Cheap/simple dust collection


Woody1

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Hi everyone,

I'm still new to woodworking and am having some serious dust issues. I have a very small "shop" in our laundry room (basement) and my wife is going crazy. Not to mention its really unhealthy to be breathing this air. Any time I turn my table saw on the room becomes "hot boxed" with saw dust. For the most part I have cheap Ryobi tools and mostly use the Ryobi table saw, sander, jigsaw, and miter saw. 

 

Any suggestions for a good dust collection that won't cost an arm and a leg? 

 

Thanks!

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Unfortunately the tools themselves have as much to do with dust collection as the source of the collection.  For those little tools all you need is any old shop vac and the appropriate fittings...but at least three of the four tools you listed are pretty pathetic for DC even with higher-end tools.  Ryobi is surely worse.  I wouldn't expect any miracles but give it a try and prepare yourself for some outside-the-box modifications.

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You're opening a can of worms...  There's a ton of info out there on these forums and elsewhere...   Here's a few basic points though:

  • For your own safety, buy and wear a respirator...preferably wear it all the time while you are in there but at the very least while you are working or cleaning up.
  • To keep stuff generally clean, get a decent shop vac (or a Festool CT) and get a Dust Deputy...it should hook up to your table saw and of course you can use the various attachments to clean up after working with jigsaw, miter saw, etc.  The Dust Deputy will capture almost all of it into easy-to-dump buckets...so you can put a good filter on the shop vac itself (for example I use a drywall dust bag AND a hepa filter in my vac since Dust Deputy gets 99% of the stuff...I know others in the forum do that as well).
  • To capture a lot of the other airborne dust that settles and makes a mess, you can use any of the various little air filters...you can also DIY one just with furance filters and a box fan.   Do note that this is ONLY FOR VISIBILE DUST...it is only going to keep dust from settling everywhere and causing a mess...it is NOT SUFFICIENT to make the air safe to breathe...wear the respirator.
  • To truly capture everything both visible and smaller (and it's the smaller stuff that's really unsafe for you to breathe), prepare yourself for a long and expensive trip down a rabbit hole...

 

Good luck. =p      Seal that door so less dust can escape into the rest of the house should make the wife happy...may be extremely difficult with forced air hvac if there are supplies or returns in that room.

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Rockler has a small dc unit called the dust right. Standard bag is 30 micron but you can get 10 and 5 after market. Depending on the size of the room, you may consider hanging an air filter from the ceiling so that while your working dust is being picked out plus it can stay on for an hour or more after your done.

I also second the respirator at all times.

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Rockler has a small dc unit called the dust right.

 

I've heard recently that this is an underpowered shop vac.  works great for one or two tools, but can't be hooked up like a regular dust collector.  Just so you don't walk in expecting more out of it.

 

I'd second the Dust Deputy, or any of the similar products they or others offer.  For a smaller shop, you are better off with a "mobile DC station": dragging the vacuum system you use from site to site.  (My shop is similar: I have under 100 square feet, so I can leave a smaller vac in one place and simply stretch the cord another couple of inches.)

 

There's a lot of options out there if you wanted to make a cyclonic separator.  Rather than confuse or dive in too deep, I recommend getting the kit and moving on.  As for buckets...

 

You could buy the bucket from Oneida when you get the Dust Deputy.  You could buy a bucket from Lowe's or Home Depot.  (Or Harbor Freight... they occasionally have them.)  Or, look for food grade buckets.  I've picked up a couple drywall buckets, a couple paint buckets (surplus paint store), and a couple icing buckets.  (From cake decorators.)  The used buckets that you have to clean out you can probably pick up for free... contractors, specialty shops, etc., may be willing to have them get out of their shop/trash for no cost.

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I've heard recently that this is an underpowered shop vac. works great for one or two tools, but can't be hooked up like a regular dust collector. Just so you don't walk in expecting more out of it.

I've used the system and it is not a high speed low volume type shop vac. It is a small, low speed, high volume pump. The op asked for cheap and dust collection. Those parameters don't leave a lot of options. The dust right does fit the bill.

He also mentioned being in a tiny spot and didn't mention hard ducted or not.

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Oh my...lots of info here. I don't think my table saw has any sort of port to attach a hose to. Where would the hose be best placed? Right now I have a small 2HP shop vac, but I'll upgrade to a better one soon. I googled dust deputy really quick and didn't really understand what it's for, I'll be researching that soon. 

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@ Brendan: 

 

I'm not saying it's bad.  I'm saying it's not a "magic pill."  I looked into them when I was looking for a solution for my shop. For the variety of things I do, I needed more from it.

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Do you have windows?

 

I have a basement shop, and what I have done is this,

 

I have a few Lowes bucket vacs (25 each for vac and bucket) dedicated for my bandsaw, router table and hand tools.

 

I have also made a home made air scrubber with 3 furnace filters in it, it does pretty well at getting the fines out of the air.

 

I also have a large shop vac if i am cleaning or going to make a big mess, I have a lot of hose for it and will some times put a house on the exhaust and vent it out a window.

 

I have some spiral duct and have considered a more permanent  set up, it just has not made it to the top of the list.

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No windows unfortunately. 

 

I found a youtube video with what looks to me like a great setup for my situation here: 

 

It uses the shop vac, dust deputy, and extra hosing. Figure I will just keep the vac on with hose right on top of whatever I'm working on at the moment. Does this sound good?

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"It uses the shop vac, dust deputy, and extra hosing. Figure I will just keep the vac on with hose right on top of whatever I'm working on at the moment. Does this sound good?"

 

That will help, remember anything is better than nothing at all.  You don't say what model your saw is but there are hundreds of small table saw station plans out there.  The majority incorporate d/c.  If you have the room, might be something to consider.

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