safely used in conjunction with a vacuum system that will get rid of dust quickly, and are designed with effective vacuum extraction in mind rather than simply added as an afterthought. For example, I have tested in these pages, the Flex Giraffe wall and ceiling sander and the Flex wall chaser. Both of these machines are designed to use efficient vacuum extraction, because to use them without would put your lungs in danger. In each case the control of dust was so efficient that you could almost not bother to cover your carpets when you do your renovations. The appearance of the Flex
25 L MC follows conventional lines in that it consists of a plastic base container (in bright Flex red) with large –ish wheels to enable free movement and a black plastic motor housing that clips to the base. Switchgear is simple and minimal, with a two-position on/off switch on the front, a plug socket for any auxiliary machine of the correct rating, and a red push button used for cleaning the filter, of which more later. The approximately 4.5metre long flexible vacuum hose is well made and truly flexible, so is easy to manipulate when cleaning up. It is a simple friction push fit into the vacuum base and the fit is tight enough for you to be able to lead the machine around a level surface by pulling the hose. Packed inside the base of the cleaner when you get it, is a range of cleaning tools. Using the small rack supplied, when attached to the vacuum’s body, the tools are easily available when needed. Since this vac is designed with industrial cleaning in mind, the tools are well made and sturdy and should have a long service life. The five metre long cord is also industrial quality and has a dedicated hook on
the body onto which it can be coiled when the vac is being stored. Two bags are supplied as standard to line the base. The first of these is a fabric type bag to collect dust, the second is a grey plastic bag that is folded down over the edge of the base and then the top is connected. This bag is waterproof and is used when the machine is used to collect water, for example. The whole machine weighs only 7.2 Kgs and is fairly easy to lift up and down
stairs when necessary. But the real test of a vac is not how much it weighs or what it looks like, but how efficiently it cleans up in a variety of situations. The most common use I have for a vacuum like this is to collect dust and shavings creating in my woodworking activities – so I was keen to try the Flex out in my workshop to see how it performed. The first job I used it for was collecting dust when connected to my random
orbit sander. To fit the sander, it is necessary to remove the curved nozzle (a click fit) and attach the rubberized extraction nozzle. This nozzle fitted snugly into the standard vacuum extraction port on the sander. I was pleasantly surprised by the relatively low noise level and lack of the usual distinctive “vacuum whine”. The suction was so powerful that even when I went over the edges of the workpiece,
18 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
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