Controlling Shop Dust?

[Conk]

I have three 5-gallon cyclonic separators, two Deputies and a Stopper. Both Deputies are dedicated to different machines; they have their own vacuums that are wired to come on with the machine. It was easy to ground these buckets for static discharge as they are stationary and I don't have to move them except when emptying the bucket.
The Stopper however, is mobile and goes wherever my wheeled vacuum is needed. To give it stability, I placed a 10-pound barbell weight in the bottom of the bucket. The iron weight can build up a shocking static charge in a plastic bucket with swirling dust. I have taken to wearing heavy welding gloves when it's time to empty my Stopper.

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys for the duststopper head's up. Just what I needed but didn't know about it.

 

[Boatman53]

If anyone has a Dewalt 735 planer you can still control the chips and dust even if you don’t have a big dust collector. It has a built in blower that is powerful enough to push the chips into a trash can. Here is the the setup I had. Sadly I sold the planer before moving. I used a metal trash can and a top bag from a big dust collector. The top bag I got from my local tool dealer. I cut an X in the side of the bag and inserted the hose from the planer and secured it. The bag in the pic is all puffed up from the pressure of the built in blower. I thought I’d have to support the bag from a pole or overhead but it was not necessary. It was much easier to deal with than shavings on the floor or cleaning out the big collector ‘cause that was a pain.

Jim

 

[Guest]

Boatman, that is very cool and effective planer solution.

Thanks guys for the duststopper head's up. Just what I needed but didn't know about it.

Dave, I never knew such a thing as the shop vac cyclonic dust extractor existed. Never thought about putting a furnace filter on a box fan either. I don’t know what I don’t know.

Total cost of those various shop dust control measures, $40. Maybe $45 with some DIY adaptors. I can only wish I had known years before.

That is one of the reasons I read threads here. This board is an incredible source of actual tried & true, been there/done that information. Ask a question, get an answer. Or many answers; pick the one that seems best suited to your budget, skills and needs. This alone was enough to convince me to buy a cyclonic shop vac dust extractor:

I've been using it for the track and miter saws as I prepare wood for my walls and so far it's collected 50 gallons of sawdust. Can you imagine dumping that much sawdust on the floor and then blowing it around with compressed air (equivalent of the saw throwing it around)? During that time I've cleaned the shop vac filter 3 times.

OK Alan, I gotta ask. What did you do with 50 gallons of sawdust? I expect it has a use.

 

[Alan Gage]

OK Alan, I gotta ask. What did you do with 50 gallons of sawdust? I expect it has a use.

The 50 gallons collected in the Dust Deputy was just a drop in the bucket. At the same time I was planing about 1500bf of lumber to line the interior of my shop. I was blowing that directly from the planer into a dump trailer parked in the driveway. I filled that 12' dump trailer 3 times with shavings. I also emptied the Dust Deputy buckets into that trailer. Then I hauled them 1/2 mile down the road to a guy that runs cattle so he could spread it around his calving barn.

I did keep some of it for myself and spread it around my yard in the areas where I usually walk that are bare dirt after last summer's/fall construction. It made good traction over ice in the winter and now that things are melting it keeps the mud off my shoes.

Alan

 

[ppine]

I work outside which provides ventilation and little dust. Not as handy as a shop, but still has power and water.
I like to the look at the snow covered mountains. Nevada means snow in Spanish.
Yesterday was the first warm day. I set up a free standing canopy for shade.
My boat rack is made from old tipi poles sunk in the ground.

 

[Alan Gage]

As a result of this thread I picked up a Dust Stopper and paired it with a small dedicated shop vac to live under my miter saw table. It worked ok but didn't seem to pick up as much dust as the Oneida Dust Deputy. Then I realized the Dust Stopper lid was leaking badly around the rim of the bucket. You know how your shop vac screams a little different when you plug the hose? Well, I noticed if I plugged the hose downstream of the Dust Stopper it hardly made a difference in the way the shop vac sounded.

The solution was to put a thin string of weather stripping around the rim of the bucket. This seems to have sealed it up and the suction is way better with much less spilled sawdust around my miter saw. Don't know if the problem was with the Dust Stopper or my bucket.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Alan, I noticed the same, with a fine coating of dust around the rim of the bucket. I just put a wrap of 2" Gorilla tape around the rim and that resolved the issue.

I gotta say I love having the Duststopper and old shop vac on the bottom shelf of a 2-shelf wheeled cart, with the sander of choice on top.

 

[Iskweo]

I have been using a two bucket dust extractor that I got a design for off You tube. It works pretty good and does let you accumulate a bit more before it starts bleeding over to the shopvac which allows you to go farther between emptying it. It was a really easy build and I mostly used stuff I had laying around. I also found a design to mount it on a rack atop my shopvac so it takes up less space, but you could always just wall mount it too. I have used it for sawdust from sanders and also dywall dust and it has done a great job at a small price for me.

 

[Paddlinhal]

I lucked into a brand new Jet ceiling mount filter at a yard sale for $20. That plus a $200 Harbor Freight(?) vortex dust collector keeps the dust down a LOT. But my favorite is a pair of sawhorses out behind the shop.

 

[Mihun09]

This would be Christine's home made rig, works pretty well. Once it warms up I will throw open all the doors and blow the excess dust outside to contaminate someone else's property.

 

[Guest]

This would be Christine's home made rig, works pretty well. Once it warms up I will throw open all the doors and blow the excess dust outside to contaminate someone else's property.

I probably still blow out the shop floor and benches once a week, but having a dust extractor hooked up to a shop vac has reduced the amount of airborne dust by 90%.

P3170024 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

The wheeled cart has become a valuable shop companion. The Dustopper bucket and attached shop vac live on the bottom shelf, and the otherwise empty top shelf is handy for various sanders. Or other things, like shuffling along sideways while painting a canoe with pan and roller at arms reach.

PB050006 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I eventually figured out that if I screwed a multi-plug outlet into the side of the cart I could eliminate all but one extension cord. That cart gets used for something, dust collection, painting or just keeping tools, parts and pieces near at hand every day.

PB160029 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

My thanks to Alan Gage, Conk and others for suggesting a cyclonic dust extractor unit; wayyyy less dust in the shop, and my spare shop vacuum should have a longer life. Best thing I have added to the shop in years. As with everything else that Dustopper was less than $30 when I bought it a few years ago. I just looked, now $50. Would buy again.

Last thing. None of my sanders, saws or etc (except the RO sanders) had ports that fit any available hose-to-machine connector without having to duct tape them in place. No PVC pipe fitting was the right size either. But some PVC parts were close; a bit of judicious 1” tabletop sanding action and now every tool has a (labeled) dust port adaptor.

 

[Guest]

Dust extractors, singing praise again

I’ve been doing a lot of tabletop and RO sander work, inside the shop. That cyclonic dust trap, hooked up before/in-line with a shop vacuum, is a freaking godsend.

I know serious woodworkers have better, pricier dust extraction hoods, fans and filters, but that bucket top cyclonic contraption is the best sanding addition to a simple man’s shop ever!

(Hint: run some cheap duct tape around the cyclonic lid and bucket)

Having it on the bottom shelf of a two platform wheeled cart, plug and play with a power switched multi-cord outlet, only makes it better.

Thank you Alan, thank you Conk. I hated dusting the shop, and that frequency has been greatly reduced.