Need new shop vac

[AIRFLOWKID]

Plasma Dudes,
Once cut, cleaned of any dross, I sand with 60 grit paper w/shop vac hooked up to sander. I use pleated filter on vac also. My shop vac bit the dust. I was thinking of replaciing it w/ one that has a vortex/bucket attachment before the shop vac. Would like to know what you folks think about this and any ways to increase life of vac.

Thanks so much,
Tim Red Robin Creatives

[Wine Country]

I use an old Craftsman shop vac in my shop. One of the best investments I have made was to buy a washable filter. I believe
it is made of Kevlar and can be purchased at many big home improvement stores. I ran me around $30 at the time I bought it. But when you spend neary $10 or more for a paper filter and they clog up,you toss them. Mine gets loaded up with plasma
dust and I just hose it clean outside and leave it dry.It has held up for several years now.

[AIRFLOWKID]

Thanks for the reply Winecountry. I ended up buying one a Ridgid vac from Homedepot. It too has a washable pleated filter. I'm still going to save up for a vortex attachment thought. Many thanks for your thoughts.

Tim

[Oldsarge]

I sand a lot of drywall, and have the big stainless Ridgid vac .... One thing that helps a LOT is using the paperfine dust bags made for fine dust. Doesn't affect suction too bad, extends the life of your filter by a bunch, and cleaning out the vac is a snap!

http://www.shopvac.com/shopvac-accessor ... wders.aspx

[pony]

Thanks for the reply Winecountry. I ended up buying one a Ridgid vac from Homedepot. It too has a washable pleated filter. I'm still going to save up for a vortex attachment thought. Many thanks for your thoughts.

Tim

You can't beat the value of the Rigid brand. They had the smaller model Rigid on offer a few months back at $25 in Home Depot. I already had a pefectly good working larger Rigid shop vac but ended up walking out of the store with another

[AIRFLOWKID]

Pony,
I found the "Dust Right Vortex" at Rockler for $68.00 it seems like a good deal. Good ratings. Going to order and give it a try. I'll let you know how it works. My old shop vac could not handle the dust. The Vortex plus Ridgid shop vac should work great and last a long time.
Tim

[pony]

Don't forget those 'disposable' filters that come with the Vacs are tougher than you might think.
I've been using the same one for 3 years, I shake the heavier material in to the trash can, then I just use compressed air to clean the filter - not near Mrs Pony's roses or vegetable garden of course
So long as the filter isn't torn I put it back in the machine. They are tough as old boots!