This is the first of what I hope to be a new series of posts called Product Reviews.
Ive been using a bunch of products that I’ve purchased on-line and I have a habit of posting a review for each item at the site where I bought it. I had the idea of posting those reviews here instead so I can add some value for my readers and also maybe take advantage of a few affiliate points while I’m at it. After all, if I’m going to send someone some business, why not get a little back for my efforts?
Let me know if you find this useful.
So on with the review:
This review is of the Shop-Vac 8017562 Workshop Sawdust Collection System
As some of you know I’ve been setting up a new shop area. One of the primary concerns I had right off the bat was comming up with a way to keep all of the sawdust I produce under control. In the past I’ve simply moved my shop vac from tool to tool and then cleaned up the excess after the fact. That is obviously inefficient and combersome.
I thought of installing a full blown dust collection system but that didn’t really suit my needs or my budget. Now make no mistake about it; this is NOT the same animal as a full four inch dust collector. I’m not going to go into that here however. I’m just going to stick to reviewing this product for what it is. If you need a real dust collection system or don’t know what the difference is then do your homework.
What this kit does provide is a way to connect your shop vacuum (any brand that uses 2.5″ hose!) to several tools or stations for the purpose of removing debris from that location. Each station or tool should be used one at a time and all tools or stations that are not in use should be shut off by way of the gates provided.
The shop vac connects to one end of the setup and does not have to be moved from tool to tool. All you do as you move from one tool to the next is close the gate on the tool you’re done with and open the gate on the one you’re about to start using.
I use mine in conjunction with an iVac Automated Vacuum Switch
(which I’ll review separately) so the vacuum comes on and shuts off automatically when I start and stop my tool. you can see the yellow iVac switch in the first photo below.
The kit comes with enough pipe and connectors to attach up to five tools It comes with six gates but one of them gets used to attach the vacuum so you’re left with only five for tools.
I have mine attached to a band saw, a table saw with two ports (one overhead and one below) and a port connected to a retractable hose that hangs from the ceiling. That hose attaches to my hand tools and is used for general cleanup of my bench area. The gate that you see at the ceiling is left open all the time and the hose that hangs from it is plugged at the end when not in use. I did all of that with parts left over. If it turns out that you need more or if you have to replace something you can purchase individual components directly from Shop-Vac.
The connectors that come with the kit fit nicely to the supplied tubing with no clamps or adhesive. That makes set up and re-configuration a snap! All of the tubes and connectors are clear which turns out to be a nice feature because you can easily see that things are working as expected and can easily locate a clog if one should occur. Because you assemble everything with no adhesive or clamps you can quickly open up the clogged connection and clean it out.
The material that the tubes are made of has been described by others as being a bit on the brittle side but I have not experienced any such issues. Once everything is mounted they don’t move around at all so this should not be a problem. I mounted mine where they were unlikely to take a solid hit just in case.
One thing to note is that the hose to connect from the gate to the tool is not included in the kit. You can connect your vacuum to the kit with its own 2.5″ hose but you will have to purchase an additional 2.5″ hose for each tool that you plan to attach to the kit.
All in all I am very satisfied with this kit and highly recommend it for what it is.
The following photos show my set up as described above. The open gate at the right of the second photo is where the vacuum attaches.
