Do you keep non-dust extractor shop vac / vacuum around?

[jefm]

I have a few shop vacs and am considering going all Festool dust extractors.
The DE's are HEPA, I already have a 36 and Mini, and they handle woodwork/general cleanup.
Picked up the "wet" filter today for the Mini, in case I need to vacuum up water. Good to be ready for a spill or surprise leak.

Basically I just don't have much room and would rather have machines that can do it all. I use my HEPA shop vac for DE sometimes but that isn't the same. Shop vac has a few perks over the DE's but nothing I can live without.

 

[WastedP]

I confess that I still keep my 20+ year old Craftsman vac around to vacuum up ashes and extra disgusting stuff.  It's like the AK-47 of vacuums; it's sloppy but it just won't die.  I wouldn't say I baby the CT, because I still use it for rock and drywall dust and other stuff that would kill a cheaper vac, but I don't want to try to clean dog vomit out of a $123 antistatic hose. 

 

[nclemmons]

I have a  WAP turbo that is close to 20 years old.  Use it for water or other stuff I don't want to put through my Festools.

 

[mouppe]

My shopvac is attached to my thickness planer. The CTs are not as suitable for such a task. I also use the shop vac around the garage and for anything really dirty and where the CT hose may get clogged.

 

[semenza]

Yup, I have a couple shop vacs that get used for grill cleaning and such. I also use one for the HL850 sometimes.

Seth

 

[Jeff Zanin]

My small Shop-Vac died and was replaced with a CT Midi. 

I am still using a large Shop-Vac on my Bosch 4000 table saw.  I have a a Festool Y adapter on it to connect hoses to both the rear and Shark Guard dust ports.

ETA: I have the saw and vacuum connected with an iVac switch so the vacuum turns on and off with the saw, this avoids the situation where I forget to turn on the vacuum.

 

[Kev]

I keep a cordless Dyson handy - really useful if I do something and only make a little bit of mess. Unti I have space for some big gear and get a ducted unit, everything will probably remain CT's

 

[rst]

I still use two of the little wall mounted Craftsman.  I use one for the overhead dust collection on my table saw and one for my sliding miter saw.  Both are ungodly loud so I made elbows for them and extended the exhaust up about three feet and put silencers on them...still loud, but not so eye bugging anymore.  For anything closer to ear level I use three Feins, a Midi, and a CT 26. Oh, and I just bought the CTL SYS for in my van.

 

[RKA]

I use my old rigid 5 gallon shop vac for the cars, general clean up or tools where I'm not concerned about the fine particles like the planer.  Bags are cheap, it has a longer and larger hose, an attachment for cleaning car floor pans and more flow than my Festool DE's. 

 

[waterloomarc]

I still keep an old 8 gallon shop vac around. It's one of their "quiet" models

I keep it mainly in case I need to vacuum up water. I used to do a lot of aquarium work so I had a lot of spills. Now that I'm out of that I haven't had to suck up water in more than 5 years...but I keep holding onto that vacuum!

The noise and the short hose keep me from using it more often.

 

[Kev]

I still keep an old 8 gallon shop vac around. It's one of their "quiet" models

I keep it mainly in case I need to vacuum up water. I used to do a lot of aquarium work so I had a lot of spills. Now that I'm out of that I haven't had to suck up water in more than 5 years...but I keep holding onto that vacuum!

The noise and the short hose keep me from using it more often.

[member=32253]waterloomarc[/member] let it go man! There's a hole world out there you can enjoy without a vacuum in your hand [wink]

 

[waterloomarc]

I still keep an old 8 gallon shop vac around. It's one of their "quiet" models

I keep it mainly in case I need to vacuum up water. I used to do a lot of aquarium work so I had a lot of spills. Now that I'm out of that I haven't had to suck up water in more than 5 years...but I keep holding onto that vacuum!

The noise and the short hose keep me from using it more often.

[member=32253]waterloomarc[/member] let it go man! There's a hole world out there you can enjoy without a vacuum in your hand [wink]

That literally made me laugh!

 

[peter halle]

I will always have a small cheap screaming shop vac around for gross jobs or dirty jobs where I don't care about HEPA filtering.  Also the Festool extractors are too quiet.  With the shop vac going I am isolated from the yelling that normally is present at these less than desirable times.

Peter

 

[jefm]

Wow good replies, thanks All. Judging by those I'm ditching the gigantic Ridgid. But I'll keep the smaller (brand forgotten) vac that has the RF remote on the handle, that is very handy.

 

[Tayler_mann]

I have several ct's around but also have a fein along with several more shop vacs. I don't like shop vacs but they are much cheaper to clean with and I've invested in HEPA filters for all. Also once in awhile you need a shop vac around for some water clean up or it works even better to scrub a floor and shop vac it up.

 

[woodsmann]

I have a ShopVac that stays around for the dirty or wet jobs. I also use it for my Kreg jig.

 

[polarsea1]

I have a Fein that I use for dust collection on hand held tools, a remote controlled 13 gallon Ridgid used for dust collection from the blade guard on my table saw and a Vacmaster bluetooth triggered wall mounted vac for quick shop cleanup chores.

 

[bdiemer]

I do a lot of hand planning in my shop. That creates a lot of ribbons and cross grain chips. I use a big mouth,  inexpensive shop vac for all that. My ct 26 remains connected to festool things.

 

[Mort]

One time last spring, my then-6-year-old daughter ate too much at a father/daughter dance. She woke up at 11:30 and puked, literally all the way from the living room to the bathroom.

Sometimes I clean out cisterns at work so people's drinking water is cleaner.

My barbecue collects grease because it's cheap and crappy. Also, crud from it and other things gets all over my carpeted porch.

I can't imagine vacuuming up any of these things with a $700 dust extractor.