workshop shop vacuum

[floor-a-matic]

what do u think about the workshop brand vacs? they look like the ridgid vacs

maybe i'll buy the ws1200de since it comes with bonus floor brush, dusting brush & 2 foam filters (for wet vacing)

 

[joerwheeler]

Workshop Brand Shop Vac's

These used to be Emerson, who made the Ridgid, Craftsman, and maybe a few others and they are decent quality, but most models are pretty much identical to Ridgid so I don't know how they compare price wise. I followed them on Twitter and they seemed to be very pro-active about trying to give good packages for a fair price. But I haven't kept up with them so I don't know if they've changed or offer anything unique over other Emerson products. Generally Emerson makes pretty good products, usually a step above ShopVac branded equipment.

 

[real1shep]

A boy I mentored had a basement he was living in that would occasionally flood. I went over there and fixed the sump pump. Off in the garage was a big Craftsman shop vac. This was about ten yrs ago. The father sold me the vac for $10, used once in the flood. Got it home and water had been left in it, along with dirty basement yuck. I spent an entire evening cleaning the thing.  Seemed fine after that so I put it to work on remodels.


 


I noticed that after that model they came out with that paper liner that fills up inside the tank affording you a LOT of volume before the bag is full. I figured a way with weather seal and a ABS fitting to make those bags work.


 


Pretty good shop vacuum and like Joe says, most likely Emerson. Back then there wasn't much difference between Ridgid and Sears....accessories all seemed to work from either brand.


 


I had Shop Vac brand before that seemingly forever. They were OK in the beginning, but they got cheesy.  I used to buy new power heads from them as mine expired. The last one I got was junk compared to its predecessor....not even an exhaust to put a hose into. I loaned out the previous one to a family doing sheet rock....it came back squealing. I'm just gonna go through that one and put it back on.


 


Anyway, when I was still plumbing, I took it with me and wrote R2D2 on it so it wouldn't be stolen as easily. Nobody wanted it then....lol. I think the lady @Shop Vac (very rude) sold me the last caster wheels they had for it. It has endured since the 80's. I like the Craftsman better in many ways over that old Shop Vac.


 


If you give a sh*t about your vacs, NEVER lend them out. Most people look at vacs as disposable and don't fret over the damage they do to them.


 


Kevin

[this post was last edited: 9/18/2017-23:14]

 

[floor-a-matic]

"These used to be Emerson, who made the Ridgid, Craftsma

is that why workshop brand vacs resemble ridgid vacs? i wish they still made the 16 gallon version w/detachable blower like ridgid wd1670. however i like my workshop ws1200de; it came with bonus floor brush, dusting brush (useless due to its plastic bristles & body) & bonus wet pick-up foam filter

btw both ridgid & workshop vacs are cute

 

[vacerator]

My "Rigid"

(shop vac) that is says St. Louis Mo. Could it be made by Tacony?

Or, imported from Taiwan like my Rigid miter saw?

Whatever, it is from the 90's and still works great. 2 h.p. and I connect it to my table saw and miter saw and it keeps the dust at bay.
Bypass motor too.

 

[real1shep]

Now that.....

our Sears store is gone, if I need something for the vac, I just go to HD and buy Ridgid. Haven't had to buy any internal parts yet, but guessing they are still mostly available?


 


Kevin

 

[fan-of-fans]

Never heard of Workshop Brand. I don't really have any experience with shop vacs other than the Shop Vac brand ones, and even that is limited. My Shop Vac is a 5 gallon from 1997. LOUD thing, but I only really use it for vacuuming out the car and cleaning out the A/C condenser drain line, so it gets very little use. It still looks brand new since I clean it after each use and keep it indoors.

The newest model I used seemed to be much quieter, or at least the noise was lower tone. I notice the newer units seem to be fatter in diameter and lower in height, whereas the older ones were taller and narrower in diameter. Possibly so they won't tip over, the older ones seemed to fall over sometimes.

I remember some of the older Craftsman vacs, there was a cord reel model that was white with white hose, and the TOL model was variable speed and I think had a cord reel also.

Also remember their push-pull power nozzle attachment that worked kind of like a carpet sweeper.

 

[tseg]

I have a wall mounted VacuMaid GV50 Pro. Nice long hose 50' hose for my cars outside my garage after washing them. Has a 15A 5.7" Amtek Lamb motor with 740 max air watts. Motor is very quiet for a shop vac. The hose diameter is a bit small for a shop vac but works for me. Nice attachments. Nice 7 gallon HEPA bag controls dust well.[this post was last edited: 9/30/2017-21:21]

 

[real1shep]

Wow......

That's the way to go with cars; mount one in your garage with a long hose. Spectacular set up.....


 


Actually, the smaller diameter hoses are much easier to navigate with then the big 2 inch+  hoses. I usually adapt down when vacuuming cars because the big hose is too bulky to go where I want it to go. Unfortunately, when you adapt down on a regular shop vac, you lose a lot of airflow.  However, if a machine was specifically made for use with a smaller diameter hose, it should be fine. Only drawback there would be plugging it with some big piece of detritus.


 


 


Kevin

 

[tolivac]

I think of a shop vacuum as a machine that can pick up bulky debris such as wood shavings,leaves that blow in from outside.and of course liquids.The wall mounted vacuums are good for car lovers-the machine is out of the way-but the narrow hoses would clog with debris if the wallmount was used to clean up after a woodworker.And its bag would fill FAST!!!I would like to see EXTERNAL filter shop vacuums brought back-the pleated filters clog too FAST if the machine is used without a bag-and the pleated filters become a soggy mess if used wet.Some folks still don't take them out and put the FOAM filter in when picking up liquids.You can use the external bags wet-but dump them first!!!Then use the machine wet -run it for several minutes after dumping the drum to dry the hose,drum,and bag.In the ext filter vacuum-the motor is fully isolated from the liquids or whatever you picked up.And it would be neat to see an external filter bag that can be used with disposable bag-of course this would be for dry use only.I don't mind the 2" hoses-these are best for bulk pickups.These were made for woodworkers and renovators in mind.

 

[real1shep]

If you use a regular shop vac for sheet rock dust for example, you have a no-win scenario......the pleated filter will clog in short order (or the paper filter over the pleated filter with the friction ring). Then they went with the paper bags that line the inside of the bucket....I like those. They hold a lot of stuff before vacuum is reduced.  I don't see an external bag shop vac as portable for contractor work....better design though I agree. For me on various contractor jobs, the liner bags, albeit expensive are the way to go.


 


Kevin

 

[tolivac]

The shop type vacuums contractors use are large-they need to be to hold demo debris.The outside bag would not be much more bulky than the internal filtered ones.Contractors-esp demo guys carry their vacuums in their trucks.You can get liner bags for Shop-Vac brand vacuums-even Filtrete ones.Use these or the yellow "drywall" paper bags-multilayer-those save your pleated filters.I am not familiar with Rigid-Sears shop vacuums-do not own any of those.The Home Depot place near me in Greenville closed several years ago.The Sears place is on its last legs----don't know how long they will last.

 

[real1shep]

The type of vacuums contractors use are whatever they pick up at a store or contractor's supply. It's a function of $$. If they are smart and the job is big enough, they factor the cost of a HD or Sears vac in. As far as demo contractors carte blanche carrying specific kinds of vacs, that's not a reality in anything I'm seeing. In fact I have to tell many contractors what's out there locally or they will purchase some POS and fight it clogging every ten minutes. 


 


As I mentioned above, many big Sears model shop vacs (like mine) weren't  made for the liner bags...that's a relatively newer style shop vac. I retrofitted mine to take the big bag liners....works great. I took a 100yr old garage and made it into an art studio for a customer. It was probably the most messy job indoors I'd ever done for whatever reasons. Tons of dust and debris to take care of. Retrofitting those bag liners saved my life and my budget.  


 


Kevin 

 

[floor-a-matic]

i found out this workshop vac doesnt use bag to keep the pleated filter clean; bought it mostly to use the blower. however i will make a adapter for the vac to use a filter bag

i also got the car cleaning kit & works great! saves the turbo brushes from clogging up with hair