Shop vac and wrenches

I use a home Depot Buckethead. Only 1 1/4" hose but works fine for my minimill. And cheap at under 25 bucks.

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MikeInOr said:
My experience with small shop vacs is they don't suck worth a darn. The 14g to 16g vacs will usually have a "rated" hp around 5.5 to 6.5 and do a much better job than the small ones. The little ones don't do a good job picking up oily swarf. I concur with the 2" hose reccomendation. I also always use the yellow vacuum bags to keep the filters from getting clogged and loosing suction.
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+1, well said. Once you have a real shop vac you’ll realize you can’t live without it. And like has mentioned if you are going to suck up swarf you’ll realize 2” hose is a must.

Almost 30yrs ago we invested in a 14g wet or dry and it’s still plugging along where smaller house vac’s doing less hard work come and go. I have to use a shoe horn to fit it and my DIY cyclone into the shop but it is part of the can’t live without equipment.
 
I use a Shop-Vac with a 2" hose. It works great, but the hose still clogs up with oil/chips over time.

Anyone know a good way to clean up the inside of the hose? I have been using a snake, but that's a mess.
 
I just have a small shop so it makes it hard for storage of a bigger machine
 
I make sure to pick up the longer, or stringy swarf before using the vacuum. For ferrous I have a retractable magnetic wand, and a floor sweeper magnet too. My hose is 50' x 1 1/2" it's clogged once in the last 3-5 years, once in a while I'll send a bolt head, or something similar, and watch it go through the loops, then clunk in the canister.
 
I forgot to insert the post and "edit" won't allow it. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

Pliers have their uses, but this isn't one. Pliers are not wrenches and often so badly scar the working surfaces that a wrench won't work when you do find one. I don't know the proper name for what you are looking for, I've called them "pin spanners" for as long as I have been working with them. (50 yrs plus) An easy "one size doesn't fit anything well" is to take a couple pieces of scrap steel (I use key-stock) and fasten a dowel pin in one end. A "roll pin" isn't strong enough. Fasten the other ends together. Voila, an "adjustable pin spanner".

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bill70j said:
I use a Shop-Vac with a 2" hose. It works great, but the hose still clogs up with oil/chips over time.

Anyone know a good way to clean up the inside of the hose? I have been using a snake, but that's a mess.
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I have a big Rigid shop vac with a large hose. The hose is so much heavier now after 6 months of use in the metal shop. There is an 1/8" buildup of shmoo inside the hose. I was thinking of banging on it with a large screwdriver or somthing while it's running. The big dia. hose almost never gets clogged. I bet the shmoo lining in the hose helps keep things moving compared to a clean corrugated hose.
 
bill70j said:
I use a Shop-Vac with a 2" hose. It works great, but the hose still clogs up with oil/chips over time.

Anyone know a good way to clean up the inside of the hose? I have been using a snake, but that's a mess.
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I designed an insert for my shop vac hose to help prevent swarf from jamming the hose and I've been very happy with it. I've had it in my main vac for over 6 months and doesn't get bothered by regular vacuum jobs as well as most hobby-sized chips. When you do accidentally suck up long/stringy chips, too many chips at once, or your shop rags: it stops right at the front if the hose making the mess easy to remove. Its actually pretty amazing how well it works. My buddy was adamant it would clog all the time, but that hasn't been the case.

Thingaverse link

I don't mind 3D printing one for you if you end up using the same hose type.
 
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