Foot Switch?

[jsharpphoto]

I'm in the process of designing what i'm calling "The Persuasion Station". It's a cart that olds my drill press, my 105 year old anvil and vice, and will have room for my eventual bench grinder. Inside this cart, i'm going to have a small shop vac. Either a Stinger or a Buckethead (with a modified bucket to make it shorter). The hose is going to run out of the back of the cart and be tethered to a gooseneck positional arm, so I can point it at whatever tool I'm working at.

I want to run the vac on a little footswitch. I'm thinking about using on of those little ones you can buy to turn a lamp on and off. Any reason the amps of a small vacuum would be too much? Or should I gut one of those and rebuild it with beefier cord?

My backup plan is to wire the vac to a lightswitch on the side of the cart, but I'd rather not have to take my hands off the work piece to turn it on.

Open to any and all suggestions or criticisms. Just don't tell me to bang it's wife.

 

[roketa36]

What about a high beam low beam switch off an old car.

Not sure of the amp draw on the vac or headlights but it might work

 

[WORKAHOLIC]

My guess is that the foot switch would not handle enough amps and changing the cord wouldn't help if the switch is undersized. I would use the foot switch to control a contactor that would then power the vacuum. Small contactors are not that expensive. Google "relay in a box" to find some neat self contained relays that should handle more than enough amperage for you.

 

[jsharpphoto]

The stinger says it draws 4 amps. That's the equivalent of about 500 w bulb. I found an inline dimmer switch that's rated to 500w, 4A. I guess as long as the specs match up, it should work.

 

[jsharpphoto]

What about a high beam low beam switch off an old car.

Not sure of the amp draw on the vac or headlights but it might work

Would I have an issue with 12v vs 110v?

 

[jsharpphoto]

Sorry, these posts are appearing out of order, at least on my end. Thanks for the tip WORKAHOLIC

 

[rockwithjason]

go to grainger.com and search foot switch. you will see a wide variety of units that are designed for your application. pick out one and then price shop on amazon and ebay. you will be glad you did

 

[jsharpphoto]

I found this one....
http://www.mpja.com/mobile/SPST-Foot-Switch-Medium-Duty-5A/productinfo/18152 SW/

 

[Jagmandave]

There you go, it's easy when you look around, huh?

I think that's a great idea, BTW to have a foot switch for things like this - I'd like one for my drill press too, so I can line things up and hold them without having to take my hand off the mechanism, but you get too many it will get confusing.

Be sure to post some pics of what you're building - we like pics!

 

[jsharpphoto]

I will. Thanks for your help. I'm going to paint that to match the bench (harbor freight 44inch bottom chest) and install a magnet on the bottom so I can stick it to the side of the cabinet when not in use. I HATE having things on the floor, they just become dirt traps.

 

[shooting4life]

What I ended up doing for my router table that would work for you is the switch a double outlet. Then you leave your tool and vac in the on position and when you start work you flip the switch and both tools turn on, when you are done you flip the switch and both tools turn off.

 

[jsharpphoto]

that doesn't exactly solve the same problem, but it's not far off. I don't want the shop vac running the whole time, like I wouldn't want the drill press running the whole time either.

 

[ForceFed70]

I question a foot switch on a mobile station. You'll need to position the switch every time you move the station.

Also - I don't really see the need of the foot switch. Why not just mount a light switch on the cart somewhere? Flick it on, do your cutting/grinding then flick it off. To me, the use of a foot switch for this application is more of a novelty than an actual useful feature.

 

[shooting4life]

that doesn't exactly solve the same problem, but it's not far off. I don't want the shop vac running the whole time, like I wouldn't want the drill press running the whole time either.

They would just run at the same time is all. For me having the vac run while the other tool is running will collect just about everything I need collected. It isn't until the project is complete and I am doing clean up that I want to run the shop vac and not my router table or drill press.

 

[C96]

Here is another one to look at from Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/momentary-power-foot-switch-96619.html#.UzMU2PldUrk

 

[Mustang51js]

Any electrical supply houses by you, tell them what your trying to do and they should have a switch for you. They make 120 volt push push off switches that go up to 10 amps possibly more, that's all you would need with the cover for it.

 

[The mean fish]

Here is another one to look at from Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/momentary-power-foot-switch-96619.html#.UzMU2PldUrk

I've used a few of these from Harbor Freight, it's actually a well built unit and works perfectly.