Dust Collector for Power Hand Tools? - Question of the Week

13 Responses to “Dust Collector for Power Hand Tools? - Question of the Week”

1. Jorge Monclova on June 15th, 2007 11:23 am

   Hi All,

   I’m been going back and forth between buying a Jet DC-650 dust collector or a large shop vac. I have the Ridgid TS3650 contractor table saw which comes with a 4″ dust collection port, a small Ryobi router table and some basic small power tools (router, sander, etc…). I figured I would buy the dust collector thinking that it would work with all my tools and I would be ready for when I buy the other stationary tools. My question is: If I buy the dust collector, do I still need to buy the shop vac for the smaller tools? If I buy the shop vac alone will it be sufficient for my table saw?

   Jorge

2. 25 on June 15th, 2007 1:01 pm

   As a note they do make bags for the shop vacs that filter pretty small particles. I think they usually call them Drywall filter bags. I’ve been using them for a while now and they work pretty well.

3. Tim on June 15th, 2007 1:29 pm

   Our friends at the Taunton Press (Fine Homebuilding this time) have recently written an article/review on “Tool Triggered Shop Vacs”. It compared five machines with regard to power, filtration/dust collection, noise, mobility and ease of dumping/cleaning. The Bosch, Milwaukee, and PC scored well, but the Fein Turbo II got the “Author’s best value choice” and the Festool Cleantec 33 got the “Author’s best overall choice”. It also mentions an “Alto/Wap Attix” vacuum, (as did a FWW article did a few years back) but at $825, it’s a little too rich for most people’s taste.

4. Mattias in Durham NC on June 15th, 2007 1:38 pm

   Hi everyone,
   In addition to hooking the tool up to a vacuum, I can recommend placing the end of a 4″ dust collector hose within 1-2′ of the sander (or whatever you are doing). A shop vac would not work this way: There is not enough air flow, but a dust collector works great. It even works with a miter saw if you place the hose right up behind the saw. I can usually “smell” the saw dust in the air due to allergies, and with this method there is none. And if you have sunlight, you get the pleasure of seeing the dust move into the hose like if it was magnetically charged.

   Mattias

5. techie on June 15th, 2007 2:04 pm

   I have found for my movable tools, the shop vac works great. But an addition to the vac (in between the vac and the tool) i use an Oneida Dust Deputy. This thing is so great, i wonder why i never bought one sooner. It uses nothing mechanical (no filters, motors, etc). To separate dusty air before entering the vacuum itself. They claim 99% efficient. I do NOT dispute that claim. I have used 3000 grit sandpaper (dry) for bar tops. And no a word of a lie it prevented every spec of this micro dust from hitting my shop vac filter. I use it for portable thickness planer, slider, and tablesaw with FANTASTIC RESULTS.

   They can be found on Oneida-air.com (or just google it). There are gimmicks that claim to do the same thing, but i would be cautious towards those.

   lates

   P.S. I used have to spend like $20.00 every three months ($60 a year) for new filters for my vacuum, but now i spend only $20 a year. This device will easily pay for itself very quickly! And since there is nothing to EVER fail on the dust deputy (absolutely NO moving parts), it will outlive me guaranteed!!!…

6. thewoodwhisperer on June 15th, 2007 2:31 pm

   Hey Jorge. To answer your questions, a shop vac would not be adequate for the tablesaw. And if you buy a dust collector, I would indeed advise getting a shop vac or some other dust extraction system for the smaller tools. Although technically, you could get away with using the dust collector for a while, especially at close range. But you might simply wind up air starving the dust collector. So really, this is one of those times I whole heartedly recommend both.

   Now that dust deputy sounds kind of interesting. I haven’t really looked into it but I will check it out.

7. Tim on June 15th, 2007 3:36 pm

   I recommend the Fein vacuum systems (spring for the one that you can plug your tool into and the vacuum comes on when you fire up the tool and runs a few seconds after you shut the tool off). I am building a kayak and use it on my orbital sander and it is great on the biscuit joiner when building shelves. Very quiet-lots of power-worth the cost-haven’t clogged it yet.

8. Alex on June 16th, 2007 11:22 am

   I just checked out Clear Vue Cyclones to get the model number for their smallest cyclone for use with a Shop-Vac. It’s the Mini CV06. An option for the Oneida if you want. Looks like they’ve got a June sale going on too!

   Alex

9. Brandon on June 16th, 2007 2:29 pm

   The dust collection robert was asking about can be done with a dust deputy for 200 dollars from oneida. The deputy is a mini cyclone that hooks up to your shop vac and into a five gallon bucket. I don’t have one personaly, but I am thinking of buying one for my buddy who is a poor graduate student with a small shop. He complains of the same problems as robert and I mentioned this to him. THIS IS MADE BY ONEIDA

10. Kip Kussman on June 17th, 2007 1:47 pm

    Marc, Dead on answer to his question. Festool would also have been my choice.

11. Frank on June 20th, 2007 8:59 am

    I happen to have both the Fein Turbo II and the Festool CT22. Both are great machines but there are a few differences:

    The Fein has an advantage because you don’t have to use disposable bags like the Festool does which are rather costly. Both have great suction, but Festool has an antistatic hose. At first I thought it was no big deal but it really works. After some use the Feins hose collects all kinds of dust around the outside of the hose, while the Festool doesn’t. The Festool is also more stable and less likely to fall over. The Fein cost about 75 dollars less. The Festool has a more flexible nozzle and seems to adapt to more types of tools than the Fein does.

    If I had to choose between the two of them, I would choose the Festool. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it matches a vast majority of my power tools.

12. Hyzent on July 2nd, 2007 1:55 pm

    Hi Everyone!

    It is always difficult to decide on something which we are not an expert on. There are many products offered in the market today and we cannot decide on which is the most appropriate for our own use.

    Robert, I suggest you check us at our website. We offer a lot of information on dust collection systems. The people involve in our website are experts on this field. I hope we can help you out and shed some enlighten to your situation.

13. Wally on July 27th, 2007 1:19 pm

    TRY THE DUST DEPUTY FROM ONEIDA…YOU ABSOLUTELY WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED….ALSO FOR SMALL SHOPS LIKE MINE, THEIR 3HP GORILLA DUST COLLECTION SYSTEM IS TREMENDOUS! I HAVE BOTH AND LOVE THEM. THEY BUILT LIKE TANKS…A VERY GOOD COMPANY TO DO BUSINAESS WITH TOO!

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