Dust collection

[Capnrock]

While its definitely a concern, how many people are utilizing it? 

Is it more important for someone in their shop 24-7? Obviously breathing in wood dust is harmful, but growing up we/I  didnt know any better in my time at least. 

So my main question is when do you guys feel like you need it? To be clear let's hear from the guys with a dedicated wood shop. I understand if your shop is in the basement/ garage  and dont want to get it in the house. Eventually I suppose it's a necessity,  but when do you add it to your set up?

[..Kev]

IMO, DC is very important!  Obviously, the crap you breathe in isn't good for you but, how about the time you spend cleaning up all the dust you're making instead of continuing to work on projects?  And, to boot, There's some pretty inexpensive options out there!

Again, just my opinion but, you need the big 3 first.  Table saw, jointer, and planer.  Coming in at 3.5 would be the dust collection.  I'd rather work on projects that clean the shop.

As an additional note, the more energy you invest in good dust collection the more enjoyable spending time in your shop is.  You'll note I said energy, not money.  As I said before, there's lots of inexpensive options out there.

 

[gee-dub]

Sorry to sound like a broken record. I do not have wood allergies. I’m just a regular person. I was not diligent enough on dust control early on. I now take medication every day and will for the rest of my life.

We can’t all do a perfect job of collecting spoil. I do always recommend that you do the best that you can in the room you have and with the budget you have. I also start all responses to the question of “what tools should I get first?” with number one being dust collection.

I am not some kind of dust collection wacko that thinks anybody who doesn’t do a perfect job with their dust collection system is doomed to a horrible death. Let’s just use common sense and do the best we can :-)

[wtnhighlander]

I felt like I "needed it" as soon as I was able to work inside my garage, rather than dragging my tools out to the driveway. To be honest, I still only have a DC connected to my table saw, and generally use a shop vac with my orbital sander. I still move my jointer & planer outside, just because they create huge volumes of shavings. A respirator is good to have, if fine dust collection is a problem. But catching at the source is much better.

[SawDustB]

I waited far too long to get any dust collection, in part because it seemed like to do it right required a lot of money and space. I've since come to the conclusion that a small cheap dust collector is way better than nothing at all. I've just got a small 1 HP dust collector, although I've added a canister filter and super dust deputy cyclone to it. It's made my shop time more enjoyable, especially with using the planer. I only use it with the table saw and planer, since I don't have a lot of other large tools.

Do yourself a favor and put it high on the list. Personally, I think it's a requirement once you have a jointer or planer. Even if it's just the harbor freight one to start, although I'd try to find something with at least a 1 micron bag.

[Mick S]

7 hours ago, Capnrock said:

... but growing up we/I  didnt know any better in my time at least. 

Growing up I rode standing up in the front seat of my mom's Chevy station wagon that had an unpadded steel dashboard that came to a sharp V along the leading edge. But Mom always threw her arm out in front of me when she had to slam on the brakes, so there was that.

I strongly agree with the making it a high priority - not because it keeps you from having to clean up so much or from tracking dust in the house, do it for your lungs as gee-dub said. The cleaner shop is just a bonus. It's best collected at the source before it gets airborne. 

 

 

[pkinneb]

I'm with the others and would add two things. First I just don't like the mess and using a collector cuts down on that big time. Second some tools will require it such as my J/P

[drzaius]

Like most here, I've been on both sides.

No DC at all for many years. I wore a mask for the worst tasks, like working MDF and sanding, but otherwise just rode bareback. But even when not actually doing any cutting or sanding there was always fine dust being stirred up because there was a layer of it everywhere.

But after banging my head against that wall for so long, I finally learned to stop and put in a 5 HP cyclone with HEPA filtration in a soundproof room with 8" mains & 4" - 6" drops. Honestly, it's like waking up in paradise. Clean shop, clean air, clean surfaces. Of course there are still tasks where a properly fitted HEPA (no paper masks) respirator is needed, but even then it's so much nicer to work with the reduced level of ambient dust.

You do not need to spend crazy cash though to get 'good enough' results, I just get carried away with things sometimes.

If I was to start all over with a new shop, DC would be installed right along with the wiring & lighting.

[pkinneb]

1 hour ago, drzaius said:

...in a soundproof room with 8" mains & 4" - 6" drops.

I wish I new what I now know about sound proofing when I built my shop 14 years ago, soundproofing the DC closet would have been on the list.

[legenddc]

I wear my respirator all the time in a shop. I'm in my 30's so I'd rather be safe than sorry. I don't have a jointer or planer  at my shop so no dust collector yet, but as soon as I buy one of them a Harbor Freight dust collector will be purchased and I'll keep wearing the respirator. 

[drzaius]

4 hours ago, pkinneb said:

I wish I new what I now know about sound proofing when I built my shop 14 years ago, soundproofing the DC closet would have been on the list.

And another bonus is that I was able to build the room in the basement next to the garage/shop. It houses the DC & compressor so I get more space & a quieter shop. The reason I went a little overboard with the soundproofing is that I didn't want the noise getting into the living space. My wife was well & truly impressed

[Mark J]

I wish.  The primary reason I wear hearing protection is the DC.

[RichardA]

I just turn off my hearing aids.

[Bmac]

I’ve improved my dust collection quite a bit over the past 15-20 years. I did it gradually and I have a dedicated separate building for my shop.

Because I did it gradually I’ve gravitated to smaller tool specific dust collection. Shop vac for planer, smaller shop vac for miter saw and spindle sander, 1hp mobile unit for jointer and small bandsaw, 2hp dedicated unit for bigger bandsaw, a small canister type Rikon for the table saw, and a dedicated vac for sanding. Ended up with piecemeal units and never put in ducts. The shop vacs double for overall shop cleanup and everyone needs at least one in the shop. Starting your dust collection with a shop vac or two is a good way to get into it. Dust collection for sanders are a big must in my opinion.
No matter what you use the miter saw and table saw are hard to get good results. At least the units I use capture the finer dust.

I do hate wearing a respirator type mask, absolutely hate it. I do wear it, but not as often as I should. 

[drzaius]

We did some work in a large, brand new cabinet shop a couple years ago & they had no central DC at all. Every machine that made dust had it's own DC & filtration. The owner said it was more economical that way, largely because of fire regs associated with large DC systems. But that strategy also take more room.

[wtnhighlander]

If your space / neighbohood allows for it, a smaller DC unit can perform exceedingly well if the ouput isn't forced through a filter. Blow it outside if you can. If you have a separator for the bigger stuff, the fines are hardly noticable out in the wild. This is my plan for when I move into a dedicated building.

[Bmac]

1 hour ago, drzaius said:

We did some work in a large, brand new cabinet shop a couple years ago & they had no central DC at all. Every machine that made dust had it's own DC & filtration. The owner said it was more economical that way, largely because of fire regs associated with large DC systems. But that strategy also take more room.

Yes it can take more room, but with some planning you can do it without using much floor space. My unit for the table saw is able to sit under my outfeed table. My shop vac for the miter saw and spindle sander sits under the table that they sit on. My sander vac also lives under a workbench.