Ridgid 12-Gallon 5.0-Peak HP NXT Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum w/ Accessories EXPIRED

The dustopper will get most of the bulky stuff, but almost none of the fines. Yes, the extra filtration here will be helpful, since it's a two-stage HEPA design. The bag will load itself up with fines, and the pleated canister filter is the last line of defense.

Doing woodworking, you'll empty the dustopper bucket about 10-100x for each time you replace the bag, and you'll replace the bag about 20x before you need to replace the pleated.

Handy hint: The way this kit is sold, the vac still comes with the cheap white paper pleated filter, and then the HEPA bags and pleated filter are in a separate package. So you end up with another filter you don't need. I turned mine into an exhaust diffuser: https://i.imgur.com/JPBIHID.png

Without some sort of diffuser, the exhaust stream is such a powerful jet, it'll tend to stir up dust in places you haven't vacuumed yet. The "muffler/diffuser" thing they sell is crap; it restricts the airflow and muffles very little. This cost me like $3 for the PVC parts and a few minutes with a heatgun to soften them so they'd stretch into place, and it reuses something that was otherwise gonna be junk. The resulting exhaust is so gloriously isotropic you barely feel it, and it doesn't stir up anything. And the paper filter is basically transparent to airflow; it doesn't noticeable inhibit suction.

Why is it always the enormous ones that are on sale?

Gotta love these ratings...5.0 hp on a 120/1/60 15a circuit.

(And yes I know this is how shop vacs are rated. Just think it's kind of silly)