I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

Richard wrote:
I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard


Sorry, not inexpensive (read *expensive), but you can't beat Fein. 2.25"
hose and the quietest vacuum on the market. Next best is Porter Cable.

The less expensive ones tend to be *much* louder.

~Mark.

Good timing! I just picked one up at Home Depot .. a Ridgid 12 gallon
5HP shop vac for $69.67.

Now, the reason that this is such a good deal is that Ridgid has a $40
Rebate for any Ridgid shop vac costing "more than $69". Talk about
cutting it close!

Anyway, it's a good shop vac and for $30 after the rebate, it's hard to
go wrong. Here's a link to the rebate coupon I found.

http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/...dgidVacuum.pdf

The rebate is good for purchases made to 6/28.

I hope this helps.

Jack



Richard wrote:

I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

"Mark Ohlund" wrote in message
...
| Richard wrote:
| I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find
a lot of good
| review for various models, most focus on the
ability to pick up larger
| items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up
water. As a woodworker
| who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns
are noise and the
| ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of
money to spend, but
| does anyone have a good suggestion for an
inexpensive vac that would
| work well for my needs?
|
| Thanks,
| Richard
|
|
| Sorry, not inexpensive (read *expensive), but you
can't beat Fein. 2.25"
| hose and the quietest vacuum on the market. Next best
is Porter Cable.
|
| The less expensive ones tend to be *much* louder.
|
| ~Mark.

More specifically the Fein Turbo II vacuum. Mine is a
week or so old. I love it. Next week I'm going to
hook it up to my sander. Plug the sander into the Fein
and when you turn on the sander, the vacuum comes on.
When you turn off the sander the vacuum continues to
pull all the dust out of the hose before it shuts off.
The vacuum hose is 16' long and the power cord is
almost as long. A HEPA filter and attachments are
extras.

It ain't cheap, but it is a great tool. And it is
quiet!!!

John Flatley
Jacksonville, FL

"At my age, tomorrow is yesterday before you even knew
it was today." stolen from Dennis the Menace.

"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

Swingman has a ShopVac branded one and it seemed quiet compared to my
Craftsman.

I "studied" the market out there recently since my 5Gal old Shop Vac died.
I can't buy brushes for the motor. I looked at Craftsman, ShopVac, Ridgid
(HD) and no name brands at Sears, WalMart etc.

The best deal is a 12Gal 5HP "Dirt Hawg" at Costco. Its selling for $
89.00 and is virtually identical to the 12G/5HP RIGID vac which is selling
for $ 124.00 at HD. Reading the info on the box, it seems to me its made by
the same place as the SHop Vacs ("made in Canada..head office St.Louis
MO")and is over $ 30.00 cheaper. It works well and I'm happy with it and
the saving of $ 30.00 Has an easily cleanable/reuseable filter..no bags
required.


"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

Actually, as the other poster stated, the Rigid is selling for about $30, if
you count the $40 gift card that you get as an actual rebate. If you shop at
HD at all, you're sure to spend the $40 quickly. I have one and it works
great, although a little loud, but for $30 I might get another.


"Rudy" wrote in message
news:Wq3mg.70622$IK3.15633@pd7tw1no...
I "studied" the market out there recently since my 5Gal old Shop Vac died.
I can't buy brushes for the motor. I looked at Craftsman, ShopVac, Ridgid
(HD) and no name brands at Sears, WalMart etc.

The best deal is a 12Gal 5HP "Dirt Hawg" at Costco. Its selling for $
89.00 and is virtually identical to the 12G/5HP RIGID vac which is selling
for $ 124.00 at HD. Reading the info on the box, it seems to me its made
by the same place as the SHop Vacs ("made in Canada..head office St.Louis
MO")and is over $ 30.00 cheaper. It works well and I'm happy with it and
the saving of $ 30.00 Has an easily cleanable/reuseable filter..no bags
required.


"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

"JonH" wrote in message
. ..
Actually, as the other poster stated, the Rigid is selling for about $30,
if you count the $40 gift card that you get as an actual rebate. If you
shop at HD at all, you're sure to spend the $40 quickly. I have one and it
works great, although a little loud, but for $30 I might get another.

The prices I posted are in Canada

Rudy wrote:
I "studied" the market out there recently since my 5Gal old Shop Vac died.
I can't buy brushes for the motor. I looked at Craftsman, ShopVac, Ridgid
(HD) and no name brands at Sears, WalMart etc.

Depending on the vintage of your Shop-Vac that "died", you may be able
to get a free motor replacement. One of the brushes in my 3-year-old
12-gal/5 hp unit wore out, causing intermittant operation and then
total failure. I found the same problem that you did: replacement
brushes just aren't available. I noticed that the owners manual said
that the unit had a 4-year warranty. I called Shop-Vac (got the number
from their web-site), told them of my problem and the age and model
number of my Shop-Vac and they sent me a new "power unit" (motor and
top housing). They didn't ask for a copy of the purchase receipt.
Works fine now. It'll probably go for another 3 years or so.

Bob

My local HD has two Ridgid models that each have products at the $69 and $99
price points. One has a gray body and the other has a orange body. Other
than different colors and body shapes, the orange model is advertised to be
the "quiet" model. How quiet is quiet? Does the exhaust filter make much
of a difference?

I have an old (and tired) Craftsman shop vac that I use to vacuum big pieces
from the floor and a Fein II that attaches to the vac port on some of my
power tools (routers, sanders, etc.) to vacuum dust and small debris. The
Craftsman sounds like a jet plane taking off (I have to wear earmuffs!).
The Fein puts out a moderate hum. Where is the orange Ridgid w/ the exhaust
port likely to fit in?

"toolmiser" wrote in message
...

I also picked up one of the $69.97 vacs at the Borg, and I like it. I
have a little bigger Shopvac "quite" model in my shop that I also like.
I added an "exhaust filter" to my ridgid to help with noise. My
shopvac is already pretty quite, and they achieved that by exhausting
around the perimeter, so you can't use it as a blower. I also passed
on the Ridgid vac that had the detachable blower. Usually tools that
do more than one job do them all poorly. BTW, the vac I just bought
replaced a 30 year old metal "power-vac" that just was past it's prime.
The motor was tired, and the tank was rusted out.


--
toolmiser

[toolmiser]

I also picked up one of the $69.97 vacs at the Borg, and I like it. I have a little bigger Shopvac "quite" model in my shop that I also like. I added an "exhaust filter" to my ridgid to help with noise. My shopvac is already pretty quite, and they achieved that by exhausting around the perimeter, so you can't use it as a blower. I also passed on the Ridgid vac that had the detachable blower. Usually tools that do more than one job do them all poorly. BTW, the vac I just bought replaced a 30 year old metal "power-vac" that just was past it's prime. The motor was tired, and the tank was rusted out.

I also picked up one of the $69.97 vacs at the Borg, and I like it. I
have a little bigger Shopvac "quite" model in my shop that I also like.
I added an "exhaust filter" to my ridgid to help with noise.

So its safe to say its QUITE quiet ?

Richard wrote:
my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Hey, how bout a quite vac with an auto power on/off when it's connected
to a powertool for about $60? Here is how I did it.... Looks cobby but
it's quite and cheap.
Mark
http://members.cox.net/mconger/Timot...ShopVacBox.htm

Richard Wrote:
I need to replace my shop vac and though I can find a lot of good
review for various models, most focus on the ability to pick up larger
items (nails and such) and to quickly suck up water. As a woodworker
who make smaller sized projects, my main concerns are noise and the
ability to pickup sawdust. I don't have a lot of money to spend, but
does anyone have a good suggestion for an inexpensive vac that would
work well for my needs?

Thanks,
Richard

Dear Richard,

I have a high end Bosch and have used other various and sundry vacuums.
When someone on one of my groups mentioned how fascinated he was by the
Fein Turbo II I just looked into it as an exercise. I started to become
extremely interested after the first week or so. I wasn't even in
desperate need of a new vacuum when I first started looking at them and
then I was sold. The db ratings were what really sold me. Between my
dust collector, air filter, air compressor, etc. I am terribly polutted
with noise in my shop. I have a 1 HP Delta Dust Collector and honestly
think that my Turbo III has more suction power than it does. Yes, I
bought a Turbo III. A few days later I was really happy that I did.
It's been over 6 months since I have owned it and use it often. If I
were to buy another vacuum it would be the Fein Turbo II. I think that
I would prefer the smaller canister size. Actually I would really like
to own them both!

I can comment on specifics if you want to contact me off site.

JimC


--
JimC