Shop Vac Hoses

Is there a brand or style of shop vac hose that holds up better. I am constantly vacuuming piles of chips out of the mill cabinets and mill table enclosures, but my hoses just don't seem to hold up. On top of that the corrugations in the hoses hold chips and coolant. With the smaller hoses they can get nearly clogged up in a modestly short time. If I hose out the chips or air blast them out of t-slots (what a mess) I still have to vacuum them up.

Reply to
Bob La Londe
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Is there a brand or style of shop vac hose that holds up better. I am constantly vacuuming piles of chips out of the mill cabinets and mill table enclosures, but my hoses just don't seem to hold up. On top of that the corrugations in the hoses hold chips and coolant. With the smaller hoses they can get nearly clogged up in a modestly short time. If I hose out the chips or air blast them out of t-slots (what a mess) I still have to vacuum them up. ================================================================

I have not used any of them (:-)) but go to

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put "duct hose" in the search box, then click on chips and shavings in the top right of the left hand box for their selection. Since your stuff is wet with coolant, I think you can ignore the static suppression choices :-). Should be able to trade some flexibility for a smoother bore and more durability. Hopefully by recycling your current hose ends and buying generic duct hose, maybe in a bit of qty, you can save some money over name brand shop vac hose.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Reply to
Carl Ijames

Thanks Carl. That's a very good start.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

P.S. I do recycle stuff and I am not afraid to throw a piece of plastic on the lathe to change its shape if need be.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

I had an experience with duct hose. I built a leaf vac and tried a variety of scrounged hoses on it. The very poorest performer was duct hose. It lasted about 20 minutes before the leaves, twigs, & bits of this and that wore through the wall.

I was cheap, but eventually I did buy the real stuff ($7 a foot, IIRC) and it was worth it - after 10 or 15 years it is still in use, but has a few tears.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

The "cheap stuff" on the McMaster site is about $7 / foot if you buy 25' or more at a time. LOL.

They actually have some rated for metal chips that sells for $9/foot in small qty. I may try a 25' spool of that.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

P.S. I do recycle stuff and I am not afraid to throw a piece of plastic on the lathe to change its shape if need be. =============================================================

You're welcome. No offense intended, I've lurked here long enough to know that you could fab whatever was needed; that was a "confidence-builder" sentence in case someone else was reading who had the shop vac but not the shop yet :-).

McMaster Carr is a great place to browse when you have a "wonder if that is available?" or "roughly how much does that cost?" question. Best online catalog search engine on the Internet,

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----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Reply to
Carl Ijames

What is the "real stuff?" I'd like to extend my shopvac hose, but adding lengths of corrugated stuff really reduces the airflow. If I could trade some flexibility for a smoother bore, that would be worth looking at.

Reply to
rangerssuck

"Bob La Londe" fired this volley in news:nvvvm0$at8$1 @dont-email.me:

We use the static-dissipative sort (which is a 'must' for us, considering what it is we collect!). It is MUCH stiffer and heavier, and much more expensive than metal-chip hose.

For the most part, heavy-duty duct hoses are pretty smooth-walled. There's still some texture in there, but not much -- usually a neoprene material with fabric reinforcement.

And they come in 'standard' i.d.s, so fitting them up to a standard vacuum isn't much of a deal.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

I presume you're in the states so I don't know what brands you get there. I have been using an Aquavac Bulldog wet/dry shop vac for about the last 22 years and it is still on all its original bits apart from the filter bag. I regularly vacuum up swarf and apart from the frequent clogs from the swarf it hasn't bothered the pipe work or anything else. Speaking to the odd person in the trade they say that they were made too well and just latest too long, shame, so the ended production of that model and made something cheaper.

Reply to
David Billington

I gotta' qualify that: I didn't even look at the McMaster link & just shot off my reply when I read "duct hose". It's clear that their duct hose is not at all what I tried. Theirs is the real stuff, assuming you match requirements.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

Wow, the HD stuff on McM is $25/ft and it's 1/4" thick!

For swarf, or your carbon-based products? Don't you have to use an explosion-proof vacuum system and/or motor? What about teflon/hdpe lining, so your powders don't stick to the hose?

Reply to
Larry Jaques

My most used shop vac is the one inside the door of the laundry room where among other things it is used to clean the dryer lint trap. It is a "TECO Master Shop-vac" (TECO + T. Eaton Co.) I bought it five years ago, in its original box for $5.00 at a yard sale. The seller mentioned that no one seemed interested since it was not labeled wet/dry. On dissassembly I found that it was stamped "Aug.21 1971". I installed a modified thrift store vacuum bag over the original cloth filter to enhance its discharge quality. Second son says that it really SUCKS!

Reply to
Gerry

Larry Jaques fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

We use air-powered vacuums, and WASH the hoses out after every shift.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

With anti-static brass or carbon shafting and vanes, I'd guess? I've seen the little compressor-air-powered vacs for small high vacuum use, and they take a good 10hp to run. I'm guessing yours are much larger and the compressed air runs a turbine of sorts for considerably more CFM of medium vacuum.

I suppose that creates hazmat water which has to be disposed of properly.

I suppose your entire facility and grounds are a non-smoking area, as well.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Larry Jaques fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Venturi types... no moving parts.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Larry Jaques fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

All 16000 acres, except for two 80' square, fenced-off compounds on the border fence.

(Oh! You meant MY 20 acres! Not the whole of it, no; but ALL of the shop area is non-smoking, non-ignition-source territory.)

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Slightly OT, but in the last years I've built both a dust collection system for the polishing wheels in my shop, and an exhaust hood for my kitchen. U nhappy with the prices and designs of existing products, I set out do kludg e something together myself. I ended up getting the hose from an Ebay shop specializing in a certain type of indoor agriculture, where the crop gives off a pungent odor which must be filtered. The hose was of decent quality, and much cheaper than what the industrial suppliers were asking. Don't know if this helps, but it's amazing what alternatives can be out there if you look hard enough.

Reply to
robobass

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