Building and maintaining boats is a messy business. Saws and sanders, planers and routers create a lot of dust, and while some tools are equipped with dust-collection systems, boats and workshops eventually need to be cleaned up. I have two shop vacs, a 6-gallon and a 4-gallon. The larger one is on wheels, while the more compact one has a handle for carrying. Both have flexible hoses and extension tubes to reach whatever needs to be cleaned up, but while they both do their jobs well, vacuums of that size can be cumbersome. The cordless handheld DustBuster I use for household chores is useful in small spaces but it’s not up to the rigors of workshop use. For picking up some of the dust kicked up by my tools, the 20V DeWalt Dry Hand Vacuum I bought recently is up to the job.
Photographs by the authorThe dust bowl is easily emptied with a touch of its release button. The pleated filter is HEPA rated to be 99.97% effective at capturing airborne particles down to 0.3 microns in diameter.
The DeWalt, without a 20-volt battery attached, weighs 3 lbs 4.8 oz. It is equipped with a HEPA filter (for dry debris only) and an LED headlight. It comes with six attachments. The 20″ rigid extension facilitates cleaning the shop floor. The flexible hose can easily get through small hatches and into confined small spaces. It can stretch from 2′ to 6′ and the vacuum, thanks to its rubber feet, will stay in place for about 5′ but will then trail along, remaining upright. There are two brushes: one round, 2 1⁄4″ in diameter with 1″ bristles, and one rectangular, 6″ wide with 5⁄8″ bristles. The shorter bristles are stiffer and better suited to loosening sand or mud that has dried on floorboards or a cockpit sole. The crevice tool is useful in tight spaces and corners. Its angled opening has a slight curve to ensure there is always some airflow on flat surfaces, so the vacuum’s motor is not strained. The floor accessory has wheels, which also ensures airflow and keeps the device from sticking to a flat surface; on a carpeted surface this accessory is more efficient if pulled rather than pushed. The vacuum has a belt hook so the operator does not have to carry it by hand, and while the vacuum is a lot bulkier than a cordless drill in a holster, there are times, such as while working on a ladder, when that feature will be most welcome.
The vacuum has a belt hook by the handle’s battery compartment. With an Allen wrench or a screwdriver, it can be detached and relocated to the opposite side for using the vacuum left-handed. The vacuum weighs 3.3 lbs and is bulky, but carrying it on a belt works surprisingly well.
The DeWalt is rather noisy. Held at arm’s length from a sound-level meter, it measured around 78 dBA (A-weighted decibels, adjusted for the effects on human hearing). That’s just a bit higher than the average 75 dBA for household vacuum cleaners. Hearing protection isn’t required, but I like to wear my WorkTunes hearing protectors to block loud noises, and would definitely wear them if I were using the vacuum in an enclosed cabin or with my head near the vacuum.
Of all the accessory fittings, the floor attachment covers the widest area yet can pick up every bit of table-saw dust in a single pass.
Power comes from a DeWalt 20-volt battery, sold separately. The batteries range in size from a 2-amp-hour model up to a 10-amp-hour. I have the 2-amp-hour model with which the vacuum will run for 15 minutes of mostly uninterrupted use.
The vacuum has strong suction. It easily and quickly gathers up sawdust. With the 9″-wide floor accessory on the end of the extension, the vacuum will completely clean a swath of liberally sprinkled tablesaw dust in a single pass. DeWalt notes that it moves 46 cu ft of air per minute, but that doesn’t mean much to me. I thought steel hex nuts would be a better measure of the vacuum’s power and was happy to see 1⁄4″ and 1⁄2″ nuts easily snapped up into the dust bowl. Even a hefty 1.4-oz boat-trailer acorn lug nut rattled quickly up the extension and crashed into the bowl. I didn’t hit the limit of the vacuum’s power until I lifted a lidded water-filled jar weighing a full pound.
Between the dust bowl’s release button and the on/off thumb switch there is a built-in LED light. It goes on automatically when the vacuum is turned on and stays on for 21 seconds after the vacuum has been turned off.
In the short time I’ve had the DeWalt vacuum, it has proved itself useful not only in the shop and boats but also around the house. Dust bunnies under the bed and crumbs in the kitchen no longer accumulate during the long stretches between housecleaning sessions.
Christopher Cunningham is the editor-at-large of Small Boats.
The 20V Cordless Dry Hand Vacuum by DeWalt is available from many hardware outlets. Prices range from $123 to $129. Batteries and a charger are available separately.
Is there a product that might be useful for boatbuilding, cruising, or shore-side camping that you’d like us to review? Please email your suggestions.
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I have one and like it. One thing though – the filter fills quickly and is hard to clean.
On Amazon you can find replacement filters that come with foam ‘socks’ that go over the filter. I have a pair of these ‘socks’ that I’ve washed a few times and am still on the original DeWalt filter.
It’s great for small cleanups, but is pretty loud and battery hungry for anything large.
Thanks for pointing out the foam socks for the filter. I use fabric socks for my large shop vacuum:
https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/shop-vacuum-filter-care/
Adding a sock to a filter greatly eases cleaning.
I have their bigger portable one that runs with a battery or can be plugged in. It can also work as a wet vac. A most useful tool for major refinshing dust. Good idea about using flter socks as it takes a while to clean a filter.