Dust collection in garage shop

[Spokaneman]

My "Shop" is a two car garage that actually houses two cars. My machines (table saw, miter saw, router table, jointer, planer) and my work bench are all on wheels. When the project starts, the cars move out until the end of the shop's work day, then machines roll against the wall, the floor gets swept, and the cars return. The garage is attached to my house with a door opening to my kitchen.

I have no dust control save my old 5 gallon Sears shop vac and a respirator.

I'm trying to find an approach that will fall within a limited budget.

I would appreciate suggestions about setting up a dust control system. I'd like to see a "low end" and a mid-range approach to the problem. The range of commercial solutions and their mind-stopping claims have got me bewildered . How have those of you with similar garage setups handled this?

[Robert Adams]

Well for cheap and ease a harborfreight dust collector and 4" pvc for your runs. Not optimal pipe size but it's available and I don't think it'll hurt the flow too much. Not the best but great bang for the buck.

[Axl]

Robert Adams said:

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Well for cheap and ease a harborfreight dust collector and 4" pvc for your runs. Not optimal pipe size but it's available and I don't think it'll hurt the flow too much. Not the best but great bang for the buck.

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^^^^This^^^^ is what I use. The DC/trashcan and air compressor are in the corner by the big door. 4" PVC gets it up the center of the garage with inlets.

[Morty847]

Robert Adams said:

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Well for cheap and ease a harborfreight dust collector and 4" pvc for your runs. Not optimal pipe size but it's available and I don't think it'll hurt the flow too much. Not the best but great bang for the buck.

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This is what I did. Works well for the cost.

[JoeLaf]

I have exactly what you have; 2 car garage which houses cars during the week and tools (also on wheels) during the weekend. I got a 1.5 HP Grizzly DC off Craigslist and have a 4" flexible hose from Rockler that I move from machine to machine as needed. It keeps the garage clean and LOML happier.

[daveferg]

JoeLaf said:

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I have exactly what you have; 2 car garage which houses cars during the week and tools (also on wheels) during the weekend. I got a 1.5 HP Grizzly DC off Craigslist and have a 4" flexible hose from Rockler that I move from machine to machine as needed. It keeps the garage clean and LOML happier.

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I would second that idea. To me, it's crazy to try and run a duct system with some cheap DC. Besides, with everything on wheels, why not have the DC on wheels as well?

I would suggest you look at DC from the perspective of what is most potentially harmful, which would be dust from sanding. I would think about an adaptor to a small diameter hose (if your shop vac doesn't already have one). I use that kind of set up with my ROS and there is hardly any dust left in the air or on the project.

Now for some tools, like a table saw----If you can get a good hose port on your guard----that would be the most effective----heavier dust will just drop to the bottom where you can clear it by hand.

[Doug_H]

Sokaneman,

There are as many passionate opinions on Woodnet about this subject as you could ever hope for, but not much real science. I think it is a fact that fine particles (below 3 microns) are the most dangerous because they penetrate most deeply into your lungs. Coarser dust is more of a domestic problem because it is visible. My attitude is that collecting coarse dust, e.g., from saws is a convenience but collecting fine dust is a health necessity. Also, I think that dust collectors and shop vacs are complementary tools. A dust collector has high air volume (CFM) and lower static pressure. The shop vac has higher static pressure and air velocity but lower cfm.

Until last April, I had a very similar setup to yours.

(1) I had a 600 cfm portable DC unit. It came with a 30 micron bag. I think a bag that coarse is counterproductive. I replaced the stock woven bag with a larger felt bag rated at 1 micron. I wanted to compensate for the increased back pressure of the finer weave by providing more filter surface area. The hose seems to move plenty of air. I hooked it up to band saw, table saw, etc., whatever tool I was using, one at a time, with quickconnects. I had a few blast gates but they can be a pain if they don't close all the way.

(2) I had a Delta Air cleaner hanging near the ceiling. This is rated to remove 1 micron particles. It had a crude flow meter to show me when the filter needed to be cleaned (rarely). This setup was a satisfactory compromise with ideal.

Now I have a 1 car garage and the car stays outside. I don't have the air cleaner any longer but I have a Jet DC-1100VX-CK Dust collector with a canister filter rated for 1 micron.

(3) I use my shop vac with the router table and hand tools. Since I don't think the vac removes fine dust I plan to get a HEPA filter shop vac one day.

(4) I do really dusty jobs, like sanding, outdoors whenever possible and wear a proper dust mask. I can hook up my shop vac to my random orbit sander (although it is a pain).

The worst dust creator now is finish sanding work on the lathe. I have bought a dust hood for the lathe but have not used it yet.

All the best

Doug

[Bob10]

Any chance you can plumb the DC outside to a closet similar to what they used to do with Water heaters? Possibly use one of those rubbermaid type outdoor storage units

[Bob10]

This set up is being offered up on CL locally, the guy is clearing out an amazing looking shop

[Bill_de]

A dust collector in the corner.



A hose reaches my stationary tools. My mobile tools roll into position to hook up.

Hand held tools like sanders get hooked up to a shop vac.

I wasn't sure if moving the hose from piece to piece was going to be a pita. After ten years I'm still happy with the setup. Obviously, this is a hobby, not a production shop.