New Makita Shop Vac

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
I finally got my vacuum :thumb:

It is a Makita 408P, this model has a nice big stainless steel body, (32 litres or 8 1/2 gallons) and a good pleated filter, the motor is really quiet, compared to my cheap screamers, and it has a lot of power. This vacuum has the added feature of a place to plug in a tool, like a sander, that will trigger the vacuum, I like this feature :D

I know that to a lot of you guys in the US, a shop vac, well you have a LOT to choose from and this may be no big deal, but here, I could not even buy this vacuum at a store, I had to order it, no one stocks this kind of thing, not even my much loved Joyful Honda :doh:

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Nice big box, it is well packed, but......

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.......somehow, someone knocked a hole in the box :eek: lucky for me, no damage done :D

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One half of the wand, some plastic bags that fit inside, and a fine dust filter bag that fits inside to cover the pleated filter if you are vacuuming a lot of fine dust, like say drywall dust, nice bonus.

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Here is the new vacuum in all of it's glory, I've used it a bit, and as well as it being quiet (comparatively) it is nice to use, the wheels are fairly large and roll over things like extension cords, without snagging or tipping over, and boy does this thing suck. I sucks so hard, that it lifts the foam comfort mats off the floor! This vacuum also has two speeds, a nice feature, especially when sanding something, I think the high range of power, would keep the sander from moving around much.

Yes it cost $400, not cheap, but it lists for $650 or so, and this is part of the aparto renovation deal, so what the heck.

I'm going to fit my mini cyclone to it at some point, as it is much nicer to just empty the cyclone bucket than deal with the dusty dirty filter ;D

Cheers!
 
Very cool! You Rock!
That's a nice unit. I've been looking down the road a year or two with an eye to get rid of my screamer. This would be something to consider.
 
Rennie, I'm fairly sure that this vacuum is not for sale in the US.

Stu
:(
Oh well. I though that might be the case as I can't remember having ever seen one or read about one in a tool test. I guess there are still a lot of other choices. PC, Fein, Festool, etc. Just depends on how much I want to spend.
 
Just one little note, I did not notice this right away.

makita_vacuum_plug1.jpg makita_vacuum_plug2.jpg

Here in Japan, the vast majority of electrical outlets are only of the two prong kind, the three prong outlets are rare.

On this vacuum, the plug, has a fold away ground prong, neat eh :D

This also has a ground wire, just back of the plug, with an alligator clip on the end of the wire, so you can ground the vacuum.

Just thought you might find that interesting.

Cheers!
 
That's a nice-looking shop vac, Stu. I'd like to find one that's not as wide as my Shop Vac brand, and quieter would be a nice bonus. (Although compared to a lot of other things in the shop, the vac is fairly low on the noise list.)

About a year ago I almost picked up a stainless steel Fein industrial-style shop vac at a yard sale. Still kicking myself for passing it up.
 
Hey Frank, I looked at the DIY shop, and they do sell that plug, it has the ground wire with the alligator clip on it as well, about $10 each.

If you want one, I'd gladly send you one.

Cheers!
 
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