Big Craftsman shop vac to circular saw

I want to hook up my shop vac to some small power tools. I'm hoping someone can save me time and money by sharing their experience or knowledge.

• I have a 16 gal. 6.5 peak HP Craftsman shop vac with a 2 1/2" hose - the fitting on the end has a 2" inside diameter.
  • I tried a 1 1/2" hose and found that the suction was diminished significantly (I could drag a box of clamps across the floor with suction from the 2 1/2" hose but not the 1 1/2" - real scientific!).
• I want to hook the vac to my circular saw, hand planer, and a router, all of which have about 1" to 1 1/4" ports.
  • I can find/create tapered adapters to go from either hose size to fit the tools
• The hose will run up 3' to a boom and be about 10' long
• Ultimately I plan to install a Phil Thien design separator between the vac and the hose - or maybe I will do it initially if I need to for the sake of making the adapters easier

My questions:

1. Does the extra suction of the bigger hose matter?
2. Would a smooth hose be noticeably better since it's such a short (10') run ?
   1. I have extra small and big shop vac hoses on-hand
   2. Agri-Supply sells PVC suction & discharge hose - 1.5" x 25' or 2" x 15' for $20
3. Is there anything else I should be asking?

Whew! Thanks.

I use a Clear Vue mini with a vac and it works well with a small hose, though I only use about a 6' length. Performance would be better with large hose all the way, but IMO not enough to justify wrestling it around on a hand tool. If I need a longer run I complete it with the large. For an overarm setup I think your best bet would be to run the large hose right up to the tool drop.

No idea on how much difference smooth vs corrugated makes with a vac. I'm considering it myself since I need to build something to roll the vac and cyclone around in a stacked arrangement.

Love my Clearvue Mini with Hepa's in the shopvac. A separator is a must, IMHO.

Doug I put a mini cyclone (woodcraft $20) on my CT-22 vac. Works great at separating the large chips. I have the standard hose from Cyclone to tool and a larger hose from cyclone to vac.

Doug

I don't know how to make a link to an old thread, but if you do a search for New Vacuum setup for EZ you will find an old thread of mine on a design very similar to what you are wanting to achieve. The thread has alot of pictures to give you some ideas. I use a large Shop Vac brand vacuum, Rockler cyclone bucket lid and a combination of 1 1/4" PVC and flex hose. Most of the flex hose I used came from Lowes.

I’m doing exactly the same! The one component (a biggie for me) that I haven’t been able to find enough info on in here is where to find fittings to actually connect a tool to a hose.
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
For my Makita circular saw, I bought a Bosch dust port (from EZ) and a 1-1/4” connector hose from Sears that has a 2-1/2” to 1-1/4” reducer molded into the end. This fits fairly well into the Bosch dust port with a bit of tape and I can use it with either with my 16 gal. Sears shop-vac or my 2 gal. Sears shop-vac. I leave the hose on the circular saw.
For my CMS, I found an 1-1/4” rubber plumber’s repair coupling worked well to hook up to another 2-1/2” to 1-1/4” reducer. But, I’ve ordered a plastic hood from Woodcraft and I’m going to build an enclosure around the back of the CMS.
For my older Craftsman table saw, I bought a 14”x14” plastic hood with 4” connector port and was pleasantly surprised when this fit perfectly in the bottom of the saw. I have also blocked off the back of the saw with cardboard cutouts and I’m going to make a more permanent back plate out of Plexiglas.
My PC orbital sander has been more problematic; I still haven’t found a suitable connector for it.
My PC plunger router has a dust port built into the base, but I haven't used it and don't yet know how that's going to work.

Also, I’ve ordered the 2-1/2” clear tube dust collector kit from Woodcraft, which I hope to have this week.
What I will do with it, initially, is park the 16 gal. shop vac in the corner and put a run of 2-1/2” tube across the back of my workbenches with 3 ports and blast gates, one for the CMS and two with 1-1/4” hoses to vacuum off each workbench, or for small power tools. I’ll install a 2-1/2” wye with blast gates at the shop vac and run a section of 2-1/2” hose over to the table saw. It’s mounted on a Delta tool dolly and I move it out of it’s parked position under the workbench to the middle of the garage when I use it.
I have all the components I need to make Phil Thien’s cyclone and that’ll be this weekend’s project. I bought a 20 gal. metal garbage can at Ace and the 2-1/2” ports from Rockler.
Eventually I’d like to make a cart (a la Bruce <g>) and put the 16 gal. shop vac on it, with the 20 gal. separator on a shelf above the shop vac and be able to roll it around.
A couple of notes on the Sears 16 gal. shop vac; I bought an exhaust muffler for it and that does make it quieter. I also bought the Clear Stream 0.3 micron HEPA filter and it works well too.

- Jim

Paul Greathouse (and great shop) -

WOW! You are absolutely right, your post really is spot on point and quite spectacular. Thank you very much. I had never considered such long runs - I have 3 10' (?) standard Craftsman 2.5" hoses coupled (homemade couplers) and the pressure drop was less than I expected, especially with the ribbed surface. You also opened my mind to the idea of going HIGH.

QUESTION - In your opinion, is there any reason to use 1.25 PVC instead of 2" other than cost since the Craftsman standard hose is 2" ID?

Bruce Pennell -

Superb rack. I was considering plumbing pipe with T fittings but I like your setup more. Do the side pieces slide up/down? Plenty of space for draping your hose. I'm jealous of your compact vac - mine is 23" high w/o wheels and my separator is 19" high plus the top lid. That's almost 5' high including wheels, clearance, and plumbing for the separator (maybe I should add a ladder on the side). Thanks for the picture.

I to use a 16g Craftsmen vac for my tools with 2 1/2 hose. I just completed the 5g cyclone project and it really helps. I just purchased a new filter but instead of HEPA I went with the Sears Fine Dust, in reading about the two the HEPA mainly goes after Pollen and Allergens, if I remember the Fine Dust model still was down to 3 microns, and was about $8 cheaper.

Maybe a consideration!

[quote=Doug Hobkirk;767398]Paul Greathouse (and great shop) -

WOW! You are absolutely right, your post really is spot on point and quite spectacular. Thank you very much. I had never considered such long runs - I have 3 10' (?) standard Craftsman 2.5" hoses coupled (homemade couplers) and the pressure drop was less than I expected, especially with the ribbed surface. You also opened my mind to the idea of going HIGH.

QUESTION - In your opinion, is there any reason to use 1.25 PVC instead of 2" other than cost since the Craftsman standard hose is 2" ID?


ANSWER - Doug, my reason for using the 1.25 PVC was that the fittings adapted better to the flex hose ends that I was using. Here's a tip, when attaching a hose fitting to a PVC pipe or PVC fitting and the fit is too loose, wrap some duct tape around the male end to build up its diameter. Then the fitting will be as tight as you want it.

Something to consider about hose diameter, most of the connection ends on flex hoses have a much smaller inside diameter than the hose itself. Thats another reason why I used the smaller PVC pipe. Since there was a size restriction at the hose connectors I didn't see a great advantage to going with larger PVC pipe for my application.

The only thing I would do differently is to use 45 degree fittings instead of 90's. I will eventually change them out, but I'm just too busy right now.

If you use PVC, don't glue it, if you want the connection air tight or if you need a connection to hold, say for a vertical drop like my setup, just duct tape the fittings to the pipe with heavy duty HVAC duct tape. It sure makes piping changes easier.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Michael Merrill

I to use a 16g Craftsmen vac for my tools with 2 1/2 hose. I just completed the 5g cyclone project and it really helps. I just purchased a new filter but instead of HEPA I went with the Sears Fine Dust, in reading about the two the HEPA mainly goes after Pollen and Allergens, if I remember the Fine Dust model still was down to 3 microns, and was about $8 cheaper.

Maybe a consideration!

---

After seeing the Clean Stream 0.3 micron (that's 0.3 microns) HEPA filter was made with goretex, is waterproof, washable, and should last for a very long time, I went that route. We'll see! :)

- Jim

With the Ct-22 vac, you have a place to set systainers (boxes that stack and hold your tools and accessories.) All I did was place a 1/2 inch piece of ply cut and notched to fit. Placed a cage built out of hardwood scraps and extra 3/4 inch dowels(made so the bucket is easily slid out). The top can be moved, its a tight fit, just dowels and some oak strips with 3/4 inch holes drilled in them. Right now its perfect to wrap cord and hose and still lay 150 sander or my domino across the top. This set up sure saves on bags. I did add a couple of cup hooks and a bungie cord, to stop possible tip overs of the bucket. I use the cage to drag the vac around the shop don't have to bend over or pull on the hose anymore. The older I get the easier I like to work. On your set up could you make a cage on the side with pvc, glue on blocks or screw on a pipe holding system? That would cut down on the height. give you a place to hang your bucket, hoses and power cords. Just a quick taught. Good Luck Bru:rolleyes:

Hi Bruce,

How do you like the CT-22 ? Does the filters clog up or is the bags doing most of the filtering. How easy is it to find adapters for the hose sizes ?

I've been looking at getting one to use for a portable router, sander and a bosch contractor table saw. Instead of getting the ct-33 I was considering the ct-22 and the replaceable filter. Though the cyclone bucket looks like a good solution as well.

I'm only doing small hobby projects so size and global use of the vacuum is key, why I'm not really looking at a 4" dc system.

Thanks
Michael