shop vacuum

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Since my shop vacuum is connected to my sandblaster and it is hard to access to use for other things, I am looking for a small vacuum to clean the floors in the cars and do general vacuuming of metal filings, dirt and other things like that from my tools where I can't get into sweep. I don't want to spend a lot of money but still get something that does work and last. Also replacement bags seem to be a problem with some shop vacuums.

Any ideas?

Lee

[sideshow]

Because I all ready have a few 18v tools, this made a lot of sense to me;

https://www.dewalt.com/en-us/products/p ... nly/dc515b
It is not a great vac, but far more handy compared to dragging a full size one around.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks Sideshow, I hadn't looked specifically at this one or, more rightly, a battery operated one but I will go up and take a look at it in detail as it sounds like it meets a lot of what I was looking for.. More than I wanted to spend but it does look pretty compact. I am still going to look at other ones before I anti up on this. The type of filter (I think it said a hepi-filter ?) I am not sure about either.

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-Bare-Tool ... B002VWK5T6

The top short version sounds like me. The full write up underneath is great as are some of the following ones.

Thanks again. Lee

[SCOTTRODS]

as Far as cleaning the Cars... I have moved to compressed air to blow out the car and usually don't need any further attention. I did this several years ago when I had a shop at my disposal and air all over the place... now I have 2 60 Gallon Compressors (in my garage) and a manifold run down one wall of the garage and an outlet QC piped to the outside of the wall at the driveway. I also have the Sand blast cabinet hooked to my shop vac as well... Considering buying a second Shop vac specifically for the blast cabinet (or a proper dust collector), or maybe one for everything else. But Air is a great car vac for me for now.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Oops, my bad. The vacuum is not specifically for buggies it is for the family car, my "almost a truck" plus around the garage, when needed, which is why a smaller unit is being looked at. In time I guess it could be used when building the black buggy but right now access is quite open. There is a good vacuum where the blue buggy is stored.

The old vacuum (and I have 2 of them, my be older than many of STF people as they take a "pre 1987" filter, and... they were old then) is getting harder to find filters for and since Sears is closing so many stores it is getting harder to find parts and filters so some day, ... probably soon, the filter source(s) may dry up but that is not the immediate problem. Right now I have to go two towns north of us to get filters where before it the next town north and it was almost close enough to walk to.

2015-09-10 (3).jpg

For the blue buggy it is a combination of air this https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogse ... r+blow+gun, regular air gun and the vacuum to get the blown in sand out.

A very tight setup with the seats sitting 1/2" off the pan. Why the seats so low, to keep the CG low as possible for when running across the face of steep dune things can get, lets say... a bit tippy. If you stop on the face of a steep dune (I tried it once) you have to get out of the buggy on the uphill side otherwise your body wants to fall down the face. You have to reenter in the uphill side of the buggy. Never measured the angle but some are pretty steep.

[Dale M.]

Whole house vac mounted to wall and 20 foot hose.....



Luckily it came with house...

Other option....



Really need a vacuum that "sucks"...

Dale

[Steve Arndt]

That dewalt portable is cute and I have lots of 18v packs. I choked when I saw the price though that is about double what what I was going to guess.

Fogy you can put your vacuum model number into amazon search and find universal filters. I have a sears vac that I do that for it is easier to order from amazon than sears.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Dale, you should be ashamed of yourself posting something that neat and clean . I am familiar with them but to be totally honest: there isn't room in my garage for one. I't trying to get rid of stuff so I can work in there. It sure seemed to fill up fast (over 30 years that is) That and the glass beads I am working with are playing havoc with the filter on my old shop vacuum. I have to clean it just about everytime I use it now. Using a different brand of glass beads which seem to clean meatal very well but also make a lot of dust as the beads break apart.

I can order them through Sears on line or from other places but there is a bit of problems as the model and serial number tags on the vacuums are just about ready to fall/wear off they are so old. I just have to remember to order the pre-88 version of the red stripe filters. The shape and top and bottom between the pre-'88 and '88 and later are different.

My wife found one for $40 I have yet to look at, maybe tomorrow before or after I get the pre-surgery inspection done to me (no big deal assuming I live through it ). It is a few blocks from where I live and is a 6 gallon wet/dry Craftsman but looks a bit larger than I have room for.

[SCOTTRODS]

Lee... Sounds like you moved to Crushed Glass instead of glass beads. That stuff creates dust terribly and also is a nearly "one use" type of media.

What kind of parts are you blasting that can't be done with Aluminum Oxide? Get good aluminum oxide that's around 100 grit/mesh and it does a good job without killing most parts. According to the durability or delicate nature of aluminum parts it may be better to use a plastic media or Walnut shells.

I do/have done a lot of blasting using all kinds of different media and find Glass bead to be the most slow cutting type for any paint removal or rust removal... you usually wear out the media recycling it a million times working on rusty stuff. On aluminum I use it to prep delicate parts for powder coating. Otherwise I don't use Glass bead at all. Too slow. Garnet does a nice job and works slightly faster on a lot of things, except rust. and the crushed glass it sounds like you're using works much better but doesn't last long at all and has the massive dust issues. I built a media dust separator out of a 5 gallon pool chemical can with a lid seal (screw on type) that allows the dust to settle out of my vacuum stream much better. however, with crushed glass it didn't even notice the separator and went straight to the vacuum. Rigid brand has a Vacuum that is also capable of using some really fine filtering bags for drywall clean-up, that is a good choice for a blasting rig like that. but I also recommend some sort of dust collector/separator to help with vacuum life. I've been through way you're now dealing with and found so much of it is more complicated than it looks and there are so many ways to address each issue... even with gins and compressors and hoses and vacuums and much much more. Down to what connectors you use for your air supply. Especially with Siphon units. I also have a Pressure pot that blasts much faster and better when you get it dialed in... but harder to contain the media and re-use. I use it outdoors so less issue with dust anyway...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks Scott. A lot of good information.

My source for blast media (I am not in a business and have been retired for almost 18 years now... a long sad story) sold out a few years ago so I had to resort to the only local source I was aware of and that was HF plus; its only a short distance away from me (no, I can't walk it especially carrying a 50# bag ). I think what I am using might be ground glass or at least that is what it looks like they are selling for their blast cabinets which is what I have ( just checked and the size bag of media I bought isn't shown now).

They show they are also selling AL oxide which I don't know much about (https://sandblastingabrasives.com/alumi ... des-3.html) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782734/). I am aware of the media because of the different specs I had to put on drawings for manufactures' when I was drafting but other than reading the specs (I had to verify the embedded specs there [ad infinitum: C++ w/Boolean logic now takes care of that. If you look it up you will get a bad case of the "stupid drools" as it is confusing unless you are into computers and 3D CAD and even then...]) but I never really looked into AL Oxide as a tool.

I use my cabinet for rust and paint (coverings) and some stubborn grease removal (with a side advantage of some deburring if it isn't too strong) only so I think I am what you would call "at a low use"... it sits a lot.

"however, with crushed glass it didn't even notice the separator and went straight to the vacuum." That sounds about right when compared to what I am seeing. I do understand your separator with the "swirl" over water advantage inside but again, as I chided Dale... I am just about out of room to even work in as it is now; I have two narrow isles to traverse down. The separator idea I won't forget assuming I can get rid of some more "stuff".

I have tried to use baking soda for blasting and have seen baking soda used to prep/strip a whole car for paint; it works but what a mess and its way too slow. When I drove up to the garage where some of the guys I worked with and were in the company car club were watching this guy strip the MII he was working on. There was a big fog/cloud of backing soda rising up in the air and you could see it blocks away. It did a good job though and didn't seem to bother the glass but... the mess!

I'll look into the AL Oxide when this bag is done. Thanks again.

Lee

[SCOTTRODS]

Oh... I forgot about the soda blasting deal... Unless you have a way to clean that crap out of every nook and cranny I recommend staying away from it. It doesn't really let paint get to surfaces inside crevices and such, and sets up probable future rust areas that you don't even see... you can enjoy watching your car rust from the inside out for sure, in the right environment. I believe you live in the Pacific Northwest... you probably know it isn't good from that description. Arizona... maybe not such a big deal, but still wouldn't do it unless I taped off all the recesses to prevent paint/finish removal. I like that the soda doesn't harm glass or chrome pieces, but at what risk? I'm just not comfortable with it as a choice for any job I'd be involved in. Especially if it were for a customer.

HF has poor quality Aluminum Oxide and decent quality. You may have to experience a little of each to really understand the difference, but the cheaper stuff does "OK"but doesn't have a very good cycle life (how many times it can be recycled). I'm sure you already know not to use Play Sand from Home Depot too, right? Stuff will kill even old people faster if they expose their lungs to the silica dust. Probably said it before but look up a condition called Silicosis... Wikipedia probably has a little paragraph or two on it.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I was born with Scoliosis but never have heard of Silicosis . I am sure what you said is true. While I used wear a mask along with ear protection the mask went away but I think I need to start wearing the mask again.

I was told not to do the sand bit years before I got a cabinet; not the reason but just "don't do it!"

All the information you have been posting is good to have in print. I think it needs to be in an easy find and obvious place here on STF.