Matt Meiser
01-17-2006, 12:38 AM
I AM THINKING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO UPGRADE TO A QUIETER VACUUM.
-- SORRY! There, I shut if off --
I currently own three vacuums. The first is a large Ridgid that I bought about 5 years ago. Works great, but it is really loud. The second is a small Shop-Vac that is dedicated to the overarm guard on my table saw and is quieter, probably because it is small, hidden under my outfeed table, and is only running when I'm running the table saw and dust collection. The third is another Ridgid we bought last summer that sits in a wall-mounted carrier in the garage for cleaning the cars and household cleanup. The large Ridgid is used for dust collection on my sanders, my circular saw, and my biscuit joiner. All are Porter-Cable, with the exception of a Ridgid sander. I probably won't be replacing any of these tools in the forseeable future, except maybe my 5" ROS. For all of these tasks, I generally end up wearing hearing protection due to the noise of the tool combined with the vac. I'll occasionally use the big Ridgid for for general shop cleanup but usually for vacuuming the shop floor and tools, I use a 4" hose on my DC system since 99% of the mess is sawdust. I already added one of those mufflers to my current vac which didn't seem to do anything to help. I'm torn between options:
Do nothing--keep wearing hearing protection ($0)
Someday get one of the larger Festools or larger Feins, but probably not for a long time ($350-$450)
Upgrade to a large "Super Quiet" Shop-Vac like this one (http://www.shopvac.com/web/products/detail.asp?ID=155&HdnSource=index&StoreID=) and get rid of my current large Ridgid. ($100)
Add a 4th vac dedicated to tool use. Options include the Fein Mini-Turbo or a Shop Vac like this one (http://www.shopvac.com/web/products/detail.asp?ID=151&HdnSource=index&StoreID=). Keep the Ridgid for big messes, or maybe just get rid of it and use the one from the garage if I need it. ($50 for a Shop-Vac or $140 for a Fein)
I'm wondering if the small vacs have enough suction to do a good job, especially with the circular saw. I like the idea of sticking with Shop-Vac for ease of finding consumables. I also like the added features of the newer style vacs like the Festool and larger style Feins like the onboard auto tool switch, but that isn't a deal breaker since I already have an offboard auto switch. These things are very hard to compare since even manufactuer performance claims aren't readily available for most models and aren't necessarily comparable to other brands even if they are. Help!
-- SORRY! There, I shut if off --
I currently own three vacuums. The first is a large Ridgid that I bought about 5 years ago. Works great, but it is really loud. The second is a small Shop-Vac that is dedicated to the overarm guard on my table saw and is quieter, probably because it is small, hidden under my outfeed table, and is only running when I'm running the table saw and dust collection. The third is another Ridgid we bought last summer that sits in a wall-mounted carrier in the garage for cleaning the cars and household cleanup. The large Ridgid is used for dust collection on my sanders, my circular saw, and my biscuit joiner. All are Porter-Cable, with the exception of a Ridgid sander. I probably won't be replacing any of these tools in the forseeable future, except maybe my 5" ROS. For all of these tasks, I generally end up wearing hearing protection due to the noise of the tool combined with the vac. I'll occasionally use the big Ridgid for for general shop cleanup but usually for vacuuming the shop floor and tools, I use a 4" hose on my DC system since 99% of the mess is sawdust. I already added one of those mufflers to my current vac which didn't seem to do anything to help. I'm torn between options:
Do nothing--keep wearing hearing protection ($0)
Someday get one of the larger Festools or larger Feins, but probably not for a long time ($350-$450)
Upgrade to a large "Super Quiet" Shop-Vac like this one (http://www.shopvac.com/web/products/detail.asp?ID=155&HdnSource=index&StoreID=) and get rid of my current large Ridgid. ($100)
Add a 4th vac dedicated to tool use. Options include the Fein Mini-Turbo or a Shop Vac like this one (http://www.shopvac.com/web/products/detail.asp?ID=151&HdnSource=index&StoreID=). Keep the Ridgid for big messes, or maybe just get rid of it and use the one from the garage if I need it. ($50 for a Shop-Vac or $140 for a Fein)
I'm wondering if the small vacs have enough suction to do a good job, especially with the circular saw. I like the idea of sticking with Shop-Vac for ease of finding consumables. I also like the added features of the newer style vacs like the Festool and larger style Feins like the onboard auto tool switch, but that isn't a deal breaker since I already have an offboard auto switch. These things are very hard to compare since even manufactuer performance claims aren't readily available for most models and aren't necessarily comparable to other brands even if they are. Help!