Ollie78
Established Member
Hello
I currently require a new shop vacuum/ power tool extractor as my old one has finally become too annoyingly rubbish.
So I started having a look on the obvious websites ( axminster. D and M tools, ebay etc. ) for a suitable unit.
This seems to be a confusing market indeed. I have noticed that the Bosch gas 25/ gas 50 appear to be the same as the mafell s25/ s50 and also the metabo asr2025 seems to be the same as the gas 25/ s 25. However I noticed that the mafell version comes in a certified catagory M version where the Bosch cat M version is mentioned but not for sale. I mention these mainly because I like the self cleaning filters and used to use a bosch gas 25 when working for someone else.
Of course I would like the best filtration and thus safety possible so cat M looks like an obvious choice, but then what about HEPA I recently read an article in Fine woodworking where they tested various shop vac`s the winner was clearly a bosch gas 50 but with an american name. This version came equipped with Hepa filters. But I cannot find anywhere that sells Hepa filters for the gas 50 in Europe.
I have seen the very popular Festool extractors too but most appear to only be rated to cal L unless you go to the £900 plus models or the pro tool range.
The Makita 447 is cat M compliant but a bit pricey.
Also one must consider the running costs of these units, are they only certified cat M if using the specified bags, at £5 for a bag that may only last 1 or 2 days the ongoing cost is prohibitive.
I don`t mind spending decent money on decent kit at all. I believe it wise to buy good quality tools that last a long time but I don`t want to be ripped off on constantly buying expensive bags. Perhaps I could get a small cyclonic separator as well.
Ok Confused rant over.
Any advice or recommendations will be much appreciated. Ideally I would like to find a huge group test on all available extractors and shop vacs but I can`t find any at the moment.
Cheers
I currently require a new shop vacuum/ power tool extractor as my old one has finally become too annoyingly rubbish.
So I started having a look on the obvious websites ( axminster. D and M tools, ebay etc. ) for a suitable unit.
This seems to be a confusing market indeed. I have noticed that the Bosch gas 25/ gas 50 appear to be the same as the mafell s25/ s50 and also the metabo asr2025 seems to be the same as the gas 25/ s 25. However I noticed that the mafell version comes in a certified catagory M version where the Bosch cat M version is mentioned but not for sale. I mention these mainly because I like the self cleaning filters and used to use a bosch gas 25 when working for someone else.
Of course I would like the best filtration and thus safety possible so cat M looks like an obvious choice, but then what about HEPA I recently read an article in Fine woodworking where they tested various shop vac`s the winner was clearly a bosch gas 50 but with an american name. This version came equipped with Hepa filters. But I cannot find anywhere that sells Hepa filters for the gas 50 in Europe.
I have seen the very popular Festool extractors too but most appear to only be rated to cal L unless you go to the £900 plus models or the pro tool range.
The Makita 447 is cat M compliant but a bit pricey.
Also one must consider the running costs of these units, are they only certified cat M if using the specified bags, at £5 for a bag that may only last 1 or 2 days the ongoing cost is prohibitive.
I don`t mind spending decent money on decent kit at all. I believe it wise to buy good quality tools that last a long time but I don`t want to be ripped off on constantly buying expensive bags. Perhaps I could get a small cyclonic separator as well.
Ok Confused rant over.
Any advice or recommendations will be much appreciated. Ideally I would like to find a huge group test on all available extractors and shop vacs but I can`t find any at the moment.
Cheers