Thread: Workshop vacuum cleaner

Originally Posted by BobL

No magnets though, it would make cleaning out the drum a PITA.

Bob

If you put the magnet outside the drum on the bottom, all of the metal will be attracted to the magnet through the drum. When you turn the drum upside and remove the magnet the metal will now fall out.

Steve

For shop use an old Vax with the cotton filter (even an old T shirt works well) seems to outlast the bottom of the ladder type ones with the special filter elements which disintegrate quickly with any moisture / oil in the swarf and replacement ones seem to cost nearly as much as the machine. Some of the plastic on the Vax does suffer from age, but at way less that $100 second hand i have found them to be a good deal. Alan.

Hi Guys,

I made a magnetic pickup wand using a couple of salvaged hard disc drive magnets. A bit like an oversize bike pump made from 20 mm and 40 mm diameter plastic water pipes with a blanking cap at the bottom and a plastic ring about an inch bigger in diameter than the tube used, mounted about six inches from the bottom. I made a plastic plug with a 20 mm hole in it to go at the top.

I'll grab a picture of it later !

As promised

40 mm plastic water pipe about 18" inches long. The black pipe is 20 mm plastic water pipe/conduit. The pair of magnets are just glued to it with "Evostick" vinyl cement. One on each side at the bottom. Rotating the black pipe stops it sticking to the oil pan when picking up swarf. The plastic ring just pushes off the swarf as you pull the black tube out. The pressed in cap prevents the plunger from being pulled right out. The blue plastic cap is just pushed on. It took about an hour to make.

Just before Xmas my shop wet & dry vacuum gave up, it did really well for a cheap one cost $80-00 back in 2001, lasted nearly 20 years swallowing lots of swarf ,dust and oil.When looking for a replacement I wanted one with stronger suction, at least a 2 meter suction hose and a good length of electrical cord and a more stable base. I ended up buying this Karcher WD 6 Premium.They are on the pricer side at $399-00 but do have all of the properties I was looking for 2000watts,2.2 meter suction hose, 6 meters of electrical cord and five swivel casters. By far the strongest suction of any non commercial vacuum I have used. I have a attached a suction gauge to it and it produces 6 inches on my old gauge. Will have to see how long it lasts.
Bob

Originally Posted by krisfarm

. . . . .. By far the strongest suction of any non commercial vacuum I have used. I have a attached a suction gauge to it and it produces 6 inches on my old gauge. Will have to see how long it lasts.
Bob

If that is 6" of water column then that is not so good ~1.44 kPa
If its 6 psi then that's really good max vacuum and is equivalent to ~40 kPa
Festool vacs have 24kPa and my old Ryobi is 21kPA.

However, that will be at zero flow and what also matters just a much (maybe even more so) is the actual suction under real flow conditions also know as the fan curve. Nevertheless starting out at such a high zero flow vacuum can only be a good thing.

Bob L
The gauge I used measures in inches of mercury. It is very old one and I have used it on several occasions over the years to compare vacuum cleaners when ever we need to buy a new one. Much more reliable than the sales people opinions.We have four other different makes of vacuums in our house and all are well below the this Karcher. The next closest is a Vax and it just reaches 4" on this gauge.

Originally Posted by krisfarm

Bob L
The gauge I used measures in inches of mercury. It is very old one and I have used it on several occasions over the years to compare vacuum cleaners when ever we need to buy a new one. Much more reliable than the sales people opinions.We have four other different makes of vacuums in our house and all are well below the this Karcher. The next closest is a Vax and it just reaches 4" on this gauge.

6" of mercury = ~20.3 kPa about the same as a Ryobi Wet and Dry Vac.

Most household vacs should pull 16-18 kPa, maybe consider getting new filters and check seals as they also probably also have leaks

Hi Guys,

The old Hoover Junior could do as well as that ! 325 Watt motor at 22K rpm with a four and a quarter inch fan, and it drove the beater/brush roller at that !

The Hoover Senior with its 700 Watt motor and nine inch fan didn't do quite as well ! But it did have a 33% longer beater/brush roller, at twice the price, and the same problems that the Junior had.

The problem with these machines wasn't the amount of suction ! It was the paper bags. After the first cleaning session, the pores in the bag became blocked and the paper bag blew up like a balloon, sometimes bursting the bag seam and filling the outer cloth bag with debris.

Originally Posted by BaronJ

Hi Guys,
The problem with these machines wasn't the amount of suction ! It was the paper bags. After the first cleaning session, the pores in the bag became blocked and the paper bag blew up like a balloon, sometimes bursting the bag seam and filling the outer cloth bag with debris.

John the best inventions have replacement/consumable parts to suck more $ from you

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Just going by what the sticker on it said. Also, was told by a bloke with a Pacemaker, not to come near him with a metal detector.
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topi...and-pacemakers
Kryn

Last year I met an old couple and eventually described my metal working hobby. Nardini Lathe, Bridgeport Mill etc. Later, the lady said she had just had a Pacemaker installed and of course I started waffling on about how good those American Lathes were and I wished I had one. She looked at me with a weird expression!

Charles

I've stopped using all vacuum cleaners. They suck!!

Originally Posted by cfranks

Last year I met an old couple and eventually described my metal working hobby. Nardini Lathe, Bridgeport Mill etc. Later, the lady said she had just had a Pacemaker installed and of course I started waffling on about how good those American Lathes were and I wished I had one. She looked at me with a weird expression!

Charles

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk