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Product Vacuum suggestions

Product
slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
I had a large craftsman shop vac for many years and did not use nearly as much as I expected for a variety of reasons:
- it was REALY noisy
- did not suck any better that a conventional vacuum
- had a crappy barely flexible hose
- was too big and therefore cumbersome to store
- was not user friendly to dump into a trash bag

I eventually sold it when we moved.

My wife donated her old Panasonic canister style conventional vacuum to "the shop" when she purchased her Meile. Other than consuming a lot of vacuum bags It works well . I often use it to vacuum up the swarf on the milling machine while it's doing its thing (CNC).

Toying with the idea of getting one of those vortex cap contraptions for a 5 gallon pail type shop vac, just not sure if it's worth it or if I can make space for something else in my space limited shop.

Another option would be a garage located central vac type setup that would be just for my shop.

Would like to hear others vacuum experiences.
 
I use a cyclone in my home shop, with a small yet powerful 3 gallon shop vac in a cupboard over top of the cyclone. The cyclone sits atop of a 5 gallon cardboard pail that is under the work bench. I never have to access the shop vac itself in the upper cupboard.

You can mount such systems on a cart, with the small vac inside a box that is lined with sonopan, and that has air inlet that makes the airflow change directions thru several baffle pieces also made of sonopan. This absorbs the sound of the vacuum yet allows the necessary airflow.
 
I have a two motor CamVac connected to a Oneida cyclone for my woodworking machines. It is plumbed to each machine with 4" DWV PVC with reduction down to 2.5" for the drill press and chopsaw. I also have an Oneida Dust Deputy on my Husky shop vac. It's ok but it doesn't get used much since I can connect a hose to the CamVac and use that instead.
For metal I just bought a Bucket Head vacuum attachment the fits on a 5 gallon bucket. I've only used it once but I'm quite happy with it.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
I use a cyclone in my home shop, with a small yet powerful 3 gallon shop vac in a cupboard over top of the cyclone. The cyclone sits atop of a 5 gallon cardboard pail that is under the work bench. I never have to access the shop vac itself in the upper cupboard.

You can mount such systems on a cart, with the small vac inside a box that is lined with sonopan, and that has air inlet that makes the airflow change directions thru several baffle pieces also made of sonopan. This absorbs the sound of the vacuum yet allows the necessary airflow.
Click to expand...
Can you post a picture?

How long is the hose?

Please define powerful
 
slow-poke said:
Can you post a picture?

How long is the hose?

Please define powerful
Click to expand...

Here was my conceptual design. The upper cabinet located at the far left hand side of my shop wall houses the 3 gallon shop vac. The dust bin and dust deputy sit below the upper cabinet on top of the work bench. Under the work bench surface are two cabinets with drawers for tools.

cyclone 1.webp






cyclone 2.webp



There are two hoses, The first smaller hose that came with the shop vac, which goes from the cyclone outlet to the shop vac. A second larger hose I got for free off of kijiji (with a non-working shop vac that I trashed) that goes to the cyclone inlet. The top of the duct deputy protrudes into the upper cabinet via a hole in the bottom of the cabinet. The larger hose attaches to the dust deputy just below the upper cabinet and can stretch to cover the entire work surface along the wall and all the floor in front of the work surface.

Powerful as in 3.5 HP motor. It works fine for everything I throw at it. Mind you, this is a vacuum system not a dust collector. It does light duty dust collection when machines are running, BUT it is not used for duct collection purposes. When I get more sanding equipment I'll have duct collector fully installed
 
Addendum

IF working with wood, fine wood chips and dust I don't recommend a "dust topper" or anything similar.

I've tested these and they do not provide sufficient cyclonic action so that a fair bit of debris gets past the topper and into the vacuum causing more frequent filter changes.

dust toppers and 5 gallon pails work great in the metal shop for swarf though...
 
One thing I find very useful is the $20.00 remote control. See Make Everything video:
I have one on my shop vac and one on my dust collector.

I have a Ridgid from home depot that seems to work well. I don't think anything can handle the long stringy swarf without getting stuck in the hose.
 
David_R8 said:
I built that remote and it works great.
Click to expand...

$6 USD thru alibaba, (100 unit minimum) plus $85 shipping
$15 CAD thru aliexpress (1 remote)
$25 USD thru amazon.com,
$48 CAD thru amazon.com shipped to Canada,
$65 CAD thru amazon.ca prime.

I doubt we can put together a 100 unit bulk order, so I'll get mine from aliexpress. If I buy multiple will they interfere with each other, or can you chnage codes?
 
As long as you don't push two remote's buttons at the same time, seems to be ok. If I push both remotes on at the same time then neither starts. Not that you would do that anyway.
 
Maker Mike said:
As long as you don't push two remote's buttons at the same time, seems to be ok. If I push both remotes on at the same time then neither starts. Not that you would do that anyway.
Click to expand...
but what if you have two receivers.. will one remote activate both receivers so that my vacuum and milling machine VFD turn on at same time?
 
these "Smart plugs" they sell on amazon work pretty good, you can get them for as cheap as about 7.5$ ea, bluetooth

i use one to turn a window shaker ac unit, so should be able to take the current of a vacuum

as for a vacuum, i believe the one i currently have is a cheap rigid from can tire, one of the smaller size ones, i vowed when my last full sized shop vac burned out i wouldn't buy another full size one, takes up to much space. Its noisy, but it has good suction


plug.webp
 
phaxtris said:
these "Smart plugs" they sell on amazon work pretty good, you can get them for as cheap as about 7.5$ ea, bluetooth

i use one to turn a window shaker ac unit, so should be able to take the current of a vacuum

as for a vacuum, i believe the one i currently have is a cheap rigid from can tire, one of the smaller size ones, i vowed when my last full sized shop vac burned out i wouldn't buy another full size one, takes up to much space. Its noisy, but it has good suction


View attachment 34130
Click to expand...
perfect for a shop vac. I have a pesky floor lamp where the foot switch doesn't work 75% of the time one of these would be great for...
 
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