Thread: Shop Vac for Sanding

That will work fine just be aware that the cheap vacs use the air going thru the filter to cool the motor. When it clogs due to the fine dust the motor will overheat.

Originally Posted by Bohdan

That will work fine just be aware that the cheap vacs use the air going thru the filter to cool the motor. When it clogs due to the fine dust the motor will overheat.

No worries. As i said i don't think i'll be using it very often so i'll just be sure to check the filters before I use it...

Thanks for that

I use a ShopVac for dust for the few times I need dust control.
No, the filter does not clog. I use the proper bags for dust particle size.
Yes, ShopVac makes 4 different kinds of bags for whatever you need.
Buy a really good ShopVac for all kinds of reasons.

I do not need to run it 18 hours per day.
Maybe 30 minutes to carve some abalone shell.
Maybe 20 minutes to chop up some birch wood.
Maybe 30 minutes to carve a branding iron in the 3/4" head of an 8" nail to use as a wood carving branding iron.

Vacuum cleaners are filthy things.

Those that use independent motor cooling loops are not helpful either as they take room air containing fine dust and mince it it even into finer dust.

The best place for a shop vac is outside connected to 50 mm ducting that runs around the walls inside a workshop.

Originally Posted by BobL

Vacuum cleaners are filthy things.

Those that use independent motor cooling loops are not helpful either as they take room air containing fine dust and mince it it even into finer dust.

The best place for a shop vac is outside connected to 50 mm ducting that runs around the walls inside a workshop.

Outside isn't an option unfortunately. I'll be getting myself a dusty as soon as finances allow it, housed in an enclosure in my shed but vented out the window. I wanted to do the same for the shop vac. Only need the Vac for sanding really (at this stage at least) so if i can port it outdoors so most of the nasties follow then all the better. I'll be enclosing the vac too for both noise and dust control (as much as possible at least).

My circumstances (i.e. not being able to house anything outdoors) it's more about risk limitation rather than elimination unfortunately.

From what i've read too, if you get a wet/dry vac and set it to wet, it completely bypasses the filter and just shoots everything out the blower port... so that might be an option too if i pipe the blower port outside... not sure if that negatively impacts cooling though so might need to do a bit more reading on that one...

Before you do any enclosing maybe look at this thread

Workshop Vacuum

Originally Posted by BobL

Before you do any enclosing maybe look at this thread

Workshop Vacuum

Option B in your last post on that thread is what i was planning sans the fan (I was planning on a wet/dry vac for the added benefit of having a blower outlet) but i didn't realise a fan would be necessary... I'd assume that fan would need to be motorised to suck shed air into the enclosure... would a little 10-15cm desk fan do the job do you think?

Put a small cyclone on it and the filter clogging becomes a fraction of the problem that it would otherwise be. It's the difference between being able to collect 60 litres and 1 litre of dust between filter cleans. Capture of 99% of the dust prior to the vac is readily achievable.

aldav beat me tuit about the cyclone - especially useful with cheap vacs because they really do have big problems with clogging filters in very quick time, leading to poor suction amongst other things. Just be aware that the cyclone will take some suction power out of the system, but it may be as little as 10% depending on cyclone quality, connections et al.

I have two shop vacuum cleaners that I use . One is a ShopVac unit that runs a 50mm hose. It also has a 50mm outlet that has a hose attached that runs outside the shed. I have added a rubber seal between the motor and the bin to get a tight seal. It has an internsl cartridge filter that I have placed a fine sock filter over. As Aldav suggested, I have connected one of his cyclones near the inlet to the ShopVac. Works great, no leaks.

The other unit is a 2100W Kmart cyclone special that has a hepa filter on the outlet of the vacuum cleaner. It does not spew dust out the outlet - all outlet air is filtered. This filter gets changed about every two to three months depending on use. This unit has a Thein separator connected to the inlet. I use this unit to connect to my sanders and track saws and it’s great.

I don't sell these small cyclones anymore, but I remain a huge fan. Very happy to help with selection and any installation tips.

Originally Posted by BobL

Vacuum cleaners are filthy things.

Those that use independent motor cooling loops are not helpful either as they take room air containing fine dust and mince it it even into finer dust.

The best place for a shop vac is outside connected to 50 mm ducting that runs around the walls inside a workshop.

Do you know how much 50mm you can run without effecting airflow? Obviously 45 degree angles are necessary

Have you considered looking for a used central vacuum on whatever used sites are operating in your area? They are setup for outside venting and have better motors etc than cheap shop vacs. I just looked on Kijiji here and there is one listed for $150 (110V, 15A). It's an option if you aren't needing portability. You might also see if a contractor is pulling down some houses to put up new. They might let you take one out for the ask.

Pete

I find that the cheap cyclones work fine in trapping most of the dust I have used one for a long time and found no need to clean the filter for quite some time.