Quiet shop vacuum

[MarkB_MI]

I've been meaning to buy another shop vac for a while, since it seems like every time I need to use the vac it's always at a different house than where I'm working. Plus, it's getting hard to find filters for my 30 year-old Craftsman. So I checked out the offerings at Lowes and HD, and I ended up buying a DeWalt 'Stealthsonic' unit. Their claim that it's quieter than other vacs was a major selling point for me.

I was stunned when I first used the vacuum. It's nearly silent! You can actually have a conversation while it's running. After years of putting up with the deafening whine of the Craftsman, I wondered why I waited so long to buy a better vac. Another thing I like about the DeWalt is that the top and bottom are securely fastened together. The Craftsman has the annoying habit of popping apart at the least convenient time, such as when you're carrying it down a staircase with a full load of drywall dust.

Highly recommended

 

[WI Dan]

I've been meaning to buy another shop vac for a while, since it seems like every time I need to use the vac it's always at a different house than where I'm working. Plus, it's getting hard to find filters for my 30 year-old Craftsman. So I checked out the offerings at Lowes and HD, and I ended up buying a DeWalt 'Stealthsonic' unit. Their claim that it's quieter than other vacs was a major selling point for me.

I was stunned when I first used the vacuum. It's nearly silent! You can actually have a conversation while it's running. After years of putting up with the deafening whine of the Craftsman, I wondered why I waited so long to buy a better vac. Another thing I like about the DeWalt is that the top and bottom are securely fastened together. The Craftsman has the annoying habit of popping apart at the least convenient time, such as when you're carrying it down a staircase with a full load of drywall dust.

Highly recommended

A quiet 'shop vac' ??? You got my attention...

 

[DoubleO7]

habit of popping apart at the least convenient time, such as when you're carrying it down a staircase with a full load of drywall dust.

That would be a viral video for youtube!

 

[Caryc]

While I was making gun grips, I had 5 or 6 wood working machines in my shop. I didn't want to ruin my health by breathing in all that saw dust, I purchased a dust control system from Harbor Freight. It worked exceptionally well.

As I went to each machine, I removed the push on hose from one machine and pushed it onto the next machine. I hardly ever had to grab a broom in that shop. Remember guys that saw dust can be very bad for your lungs. Better to have it accumulate in the big bag than have to sweep it up off the floor. All my Ryobi machines had the same size dust control connector on the back of them. I always wore noise canceling head phones so I didn't have to listen to the machines.

 

[MarkB_MI]

While I was making gun grips, I had 5 or 6 wood working machines in my shop. I didn't want to ruin my health by breathing in all that saw dust, I purchased a dust control system from Harbor Freight. It worked exceptionally well.

As I went to each machine, I removed the push on hose from one machine and pushed it onto the next machine. I hardly ever had to grab a broom in that shop. Remember guys that saw dust can be very bad for your lungs. Better to have it accumulate in the big bag than have to sweep it up off the floor. All my Ryobi machines had the same size dust control connector on the back of them. I always wore noise canceling head phones so I didn't have to listen to the machines.

While I was making gun grips, I had 5 or 6 wood working machines in my shop. I didn't want to ruin my health by breathing in all that saw dust, I purchased a dust control system from Harbor Freight. It worked exceptionally well.

I have a Craftsman dust collector in my shop, which was given to me by a friend in exchange for some table saw parts. It works pretty good with my table saw, when I remember to hook it up. And it's very quiet.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have a Craftsman dust collector in my shop, which was given to me by a friend in exchange for some table saw parts. It works pretty good with my table saw, when I remember to hook it up. And it's very quiet.

Mark
I have wheels on my table saw. My sawdust collects outside. I move the table saw next to the overhead door. Put a squirrel cage fan behind me and the sawdust collects on the driveway.
I did make a dust collector for my 13 inch wood planer.
I don't make that much sawdust and don't use the wood planer that much either.
My boy discovered he is allergic to sawdust. He doesn't make that much sawdust.
Some claim you have a million to one odds of cutting your finger off with a saw.
I must have made 2 million cuts in my lifetime. I have kicked my finger 2 times.
Be safe. Saw blades have many teeth and are hungry for fingers.
I have a craftsman vac with about 2 inch hoses. I removed the filter and put a hose on the discharge and blew the dirt outside.
It worked. Didn't damage the vac using it without a filter.

The guys that installed a click and lock flooring in my Boss's house had a very quiet vac attached to a belt sander.
I think it was a DeWalt vac.
They used a belt sander to level the floor.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I have a Ridgid vac and it's loud. Bought the exhaust side muffler from HD. Hardly any difference with it on or off. Also got a Dustoper that fits a five gallon bucket. It works good to separate the sawdust but the orange HD bucket the wife decided I needed is a bit thin. When I stuck the hose a few times the bucket collapsed and cracked. Not all five-gallons are the same.

 

[Blackhole49]

I'll live with the noise. People in the sub across the street throw their's away when the filter gets plugged. I stopped grabbing them after 4 like this. Their usually nice enough to provide all the attachments also. https://www.amazon.com/CRAFTSMAN-17...ttachments/dp/B07BZSZLBM?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

 

[Texasmark]

I have plenty of ear plugs and muffs for tractor work so I don't need to buy an expensive vacuum.

 

[Caryc]

I have plenty of ear plugs and muffs for tractor work so I don't need to buy an expensive vacuum.

Ear plugs and muffs don't keep you from breathing saw dust into your lungs. The continuous noise from machines in a wood shop will definitely do damage to your hearing. I use ear muffs in the shop and forget I'm even wearing them.

That "the noise doesn't bother me" thing. Is a stupid excuse for subjecting your hearing to noise damage. Nothing personal, I mean that for everyone.

 

[drsportster]

The trouble with shops vacs and machining chips clog it up right away and there is not much you can do about it.

 

[Caryc]

The trouble with shops vacs and machining chips clog it up right away and there is not much you can do about it.

Plus machining chips don't float around in the air. Seems to me that they would only be around the machine. A broom and a dust pan would take care of that. Unless, of course, someone was very lazy.

 

[Texasmark]

Ear plugs and muffs don't keep you from breathing saw dust into your lungs. The continuous noise from machines in a wood shop will definitely do damage to your hearing. I use ear muffs in the shop and forget I'm even wearing them.

That "the noise doesn't bother me" thing. Is a stupid excuse for subjecting your hearing to noise damage. Nothing personal, I mean that for everyone.

The subject matter was noise, not lack of filtration!!!!!!!!!

 

[Caryc]

The subject matter was noise, not lack of filtration!!!!!!!!!

Well Pardon Me ! Would you like to come over here and listen to my dust collector? If one has a dust collector, a shop vac is not really needed. I don't have one in my shop. Sorry you can't accept a little advice. Besides the original poster said nothing about metal shavings.

 

[bc]

Interesting. The way I see it, the decibel level of a device is directly proportional to the setting level of one's hearing aid or amount of one's hearing loss. Aka subjective. Next time I'm at a store with one on display I'll move it to a plug in and try it out. I don't trust the sone rating of bathroom fans. Anything would be an improvement over those old craftsman vacs. Maybe that's why new ones are quieter, our hearing was destroyed by them old loud ones. As I reread my post, the phrase word salad comes to mind.

 

[MarkB_MI]

I have a Ridgid vac and it's loud. Bought the exhaust side muffler from HD. Hardly any difference with it on or off. Also got a Dustoper that fits a five gallon bucket. It works good to separate the sawdust but the orange HD bucket the wife decided I needed is a bit thin. When I stuck the hose a few times the bucket collapsed and cracked. Not all five-gallons are the same.

I have a Ridgid vac and it's loud.

The Ridgid vacs sold at HD are made by Emerson, the same outfit that made the old Craftsman vacuums. And as far as I can tell, they haven't bothered with making any serious improvements to them. FWIW, it seems that the current Craftsman vacuums are made by Stanley Black & Decker which is of course the parent company of DeWalt.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Mark
I have wheels on my table saw. My sawdust collects outside. I move the table saw next to the overhead door. Put a squirrel cage fan behind me and the sawdust collects on the driveway.
I did make a dust collector for my 13 inch wood planer.
I don't make that much sawdust and don't use the wood planer that much either.
My boy discovered he is allergic to sawdust. He doesn't make that much sawdust.
Some claim you have a million to one odds of cutting your finger off with a saw.
I must have made 2 million cuts in my lifetime. I have kicked my finger 2 times.
Be safe. Saw blades have many teeth and are hungry for fingers.
I have a craftsman vac with about 2 inch hoses. I removed the filter and put a hose on the discharge and blew the dirt outside.
It worked. Didn't damage the vac using it without a filter.

The guys that installed a click and lock flooring in my Boss's house had a very quiet vac attached to a belt sander.
I think it was a DeWalt vac.
They used a belt sander to level the floor.

I have wheels on my table saw. My sawdust collects outside. I move the table saw next to the overhead door. Put a squirrel cage fan behind me and the sawdust collects on the driveway.

My Craftsman table saw is on wheels, too, but they're pretty crappy and the saw is too heavy to be wheeling outside every time I want to rip a 2x4. But I do try to use my other tools outside as much as possible.

I must have made 2 million cuts in my lifetime. I have kicked my finger 2 times.
Be safe. Saw blades have many teeth and are hungry for fingers.

At last count I still have all ten fingers. But I'm very respectful of table saws after one of my college classmates lost the tip of his finger in a wood shop class. If I were to buy another table saw, it would be a SawStop.

 

[Gambles]

One of the biggest jokes in the "shop vacuum" world is the horsepower ratings. Your new purchase has 5 1/2 horsepower? Gee, all the 5 1/2 HP motors that I've worked with weigh quite a bit more than your whole shop vac combined. And they were rated for 220 volt also. In reality, your new purchase probably has 1/4 to 1/2 horse...if that. They went after the small engine manufacturers, why the class action lawyers never went after the shop vac manufacturers is beyond me. Unless, of course, maybe it's the small print where it says:

"Peak Horsepower" (PHP) is a term used in the wet/dry vacuum industry for consumer comparison purposes. It does not denote the operational horsepower of a wet/dry vacuum but rather the horsepower output of a motor, including the motor’s inertial contribution, achieved in laboratory testing. In actual use, motors do not operate at the peak horsepower shown."

And before I get a mad hornet's nest replying to me this morning, it's just a little reality thought here, folks. Just an eye opener.

 

[Fred Werring]

The Ridgid vacs sold at HD are made by Emerson, the same outfit that made the old Craftsman vacuums. And as far as I can tell, they haven't bothered with making any serious improvements to them. FWIW, it seems that the current Craftsman vacuums are made by Stanley Black & Decker which is of course the parent company of DeWalt.

When I was reading your earlier post about how your Craftsman would come apart, I thought 'Sounds like what my 20 year old Ridgid does'

 

[Texasmark]

Plus machining chips don't float around in the air. Seems to me that they would only be around the machine. A broom and a dust pan would take care of that. Unless, of course, someone was very lazy.

When I was working, the machine shops at the site would clean up the area with compressed air. Worked really well, effortless, and was quick. So sometimes I clean up my shop floor with it.....but usually use a 3' wide, soft bristle broom.