Axminster AR200 (Henry) vacuum

[johnelliott]

For some time I have been looking for a vacuum to use on site (in my case this means kitchens). I already own a Trend 30AF but it's far too bulky, the switch is awkward and the hose and cable take up too much room. I bought a Red Devil mains powered handheld, OK but not enough power. We have a Henry vacuum at home and it's very good, but the switch position is useless, being a rocker switch concealed at the side and requiring much fumbling to find.
Checking the Axminster book I noticed that their White version of the Henry has a switch at the top, usable as a foot switch. I ordered one yesterday and it arrived today. Superb. Ideal. Loads of suction which is needed to suck the chippings out of my Blum Ecodrill, nice and quiet, compact, light, capacious bags are quite cheap, the cable rewinds and it doesn't take up much floor space. The tools are good quality too.
Well happy am I with it
John

 

[Bean]

johnelliott I own an original Henery and the switch position on those has been moved to the top. I agree that there is plenty of suction as i changed the bag on mine to find an 8" round file in the bag and hose, made the job interesting :roll: .

The cheapest bags I have found so far are at wilko's

Bean

 

[Alf]

John,

Not sure how I missed this the first time :roll: - interesting review, thanks. Sounds pretty good, especially the quiet aspect. I see Axminster have the next size up reduced to the same price at the moment, which is rather tempting (I'm assuming you wanted the compact size of the other so you won't be going "D'oh" at that news. Apologies if not. )

Cheers, Alf

 

[johnelliott]

Alf
I did think about a bigger version, but the main thing was to keep the size and weight down to the minimum. I took my Trend 30AF to a couple of jobs, and found the space it took up, even with the hose shortened to 3.5 metres, to be a real nuisance
The tools are good too, the round brush is great for cleaning up after sanding, without scratching the surface, and as well as a standard width floor brush/non brush there is a half width brush which is ideal for vacuuming off a workshop table
John