shop vac recommendations...

[fixedpigs]

i'm looking to eventually get a shop vac...

are there a couple of outstanding models that i should be looking at...?

thanks...!

[kingflynn]

I recently picked up a Rigid.  I think its a good value and it seems well made.  Whatever brand you get, make sure you get one with a 2 1/2" hose.  Some of the cheaper vacuums come with 1 1/4" hoses that are useless. 

[ScottS]

One of the coolest features to have on a shop vac is tool-triggered auto-start. You plug the tool into the vac and you plug the vac into the wall. Anytime you turn the tool on, the vac goes on too. The best models let the vac run for a few seconds after the tool stops, so that it can suck any remaining debris out of the hose. I think Craftsman, and problably others, sell a wall socket adapter that will do the same thing, but it's much nicer to have it built into the vac. The Fein Turbo II, Turbo III and most Festool vacs have his feature. Dunno about anyone else...

The other feature I'd look for is a HEPA filter. Just about any good vac should have one available. Trust me: it really sucks to buy a cheap vac and have it spitting dust everywhere...

[NiteWalker]

1 year going strong and love it. I paid $79. The ones Scott mentioned are great but very pricey.

[fixedpigs]

1 year going strong and love it. I paid $79. The ones Scott mentioned are great but very pricey.

yeah...i guess i was looking at a price cap of ~$100...

nitewalker...is that the civil war yankee model...?

[ScottS]

1 year going strong and love it. I paid $79. The ones Scott mentioned are great but very pricey.

Keep in mind that one of the things you get with a more expensive vac is better suction. I have a ShopVac QSP and the suction is pretty mediocre compared to my Festool CT22. When I connect the Festool to my Porter-Cable 333VS sander and crank the vac to max, it'll suction the sander right to the workpiece and make it difficult to move! The ShopVac is twice as loud and doesn't have nearly the suction.

That said, the Festool is over-priced. I essentially got it for free, which is the only reason I bought it. The Fein Turbo II is just as good for about half-the price.

[NiteWalker]

I like the turbo II but the capacity is the turn off for me. I also use my vac for routing and a 12 gallon bag fills up in about 2 months...

If I come across a good deal on the bigger fein I may grab it, but my shop vac is doing it's duty good for now. About the noise, I usually wear hearing protection when using any machines hooked up to it so it's kind of a moot point. For suction, as long as it grabs the dust I'm happy, and it does.

I'm not bashing the higher priced vacs at all, just saying that my $79 shop vac has done good for me. In fact, the fein turbo III is very impressive and I could see myself spending around $300 for it, but not more.

So for under $100 I'd grab one of the borg shopvacs, above that and look at fein, porter cable, bosch, etc. Festool is extremely nice but out of most woodworkers range, especially those that do it as a hobby. How did you manage to get ahold of one so cheaply???

nitewalker...is that the civil war yankee model...?

The Lowe's version. The hose is a shop vac brand aftermarket crush proof hose. Don't know how I did without it...

[ScottS]

I like the turbo II but the capacity is the turn off for me. I also use my vac for routing and a 12 gallon bag fills up in about 2 months...

The solution for that is to put a cyclone in front of your ShopVac. Oneida's Dust Deputy, ClearVue's Mini CV06 cyclone, and the Veritas Cyclone Lid from Lee Valley are the products I remember but I'm sure there are others. The Oneida filters into a 5- or 10- gallon bucket. The ClearVue comes with a lid that can be cut to fit anything from a 5-gallon bucket to a 55-gallon drum, and the Veritas Cyclone Lid fits a 20-gallon RubberMaid trashcan. The Veritas Cyclone Lid is the cheapest of the three by a large margin.

The idea behind these things is that the cyclonic action dumps most of the waste in the bucket/barrel before it can get to the ShopVac. It's the same principle used by those super-expensive Dyson vacuums.

[NiteWalker]

Thanks. I may spring for the veritas and grab a 20 gallon bucket.

[ScottS]

Thanks. I may spring for the veritas and grab a 20 gallon bucket.

I guess they also make one that fits a larger can and also works with 2.5" hoses. And, of course there's a version that works with the 4" hoses used by dust collectors.

If you do get one, let us know how they work. The videos on either the ClearVue or Dust Deputy site are pretty impressive. I'd be interested to know how well the Veritas works in comparison. The reviews I've read have generally been positive but they're mostly from guys using the larger lid with a full-sized dust collector.

[fjl]

I bought a Rigid 4 gallon shop vacuum. 5.0 HP(horsepower). I didn't want anything less than 5HP. It's pretty strong at 5HP and I've tried many things with it. I went with the Rigid brand since it seems to be the top choice of most construction workers.

[NiteWalker]

Never EVER pay attention to HP ratings on shop vacs. Look at the amperage rating instead. It gives a much more accurate gauge of power.

The HP rating is badly inflated. Router manufacturers are guilty of the same thing. General rule, read the amp plate.

Induction motors are a different story. They are rated for continuous use.

[fjl]

Not here to argue or anything but amperage rating only tells you how much current the motor runs on. In turn it lets you know how much electrical power "the motor is using up." Not to be confused with how much power/strength the motor has. That's what Horse Power indicates. You can get a motor to use lots of power. Doesn't neccessarily mean it's going to be powerful. If a motor uses a lot of power but doesn't have a lot of power, then you definitely have a badly constructed motor.

The more scientific way of calculating the sucking power of a vacuum is to measure how much liquid it can move. I forget the correct measurement name of it. Not many vacuums are rated this way though.

[NiteWalker]

Read this and become informed. The high HP ratings are just a marketing ploy.

The measurement you're talking about is static pressure. Another measurement sometimes used is CFM (cubic feet per minute) of air the machine can move.