[Charles Freeborn]

I have a shop vac.
It has a plug where if I plug in a power tool (sander) it automatically turns on the vac.
The required draw to turn on the vac is 40 watts.
I like to use this vac with pneumatic sanders too. They don't have a plug....

So:
Can I wire a resistor of some sort to emulate an electrical load? I would hook this device to a foot pedal connected to the vac to turn it on without having to put down the tool, switch on the vac, then repeat to shut off the vac. I know this sounds like a first world problem, but in the course of a work day I may start and stop a sanding operation 50 times.
I have rigged up a simple 40 watt lightbulb as said current draw, but that's a little inelegant.

Part 2,
There used to be a model of the same vac that had a pneumatically triggered on-off. This model is NLA. Could I source parts and make such a switch?

Thx!