I searched far and wide for a shop vac that is legitimately quiet. My buddy has a Fein shop vac, which is probably the quietest shop vac you can get, but it’s also $300. Today I picked up a Craftsman 12002 for $65.00 (with a $5 coupon), and to my ears it is just about as quiet as the Fein in my buddy’s shop.
I’m sharing here because I had a difficult time finding any information online regarding quiet shop vacuums, and several companies advertise their vacuums as being “Ultra Quiet” even though they are well over 80db.
Before I bought the new Craftsman vacuum, my shop vac was the loudest tool in my shop by far. The new vacuum is probably one of the quietest tools I have. I had honestly got to the point that I avoided running the vacuum unless it was absolutely necessary, out of respect for the neighbors.
vicious1, did you end up getting a vacuum at Sears? I’m super curious to get your thoughts.
I just finished printing this Dust Deputy style cyclone dust collector on Thingiverse, I’ll post up a review tomorrow after the epoxy cures (It’s optimized for machines with shorter Z axis, so it prints in three parts and has to be glued together): http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2104717