Vacuums and Dust Collectors Reviews

I've owned this unit now for 2 years. The thing clears the dust
from my 32' x 24' shop in less than 3 minutes. You can leave it
on the lowest setting all day, and you'll save cleaning up the fine dust. If you have it on the highest speed, it is very
loud. The best feature is you can set the timer to keep running after you leave the shop. Only negative I've found so far is that the filters are pretty spendy. I just blow mine out every other day. The filter does show it needs cleaning very fast. Great part also is the remote control. It is hard to find the
filters locally. Trust me, you won't regret spending the money on this system. Mount it as close to the ceiling as you can.

After the first use of the Porter cable square foot exhaust filter I was amazed at the amount of dust that wasnt allover my shop. I am using this filter in a home built filtration system that I built from plans that I found in a magazine. With each use I find that this filter works better than any other filter that I have found. Another reason that I will buy another one when needed is the ease of cleaning. This is by far the best filter that I have found on the market.

Works through concrete walls at long range. Once I left it in my pocket and getting into my car to go to lunch I accidently turned it on from several hundred feet (and two steel reinforced concrete walls) away. I was a bit disappointed it is housed in plastic cases (both the main unit and remote) but it has been working flawlessly now for two plus years.

Picked up unbelieveably cheap for $49.94at Lowe's. Suction is equivalent to typical small 2-3 gallon corded vacs. Wish Milwaukee would make a 18volt cordless vac, but since they do not I bought this shop vac. Charger is advanced type not a wal-wart type. Battery seems well made. If battery lasts a long time(total life of battery before replacement is needed), I will be very happy. Will keep you posted as product ages how battery holds up. Very convenient to use escpially in areas where it is not practical to run a extension cord. Plus as a added bonus it is assembled in USA. Giving it 5 stars for good power and cordless convenience.

I purchased a pack of these filters to try out. The cost seemed a little steep to me for a paper filter but the idea of trapping drywall dust was worth the try.
I purchased a Porter Cable drywall sander and wanted to use it with my Shop Vac instead of buying the Porter Cable unit made to accompany the sander. I figured that with the disposable bags my Shop Vac unit should work. If not, I'm out the cost of the bags.
I did a little test. Working in an office (with employees at their desks), I wiped down a file cabinet that was close by. I began sanding a new drywall section near the cabinet. To say the least... I was amazed. NO DUST residue on the file cabinet using these filter bags.
In the past, sanding drywall by hand on small jobs (one or two walls), I would sweep up the bulk of dust (creating a cloud) and then vac the remaining. The filter would do its job but clogged rapidly. I got in the habit of bringing two or three backup filters to the job and then take the dirty filters home to wash with a garden hose. This whole process is Very time consuming and messy.
The high efficiency dust bags keep about 95% (my guess) of the dust from reaching the hepa filter. I completely loaded the bag after sanding five rooms with the Porter Cable 7800. When I lifted the vac, I was surprised at how heavy it was. I easily captured a 60 pound bucket of joint compound. More impressive was the fact the filter stayed clean and so did that file cabinet I mentioned earlier. Not one complaint about dust in the office which is even more amazing when you consider "the one in every crowd" person that would complain about something!
I am more than pleased with the collection bags. They saved me time and money not only on the job, but also in me not having to spend several hundred dollars on a dedicated vac for my drywall sander. I highly recommend spending the money on these bags!!

WELL, I JUST GOT MY 6" JOINTER WITH ENCLOSED BASE. I GOT IT ALL ASSEMBLED AND JUST COULDN'T WAIT TO TRY IT OUT. THE JOINTER WORKED GREAT, BUT I HAD CHIPS IN A FOUR FOOT RADIUS THAT I NOW HAD TO CLEAN UP. WHAT A BUMMER, 5 MINUTES USING THE TOOL AND 30 MINUTES TO CLEAN UP THE MESS!

I HAVE A 12" BENCH PLANNER TOO AND AFTER ADDING THE DUST COLLECTION TO IT-IT IS NOW A DREAM TO USE! IN VIEW OF THIS, I RUSHED OUT TO GET A DUST COLLECTION FITTING.

THIS FITTING IS JUST FINE. MAKE SURE IT FITS YOUR CHUTE OPENING-CHANCES ARE IT WILL. DRILL SOME HOLES IN IT TO FASTEN TO YOUR ENCLOSURE AND YOU ARE ALL SET.

BUT BEFORE YOU DO ALL THIS, STUDY YOUR JOINTER AND LOOK FOR ALL THE OPENINGS. AFTER I RAN MY JOINTER, I FOUND CHIPS STILL CAME OUT THE OTHERSIDE. GUESS I WILL JUST HAVE TO MOVE A TRASH CAN ON THAT SIDE TO COLLECT THE CHIPS. THIS FITTING DOES KEEP ME FROM EMPTYING WHAT COMES OUT THE CHUTE!

These splice sections fit the 4" Woodstock International hose perfectly. The hose will not lose much vacuum if they are just slipped on, but affixing the hoses with wire clamps will make it more permanent.

There are two schools of thought for that proposition: if you just slip your hoses on the fittings, it will slip appart if you stumble over the hose while bumbling about your shop; if your hose is out of the lanes of traffic, clamp them to avoid having to crawl behind that stack of plywood to reattach them. If your tightly clamped hose is strung accross the floor, it will trip you, especially if you can't see the floor because you're proudly hauling that newly completed vanity cabinet in for your adoring wife's inspection.

Work Safely and Happy Dust Collecting!

Alex

Mercy, i've never seen a clamper that clamped quite like this little baby. My ducts will never need to be clamped again!

I have the Shop Fox 1.5 hp, 1280 cfm unit and am very happy with it. I have 1 4" line dedicated to my cabinet saw and one line loose to go to my jointer or shaper as needed. The unit, with a 2.5 micron bag works great and make me happy I did not buy the Grizzly. Make sure u get the remote control an 2 blast gates with it.

After looking at many of the others in this marketplace, I found the Shop Fox. After closley inspecting the quality and workmanship vs the others, given the price differential I felt that there was not much difference between them.

I purchased this unit. It was well packaged, and all the parts were included. The hardware package was complete with more than enough bolts, washers and nuts for the job. Assembly instructions were clear, and it went together in about an hour. The only annoying thing was the straps for the filter bags which unlike the Delta machine, do not have springs to create the tension needed to clip them shut. However, after a bit of fiddling, I was able to get them to work.

Operationally, it is very effective, moves a lot of air, and really keeps the chips and dust down. I'd recommend using a trash trap ahead of the blower assembly to catch larger bits of wood, especially if you're using it on a tool that makes larger chips and chunks.

It's noisy, natually, but works well, and I'm very satisfied with the performance. I'd also strongly suggest the use of either blast gate switches or a remote 220 switch. Walking over to turn it on and off is a pain. Shop Fox makes a remote switch for about $45 which is GREAT! Just add it to the cost of the unit. You'll be glad you did. After 6 months of almost daily use, it's working just fine.

Enjoy. BTW, I also have a SF 10" Cabinet saw that I simply love...undoubtedly the best bang for the buck out there.

It's a good idea and works fairly well. Would not fit snug on the pails I had but it did fit well on the cover of the pail so I left the cover on the pail and cut out the inside of the cover with a jigsaw. Once the pail was approximately 1/2 to 3/4 full the chips and dust start to go into the shop vac. The suction loss seemed to be minimal.

With the hoses positioned correctly, the separator and pail stayed put but they needed to be held down with something when I went to vaccum the floor otherwise they'd just topple over.

All in all it's a decent product but pricey considering that it does not fit snug on a standard size pail or the hoses I used with my craftsman shop vac. Maybe I should have given it three stars...?

It isn't a monster, but it does a good job on the heavier particles. The fine dust still ends up in the vacuum on the filter. I can usually get several buckets of sawdust without emptying the vacuum itself.
Where it REALLY worked well was in sucking up water. All the water ended up in the bucket, and none in the vacuum. Much easier to handle.

If you use a 5 gallon bucket that has a handle, the handle will hold the top snugly. I also mounted the bucket to two 2x4s for more stability, and have not had any problems with it tipping over. I can even tug on the hose when I need to move it, with no problems.

This works really well, and I have not noticed any loss of suction with my ridgid shop vac (8hp). Very happy.