Looking for a Reliable Dry VAC

I’m happy with my Craftsman, but I’m easy to please :-))

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Hi Jay
I saw a review I think in Fine woodworking an it gave one of the Ridgid models a pretty high mark. The other two were $300 plus if I remember were porter cable and Fein both had auto start. I have and old craftsman and a newer fein. The craftsmen is set up as a dust collector in my router table and has worked fine and the Fein is good when working indoors and you don’t want dust to blow all over because of it’s great filter system but kinda spendie.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

I have the Ridgid stainless steel vac I think it is about 16 gallon size. It is excellent, especially if you upgrade the filter to a hepa. It does general duty in the shop. U se it for dust extraction connected to sander and sometimes to router mounter in table and to Kreg jig when drilling. and most important when my basement “seeps” it a life saver to clean up water also.

-- Growing older but not up!

Buy the Fein 9-20-24 Mini Turbo Vac if you want the best. They are not cheap but the customer service is outstanding. I did a tool review on this unit if you care to read more. Good luck on picking a vac

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I have one of the Festool dust extractors (CT-22) and am very pleased with it. It has “auto start” and a HEPA filter. I believe the Festools are significantly quieter than their counterparts.

-- Woodworking is not a destination....it's a joinery !!! http://smilesrus.com/pages/woodgallery.html

I have an older rigid and it works pretty good. LOUD but good. I believe the current crop of craftsmen vac’s are quiter than most vacs.

A friend has a 10 year old Fein which is just NICE. Soooo quite, great filtration. The only thing I might change is the hose size, but what ever. I recommend the Fein, its more but its a purchase you will not regret.

I love my Craftsman.

-- Chip -- Manchester, Connecticut "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

I just replaced a Craftsman shop vac that recently died. Gosh, I only got 15 years service out of it. I replaced it with what? Another Craftsman. I selected the 20 gal model. The thing will suck the crome off a trailer ball. And, it is relatively quiet. Teamed up with my mini CV cyclone from Clearvue, it does a great job, even on my jointer and planer.

-- "non illegitimis carborundum"

I’ve got two Craftsman units, a 6 gal/3hp and a 16 gal/6hp. I’m as happy with both units as I believe one can be. The limitations of the “canister shop vac” design has an Achilles heel on all of these units regardless of manufacturer. Naturally I’m talking about the filter. If the average guy is conscientious and cleans the filter regularly (this means weekly not yearly) most of these units should remain powerful and effective, but fine dust is always going to be a problem. Until someone figures a way to draw the suction “thru” a liquid filter layer we’re going to have to deal with cleaning and changing filters often.

Don’t hold your breath.

-- JMP

I was on a job one day with a labor vacuuming up concrete dust. He was filling the air with dust. He left for a few minutes when I was in the area. I checked, sure enough, no filter. He came back, so I pointed out the problem. He went to tell his boss. When he came back, he started to fill the air with dust again. I asked him what his boss said. He told me that was all they had and so they had to use it :-)) The name of the company was JLF. I realized why they chose those letters for a company name!!

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Festool and Fein are both really good, and also pricey. Festool dust collection is about the only one allowed in boatyards around here, because they are so effective. I think they are also quieter.

-- Rich, Seattle, WA

After much research I bit the bullet today and ordered a Festool vac and 150/3. 6 inch random orbit sander. I will find out before long if it is as good as everyone says it is.

-- Each and Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. Greg Little

If money is part of the choice, Go with a Ridgid…. I have a older ridgid that has worked great for years. Like Jim…it is now dedicated to my router table…so I bought one of their new stainless ones…it works great also.

I am sure there are better ones out there. But for the money, there hard to beat.

-- Don S.E. OK