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Pimping my shop vac

jmarkwolf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
1,812
Location
Southeast Michigan
You've probably heard of "pimp my ride"? An acquaintance of mine once told me that he and his teenage son were "pimping" juniors moped. Well I'm going to pimp my shop vac.

I have a nice Ridgid NXT shop vac (pic below) But it's a nuisance to keep the footprint minimal when I drag it around my shop. The power cord is always tangling, as is the hose and attachments when using the supplied stowing features. This shop vac fittings have nice features on the hose fittings that positively engage so that you can drag the shop vac around by the hose without the prospect of the hose becoming detached. But the time it takes to minimize all the possible snags while doing so is a nuisance.

The shop vac has numerous features for stowing the hose and attachments but they're always in the wrong place or orientation and allow the hose to hang outside a minimal footprint which tends to sweep nearby items off the bench or knock things over. The hose needs to loop vertically when stowed in a vertical orientation to keep from snagging nearby things when dragging the shop vac around. And winding and unwinding the power cord on every use is a GPITA (giant pain in the a$$).

My solution: pimp my shop vac.

I am going to endeavor to make it fast and easy to stow all the hoses, attachments and power cord in an instant. I'm going to find a retractable power cord reel unit to obviate the need to wrap the cord around the hooks each and every use, and employ some sort of "holster" that will accommodate the hose and most often used attachments in a manner that wont "distract me from my mission" when dragging the shop vac around my shop.

I'll have to modify the shop vac power cord, and exchange the ends on the retractable power cord, but that's a small price to pay for the added convenience.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Stay tuned campers.
 

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gahrajmahal

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Joined
Dec 12, 2008
Messages
2,525
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Here is my thread for making a seperate cyclone box that works with any regular shop vac. Its main feature is its small size and storability. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I like the retractable reel idea!

 

Ohio Andy

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Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
2,257
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Here is my thread for making a seperate cyclone box that works with any regular shop vac. Its main feature is its small size and storability. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I like the retractable reel idea!
I often use mine for dust collection so I usually have a cyclone sitting in front of mine... Well for one of mine
 

dnschmidt

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Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
7,268
Location
Phoenix, AZ
A Dust Deputy is the best pimping you can do for a shop vac. Clean the filter once a year instead of once a weak. When I did a ton of sanding I would fill the 5 gallon, it might be bigger, metal drum with MDF dust and the W. L. Gore filter would only need to be vacuumed and blown out after all that sanding. One of the best tools I've ever bought to go along with my AirVantage Central Vac Ready sanders.
 
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Ohio Andy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
2,257
Location
Columbus, Ohio
A Dust Deputy is the best pimping you can do for a shop vac. Clean the filter once a year instead of once a weak. When I did a ton of sanding I would fill the 5 gallon, it might be bigger, metal drum with MDF dust and the W. L. Gore filter would only need to be vacuumed and blown out after all that sanding. One of the best tools I've ever bought to go along with my AirVantage Central Vac Ready sanders.
That's what I have....
 
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