Looking to get a small, portable shop vac

[oldberkeley]

Considering this little unit from Vacmaster:




https://www.vacmaster.com/model/vf408b

Anyone familiar with it, have any input?

TIA.

 

[csp]

Whatever you get be sure that filters are readily available from different places.

A friend bought a Stihl vacuum and the dealer is the only place to get filters for it in the US. Lots of places sell them online in Europe, but not so much here.

 

[jeep_boy02]

Been happy with my little wall mount one from Lowes.
The 2.5 gallon one, mounted in center just above work bench so I can reach up, flip switch and have it going. Perfect for cleaning the truck interior out too.

 

[James-W]

I have a Hoover shop vac that I bought about 15 years ago. It isn't the greatest shop vac in the world, but it works decent and it has not broken down in all the years I have had it.

 

[vhol5]

5 gallon shop vac from Lowes.
Great power!
http://www.lowes.com/pd_549708-2009...+vac&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=shop+vac&facetInfo=

 

[rslaback]

I'm already invested in Ridgid tools but this 18v cordless unit was a no brainer for me. At $50 you can even justify getting a drill kit to get you into the platform battery wise. I love taking this to the mess with little fanfare and cord drama. It doesn't get much more portable.

 

[ratdoggy]

Been happy with my little wall mount one from Lowes.
The 2.5 gallon one, mounted in center just above work bench so I can reach up, flip switch and have it going. Perfect for cleaning the truck interior out too.

I have the same. No wasted floor space

 

[GMBBS]

I bought two of the small wall hung units from a big box store. OK for vaccuming out your car, but the hose is such small ID that it clogs with anything larger than a micron. Just an FYI when small vac shopping!

 

[danfromsyr]

I don't have any experiance with that model, but since we're adding in our own reviews.
I use one of those bucket top shop vacs a few times a week to **** up ash from my pellet stove. fine grain ash and I just brush the filter off with a whisk broom when I empty the absolutely full bucket (full minus the motor imprint)
for $19 it's tough to beat. and I'm trying.

 

[bagged89s10]

Considering this little unit from Vacmaster:









https://www.vacmaster.com/model/vf408b



Anyone familiar with it, have any input?



TIA.

What's your reason for getting a small unit like that? What are you using it for?

 

[dogdas]

I have two of these craftsman ultra quiet and they are the best compact vac I have ever used. So quiet and powerful and it had a retractable cord, how nice is that.

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-...p-00912002000P?prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6

 

[Indyducati]

I've recently acquired one of these.



http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-4-5-gal-Wet-Dry-Vacuum-WD4522/100638389

It's hard to believe how much I love this vacuum.
Traditionally, I'm like my dogs and try to avoid a vacuum

This one is nice, the handle folds down, making an easily stored rectangle.
It's got a round, paper filter and will also take bag.

It's study enough, when I take it on a job I can stack it on my two-wheeler and put
a lot of other tool cases on top of it. It makes a great seat as well.

Steve

 

[oldberkeley]

Sorry for the delayed response, was out of town.

I used to do a lot of remodeling, actually had a small company back in the 70's & 80's. 66 yrs. old now, basically just fiddling around with an old house I just bought, don't really need or want one of the bigger units: too cumbersome, take up too much space.

Stopped into a Sears store last weekend, looked at their stuff. Just my two cents but looked cheap, felt light and cheap, quality of the hose plastic just a joke. Not buying one of those!

Doesn't seem like anyone here actually has one of the Vacmaster units I posted to start the thread.

 

[bagged89s10]

Sorry for the delayed response, was out of town.

I used to do a lot of remodeling, actually had a small company back in the 70's & 80's. 66 yrs. old now, basically just fiddling around with an old house I just bought, don't really need or want one of the bigger units: too cumbersome, take up too much space.

Stopped into a Sears store last weekend, looked at their stuff. Just my two cents but looked cheap, felt light and cheap, quality of the hose plastic just a joke. Not buying one of those!

Doesn't seem like anyone here actually has one of the Vacmaster units I posted to start the thread.

That makes sense. Seems like most local store shop vacs are of the same quality and have the cheap plastic hose. I know oh can get better hoses. I've never seen one of those vacmasters but looks like it's of high quality.

 

[boiler7904]

I bought a 3 gallon Ridgid last summer to avoid dragging the big 14 gallon unit around the house for small cleanup at the end of each day of a multi-day (week) remodeling project. It gets stored in the basement so I'm not tripping over it in the garage.

 

[mikec35]

I have two of these craftsman ultra quiet and they are the best compact vac I have ever used. So quiet and powerful and it had a retractable cord, how nice is that.

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-...p-00912002000P?prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6

That looks like the one the OP linked in his first post, but $50 cheaper

 

[AndyCBR]

Considering this little unit from Vacmaster:




https://www.vacmaster.com/model/vf408b

Anyone familiar with it, have any input?

TIA.

That looks like a nice unit.

I know many of the small ones from Shop Vac and Rigid (Lowes and HD brands) only have a filter sock or wrap around a foam element. If you run into any fine dust they basically pass it.

The cartridge filters are in general much better at catching fine dust.

I've recently seen filter bags on the store shelves but never used one.

The hot setup in a larger vac is the gore tex based cartridge filters that can handle wet or dry yet still filter fine dust or ash.

 

[jwith68]

I don't have any experiance with that model, but since we're adding in our own reviews.
I use one of those bucket top shop vacs a few times a week to **** up ash from my pellet stove. fine grain ash and I just brush the filter off with a whisk broom when I empty the absolutely full bucket (full minus the motor imprint)
for $19 it's tough to beat. and I'm trying.

+1 on this. These little bucket vacs are handy as a pocket on a shirt. Pretty powerful, tough, and mine's even US made. Just need to extend the hose and add a couple attachments.

To the OP, I do not have the model you're looking at, but I do have the Vacmaster VWM510 wall mounted vac out in my shop. It's done very well over the 4 or 5 years I've had it. No complaints on quality or performance. I use the bucket vac for the nasty jobs, though.

 

[fattogatto]

What's your reason for getting a small unit like that? What are you using it for?

I mount in on the wall by the mill and use it to vacuum the shards as they fly.

 

[Makoto]

Ive had the same little craftsman shopvac for years.

 

[volleyball]

Why not one of the metal computer torpedo vacs? Filters are easy to come by, they are designed to be carried.

 

[bagged89s10]

I have a wall mount craftsman which is fairly small but has a lot of power and hasn't given me any problems. It's nice because it's mounted out of the way.

 

[Gear Box]

This isn't portable but it goes any where in the garage.

 

[bagged89s10]

This isn't portable but it goes any where in the garage.

I like that setup. I'm actually going to move my vac the the top left from where it is and was thinking about where to put the hose. Do you have any more pictures and info on what you used?

 

[sz0k30]

Just replaced a small shop vac that had a small 1-1/4 dia hose & used a bag. I hated it. With the small hose dia & the way it had a natural block at the vacuum end it was always getting jammed by something getting stuck in the hose or the end.

Replaced it with a Craftsman 6 gal wet/dry vac $50.00. Larger 1-3/4 dia hose, better suction and doesn't need a bag. I like it a lot better.

 

[DC73]

That looks like the one the OP linked in his first post, but $50 cheaper

Nice catch. Some minor differences (front wheels, handle, etc) but otherwise looks about the same. The Craftsman version gets good reviews on the Sears website. Just judging by the accessory photos and given that the Sears of today is not the Sears of old, it looks like the Vacmaster version might be a higher quality device. Guts might be exactly the same though.

DC

 

[rburke65]

Bought a smaller Ridged vac from HD and have been happy with it. Just ought an extra 7' hose last week and now like it better!