Workshop vacuum cleaner recommendations?

[James Harris]

Any recommendations for a workshop vacuum for the following?

- typical sawdust extraction from power tools - sucking up sand, cement dust and lumps from between bricks - quiet enough to be used in a confined space - blow facility, preferably via a separate port

On getting stuff from between bricks, I am repointing a wall and the old lime mortar is very crumbly. Any time I scrape away the existing cement dust more dust and lumps are pulled down. A vacuum should hopefully clear the cement and sand away and leave it clean. A domestic vacuum fails to clean out the spaces, which is why I am looking for something more powerful.

On the blow port, I've seen what looked like a good workshop vac with a blow facility but it basically blew the air back the way it had come. I think I would rather the air kept going in one direction.

We had a domestic vac years ago where, in order to get it to blow, the hose had to be attached to a different point on the housing. That seemed more sensible to me as it was easy to change and avoided spitting any dirt back out again (being after the bag and filter) but perhaps I am old fashioned!

I've never had a workshop vac before. I guess it would be convenient if there was a way to have it stop and start automatically when the power tool it was being used with stops and starts. But I don't know if such a facility exists. Failing that, some way to start it remotely might help, in case the machine is a long hose away from the tool being used.

Is there anything else I should look out for in a first workshop vac?

[Brian Gaff]

I remember those.We had one called vactric, and it came with a paint sprayer as well.

Mind you it weighed a ton and was not exactly lean on power either. Eventually it managed to disintegrate its compressor even though it was made of metal. metal fatigue I suppose. It was very handy for those making model planes out of balsa wood for sucking up the dust. Brian

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I never got much dust when I was balsa bashing nearly 44 years ago. I visited the local club about 4 years ago when I was thinking of taking the hobby back up. The snobbery was still there - I'm sure you know what I mean. Seems that they mostly buy polystyrene kits these days and just glue them together. To me that would take all the fun out of the hobby.

Brian: When you were doing the hobby, did you ever read anything by Captain Gordon Whitehead in the magazines? I knew him well.

[Simon Mason]

Can't beat it.

[newshound]

I (only) have the very basic Wickes/Earlex plastic "wet and dry" which is cheap and fairly robust. It will suck and blow and will take a "two inch" hose as well, which is handy for more bulky stuff.

BUT, it's a bit noisy, and no remote switching.

ISTR that there is a vaccum which has a 13 amp socket on it, if you plug your tool into it then you can switch both off at once.

[David Lang]

Bought one of these today, has a power socket & blows.

[DJC]

I have a Nilfisk Aero 26. Wet and dry, separate port for blow, auto switch for power tools. Price from screwfix was good and the bags and filter are cheap from Screwfix

[Bob Minchin]

This one and its "lidl" brother get rave reviews on the woodworking forums that I frequent.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I use a hosepipe and wash it out. (Don't use a pressure washer!) This also moistens the remaining mortar, which helps to stop it sucking out the water from the new mortar before it sets. Don't repoint immediately after washing out - let the water all drain away and dry out a little, but not completely.

Lime mortar in your eyes - ouch!

Sounds like my Hoover Constellation. The hose can be plugged onto the bottom to blow (really meant for clearing blockages from the hose).

I use a master/slave socket (the type used for computer and accessories which switches off monitor/printer etc when computer is switched off. The vacuum cleaner is connected as a slave.

If it's not going to be portable, I would suggest fitting a cyclone inline before the vacuum cleaner. It will trap most of the dirt, reducing the need for frequent emptying, as it can be made much bigger than the vacuum cleaner's dust capacity, and it traps the dust outside the airflow so that the dust trapped in it doesn't reduce suction and efficiency (unlike dust trapped in a filter).

[John Rumm]

You can always make you own remote switch fro any vacuum:

[RJH]

Yes, I have the Lidl version, and it's very powerful/versatile. It's also quite big and noisy, and the paper bags are £16.50 for 5 via some convoluted ordering system. I use some generic ones (about a pound each) from ebay, but they split easily.

[PeterC]

I've a Nilfisk (25 IIRC) with the PTO. Trouble is, when using the Bosch multitool the vac. slows down as I reduce the speed of the tool, so basically it's useless for that. Haven't yet needed to use it with the SDS.

[Harry Bloomfield]

No need to make one, the energy suppliers gave many of these away, usually intended to switch all the periferals off when the desktop was turned off. The are like a plug in adator, with a master socket and 1 or 2 slave outlets.

[James Harris]

...

I saw on the Aldi site a reviewer say it was very noisy. I'd rather pay more for a quieter one because I think the noise would eventually drive the user crazy!

[James Harris]

Unfortunately, the mortar internals (if that's the right term) are in a terrible state and there seem to be big gaps behind the front mortar. In many places, where the front mortar has been scraped away it turns out there is just a void behind it. So a hose would just throw a load of water into the gap. Hence the need to use a vacuum to suck the cement dust away or, if that doesn't work, to blow it clear.

I've already been fairly well sand blasted while using an angle grinder to clear out the old mortar!

If that a spherical vac which basically hovered then it may have been the same type!

That sounds like a good idea. I can see lots of homemade cyclones and small purchasable ones. Do you have a link to something you would consider suitable?

[Peter Parry]

Other than ones where the vacuum unit is fixed outside and the pipe plumbed through the wall I have never come across one which could be described as anything but very noisy.

[David Lang]

I think John Rumm posted details of one he made on the Wiki?

[spuorgelgoog]

It's not on the Wiki, but you may be thinking of

Owain

[newshound]

I've always been impressed by how quiet the Henry family is, given their excellent suck. But of course they don't blow.

[tabbypurr]

small & light is easier, handheld

most clog quickly

no vac is quiet, except central vacs

don't do that with lime dust, it's alkaline and not at all safe for eyes, lungs etc.

NT