Shop vacuum

[rock_breaker]

I am considering a shop vacuum cleaner but have a question about chip cleanup on the mill, lathe and drill press. Essentially do the bags withstand this type of cleanup? I am considering a Ridgid unit and have thought about a 5 gallon debris chamber on the suction side but space is starting to be limited.
Thanks for your help.
Ray

 

[benmychree]

Generally, shop vacs do not have bags, but use a filter around the suction motor intake; my experience with shop vacs is they really do not work very well with chips and those that use a corrugated ID hose tend to get blocked quite easily, they only work well for sawdust.

 

[KevinM]

I use a 5 gallon shopvac with a metal tank. I empty it often so that it is easier to sift through it and pull out the parts that get sucked up by accident. It does great in the shop and is small enough to tuck away when not in use. I start with the 3" hose to get the long shavings and the bulk of the chips. I then move to the small hose using a crevice tool to get the last little bit. The small hose will clog if going after the long shavings first. Takes about 2 minutes to clean lathe, mill and floor.

https://smile.amazon.com/Shop-Vac-5989300-5-Gallon-Stainless-Vacuum/dp/B075MWCF8L/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=shop+vac&qid=1608064260&refinements=p_89%3AShop-Vac&rnid=2528832011&s=hi&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRlJQWTNVMkxBQUZWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzIyMTg2ODhUNjY5Vk5DOVRPJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxNTE4MzYxRDQ2T0FIUFFCQVk0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I don't remember paying this much for it.

 

[Canus]

I have a cyclone filter attached to my shop vac and am very pleased with it. The cyclone catches all the metal shavings. Haven't had to empty the vacuum in the last year.

 

[Nogoingback]

I have 2 Rigid shop vacs and I like both of them. I use the small one in the shop for chips, but only for the small leftovers
after I sweep or scoop up the majority of them. I don't use compressed air to clean up my lathe, so instead I use the vac
to get chips out of nooks and crannies. Long stringy chips will definitely clog the hose.

 

[Boswell]

I have a ridgid shopvac that is mostly dedicated to cleaning aluminum chips on and around the vertical mill. No Bag in the shopvac. I do empty it into a 30 gal trash bag periodically and have had no problems with the chips cutting the bag. perhaps we are talking about two different types of vacuum because the shop vac I have is basically a built in debris chamber on the suction side of the motor.

 

[projectnut]

I have several shop vacuums. One is a wall mount dedicated to the mill, another is dedicated to the surface grinder, and the others are on wheels so they can be moved anywhere in the shop. They work well for the small stuff, but as benmychree mentioned they don't like the long stringy stuff. It gets caught in the smaller corrugated hose. From time to time I drop a 1" diameter 1" long piece of steel down the hose to knock out anything that gets stuck.

 

[Weldingrod1]

I have a shop vac cut apart with a home made cyclone grafted between the top and botyom. It doesn't like napkins or long stringy stuff but separates everything else. I have a knockout drum that collects probably 90% of the chips, plastic bits, and sawdust. I ran 2" pvc all over for vac lines.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Winegrower]

I have been happiest over the years with Craftsman type shop vacs. I pick up the long curly chips separately, but use the (about) 2.5" hose with a nozzle to suck stuff out of the way slots of the mill. I empty it whenever I think about it or it stops working. Works fine.

 

[mikey]

I use a Dust Deputy between my hose and each of my vacuums. I pick up the strings but the rest of the chips get sucked up without issues. None of it reaches my vacuum so it works for me.