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HF DC vs Fein Shop Vac

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  live4ever 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
As the title indicates, I'm considering buying one or the other. They're fundamentally different, I know, but I really only have money for one. My shop is very small, I only have a TS for large tools.

Eventually, I'd like to get both, but that won't be for a while. So, what would you choose?
 
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
If you won't buy the other one for a long time, I'd just buy whichever one will provide the most benefit to you right now. If you go with the HF DC, keep in mind you can usually find a 20% or 25% off coupon which pretty much pays for the overweight shipping charge.

That said, as much as it annoys me when people tell me to look on craigslist, see what you can find there. In my city there aren't very many woodworking tools posted on CL, and often they're overpriced. But I'd say at least half the tools that do get listed here are either HF tools or the lower-end Craftsman stationary tools.

I already had a Shop-Vac brand shop-vac, so I bought a HF DC but haven't even assembled it yet since I just finally bought a table saw. I plan on buying a nicer dust extractor/vac eventually, but for now I just wanted to cover my bases. Since I bought the HF DC (almost exactly 1 year ago), I've seen at least 4 HF or Jet DCs listed on CL.
 
#3 ·
I would get the DC. If you don't have a shop vac, get something much less expensive than the Fein, and put a good HEPA filter in it. You really need both, they do different things.

You need a better filter on the DC than the stock 5 micron bag. What you want is the .5 micron Wynn Engineering canister filter. Adding a Thein baffle or a Super Dust Deputy can wait.
 
#4 ·
I have both the HF DC and the Fein. My Fein gets used much, much, much, much, much more, mostly because the DC adds too much additional noise for my situation. The Fein can actually collect reasonably well from a Sawstop TS (which has an internal dust chute/hose).

I would have been happy to sell you my barely used HF DC for a great price if you lived nearby.
 
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