shop vac.. what to buy?

Re: shop vac.. what to buy?

John McGaw

I've been happy with my Fein for a number of years. It is powerful, relatively quiet, emits no detectable dust, and is dependable. There are a few different models but I'd suggest getting one with the HEPA filter and to use the optional bags. Of course I don't know what you consider expensive so even this might be more than you are willing to spend -- it certainly costs more than a Craftsman.

Re: shop vac.. what to buy?

Hank Knight

+1 for Fein. I've had two. The first one was a Fein Turbo II whose motors died after about 6 years. The second is a Fein Turbo III that's still going after about 10 years. It's quiet, efficient and efficient and trustworthy. Good vac.

Re: shop vac.. what to buy?

Barry Irby

I'm too cheap for either a Fien or a Festool. I had a craftsman for about 20 ears and have been through several others. I have a Rigid (16 gallon?) now and like it. Recently started using the internal bags for sawdust and they work great. I bought one of the auto switches that turns it on when the tool is started and have cobbled up a connection for my Festool sander and Domino. Seems to work perfectly for those. I'm sure its noisier than the high dollar ones, but for about 10% of the cost, I am happy. Its at least 5 years old.

My old Craftsman makes my ears bleed!

Dick Coers

So relegated to only being a wet vac now. Impossible to use it without hearing protection! My Fein has been going for years. Just recently the switch has started to act up. It's not one of the auto start versions.

Re: shop vac.. what to buy? *LINK*

Jim Dillon

Ryan, I have a 10+ year old version of the Porta-Cable shop vac and it has been great. It was originally advertised as a vac for dry-wall dust so I figured it probably was OK for wood dust. Have no experience with this recent version. I also couldn't resist a sale on a Fein shop vac. It is OK, but I like the Porta-Cable - at least my version - better. Hope this helps. Jim

Edit: My oldest shop vac was a WAP and it worked very well until it went belly-up. I investigated newer models but the pricing had placed it out of my budget at the time.


Porter-Cable Shop Vac

Re: shop vac.. what to buy?

jesse cloud

I used to attend local woodworkers association meetings, but lapsed about 10 years ago. I went to one last weekend and was shocked to see half a dozen men who were very healthy then dragging oxygen tanks behind them.

Not going to mention a brand, but HEPA filters should be on your spec list.

Re: My old Craftsman makes my ears bleed!

John McGaw

I'll second that. I had a couple of inexpensive Craftsman-type vacs and both of them put out a killer screech -- rather like the engines on an old RAF Jaguar fighter. Both of them were noisy enough that they would drown out the sound of a PC router. Luckily both were unreliable enough that I was finally prompted to buy the Fein Turbo III.

Jesse, are you saying....

Barry Irby

regularly attending woodworking club meetings will cause you to need oxygen?

Re: Jesse, are you saying....

Mikeber

Yes. Meetings can cause serious health problems. Stay home!

Ridgid

JL

I have a couple of them.

One is the inexpensive Black Friday Special from a number of years ago. I bought a better hose for it - works well.

I have another Ridgid that I also picked up when my old Craftsman died.

All in all, I like Ridgid. The filters and accessories are available locally at the Home Depot. They are reasonably well made.

I DO NOT like Shop Vac. I've had nothing but poor luck with the two that I've bought over the years.

I've used the Fein - but they are too expensive for me.

Uh oh, I'm in trouble!

A Bit Different

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

I do most all of my shop "vacuuming" with a long hose plugged into my DC. I do have a Rigid shop vac that I use for sanding and for wet-water pickup in case of a leak somewhere.

Re: shop vac.. what to buy?

Rob Sandow

I have been away from serious woodworking for about 10 years because of a divorce, loss of my shop, and moving to a new house that doesn't have the space for a new shop. I still do a little woodworking with a smaller space but don't have nearly the ability to do woodworking that I used to.

But I have not had a sinus infection in over 10 years, where I used to get one pretty much every year when I was doing woodworking on a regular basis. I also had 2 dust collectors with high efficiency filter bags and a ceiling mounted HEPA filter. So yes, I agree that a very good filter is key. But also probably a face mounted filter would be good.