Need a new shop vac

[Don Sundberg]

Well my old Shop Vac 10 gal vacuum started making a bunch of screeching noises. Upon further investigation the bearings are pretty dry in the motor and the replacement is no longer available. I have been eyeing the Festool CT48 but saw a link to the Bosch 9 gal VAC090S and started researching them. Now I'm leaning to a VAC140A but would like to see what the opinions and experiences are of the group.

This vacuum will be the primary dust collector, sand blast cabinet vac (with filter bag), and primary catalyst cleaner for my woodstove (fly ash).

So which would you buy if you were shopping for a new vacuum?

TIA

Don S

[Mike Chalmers]

I bought this one (http://www.homedepot.ca/product/16-gallon-ridgid-pro-vac/906289) at Home depot. Very impressed with the power and low noise level. With a HEPA filter from Lee Valley, and a Dust Deputy, this is my main dust collector for my router table, the upper shroud on my table saw, my Ridgid edge sander, and general clean up. I find it excellent. I cannot say how it compares to a Festool etc, but, I am not interested in paying that kind of money when this vac does such a good job.
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/15751.WD1851_4.jpg

[Bill Graham]

Well my old Shop Vac 10 gal vacuum started making a bunch of screeching noises. Upon further investigation the bearings are pretty dry in the motor and the replacement is no longer available. I have been eyeing the Festool CT48 but saw a link to the Bosch 9 gal VAC090S and started researching them. Now I'm leaning to a VAC140A but would like to see what the opinions and experiences are of the group.

This vacuum will be the primary dust collector, sand blast cabinet vac (with filter bag), and primary catalyst cleaner for my woodstove (fly ash).

So which would you buy if you were shopping for a new vacuum?

TIA

Don S

This one (http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/mirka-mv-912-portable-dust-extractor.aspx). I was down at Highland for their open house last weekend, the Mirka rep was there and we were talking when he reached down and turned on the vac. The noise of the air going through the sander was louder than the vac!

Noisy vacs are a pet peeve, I have a couple Festool CTs and an old Fein Turbo II. Both are reasonably quiet, the CT26 sounds louder than the Fein but both read the same at 10' on the Radio Shack SPL meter. The Mirka vac is 'way quieter than either. It's not HEPA rated so if that matters to you it's a no-go.

I may be selling a couple of vacs soon, keep your eye on the classifieds.

Best,
Bill

[Perry Holbrook]

No advice on which vac, but as far as using it on the sand blast cabinet, just remember the blast media is very hard on vacs that do not have a separate fan to cool the motor and the bag filter clogs quickly. Because of this I use a small cyclone, like a dust deputy, in front of the vac, which in my case is a small one from Home Depot. Actually for my shop, the cyclone is on the 5 gallon bucket under the blast cabinet and the vac hose goes thru the wall to the outside where the vac is located.

Perry

[Jonathan Freinkel]

I bought this one (http://www.homedepot.ca/product/16-gallon-ridgid-pro-vac/906289) at Home depot. Very impressed with the power and low noise level. With a HEPA filter from Lee Valley, and a Dust Deputy, this is my main dust collector for my router table, the upper shroud on my table saw, my Ridgid edge sander, and general clean up. I find it excellent. I cannot say how it compares to a Festool etc, but, I am not interested in paying that kind of money when this vac does such a good job.
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/15751.WD1851_4.jpg
Agreed. It far exceeded my biggest hopes. Its a tank and love it

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm sure I'm in the minority for Festool owners, but I have a CT 26 and don't love it. It's the best vacuum I own, but thats the problem. I use the old crap Ridgid, not one of the cool new ones Mike posted either, all the time so I don't mess up the expensive Festool. It's stupid, I know, but I subconsciously do it repeatedly. My advice, the cool factor of a fancy vacuum wears off quickly when it doesn't get used. Buy one that you won't be afraid to thrash. If I was to do it over, I'd buy that Ridgid.

[James Zhu]

I have a not so fancy Ridgid vac, so LOUD, hearing protection is a must when turning it on. After I bought CT26 and other Festool power tools, Ridgid has been collecting dust since then.

My advice is if you want a quiet vac, stop looking at Ridgid. Fein, Festool and Mirka vac are your answers.

If you plan to buy Festool power tools in the future, then the choice is pretty simple, go with Festool CT48.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

305755
small, powerful & quiet
I have a festool and a couple of these.
They are the goto.

[Don Sundberg]

Wow 62db! The Bosch and Festool are rated at 70 db. Thanks for muddying the waters.

Don

[ken masoumi]

I bought this one (http://www.homedepot.ca/product/16-gallon-ridgid-pro-vac/906289) at Home depot. Very impressed with the power and low noise level. With a HEPA filter from Lee Valley, and a Dust Deputy, this is my main dust collector for my router table, the upper shroud on my table saw, my Ridgid edge sander, and general clean up. I find it excellent. I cannot say how it compares to a Festool etc, but, I am not interested in paying that kind of money when this vac does such a good job.

+1,
I Have the exact setup (vac/dust deputy),that Ridgid vacuum is truly a beast ,I'm very happy with it,the filter I use for it is for drywall dust so I know most of the saw dust that goes through it,gets captured.

[Don Sundberg]

I do plan on at least getting a track saw / mft. From what I gather the Bosch and Festool hose ends are the same so I am not sure that it makes that much difference.

[Keith Outten]

If performance is your number one concern the Oneida Dust Cobra is the best, there is nothing in its class.
.

[roger wiegand]

I bought the Bosch 090S about three months ago, added a fiber bag and HEPA filter and have been extremely pleased with it. I particularly like that its relatively quiet and that it rolls over small obstacles (like its cord) very easily. A huge step up from the Sears monster. I haven't used any of the others mentioned, so I can't compare.

[James Zhu]

I do plan on at least getting a track saw / mft. From what I gather the Bosch and Festool hose ends are the same so I am not sure that it makes that much difference.

Well, Festool dust extractor uses anti-static hose, it carries the static to the dust extractor and discharges there. There were reports that Festool power tools' motor was damaged because of using the old Onedia dust deputy with Festool dust extractor (Oneida has fixed this issue). So I were you, I would at least use Festool anti-static hose with Bosch vac. Also, not all vacuums have static-conductive inlet, if vac does not have such inlet, you need to provide an alternative direct earth ground from the hose and connections.

Festool tools are expensive, you need to protect your investment.

[Len Rosenberg]

Bill, do you know if Festool hoses will fit the Mirka vac inlet?

Thanks,

Len




This one (http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/mirka-mv-912-portable-dust-extractor.aspx). I was down at Highland for their open house last weekend, the Mirka rep was there and we were talking when he reached down and turned on the vac. The noise of the air going through the sander was louder than the vac!

Noisy vacs are a pet peeve, I have a couple Festool CTs and an old Fein Turbo II. Both are reasonably quiet, the CT26 sounds louder than the Fein but both read the same at 10' on the Radio Shack SPL meter. The Mirka vac is 'way quieter than either. It's not HEPA rated so if that matters to you it's a no-go.

I may be selling a couple of vacs soon, keep your eye on the classifieds.

Best,
Bill

[Don Sundberg]

The stock Bosch hose does not appear to be static dissipative but there is a 5m long one available for about $125. Of course the Festool has a 4m anti-static hose included.
I guess the main difference is that the Bosch has the filter cleaner and a touch larger. The Festool has an anti-static hose and the ability to add a dust deputy ultimate right on the top. It doesn't appear that either of them come with vacuum tools.

[James Zhu]

Right, you can add ultimate dust deputy on Festool dust extractor, you do not need autoclean, almost no need to change the HEPA filter and bag for long long time.

Actually, I have CT26 with ultimate dust deputy and Festool boom arm set, the hose never gets in the way when using the tools.

[Bill Graham]

Bill, do you know if Festool hoses will fit the Mirka vac inlet?

Thanks,

Len

Have no idea, I assume the Mirka takes a standard 50mm hose connector but don't quote me on that. I won't have a chance to run down to Highland anytime soon, I'm out of town for a week starting Wednesday but if no one replies in the meantime I'll haul a hose connector down and check. Or call Highland and ask if someone will try the Festool hose in it.

Best,
Bill

[Ole Anderson]

I went with a Craftsman 5.5 hp 12 gallon vac to replace my old bearing-shot Shopvac. Much quieter and so powerful it will blow itself across the floor. Save your money for tools. I do have a wall mount relay switch for auto turn-on though which is very handy when sanding or using my Kreg pocket hole jig. My PC sander DC attachment hose fits without any adapters as do my old Shopvac tools and hoses. It was top rated in a recent magazine tool review and only cost me something like $80. Ridgid makes good vacs too.

[Thomas Canfield]

I called Ridgid about noise before buying my last unit and bought the 14 gal over the 16 gal to get the lowest noise rating. I do not have the model # but the noise is bearable and I use a Dust Deputy ahead of the vac so the 14 gal hopper and filter both stay clean for a long long long time.

[Chuck Hart]

I agree with Ole. I bought the Craftsman on sale for $69 and it will slam stuff into my Dust Deputy. I bought the 12 instead of the 16gal because it was nearly $50 cheaper and had equal performance per FWW. I really gave up on the quiet issue when I run it with my jointer or TS. They are both loud enough I don't hear the vacuum. I have a smaller Shop Vac I use for my orbital sander because it has the smaller hose. This is probably more than you wanted to know.

[Phil Thien]

The specs for the Mirka (840-watts and 130-CFM and 100-inches of lift) don't seem right to me.

Quiet vacs, in my experience, move less CFM than noisier vacs.

[Bryan Vaughan]

I'm pretty new to all of this woodworking and just build things for my family or home but I'll chime in on what I use.

I have and old Ridgid vac that I built and enclosure for with sound deadening boards inside with the vac to reduce the
noise. The box has plenty of ports for air flow. Its on a Harbor Freight furniture dolly with an approximately 20 (guess)
gallon container and a Oneida Dust deputy on top.

I am deaf in one ear and have a very noise sensitive good ear so I always wear protection when running a tool or vac
but with my vac setup so far so good. I can even run this unit without ear protection. My cart is a little big but I manage to
make space and I figured that if the vac burns up I'll just buy something else.

On another note, I also bought a new Ridgid 10' 2-1/2 flexible hose set that's wonderful. It's the Orange one Home Depot sells.

I would still like to get that outlet for my tablesaw that turns on the vacuum when the saw is turned on. That would be a nice upgrade.

Bryan

[Bill McNiel]

My CT26 is reserved for tool suction only, I have the Rigid 6.0 HP/14 Gal for general clean-up, etc. It is very quiet compared to its predessor and sucks great.

[Kent A Bathurst]

My 12-yr-old Fein T-III has been great. No experience with the others discussed here.

Sure seems quiet to me. At the db levels of the models being discussed, the differences are unimportant, IMO. 90%+ of the op hours on mine are pulling dust from ROS, belt sander, router. The tool is in my hands and the vac is 10' - 15' away. COuldn't hear the vac if I tried.

[Val Kosmider]

I agree with Ole. I bought the Craftsman on sale for $69 and it will slam stuff into my Dust Deputy. I bought the 12 instead of the 16gal because it was nearly $50 cheaper and had equal performance per FWW. I really gave up on the quiet issue when I run it with my jointer or TS. They are both loud enough I don't hear the vacuum. I have a smaller Shop Vac I use for my orbital sander because it has the smaller hose. This is probably more than you wanted to know.

Yup.

You can spend several hundred more dollars, and get marginally better/quieter vacuuming. I looked at the Bosch and was ready to pull the trigger, and then thought better. It really is a silly use of a lot of money when people, like Craftsman, make a more than acceptable product. For me, I just didn't see the advantage of spending the additional dollars. And I DO generally try to buy the best stuff when I make shop purchases.

[Gary Yoder]

I just bought a craftsman this year, and am very impressed with it's performance. It has a nice way to wrap up the hose, and a nice tray on top. Yes, it's not super super quiet but I always have earplugs in anyway so it makes no difference to me. I'd rather wear ear protection and spend the money on something that makes a difference in my work.

[Patrick Curry]

I've beaten the orange off my 10 year old Ridgid and its proven indestructible. Wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. The suction is excellent still to this day.

If noise is an issue, box it up with vents. You could box 4 of them up for the price of a Festol.

Also, I wanted a dedicated vacuum for the blast cabinet and had this Harbor Freight shop vac; the small one that's made to mount on a wall with a 15'-20' hose. Thought I'd use it until I had something better. That little beast could pull some air through my cabinet. Never replaced it. Even used a 5 gal bucket for a 2nd stage and it still had a strong pull.

[Tom M King]

Last I looked, Craftsman and Rigid had the same motor and controls. I expect they come out of the same factory. If you don't mind the noise, they can't be beat for suck per buck. We run the red band Gore filters, and they last for years being washed out with water.

[Phil Thien]

Last I looked, Craftsman and Rigid had the same motor and controls. I expect they come out of the same factory. If you don't mind the noise, they can't be beat for suck per buck. We run the red band Gore filters, and they last for years being washed out with water.

No, that changed. Craftsman vacs are no longer made by Emerson, they switched to some other outfit, same outfit that makes Vacmaster (I think).

[Brian W Smith]

Older C-man here......chunked unmercifully under a,somewhat insulated/isolated outfeed table(really cuts down on noise).Cord plugged into a "hidden",switched receptacle under a TS wing.Couldn't even tell you what model it is?.......kinda big,and it's red,haha.

[Jasen Nielsen]

thats same as mikita hilti stihl