DeWalt - 12 Gallon STEALTHSONIC Ultra Quiet Poly Wet Dry Vacuum DXV12P-QTA

Honestly any shop vac or similar is going to be completely fine. Anything will pick up crumbs etc. as long as it has a reasonable amount of power. Just don't use a handheld, they are clumsy and weak. You need something with a hose, and a crevice attachment. For me, I like quiet tools. I don't like having to wear ear protection all the time if I an avoid it. I use a DeWalt StealthSonic 'shop vac' and it's very powerful, comes with everything you need including a good quality crush-proof hose and most importantly it is extremely quiet. Costco carries them (in my area anyway) and they are very reasonably priced.

Great question! I’ve been operating CNC routers for 10+ years and building/modding them (and lasers and 3d printers) for about 4 years now. My main machine is a modified ShopSabre 4896. It’s got a bed just over 4’ x8’ and I have 4x 3/4” HDPE panels on it with 1/4” vanes cut into them at about a 1” grid size. For sealing I use 3/8” backer rod (from Home Depot) I use a single DeWalt Stealth sonic shop vac for the whole table *HOWEVER* I ONLY use the vacuum for machining foam and I don’t cut all the way through it (I leave a .75-2mm skin one side for manual removal later. If you’re not cutting all the way through your material (or you seal the piece outlines beforehand) and you work with flat, airtight material and you work carefully, you can get a lot of mileage out of a shop vac vacuum table setup. I actually moved to a shop vac over a 3-phase industrial vacuum pump recently for simplicity/operating cost reasons. If you’re machining metal or plywood, I’d stick with an MDF spoil board and screws (or machining clamps if you’ve got them). If you’re machining foam (seems like you are, but I’m getting lost in all the comments) a shop vac is a great option and works well for me. The biggest thing I’d recommend is sealing the entire system as best you can. Don’t leave gaps, use proper glues on your plumbing and use something air tight for your actual table (I’ve used glue-sealed MDF and it doesn’t compare to HDPE). You can get away with some leaks if your system is overpowered, but with a single shop-vac it won’t be. I highly recommend the StealthSonic line from DeWalt (no affiliation). I bought one and a week later I bought a second one. They’re fantastic and SUPER quiet. When I’m not machining foam, I fasten 3/4” MDF pieces on top of the vac table with bolts and threaded inserts. Makes converting the machine from foam mode to everything else mode a 10-15 minute job. I tried finding info on this online as well and ran into all the same problems you described (lack of info, unhelpful comments, etc) so I finally designed my own system from the bottom up and crossed my fingers. I’ve had lots of success with it. Happy machining!

I use like 6 vacuums... I wish I was joking. Ecovacs X1 Omni - I swear by this thing. It runs twice a day automatically. Electrolux Ultimate 800 - It has great reach with the attachments. Gets into the corners 12 feet in the air. DeWalt Shop Vac - This is for the vehicle and most other places too dirty for a good vacuum. Dyson handheld - old Dyson with 30 seconds of battery life, I keep it around to clean out weird things like floor registers and sliding door tracks. Dyson corded - I honestly don't know why I haven't thrown this out. It still technically works. Barely. KitchenAid Handheld - I won this in a contest. It's a terrible vacuum, good for keyboards and Cheerios. Bissell Crosswave - My second favorite vacuum! Even though it's a mop it's great for quickly cleaning big messes or large areas.

I just bought a $100 Dewalt shop vac and it is surprisingly quiet. No HEPA filter but there is plenty of other dust in my shop to kill me.

Shop vac 👌 I got a $60 DeWalt one at Costco, it’s been going strong for 5 years now. Most professional cleaners I know use shop vacs, Henry (UK made shop vac) or Millie. Or a vintage Filter Queen. I have that on the second floor, I got it for $20 and it’s from the 70s. I tried a newer one and it does not work as well.