Wet/dry vac

[ofna89]

Looking to purchase a w/d vac, so far I have a band saw,bench sander and a21829 ts all equiped for use with a vac. My question is what gallon size should would you recommend when I goto purchase one? Thanks

[onedash]

They are to loud and dont move enough air. I got the delta shop master DC. Not the greatest by any means but it will blow away a shop vac and its much better on the ears...I gotta get bigger wheels though. They stop and get hung up on just about anything on the floor.

[ofna89]

Onedash is that dc the triangle one w/worklight. Thanks

[Stormbringer]

Ofna,

I think onedash might have this dust collector
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-AP300-Sh...3?ie=UTF8&s=hi


I think your thinking of an air cleaner or air filtration unit
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-AP100-Sh...3?ie=UTF8&s=hi

Greg

[ofna89]

Your right Storm. Thanks

[bigangelman]

Ridgid Propack shop vac

I recently needed a new shop vac and have been long tired of those Shop Vac's, they are noisey and work well if your willing to pick stuff up and drop it down the hose. This Propack (from Home Depot) works very well, and is pretty quiet. I take mine on jobs, this thing everything packs up into a large tool box shape, hose and tools too! Sanding drywall nothing visible is coming back into the room. When I got mine a worker told me about this one that they have over by the pro tools/rental desk. He even when to the point taking it out of the box and plugging it in, hearing how quiet it was I bought it. Since then I have seen them displayed with the other vacs at some HD's. For less than $100 is worth a look


Tom

[Pappy]

One of the larger shop vacs should keep up with the tools you have now. As already said, the drawback is going to be the noise. If you add a planer and/or jointer in the future, the shop vac won't cut the mustard.

Since you don't have one, I would consider going with the vac now and up grade when you need to. (When the wife complains about the vac noise, explain the DC option. You might end up with both tools!)

[onedash]

I have this one. http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=136&p=864
By dust collector standards its at the bottom of the list. But its much better than a shop vac. I did have a big craftsman shop vac before..Still do...

Has anyone ever used the dual stage pro models? Are they quite? They are as much or more than a great DC though...

[Raymonator]

Not to go against the grain here but, I have a 20 gallon Craftsman shop vac with a 12.0 amp motor, and although it's noisey, it does a great job. In fact I just purchased it yesterday, and tried it out this morning. Sure beats the stupid bag from the accessory kit. I don't work on my TS everyday, so right now, having a commercial DC doesn't interest me. When I do use the TS, it's nice to have this powerful shop vac which automatically keeps things clean while I cut. Does a great job in my book.
Happy holiday season to everyone !

[JR]

If you choose to go with a shopvac, it will always require cleaning before you want to do it, no matter the size. The filter tends to get clogged up before the bin is full.

I'm not against using a shopvac, though. I used one for a long time before upgrading to a DC. It's just that you'll have to clean up pretty often and moving it from machine to machine can sometimes be cumbersome in the middle of a project.

IMO, we tend to get hung up on the machines in our shops, without enough thought put into the infrastructure. Having a DC with plumbing and electricity permanently in place around the shop has increased my productivity considerably. I can put all my energy into the jigs, fixtures and setup for the task at hand, without having to worry about running an extension cord and hooking up the shopvac. Your plan should be to have those two systems installed eventually.

You'd still want to have a shopvac, even with all that stuff. Go ahead and get one sized to fit under a bench or in an available corner, with the thought that eventually you'll go to DC setup.

JR

[TheRic]

Your going to need to get a better filter on the shop vac, from the standard one, or your be pumping dust into the air. For about $25 you can get a good filter that would stop much more of the dust.

[LarryG]

I agree with JR and, by extension, Raymonator. The purchase of a shop vac now does not preclude and upgrade to a DC later; and if/when that does happen, the shop vac will still be useful.

And there's no single "right" answer anyway. One of my woodworking books contains a floor plan of the personal shop of one of the well-known WWing authors (I won't name names, as I'm not sure I remember correctly) who instead of a central DC system has multiple shop vacs scattered around at key locations.

Shopping tips:

Shop vacs go on sale pretty frequently. Try to be patient so you don't have to pay full price.

The ShopVac brand, and possibly others, have slightly different models for different retail channels. Don't get too hung up on minor differences of capacity or power; instead, buy the best compromise between those two things and price. For example if you see a 16 gallon, 6.5 HP model for $80 at one store and an 18 gallon, 6.0 HP model for $95 at another store, go back to the first store and get that one.

But do take notice of what hoses and accessories are included, and make sure you're getting what you think you will need. Accessories can be bought separately, after the fact, but the prices are absurdly high.

Lastly, look for special promotional packages that add value. My shop vac (a ShopVac brand model) came with a free 1 gallon wall-hung vac that I keep over by the drill press. IIRC, I actually paid a little less for this two-vac promotional combo than the big vac normally cost alone.

EDIT: I also agree with TheRic. My vac is located in a completely separate room and is tied to a hard-ducted system, so I'm isolated from the dust it pumps out; but if the vac is going to be located in the same room with you then an upgrade to a HEPA filter is a very wise idea.

[niki]

Have a look at this "R2D2"
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=24930
After the modification, I have to clean the main filters seldom and the cleaning of the "gardening cloth filter" is easy (just a wash and squeeze, 15~20 minutes and its dry).

The unit is portable so I just drag it near the tool and use 3 feet hose that increases the efficiency.

niki

[softop41]

I used an 16 gallon, 6.5 hp ShopVac for two years in my old shop with adequate results. I did, however, have it piped with 2" PVC pipe and used gate valves at each machineto maximize airflow over the corregated tubing that comes with it. Due to the air speed vs volume feature of a shop vac, it was a better chip collector than a dust collector. The BT3100 and the router table were handled pretty well, but there wasn't enough volume of airflow to do a very good job with a belt/disk sander. Initially, I had all the normal machines in the shop but a jointer and a planer. When I got a planer, I exceeded the capacity of the ShopVac.
My recommentation is much like Pappy's - startout with a big(large capacity, high horsepower) ShopVac and then grow into a real dust collector. Inow have the 1 1/2 hp, 1200 cfm Delta unit piped with 4" PVC AND a good shop
vac!
FWIW,
Jerry

[ofna89]

Thanks for all the input. Right now ww is just a hobby, couple hours a day maybe so a shop vac will do for now. A dc could be in the future though.