Recomendations for a quality workshop vac

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Gary M

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Hi all,
I shall be splashing out on a new workshop vac, :D

Main duties will be router extraction,drill press, morticer extraction and general floor cleaning.
I need something that can cope with lots of dust and doesnt need emptying every five minuites.
The quieter the better !!
The Record Power RDSE 1 looks as if it would suit, but as ever a bit of advise and recomendations from owners would be appreciated.
I have a chip extractor in place for the planer.
Cheers
gary.
 
Well anything Record is going to be a screamer.. Buy something like a Scheppach HM26/260 with a fine filter cartridge.
I had a Record drum twin motor thing, cost a lot and was a bane. Noisy and filled up quickly. and for all the filtering. when it comes to emptying its primitive and all that fine dust is all over you when you do anything with the drum lid off. I mean two hoover bags and two car air cleaner cartridges................and a brush motor? Not for me anymore....... apart from annoying the neighbours its high pitched demanding whine breaks all concentration............... Mind you, they make wonderful drill presses and vices, just the extractors are not quite what I would call the best
 
If you are looking for a vac the best one I think is the Trend T30AF. D&M tools seem to be the best place for it at the moment.
I have a Record RSDE1 and it works well, but it is SO noisy, and as Streetpips noted it covers you with dust when you take the lid off.
 
I have a festool 33 in the w/s with a boom arm which I take on site when I have lots of work to do in situ. Its great and the boom arm while expensive is really useful.

Because of all the stuff I'm doing in the house right now I needed another machine to do similar work. I got the Trend T30Af from D&M with the the washable fine filter. Excellent bit of kit at half the price. I'm still happy with the Festool esp the adjustable suction etc but the trend does a very good job indeed and is in no way a poor cousin.

Cheers

Tim
 
I have the midi festool and the Hitachi (which I think is the same machine as the Trend and one or two others). I wouldn't be without either of them, both are excellent.
S
PS I was given the Festool and I bought the Hitachi. OK?
 
Hi Gary

Have a look at those posts and maybe you'll get some ideas.

One of my shop-vacs is an Elektrolux 1600W, very quiet and I use it even for my TS.
For the other tasks like sanding, drilling and alike, I use it on Min~Med power and usually the sander is more noisy that the vac.

And If you'll make also the "banger", you'll not have to open it till the container is full (when the "banger" does not return to it's original position, I know that it's time to empty the bucket)

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... highlight=

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Hope it helps
niki
 
Trend T30AF is my recommendation. Its a very efficient machine, good long hose, and its quieter than most. doesn't take up too much room either.
regards, beejay
 
You will need a low volume high pressure system similar to a hoover but with fine filtration the Trend T30AF is the quietest one I know of and will do all you say you need.
 
Hi Gary,

I wouldn’t go near the Record, noisy.

The Trend is a good vac, especially with the VERY handy AutoStart switch.

BUT, if there is any chance of getting a thicknesser in the future, seriously consider a bigger machine e.g. the Scheppach or similar.

Let us know what you do!
 
I have the RSDE2 and its noisy and puts out a lot of hot air so much that its un bearable in the workshop when using it for a long time.

I also have a Festool MIDI which is the absolute dogs dooh dahs. Cost about £270 so is pricey but worth every penny. Its quiet, its automatic, you can empty the bags a few times before you need to buy a new one and if you have Festool kit it clips on top.
 
Gary
As Russel has pointed out, you need a High Pressure Low Volume for a vac, but if you are going to thickness as Yetty suggests, you need a High Volume Low Pressure DX. The two are different and I don't know of one machine which will do both jobs.

S
 
I can recommend the Trend too, I use it everyday a very good extractor and useful for a workshop clean up too.


t30.gif
 
I'm quite happy with the RSDE2-A (the auto-switching version of the Record Power RSDE2). It is noisy, yes. But I find it does work very well with power tools and you can also buy a fine filter cloth for filtering down to 0.5microns, which makes it suitable for use with MDF.

The Trend does indeed look like a great buy for power tool work. But, one of the other main reasons I went for the Record Power machine is that you can fit a 100mm hose (this is possibly why it's noisier, with the motor and that?) which means I can use it with my bandsaw (and other small machinery) when working MDF. I like it, even though it is quite noisy.

I've also been told the Axminster WV100 (?) may be worth looking at.

If you're also in the market for a chip collector (planer-thicknessers and router tables, etc.) then I've just bought an Axminster ADE1200, which I'm pretty pleased with. It's actually quite good at sucking up general saw dust (not fine MDF dust!) as well and, for a two-bag extractor (one filter, one collection) it's pretty compact in size (less than 5' tall, 2' wide).
 
I am very grateful for all your responses gentlemen :D

Seems i have saved myself the misfortune of the Record RDSE1 then !!

Festool is perhaps a little more than i wish to spend (wouldn't mind having one given to me either Steve :lol: )

The Trend seems to be highly recommended, and to be honest i didn't even know it existed :oops: So i have a local supplier who will be getting a phone call monday morning, nothing like a good price haggle first thing on a monday morning !!
I have a chip collector in place for the planer, but alas its an SIP 1hp and as such isn't the greatest. Some of you mention the Scheppach with a fine filter cartridge, and i notice that SP you have the jet version on your avatar.( £50 off at present is tempting)
I would be interested to know how they perform, ie can they cope no problem with a planer thicknesser in full swing ?? What is the benefit of the fine filter, as they are expensive on their own ??

Nikki, your ideas are pure genius, i have a small hoover that will be getting the Nikki treatment to see how it performs :D

I don't think the big extractors would do what i want with the router dust ect, as mentioned two different types of suction required.

Once again many thanks
Cheers
Gary.
 
Can I just put in a word for the Earlex http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/wd1200p-combi-power-vac

I bought mine a few years ago as a secondary shop vac for occasional use freeing up my Festool vac for permanant connection to the Festool sander.

It's still going strong despite continual abuse and my lugging it out on jobs all the time. Hooked up to a DW621 router it almost eliminates air-borne dust.

At under £80 it's an absolute steal!
 
i have an industrial vac called a gerni. mine is the big one its 3000 watts with a 2 inch pipe. unbeleivable suction. the smaller ones may be more suited. it has a felt filter that needs the occasional shake. mine is on my table saw and use a remote plug for switching. no good for a planer though as even the 2 inch pipe gets blocked.
 
Dan Tovey":3lwaemes said:
Can I just put in a word for the Earlex http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/wd1200p-combi-power-vac

I bought mine a few years ago as a secondary shop vac for occasional use freeing up my Festool vac for permanant connection to the Festool sander.

It's still going strong despite continual abuse and my lugging it out on jobs all the time. Hooked up to a DW621 router it almost eliminates air-borne dust.

At under £80 it's an absolute steal!

Dan ive had 2 earlex machines , ones Nackered the other works well, but its very noisy :shock: I use them on site and suck up every thing with them.
I am looking for something quieter.
Just been looking at the Trend machine (over £200 RRP) I doubt my local supplier will be able to match D&M's price, but we will see.

Cheers
Gary.
 
My tuppence worth on the Trend AF. I've just got it after considering a Record Power too.

I've got a small temporary work area and no space for a larger chip extractor (for my thicknesser) like the Axminster ADE1200. I've read a few comments saying the Trend can't do a thicknesser. The trend site says the larger tube you can buy is ok for smaller planers/thicknessers. I agree with that.

I needed something for power tools and my Dewalt DW733 thicknesser.

I know that ideally I need two separate extractors, one for the power tools and one to deal with the 100mm extraction port on the thicknesser.

But for now, with cost and space considerations, I got the Trend and the additional cost 58mm pipe. The dw733 thicknesser dust hood comes with a 100 to 58mm reducer and it's working perfectly well for me, collecting most of the mess.

You do have to empty the Trend quite a lot if thicknessing but its ideal for me for the time being.
 
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