Shop-Vac 8017562 Workshop Sawdust Collection System
by Shop-Vac
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List Price: Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Shop-Vac 8017562 Workshop Sawdust Collection System
Customer Review: Keep Your Shop Cleaner Than Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
Having a clean shop should be a priority to any boat builder or wood worker. I am a tool columnist for a leading boat-building magazine. It is my good fortune to have tested this system by Shop Vac. I use other dust collecting systems but they are expensive and hard to route around uneven walls or obstacles. Most other large systems also use metal tubing. Dealing with clogs in any metal system can be a giant exercise. Shop Vac's two and one half inch system is not exactly small but smaller and much easier to route than four or six inch piping. With a powerful six and one quarter horsepower Shop Vac Ultra Pro vacuum cleaner this system eats chunks, chips and saw dust all day long with a low noise level. The very tight sealing yellow blast gates allow you to switch from machine to machine with great ease. You can also install sweep stations every so often so you don't have to move the Shop Vac.One of the features I enjoyed best is the fact that the tubing and fittings seal very tight without the use of glue. The kit can be added to with accessories from Shop Vac as individuals or more than one kit if you have a bigger shop with more machines. This system even keeps up with my biggest planer but I keep the Planer as close as possible to the Vacuum unit. The best overall feature is the small cost for such a valuable system. I also know for a fact that the customer service at Shop Vac is of the highest quality like their products. The made in the USA sticker gives this system another high mark in my review. For a much smaller outlay of cash your wood shop and power tools can all use the same centralized vacuum unit.
The bottom line is you get a super shop vacuum system that can fit any budget or shop space and you only need a wet dry shop vac. I recommend this to all skill levels and machine types used in our home shops. It will improve the dust collection and safety factor of your shop. The Shop Vac Corporation has made an affordable sophisticated system for our home shops. They have proved that they not only make excellent vacuums but they also provide superior accessories that anyone can afford. Try one you'll like it.
John Cupp,
Duckworks Magazine Tool Columnist
Customer Review: Small, great product, what more can you expect from a Shop Vac
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay,
Here's the real scoop on this product. Its simple, I mean really simple to put together. My eight year old had it figured out in a couple of minutes and was making his hot wheels fly through it before I put it in the workshop.
Take a couple of minutes figure out what you want, then buy it if it will fit your needs. It will work with most Shop Vac systems, you may have to use some creative adjustments to make some of your equipment fit. Say for instance, you may have to adjust the width of a three inch hose to fit around the blast gate, easily done with a little heat gun. Then it shrinks to fit perfectly. Use some foam insulation to wrap smaller pieces to fit into the large holes.
I've put my Shop Vac outside, have it go through a separator to collect the big pieces (use a large HP shop system, 6 HP) ran a flexible tube inside and collected it to the clear tubing. Works GREAT! plus the small dust now goes outside instead of in my lungs and its quieter that way. Remember its a small system, easily put together and will accomodate most applications. I put two blastgates near the front area that is closest to my planer, so I can have a short run to the Tablesaw and Planer (biggest dust makers) and the long run to the small items like the drill press and oscillating sander.
One tool at a time though, but that's what the blast gates are for. It was the least expensive way to go, nice thickness to the plastic and really just fun to watch the dust fly around the tube. The kids come in just to see it work.
Remember with any dust system the less turns the better hence only two 90 degree turns. The tubing is easily cut on a miter saw, rigid but small enough to run on the wall over the work bench.
Wish I had this years ago. Buy it, it works!
Customer Review: Works well...for the money
Summary: 4 Stars
First let me say I agree with the reviewer who said that Shop Vac's customer service is excellent, they go the extra mile.
I installed this system a couple years ago, use it with a Shop Vac 4.5 hanging vacuum (see seperate review).The components are well made and fit together tightly, no glue needed, and the kit includes most everything you will need to set up for multiple applications, and it doesnt take up a whole lot of space. It does an adequate job of pulling the dust and chips from my miter saw, small joiner, table saw and drill press. It does clog occasionally, but its easy to clean out clog's because you can see em, and since the pipes and connectors are not glued you can disassemble the glogged section and blow it out. The blast gates are a must as this system will only handle one tool at a time, if you have more than one gate open, suction is heavily reduced.
I know...this should be a no-brainer, but it is easy to forget as you move from one tool to the other. I have a four inch chip collector also and use it for the planer, large joiner and bandsaw. I intend to "pipe" my shop this winter so that I can use the 4" system on all the tools, except the miter saw and bench joiner. These I will leave on the smaller system as it is more suited for their applications.
This is a good system for the money and for a small shop. It's range is limited, but if you use it for what it was designed for it will do a good job.
Customer Review: Undersized, jams easily, Splits easily.
Summary: 1 Stars
For starters, the piping is NOT 2.5", or even 2.25", but rather 1-7/8" ID, meaning that the pipes themselves are a dust collection bottle neck, the brittle clear plastic started crumbling apart on mine after less than a year of use.
I had this set up as whole shop dust collection, to pick up dust from my table saw, band saw, oscillating sander, planer, jointer etc... all with 2.5" dust ports. Before the fittings started cracking and leaking air like crazy it all worked flawlessly, but after the leaks showed up, Within 30 seconds of running the planer, the shavings jammed up in the first Y fitting after the blast gate.
Simply put, this was NOT a well thought out system. I have since upgraded to a true dust collector, and have upgraded what I can to 4" ports, and plumbing, the results are fantastic!
Don't bother with shop vac based dust collection. It just isn't effective enough! Better quality materials, and proper sizing would have made this a LOT more useful, but as it stands, save your money for real dust collection...
Customer Review: Good but not Great
Summary: 3 Stars
This Shop Vac Dust Collection System seems to include just not quite enough fittings to complete even a simple system. Although there are 8, 36" tubes included, there are only 5 connectors to join them to any other tube or fitting. There are only two 90 Degree fittings and 4 "T" Fittings to complete your system. A quick check of the "Plastic Accessories" available through an order form enclosed with the kit will bring you to the realization that you will have to spend a lot more to get what you need. The little plastic coupling for example will set you back $2.49 ($3.49 on the Shop Vac Web Site) for each one you need. An extra elbow will set you back $3.49 ( $4.49 on the web site) I suggest everyone plan their system before the purchase and add up what your total expense will be.