Dust extraction for a spare room workshop

[msparker]

Hi all, I've seen there are a few threads including a pinned one of dust extraction and I've scanned through, all super useful stuff!

My setup:
- spare bedroom of a second floor flat
- mostly hand tool but want to be able to occasionally use a circular saw and router
- need to keep my wife happy by keeping it clean!

So looking for recommendations for a compact vac to keep the room clean and hook up to dust ports on a couple of hand held tools from time to time

 

[artie]

Almost any small vac will do the job.
How much do you want to spend?
£25 at lidl, or as much as you want at many outlets.

 

[billw]

Recently got one of these, but they were on offer - about a third off.

White Goblin GCV304W-19 Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner | Home | George at ASDA

 

[msparker]

Almost any small vac will do the job.
How much do you want to spend?
£25 at lidl, or as much as you want at many outlets.

I think that's the key point, do you reckon for the likes of a circular saw / router you'd see a big difference based on the shop vac? If a more expensive one will prevent masses of dust being spewed into the room (which will occasionally have to be relinquished for overnight visitors) then I'll spend more, if all will do a good job on this sort of thing then £25 from Lidl sounds great!

 

[artie]

According to what I've read, a small vac is suitable for plunge saw, router, circular saw or other hand held tools. You can just hook them up one at a time.
I have a makita vac that has been attached to the mitre saw for 5+ years. It just goes.
I have two Parkside vacs, one only a month or two old But the other I've had for a few years, Lidl replaced the motor part under warranty once and I've had to butcher the old one twice to keep the replacement going.
I don't mind doing that if I have the spare time. Right now I don't have a lot of spare time, so I would buy better quality.
As for collecting dust there's no discernible difference between them.

 

[Jameshow]

I have a Wickes vac £40 brilliant piece of kit!

Ideal for dust producing lighter power tools!!

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Wet+Dry-Vacuum-with-Blower-20L---1250W/p/215735
Cheers James

 

[Padster]

I have fitted dust extraction with clear tubes that I added this year for the bigger tools (but my workshop is the garage) but I also have a wickes as per above (might not be the exact model) - I’ve had that years and it’s great with all the portable tools, I also use it on a thicknesser and it copes admirably would recommend it for that purpose.

Padster

 

[Sideways]

You're working indoors in a flat. Probably in a room with hard walls and a hard floor that will bounce all the noise around.
Your wife (and eventually you too) might appreciate it if you bought a quiet vacuum rather than a 110 decibel banshee that adds insult to the injury of a circular saw indoors.
I suggest you bite the bullet and buy a decent quality powertool dust extractor with variable speed from Festool / Fein / Bosch GAS series, Nilfisk Attix or one of their machines badged for Makita or Milwaukee.
If the budget isn't rich enough, buy a Numatic Henry.
Look for a machine with a dB rating of under 70dB.
59dB is an almost impossibly good low noise figure to aspire to. You'll not get that, but low 60's equals a very quiet machine.
Mid 70's is starting to get obnoxious.

 

[marcros]

I think (and it is easy for me to say rather than do!) that I would go in a different direction and avoid use of the router and circular saw altogether. The tasks that I would dislike doing by hand are deep ripping of boards (making 2 thinner boards) and thicknessing. A router or circular saw is not suitable for either. You could use a decent hand saw and a small selection of planes (say router plane, combination plane and a moulding plane or two) and I doubt that it would be noticeably slower than getting the power tools out, using them and clearing up. Noise will bounce around and annoy people (including neighbours), and even with reasonably good dust extraction, some will escape.

 

[Doug71]

Another thing to consider with dust collection is the power tools, as said extractors all do pretty much the same thing, they just suck although some are more refined/quieter than others.

Some power tools work much better then others regarding dust extraction, some are designed with it in mind while on some others it just seems like an afterthought.

Unfortunately as always it's generally the expensive stuff that performs best, Festool were the kings of dust extraction at one time but I feel others are catching up.

 

[bp122]

Any good old vacuum will do, but you will be really pleased if you connect it through a cyclone. Your filters will thank you!

Unless you have a big machine like a table saw our planer thicknesser, you don't need anything bigger than a shop vac kind of unit

 

[TRITON]

Be aware the damned dust will settle throughout the house ,so keep the door shut. And always wear a mask. One of those air cleaners is also a very good idea.

 

[gmgmgm]

If you already have a vacuum, use that? I've often used the Henry while working in the house.

That saves having a second vacuum clogging up space.

 

[msparker]

We've got one of the battery powered dysons which I really dont back to handle plane shaving and the like.

I think from the above comments my plan is:
- See how much I can get away with hand tools only over the next few months to decide what my needs really are
- Buy some cheapo shop vac e.g. the wickes one and see how it goes

 

[samhay]

I have a wickes wet and dry vac.
It is bomb proof, but also rather uncouth - the filter is rudimentary and it is loud. If you suck up a pile of dust, it will redistribute the fine stuff far and wide.

If I were in your shoes and found I needed a dedicated vacuum (which is debatable with hand tool work) I would look at one designed for carpenters working in houses - a small Festool or similar.

 

[Chisteve]

I would recommend vacmaster wet and dry 20 l I’ve had one for nearly a year now in my workshop and decorating etc - faultless buy direct from them was around £70