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Thread: What to look for in a Shop Vac?

  1. #1
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    What to look for in a Shop Vac?

    I'll need to get some kind of dust collection going pretty fast as if all goes according to lan I'll be setting up my new table saw today or tomorrow and adding a jointer on Saturday. I figure hooking up one at a time to my tools is a good starting point and the shop vac will still be useful if/when I add a proper dust collector.

    I was looking at the Rigid shop vacs from Home Depot and there is a varied assortment of them. So, what should I be looking for in selecting a shop vac?
    Marshall
    ---------------------------
    A Stickley fan boy.

  2. #2
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    You want the highest level of suction you can get with the lowest noise level. Take a look at the Fein 9-20-27 TURBO I SET Turbo Set, a German-manufactured commercial vacuum cleaner. You’ll be glad to hear that this shop vac comes at a noise level of just 66 decibels.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

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  3. #3
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    That Fein Turbo I is exactly what I use for a shop vac. The only difference in that and the Turbo II, as I recall, is that the Turbo II has more dust capacity. Mine is hooked up to a Dust Deputy (highly recommended), so I never worry about bag capacity or the high cost of bags.

    The Fein is very quiet and has great suck. It has that feature that's supposed to turn the vac on when you turn the tool on, but I've never used it. I've heard that there is an amp limit to the tools you can use with that feature, so something like a table saw might overload it. I just control mine with a cheap remote to avoid finding out.

    I know some people swear by the Ridgid vacs, but they're too loud for me and don't suck as well.

    All that said, I'm not sure you'll have good luck using a shop vac of any kind with a jointer.

  4. #4
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    Large capacity. I have a 12 gallon Ridgid that I got for $25 after Thanksgiving sale many years ago and it is still going strong. It is going to fill up fast. If you can swing it I think you would be better served with the Harbor Freight 2hp 70 gal DC.

  5. #5
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    I agree with the suggestions above, especially going ahead with the purchase of a dust collector. The 2 machines have quite different needs for dust collection. The table saw will likely require a higher air volume since there are multiple openings in housing. The jointer will produce a lot more dust so capacity becomes a greater concern. To get both, you would need a dust collector. Hope this helps.
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  6. #6
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    If I were buying a shop vac I would want the following

    - low noise

    - HEPA certification

    - auto start

    - variable speed (suction)

    I wouldn't consider a shop vac as being suitable for either a jointer or table saw. Shop vacs have low airflow at high static pressures. They're built for vacuuming, or collecting dust from small hand held power tools.\

    To me, compactness and portability are far more important in a shop vacuum than large cubic capacity as I use the shop vacuum for vacuuming and use with portable tools which don't generate a lot of dust.

    For a jointer of tablesaw you'll need far more airflow than you can get from a vacuum, you'll need a dust collector for that. I use an Oneida cyclone with a 35 gallon drum, you would be surprised how fast that fills up when planning or jointing. My saw requires about 700CFM for dust collection, I would need a few shop vacuums to generate that much airflow.

    That's why shops have both............Rod.

  7. #7
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    If it is a "temporary" set-up consider the HF 1-HP dust collector. It is little more money than the bigger Shop-Vacs and much more likely to keep up with the table saw. I have one that I move from machine to machine. It works fairly well.

  8. #8
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    A lot of people are making noise reduction cabinets for the cheaper louder vac's and they can also double for a stand for some tools. I would also recommend a Dust Deputy with the vacuum they work great.
    Richard Poitras
    Central, Michigan....
    01-02-2006


  9. #9
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    Well, I went to Home Depot, picked one out, brought it home, put it to work and it lasted until Hurricane Harvey drowned it.
    The replacement came from Lowe's, same scenario. I don't think buying a shop vac deserve the same attention as buying a tablesaw.

  10. I have had a rigid shop vac for almost a decade and it's great for around the house stuff but for sanding and really fine dust it really lacks meaningful filtration even with the optional HEPA filter. If you plan on always wearing a respirator it will probably be just fine. If your plan is to use your shop vac in lieu of a respirator you will quickly find yourself wanting something stronger with better filtration. The Fein has a 1 micron option and a you can get a HEPA model I would strongly suggest the buy once cry once mantra here and get something you will use long term...

    I'll also second that any shopvac is going to leave you wanting with larger power tools. You will definitely want to look into a proper dust collector for big machines... For big chips a HF Dust Collector might be your best bet...

  11. #11
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    I see that the Fusion has a 4" dust port. That doesn't mean you can just put a 2.5" adaptor on it and use a shop vac, believe me. It also needs at least 500 cfm of suck. Again, no way with a shop vac.

    I'm using a 1 hp dust collector rated at 625 cfm on my SawStop PCS. Although SawStop says I only need 350 cfm, it doesn't keep up. I'm considering other options.

    Aside from worrying about your health and sweeping up dust, you need to consider the dust buildup in the cabinet, gumming up the machinery in there.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dustin Bullard View Post
    I have had a rigid shop vac for almost a decade and it's great for around the house stuff but for sanding and really fine dust it really lacks meaningful filtration even with the optional HEPA filter.
    If you use one of the Dust Deputys you don't get the fine dust in your filter..
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 04-19-2018 at 5:58 PM. Reason: fixed quote tagging
    Richard Poitras
    Central, Michigan....
    01-02-2006


  13. #13
    I have the Fein mentioned above, and I can say it's very powerful. If there exists a device which could suck the proverbial golf ball through a garden hose, it's the Fein Turbo.

    The Fein Turbo is also thirsty for power. This is especially true if you use its built-in sensing outlet. So like with any new tool addition, tally up all the expected current drains from everything else on the breaker that you think you'll be using simultaneously. Fein claims the Turbo uses 9 amps at 120v, but mine uses at least 10.5 amps sustained at 122v with just the hose attached. At least according to my kill-a-watt. Who knows how accurate that is.

    The other issue with the Fein is the hose. The vac has a 2.29" opening, but the hose is 1.4" or so(measured from the outside) and chokes down to 1.215" or something. Not even worth considering to pick up jointer shavings, at least with the stock hose. And I'm not sure how well a hose twice the size would do. Depends on your jointer width and workpieces? To be honest, I stopped trying to vacuum jointer shavings. The jointer deposits shavings in a sort of pile on the exit side of the jointer, so I just scoop them up periodically. I suppose it depends on how much you're doing and how picky you are about fine dust collection. My jointer has a 4" port, and I imagine effective, reliable collection would absolutely need that. I don't believe any portable vac could support a hose that large to get a decent CFM. But that's just my opinion, I'm not any kind of expert.

  14. #14
    Two things:

    1 - a long cord. I have a shop vac brand unit with a short cord, big mnistake.

    2 - whether you can reliably get new filters. My first shop vac, (not a shop vac branded product) from costco for cheap, worked well and still does, but the filter it came with is the the filter it still has because no replacements fit. An earlier mistake.

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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    IMO a shop vac is useless without a Dust Deputy. Otherwise the filter clogs quite quickly

    I purchased the largest rated CFM Shop Vac brand @ 195 cfm, the actual size of the bin isn't important because the dust goes in the pail..

    The original castors attach to outriggers which makes the footprint a little large so I installed it on a cart.

    ROS set up.jpg

    Cheers, Don
    Don Kondra – Furniture Designer/Maker
    Product Photographer

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