Shop vacuum

I've got a 12 gal Craftsman XSP in the garage & it's main use is for vacuuming up chips. Stringers I pick up & dispose of by hand. From day one of getting this shop vac I used dust/drywall collection bags. Keeps the tank & filter clean. Been using this Craftsman for years now & the original filter still looks brand new. I have had no problems with the collection bags tearing from oil soaked chips. I do probably toss out the bags before they are completely full though because of the weight of the chips. Still the bags last me a while. I'm just a hobbyist though & don't make chips daily.

I just use the plain ol white dust collection bags, non-hepa/yellow. I used to use Shop Vac branded bags cause they were readily available & didn't cost much. But since the bags have gone up in price & Shop Vac has gone out of business, I just buy generic equivalents from Amazon. Even cheaper & I don't see any difference in quality, if anything they're better quality.

My current shop vac uses the standard 2-1/2" hose. I initially though about getting a smooth bore hose but have never had the hose clog. Once in a blue moon it'll clog at the 90° tank inlet at the bag if I don't expand the bag sufficiently. Easy to get going again though. My previous vacuum was one of those cheap Shop Vac brand black friday models. Was a 10 gal but came with a 1-1/4" hose. That hose would get clogged all the time & I'd have to poke it with a long rod to unclog it. I hated that Shop Vac all around, gave the thing away.
 
My "handy" Karcher shop vac I use with filter bags. It's cheaper than replacing air filters. The bags catch very fine particles and "breathe" with less static pressure loss than pleated filter. That's what I do. It works great for mill chips, but like others have said, stringy lathe chips get stuck if you get too zealous. I empty the chip tray by hand before vacuuming the little stuff. I also have the "gigantor" shop vac (Craftsman claims 7 peak HP- yeah, I'm sure!) that I use for big cleanup. It's too big to deal with in my machine shop space, so it lives in the automotive bay. I should not have bought such a big shop vac, the little one does a good job for most purposes.
 
Wall mount central vacuum with a 25' hose, and no issues so far with clogging the hose, or hepa filter.
 
I have a 12 gallon Shop-Vac that I've had for many years. Sadly, it is the most used "tool" in my shop. I'm constantly cleaning up metal with it. It does clog on occasion, but it handles long curly metal shavings quite well. The suction is strong enough to pull them through.

I heard that Shop-Vac might be out of business.

I used to get filters from Home Depot, but they don't carry them any more now that they have their own brand.
 
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benmychree said:
Generally, shop vacs do not have bags, but use a filter around the suction motor intake;
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My shop vac is set up like that for wet ie. no bag, just a reusable foam sleeve over the fan cage. I added a layer of batting around the outside of the foam sleeve to catch the chips. Large piles and stringy chips get picked up by hand so the shop vac just has the smaller amounts to pick up. Then I finish with a diy reducer and 1/2'' id hose for getting in the nooks and crannies.
My shop vacs are dedicated to either oily chips, wood dust or HVAC filter cleaning.
 
Thanks guys this information leads me towards a filter under the suction hose and a cyclone just before the inlet on the vacuum. Craftsman, Rigid and Shop Vac I have heard of but there are several new names now. Got some planning to do now. Except for lights and a hoist near the mill the ceiling is about the only unused space.
Have a good day
Ray
 
Choose quiet if it shares space with you. And, if you do cnc then you REALLY want quiet as it will run for hours!

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I have a craftsman on the wall...it also has a remote which is handy. As everything, I keep it clean and take care of it. Then the lathe and mill came along. I got hoses clogged with oil/metal shavings. Had to tamp out these clogs with a long handle, popped tons of small holes on my hoses. Learned to clean up as much as I can by hand or magnetic wand, wipe up oil then clean the surrounding area with the shop vac. Point is, the shop vac needs to do the minute work after your done cleaning the area. Now this is my junker vac and sadly I don't have one any longer for my cars....alll the attachments would trash my interiors.
 
Have a dedicated 4 inch dust collection cyclone on all the wood machines and it will pick up the metal chips and strings, but I try to use it mainly for the wood dust, the floor does get vacuumed using the dust collector fairly regularly, it picks up anything in its wake.
My main vacuum for metal on the lathe and drill press is the Metabo ASA1200 this thing is a beast, been using it hard for 30 years will make screwdrivers and allen keys disapear very quickly, its powerful and you can use the generic 20 litre dust bags.
I also have a little hoover Vacuum dedicated to the mill, works okay for mill chips I have a small mill so small cuts and small chips.
A magnetic wand is a must have around a lathe or any metal work environment.
 
GunsOfNavarone said:
I got hoses clogged with oil/metal shavings. Had to tamp out these clogs with a long handle, popped tons of small holes on my hoses.
Click to expand...

Clogged my vacuum hose with stringy swarf once. Had little success trying to push it through with a rod. A rod with a hook on it worked much better, pulling the clog apart instead of packing it tighter. I used a sectioned fiberglass rod intended for fishing wires.

I have since been more careful about picking up the long curls before vacuuming the small swarf.
 
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