Small Workshop Vacuum

[TFWS]

Hi

i'm sorry if this has been done to death and in fact it was the comments on this forum that led me to join and to labor the question.

i'm stating out on some new ventures and i am currently working out of my garage for workshop carpentry and eventually customer site work.

i like to know the best solutions for controlling the dust in the workshop from table and mitre saws and possibly combining this with something portable enough to take to site for use with handheld power tools like circular saws.

what's really confusing me is that i already have a rather beaten up ShopVac wet n dry vacuum and decided to use this initially and i even spent some time laboriously cleaning the filter but after a couple of uses the filter is completely clogged. i also bought a cen-tec hose to add to the ShopVac hose which enables me to switch between tools fairly easily. now the ShopVac seems pretty ineffective on the table and mitre saw. the answer seems pretty obvious that the "suck" of the vacuum is not good enough for the rate of dust produced but i don't understand why using a Henry as has been mentioned on this forum before will not cir cum to a filter blocked quickly and/or have enough"suck" to be effective.

your input is appreciated.

 

[Sachakins]

Most shop vac users resort to using a small cyclone, this can reduce dust to the filter by about 95%.

 

[jcassidy]

Yep a cyclone is on my must-do list. Not very hard diy, or buy one. Some comments on other threads about cyclones, including from banggood, which work fine.

Now, mitre saws especially are terrible for dust. A member recently put up a photo of his bench with a box built around the mitre saw to improve dust collection.

 

[TFWS]

thanks people. i will look into using a cyclone.

 

[jcassidy]

Thread with some discussion about Mitre saw dust setups... Height of workbench for Mitre Saw

 

[eribaMotters]

I run a Numatic with a 230v power take off. I bought this as odd parts of head unit, metal body and hose kit from APEX? based near Braintree in Essex over 25 years ago.They were/are an industrial estate based distributor for Numatic. 10 years ago I upgraded the motor although the original was working fine and I sapped it into an even older Henry. I use a hospital grade filter around the head and no bags. Clogging up or lack of suction has not been an issue. When I empty it I simply shake the filter outside.
As well as a general workshop/diy vac II hook this up to provide a second extraction on circular saw and router table to supplement my large bag extractor. My belt sander and medium sized router are always used plugged directly into it. I would not be without it.
The NUMATIC NV750 appears to be a a non switchable version of what I have.

Colin

 

[Britman]

I have a cheap as chips Titan shop vac off of Screwfix. It's hooked up to a cyclone which in turn is fitted to a plywood box that collects the dust, chips and shavings.

It work rather well with no real loss of suction until the box is getting full.

The Titan vac does not come with a paper filter these days, just a cloth bag and foam filter.

 

[Fitzroy]

I'll send you off on the path thinking about HPLV (High pressure low volume) and LPHV (low pressure high volume). A standard vacuum cleaner is HPLV, it sucks hard but moves little air, great for lifting dirt out a carpet or from a specific spot, rubbish for trying to bring in lots of air and filter out a small amount of dust from each bit of air. A workshop dust extractor moves lots of air but will not suck very hard, so they can choke easily. A mitre saw or table saw throws dust in all directions due to the large blade acting as a fan, so you want a system that brings in lots of air flow from multiple locations (cabinet, over blade guard, etc) so your shop vac will never be particularly effective.

 

[TFWS]

thanks again everyone. some of my own thoughts confirmed then @Fitzroy .

where do i go from here.....

 

[Lonsdale73]

I started with the cheapest of Titans from Screwfis, originally to use as a straight vacuum cleaner to 'hoover' up afterwards. Then I linked it up to a cyclone attached to a bucket to vacuum while making dust. Worked really well. Bought a Festool vac which, besides offering power take-off, wasn't really any better than the Titan at about a tenth of the price. When I bought a planer-thicknesser I got a chip extractor with a 4" port. That was okay but too up far too much floor space so I replaced that with a wall mounted version. That really sucked and I regret selling that when I had a DX rethink! I now have two Titans, one slightly posher with power take-off, a Record Power DX1000 on a wheeled base so I can (theoretically) wheel it from machine to machine as and when required and I'm in the (slow) process of attempting to build my own dust extractor after watching far too many youtube videos. One thing I've found is that no amount of dust extractors will cope with the mess a mitre saw can make. I have a Dewalt model, which is nice, but even with the dedicated Dewalt 3-point dust collection kit connected to one dust extractor and a boxed in vacuum chamber going to another dust extractor it is still buried under dust!

 

[Sachakins]

Mitre saw dust shroud...


Seen the same done with a £5 pop up laundry bin.

 

[TFWS]

i'm leaning toward a new filter for my Shop Vac or a new vac like the Titans mentioned here and a cyclone set up for the workshop

does the bucket/container for the cyclone need to be air tight for the cyclone to work or just with a standard lid to keep the dust in?

 

[JBaz]

If you go for a shop vac, I find the power tool socket really useful.

I invariably use it set so that the shop vac comes on when you start the tool plugged into it. Keeps the noise down as well.

Not all machines have this.

I have a cyclone connected and has dramatically reduced the need to clean the filter. A real must have for me.

 

[TomGW]

As well as a Record Dx1000 for the table saw and bandsaw, I have a wet&dry vac with power outlet hooked up to my Makita mitre saw and I have to say it works very well. It runs through an eBay sourced cyclone fitted to the top of a sealed 30L barrel - one of these:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-hou...nd-side-handles-30-litre-mint-cond/1394379518These barrels are from the pharmaceutical industry and available locally to me, literally in their thousands. They are a very sturdy barrel (absolutely no danger of collapse) with a rubber gasket fitted into the lid. The lid is a screw fit, with about 2-3 full turns to lock, so 100% airtight. Also ideal for storing 25Kg of dog food/bird nuts/wild bird seed etc.
Until you get a cyclone properly set up you will not believe how effective they are.

 

[TFWS]

thanks all

i'm pretty much decided on a barrel and cyclone set up with either a new filter for my Shop Vac or a new quieter vacuum anyway

 

[AndrewS]

I’ve got the Numatic NVD750 dual motor, dual port machine from Axminster. Brilliant piece of kit for a single-garage size hobbyists workshop. With a short hose, it can easily keep a bandsaw dust-free and will keep up with a PT too, providing you’re willing to empty it regularly. I had been intending to try it with a simple cyclone separator but have moved to a larger workshop (with a larger PT, and soon a table saw - I hope), and need to re-think dust management but will keep the 750 for portable machines and general tidy up.

 

[TFWS]

just an update on this.

i went for a standard Henry and a cyclone bonded to a barrel. works well. relatively quiet and cost effective. yes, it doesn't suck all the saw dust away from table saw and mitre saw but its enough to reduce the clean up. i am using a intelliplug for auto stop start of the vacuum. you have to live with the start delay of a few seconds. i have a cen-tec hose and fittings which i transfer from machine to machine as i use them.

i faced an issue of the vacuum collapsing the barrel but overcome this with a timber frame around the barrel re-enforcing the barrel sides.

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

anyone close enough to North London, I bought one of these for my cyclone and am very happy with it. The lady has a huge range of all types of barrels, in many different sizes etc. If you don't want to sign up to get the phone number, it's 07465442836
https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-garden-patio/50-60-litre-plastic-barrel-with-handles/1397129801