Jack wrote:


My wife bought me a wet/dry Shop Vac around 1976. That thing got a
lot of use, and still works the same as the day I got it. The
problem with that thing is it makes your ears bleed. It's the _only_
tool I wear ear muffs with, that includes chainsaws, air hammers and
routers.

Had this same experience with an old 16 gallon Craftsman shop vac. Thought
I was doing a good thing by buying a big thing - quickly learned otherwise.
Bulky, unweildy, and louder than a KC135 on takeoff with water injection.
This thing literally made your ears ring.


Last Christmas My kids got me a new Ridged 6 amp 14 gal model for
Xmas. It was around $100, I don't need ear muffs with it at all and
if it sucked any harder it would be hard to use. It came with a
bunch of attachments, and all my old 2 1/2" hoses/attachments fit it
perfectly.

Again - same experience. A few years ago my daughter bought me a Ridged (I
think it's 6 gallon). It's much more appropriately sized for my needs,
sucks like... well - you know where I could take that..., and it's quiet
enough to use in the house. Does not blow out as much as it vaccums up - as
that old Craftsman did. I can clean up spackling dust and not notice any
dust output back into the room. It's picked up anything I've ever tried to
vaccum.


I could buy 6 of them for the cost of one Festool. If it lasts as
long as the shop vac, that would be 6 times 40 years. The only
feature I wished it had was a auto wind for the cord, like my wife's
Hoover has. That would make it perfect.

Agreed. But my agreement is based completely on my needs, and what I'm
willing to put up with. I'm honestly not sure how well it would compare to
any other vaccum as a dust collection device. I'm sure it would do better
than nothing, but right now - I use nothing, so it's all speculation in my
mind.

--

-Mike-