Thread: Shop vac opinions

I have one of those Aldi shop vacs with the auto start function. It works really well and is probably the best $89 I have spent. Aldi don't always sell them, but there is a guy on ebay who does sell them (that's where I got mine from). I made a cyclone a few years ago and it works good for $25. Below is a thread I posted a few years ago.

I also have a Karcher wet and dry vac that I bought from bunnings a couple of years ago. It's not as good as my Aldi (Tauras) vac but it sits under my router table and works good when my router table is hooked up to my 2HP carbatec dust extractor.

I only use these shop vacs for power tools; drop saws, jig saws, routers, sanders etc. I don't know how great they would go on a bandsaw. You might be better off with one of those portable 1HP carbatec dust extractors.


https://www.woodworkforums.com/f200/mini-cyclone-98930/

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f200/8...c-back-118148/

Andy

I have just bought the fein dustex 25 and it is pretty good. I replaced a festool extractor and to be honest there isn't a great deal to chose between them.

Soft start, v quiet and a massive hose that reaches most of the way around the shop.

Paid 440 from Sydney tools.

Fein would be nice, but I'd be looking to spend that sort of money all up with some sort of cyclone/bucket adaptor + hoses. $440 + other goodies is prob starting to get a bit beyond my price range.

Originally Posted by groeneaj

I have one of those Aldi shop vacs with the auto start function. It works really well and is probably the best $89 I have spent. Aldi don't always sell them, but there is a guy on ebay who does sell them (that's where I got mine from). I made a cyclone a few years ago and it works good for $25. Below is a thread I posted a few years ago.

I also have a Karcher wet and dry vac that I bought from bunnings a couple of years ago. It's not as good as my Aldi (Tauras) vac but it sits under my router table and works good when my router table is hooked up to my 2HP carbatec dust extractor.

I only use these shop vacs for power tools; drop saws, jig saws, routers, sanders etc. I don't know how great they would go on a bandsaw. You might be better off with one of those portable 1HP carbatec dust extractors.


https://www.woodworkforums.com/f200/mini-cyclone-98930/

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f200/8...c-back-118148/

Andy

recently bought the Aldi shopvac and can also vouch for it. Its the first thing that gets loaded into the truck before i go to site now, and i have also adapted alot of my makita 18v tools to dust extracting now.
the ryobi bags fit it too and make a huge difference in suction. hooked up to a mini cyclone, it would be unstoppable.

I did look into the Makita when i bought my tracksaw, but couldnt stretch the budget another $300.00, and when i saw the Aldi one, i bought it straight away.

Clients love it when they see me unload the vac onsite. it indicated to them that my business is taking pride in the final finish of their installation, and leaving the place tidy is a number 1 rule for us.

I was at bunnings uesterday and they have 20m x 50mm greywater diverter hose for less than $30.00 that might be good for rigging up the workshop. Might be on the cards.

GP

Thanks guys, will call via Aldi today to see what I can find in the vac department. Also found the super cheap model that is similar with the power takeoff etc although it is $149.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Just to finish off the thread.....

Aldi didn't seem to have any vacs at all, but I happen to wander into super cheap on the last day of there sale. Their Hoover shop vac with power takeoff was $129.
$69 later for the cyclone from carbatec, $25 in PVC fittings, left over oregan, ply, well used paint can and some wheels my wife was about to throw away.

Viola!$223!
Only thing not pictured is the exhaust pipe from the vac fitting. I've read lots on here about venting the vac, so I run an elbo pipe from the vac exhaust to the outside.
hooked it up to the Bosch sander I have and works great!
Downsides, the greywater hose I used there turns it into a screamer! I replaced that with the original vac hose and it quietened down. The vac still is loud though like the aldi ones mentioned.

Like the Mustang in the background there, looks original and well maintained, Windsor 289 in it?

Indeed it is! Wouldn't mind a 347 but all the woodworking toys consume the remaining funds.
Now with the dusty, the stang stays clean!

Was there a reason you added an extra 90º bend to the ducting between the VC and the cyclone?
It seems to me that if you had rotated the VC by 90 CCW it would have taken out one of those bends?

Well spotted bob, I originally had it set up the way you described when I mocked it up and tested it all out. It would have worked that way (and was my preference, with less piping) however the power takeoff and the on/off switch was directly behind the plumbing. It just made it a hinderance when changing tools and activating the switch as the piping was directly in the way. Whilst I don't have a suction meter, there didn't appear to be a noticable different I'm suction between the 2 configs.

In hindsight, i guess its only a minor annoyance reaching around the pipe, but i was attempting to be as ergonomic as I could!

Originally Posted by Lee roy

In hindsight, i guess its only a minor annoyance reaching around the pipe, but i was attempting to be as ergonomic as I could!

I think I would have plugged in a powerboard and mounted the board itself up on top near the cyclone collector for real ease of access. I have only seen the photo so there may be some reason that this was not feasible?

Doug

For anyone interested in this vac, it's on sale again from super cheap until the 21st December for $129

Looks good and should do the job well.

My only extra thoughts would be - if at some stage in the future you need to reroute the pipe I would replace each of the 90 degree bends with 2 x 45 degree bends - it still works out the same angle but reduces the severity of 1 x 90 bend - I don't have any figures on the improvement in flow but there is according to all of the current thinking.

Regards,
Bob

Originally Posted by Bob38S

My only extra thoughts would be - if at some stage in the future you need to reroute the pipe I would replace each of the 90 degree bends with 2 x 45 degree bends - it still works out the same angle but reduces the severity of 1 x 90 bend - I don't have any figures on the improvement in flow but there is according to all of the current thinking.

In this case it won't probably make any discernible difference since the ducting size used looks like it is 50 mm.

The limits to flow in this setup will be in order
1) the 38 mm hose used by the VC (this cannot be changed because using a larger diam hose will drop the air speed too far so the VC will not be able to pick up chips)
2) The small cyclone (the pressure drop will be small but it will reduce the flow slightly)
3) then the 1 x90 v 2 x 45 º bends but as this is done in 50 mm ducting the effect would be very small.