[OP]
Contributor
Bring on the recommendations! I'll be using it for general around the house use (some drywall work coming up) as well as woodworking once the shop is up and running. I'm open to "extractors" and interested in opinions about whether the added cost is worth HEPA and a plug.
Contributor
I bought a 16 gallons stainless steel Ridgid shop vac a couple years ago and have been happy with it.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Contributor
I Have need for a new one too. I thought I knew just what I wanted from Lowes. Lowes has replaced Shop Vac with Craftsman. Or I should say they only have empty shelves for missing Craftsman vacs that I know nothing about.
Best Regards, Maurice
Moderator
I use a plain old Ridgid shop vac for general cleanup purposes and a Festool extractor with hand-held electric tools.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
The old Shopvac company is dead. I bought a bunch of bags when I found out, and when my supply runs out I’ll send the vacuum to electronic recycling.
In the shop I have 2 Rigid vacs, one for light duty and the big one attached to my dust deputy for chips, shaving etc. They do the job.
I’ll leave the Festool vacs to my more well-heeled brethren. (Joke, folks).
Young enough to remember doing it;
Old enough to wish I could do it again.
Member
I bought a Flex 33 extractor which basically competes with the festool type level... had gotten some sort of flash deal from acme at half price... have been very pleased with it...I use it mostly to hook up to my handheld tools and I see virtually nothing escape from it around the vac itself and the bags while pricey are top notch. I do feel that it could suck a little harder but it has all the features you'd likely ever need. They go new right now just under 600.
For everything else I have a couple of rigid units and they do what they're supposed to do but you can tell that a bit more escapes then (though never tried with a hepa cartridge installed) overall they are great bang for the buck though and have had for many years with 0 issues.
I only bought the flex because I wanted something to capture finer stuff and at the time the price was so much better than festool and I felt they were better than fein. That said there are several similar style units out there from the likes of metabo, makita, even husqvarna I think. Most of those are aimed at drywall or concrete guys and the way I look at it is that stuff is even more hazardous than woodwork so probably more than adequate.
The one downside to any of them is often proprietary fittings and or bags but there are a lot of work arounds.
Member
I have 2 of the stainless Rigid, with bags love the bags. Quieter than my previous Shopvac brand.
Contributor
Mine died last year and i bought the biggest craftsman. Seems fine, no festool....
Contributor
I recently bought a Ridgid from Home Depot that has a claimed cfm rating of 203 cfm. Whether or not this is accurate, it is a very well built machine that out performs any of my other shop vacs. I use it specifically for my Festool Kapex and as near as I can tell, it works just as well in this capacity as any of the Festool "dust extractors" I have demoed. Unlike Festool's dust extractors, the Ridgid is an actual shop vac capable of wet and dry vacuuming. While Home Depot is among my least favorite places to shop, it is the exclusive dealer for Ridgid shop vacs. It is designed very well with a tool storage compartment, is fairly quiet, is very easy to maneuver around, and best of all comes the Ridgid lifetime warranty. As my other shop vacs bite the dust, I will be replacing them with this same unit.
Contributor
I'm on my second Fein vac. First one lasted about 13-14 years, about 8 years on this one so far. Long hoses, good suction and fairly quiet. With optional bag, pretty sure its hepa rated. Randy
Randy Cox
Lt Colonel, USAF (ret.)
Moderator
I use a plain old Ridgid. But I have a dust deputy connected to it for dusty operations. For your drywall project I would also add a drywall bag instead of a filter.
Member
Depends on what you want to use it for. For sanding nothing beats a Festool or Maefel. I like the Festool CT26’s and above because you can get their boom arm and cyclone. For general shop use a Ridged with a Dust Deputy is great. Fein makes a great unit too. That Festool boom arm is the sweet part of their system
Contributor
I watched a Mike Farrington YouTube video the other day and noticed his vacuum hose hooked to his router looked something like an old Letrolux vacuum hose. I have the rigid vacuums and they have those crappy-plastic-corrugated-hard-to-use-stiff hoses. other than that if the filters are kept clean they work great.
Contributor
After a going through plastic shop vacs, I went metal. 125" of static lift at 121 cfm, all metal construction, replaceable motor, remote start, Dust Deputy on a 55 gallon drum. Ultra Clean SC200.
Contributor
I have a Festool CT26 in the shop, 12 years old now.
It’s the best extractor I’ve owned, previous was a Nilfisk.
Quiet, powerful, compact, variable speed which is very handy when sanding, and auto on/off.
You can also stack the Systainers on it, and it has a very long cord.
It’s also a true HEPA vacuum, not just one with a HEPA filter, it also uses bags which are very important for reducing fine dust exposure. One word of warning on the bags, the vac packs the bag so densely without losing suction that the bag can become very heavy.
An afternoon of drilling 3/4” holes in concrete with a Hilti drill made the bag so heavy you would thought it was full of concrete😀
Diann liked the unit so much that we now have a Festool MIDI for a house vacuum.
Regards, Rod
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