Hello again, one more question about new toys to buy.

My workshop is in the garage and so far i was dealing with saw dust by
opening the door and using the leaf blower on everything that does not fly
on its own. Yet i do notice some level of dust in the home and some level of
marital stress correlated with it so i have an excuse to start shoping
again.

I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can connect
it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over constatly. Is dust
collector something much better? thanks

pawel

"Pawel" wrote in message
...
Hello again, one more question about new toys to buy.

My workshop is in the garage and so far i was dealing with saw dust by
opening the door and using the leaf blower on everything that does not fly
on its own. Yet i do notice some level of dust in the home and some level
of marital stress correlated with it so i have an excuse to start shoping
again.

I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can
connect it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over
constatly. Is dust collector something much better? thanks

I hope so. Less NOISE and greater capacity. I don't want dust collection
that needs to be emptied daily.

A dust collector is made to collect dust, shavings, and debree from
wood working tools. A shop vac is a vacuum cleaner. They are 2
different tools, and should not be confused.
robo hippy

A dust collector is made to collect dust, shavings, and debree from
wood working tools. A shop vac is a vacuum cleaner. They are 2
different tools, and should not be confused.

I agree completely. However, if you can't afford the space or $ for a
real dust collector, a decent-sized shop vac will suffice until you
can. I have a 9-gallon Ridgid shopvac with HEPA filter that I attach
to my router table and bandsaw and use for general cleanup, and it
works well. I only have to empty it every month or so, but I only do
woodworking on weekends and some evenings. It is very noisy, and messy
to clean. If I were buying again, I'd look for one that's quieter and
that can take a bag as well as a HEPA filter, as throwing away a bag
would be much easier than trying to transfer a month's worth of dust
and shavings into a garbage bag. I also have an ambient air cleaner
for airborne dust. Once I get a shop with more space, I'll be looking
into real dust collectors.
Andy

"robo hippy" wrote in message
oups.com...
A dust collector is made to collect dust, shavings, and debree from
wood working tools. A shop vac is a vacuum cleaner. They are 2
different tools, and should not be confused.
robo hippy


And yet the dust port in my router table fence is a perfect fit for my shop
vac, and works well with my plate joiner, seems to work well with ROS
sanders, and gosh, many Festool tools. I have not seen a dust collector
that hooks up to all of those tools. Maybe I am wrong.

On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 15:48:49 -0500, "Pawel"
wrote:

I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can connect
it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over constatly.

Yes, that would work. Even better would be to make yourself a simple
cyclone. http://codesmiths.com/shed/workshop/...ques/cyclones/
For the small effort involved, it's well worth making a dust-catcher
cyclone.

A "dust collector" is really a chip collector for use with a thickness
planer. Unless you can afford the big multi-hp machines, these just
don't have the flowrate you need for some tasks. A shop vac is small,
but has good flow velocity and works better with cyclones or routers.
It's noisy as anything, but then if you're routing you will hardly
notice this.

"Drop box" lids for dustbins don't work for fine dust.

"Leon" wrote in message

And yet the dust port in my router table fence is a perfect fit for my
shop vac, and works well with my plate joiner, seems to work well with ROS
sanders, and gosh, many Festool tools. I have not seen a dust collector
that hooks up to all of those tools. Maybe I am wrong.

Well, you can use an adapter, but using the shop vac is just so simple in
many cases. I use both, but for different applications. DC for the
tablesaw, planer and eventually the base of my router table. Shop vac work
just fine on the fence of my router table.

I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can
connect
it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over constatly. Is
dust
collector something much better? thanks

I'm also using a Ridgid wet/dry vac in this method.
It's does the a decent job, but, it is NOISY. Actually makes more noise
that the
13" planer it's attached too.

One suggestion though, which has helped me a great deal, is to get a 'dust
collection separator' .
I bought this one http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1515 and attached
it to a 30 gal
metal garbage can. Works great. Before getting this I could fill up my 12
gal vac in a couple of
days, plus the filter would begin to clog and performance would drop. Now
the garbage can is
over half full and the shop vac is still nearly empty...

That said, I'm planning on making a real dust collector my next tool
purchase. BTW, I bought
the 4" dust separator lid so I can use it with a regular DC unit later.

HTH,

Ron

"Andy" wrote in message
ups.com...
A dust collector is made to collect dust, shavings, and debree from
wood working tools. A shop vac is a vacuum cleaner. They are 2
different tools, and should not be confused.

I agree completely. However, if you can't afford the space or $ for a
real dust collector, a decent-sized shop vac will suffice until you
can.

Don't agree. The DC can be adapted to 1 1/4 size for use with small tailed
tools and does a credible job. Get one with adjustable vents to keep up the
airflow, like the one Bosch sells. Some of my tools have the 2 1/2, and
they work fine with the collector, too.

A shop-vac cannot keep up with a planer.

http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/index.cf...tail&iid=11785 For
a one-man shop, tough to beat. It'll also vacuum the car.

A shop-vac cannot keep up with a planer.

One with the larger sized hose can.

Not my experience. A DC is the right tool for the job for a planer but until
I got my Oneida installed, the 17 year old 5hp ;-) Craftsman shop vac kep up
with my dewalt 733. I had to empty it often.

Not ideal, but it really cam be done.

As others have stated, they are different beasts. IMO, a shop vac will do a
pretty good job on a router table. Since I can't imagine being a homeowner
without a shop vac, and for the 10 billion other applications for which a
shop vac is the right tool for the job, I would get a shop vac.

If you decide to later invest in a true DC, the shop vac will still be an
good purchase (like when you hater heater bursts and causes a flood)

A word on hoses:

I have a long (15') aftermarket narrow hose for general cleanup in the shop.
I think it's great. For chip collection, however (yes, dust collection is a
misnomer), you will want one of the shorter larger diameter hoses.

-Steve

"Pawel" wrote in message
...
Hello again, one more question about new toys to buy.

My workshop is in the garage and so far i was dealing with saw dust by
opening the door and using the leaf blower on everything that does not fly
on its own. Yet i do notice some level of dust in the home and some level
of
marital stress correlated with it so i have an excuse to start shoping
again.

I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can
connect
it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over constatly. Is
dust
collector something much better? thanks

pawel

Dust collectors are far superior. BTW, Those 5/6 horsepower vacuums aren't.
They are less than 2 horsepower, usually closer to 1.
"Pawel" wrote in message
...
I was thinking of buying standard 5/6 hp wet vacuum and hoping i can
connect
it to my router and have a hose handy to vacuum all over constatly. Is
dust
collector something much better? thanks

pawel