Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Very, very quiet shop vacuum
Tom Lightner
I am looking for a small, super quiet shop vacuum that I can attach to my small midi-lathe when turning at public demo's-like under a canopy in a park setting.. to minimize dust and chips and yet not be a distraction to visitors and other vendors (food booths etc.) I know there is a plethora of vacs out there but looking for some suggestions-and not too expensive! Thanks
cheap, good, quiet, choose 2
Dick Coers
And the one requirement that probably goes first is cheap! The Fein is pretty quiet, but the hose diameter may not be good for curls. Especially while turning wet wood. Personally I never turn on any dust extraction until I start sanding.
Re: Very, very quiet shop vacuum
Keith Newton
It sounds to me like a good option for this would be a window box fan with an
AC filter of the same size taped onto the intake side. Some fans will have 3 speeds which should help find the right volume of air / noise. The high volume at low pressure I think is the right approach to this.
Noise comes with higher volume of air passing through a small openings.
You'll be surprised at how good this will clean sanding dust when you set up close to it.
Re: Very, very quiet shop vacuum
Brent English
We just got a Fein Turbo II. Very quiet. Not cheap but it may be what you're looking for. Got a good price at the Toolnut, which included shipping.
Re: Very, very quiet shop vacuum
William Duffield
Another quiet, high quality choice is one of the Festool CleanTec vacs. I have both a CT-Mini and a CT-26. Also, not cheap, and if you are trying to clean up while hollowing green wood for big bowls, the cost of the bags will hurt a lot. They are excellent for sanding Dalbergia, because they come equipped with hepafilters. You can also buy a hepafilter for the Fein, which might be a bit quieter than the Festools. The thing I like best about the Fein is it will follow you anywhere without getting tangled in machine and bench legs and other stuff on the floor of the shop. Another advantage of either vac is you can plug your lathe into the vac, and the vac will automatically shut off when you turn off the lathe, so you don't have to talk over it. You do turn off the lathe when you lift your face shield to talk to the crowd, don't you?