Shop Vac - Old vs. New

My old Shop Vac died about a year ago. I have been using a Shop Vac brand vacuum since 1967, it was originally my Dad's, after he passed away I inherited it. The Shop-Vac was originally a fathers day gift purchased at the local V&S hardware store. The old Shop-Vac did have a few idiosyncrasies, it had a poor selection of filters , just the basic cloth or paper slip on filters were available. Another drawback was a lack of capacity, only 5 gallons ,of which about 1 gal. was taken up by the motor assembly, a 6 ft. hose and no casters so you were always tugging the thing around and it would eventually fall over. Despite these facts, the machine had great pick up power and rarely needed much more than to be cleaned, and a occasionally few drops of oil on the motor's bushings . The on/off switch needed to be replaced once, just a simple switch that cost about two bucks at the hardware store. It finally scummed to old age, while vacuuming one afternoon the Shop-Vac stopped with the smell of burnt motor in the air. I unplugged it and let it cool, after a short period of time I plugged it back in, and turned it on, and was surprised to find it still worked, but now doesn't have much suction. All in all, I'd have to say it was a great tool, how many other pieces of equipment do you own that provide 40 + years of nearly trouble free service and do that much work?

Out with the old and in with the new, Shop Vac!

I looked at all the other common brands available, Craftsman, Rigid, Genie, etc. , and some of the uncommon and more expensive brands, like Fien, Festool, Porter Cable, etc. Probably all nice machines, but for the price, I can do more with my money. I decided to stick with the Shop Vac brand since I had such good luck with the last one.

I decided on the 6 peak H.P.(sure it is) 16 gallon model. I picked out the one largest capacity that I could find because I want to use the Shop Vac as a dust collection machine too. This model takes several kinds of filters, the most basic paper filter all the way up to a true hepa filter. The vac sits on a sturdy set of casters that make it move around easily, this isn't an add-on kit, it's included in the purchase price. The machine also has a tool and accessory caddy that's removable, it could be better thought out, but is better than having all you stuff in a box or scatterd all over where you can't find it. The machine has a baffle/muffler that makes it run a little quiter. The baffle is removable so you can still use it to blow with, or if you don't like the way the baffle diverts the exhaust at 360 deg. I have been using the new one for a year now and have nothing but good things to say about it. There's an aftermarket replacement filter that upgrades to HEPA, the big plus with the replacement filter is that you can wash it with water, so it should last a long time.

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Built-Up Tabletop Doubles Scrollsaw-Blade Life

I found this over on Wood Magazines website and thought I'd share it. This will certainly help get more life out of your scroll saw blades, since you basically only use about an inch, inch and a half of the center of the blade. By using Franks idea you move the work up a little and make use of more of the upper section of your blade were there are new sharp teeth. Frank's idea is shown below in it's entirety. Thank you Frank S. & Wood Magazine.

For anyone who hasn't visited Wood Magazines website, it's worth your time to go have a look Wood Magazine

"I do a lot of scrollsaw work in a year's time and go through hundreds of blades. Rather than throw away the blades away after they become dull or lost their set, I mounted an auxiliary top on my saw table as shown below. The top raises the workpiece up so I'm sawing with 'new' teeth."

--Frank Seiden, Tucson, Ariz.