Do self vacuuming sanders work well?

[Thunderbisciut]

I recently picked up a barely used Dynabrade 21039 sander.

I do not have a means to any powered dust collection, at least not at the moment. I can convert the sander over to self vacuuming for about $20 in parts, and my pads and paper are multi hole already. I can buy the 6 foot hose and bag setup for about $40.

I guess I'm just curious if it's worth the trouble? I've never had a self vacuuming setup, so I'm not sure how well they work.

 

[Monte]

save the money and buy a vacuum

 

[Thunderbisciut]

Any recommendations? I have a shop vac, but it's big and LOUD. Honestly I don't sand enough to want to drop a lot of money for a setup, which is why I was looking at going this route.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have an electric random orbit sander with a dust collection bag. The wife was using it ad never emptied the bag. It got so clogged, it self-emptied by blowing the bag off. She was not happy !

 

[baubau]

yes, it is worth the trouble, especially on large flat surfaces...it reduces the amount of dust, it helps to see what you are doing and monitor the sanding progress , overall work environment is much more cleaner, plust the job is done faster and sandpaper cuts better.

i use them in the body shop on daily basis....i have 3M self vacuuming sanders with a bag, similar to the picture u posted and i use 3M Clean Sand type of sandpaper with multiple small holes...

if you go with a vacuum system, it is even better.

 

[neophyte]

I have a Fein 9.55.13 Dust Collector/ Vacuum. I purchased it years ago and have been using it since. The first one I got was DOA, but Fein quickly replaced it and I haven't had any problems with it since. The Fein vacuum is incredibly quiet, far quieter than my Shop-Vac, and the Shop-Vac was one of their "quiet series" vacuums. The Fein Vacuum was actually made in Italy, I'm not sure who the OEM is. Only major gripe is it lacks suction control, might not be a problem for you but for really small sanders it can be a problem. The model I have is one of Feins older models. The newer models come with variable suction they also come outfitted with a HEPA filter as standard. Supposedly the vacuums are safe for asbestos when the HEPA filter is in place. This is the Fein webpage on their dust extractors. http://www.feinus.com/en_us/surface-finishing/dust-extractors/ Another good option is Festool most of their vacuums have more features and available accessories than the Fein ones making them somewhat more versatile. The Festool vacuum tend to be more expensive than the Fein ones though and they're also a bit louder. This is Festools webpage for the vacuums. http://festoolusa.com/power-tools/HEPA-dust-extractors/ Both manufacturers vacuums allow you to hook power tools into the vacuum and auto start the vacuum when you turn on your tool. I believe Festool may have had a kit that allowed you to do it with pneumatic tools as well but I'm not sure they still offer it.

 

[padronanniversary]

I have an electric random orbit sander with a dust collection bag. The wife was using it ad never emptied the bag. It got so clogged, it self-emptied by blowing the bag off. She was not happy !

Just buy a nice shop vac. The sub $200 are just plain loud. I have a large one that ran some $$ but man is this thing quiet and works, even when the filter is bogged down and plugged up it still pulls.

 

[Monte]

Any recommendations? I have a shop vac, but it's big and LOUD. Honestly I don't sand enough to want to drop a lot of money for a setup, which is why I was looking at going this route.

the common brands are Fein, Nilfisk (Stihl...), Festool, Bosch etc....
Good dust removal is very important because the microscopic dust particles from sanding wood, paint etc. can cause lung cancer.

 

[padronanniversary]

I would also consider made in the USA MiTM vacs and compressors. I believe a few large companies such as JD brand them.

 

[rlitman]

yes, it is worth the trouble, especially on large flat surfaces...it reduces the amount of dust, it helps to see what you are doing and monitor the sanding progress , overall work environment is much more cleaner, plust the job is done faster and sandpaper cuts better.

i use them in the body shop on daily basis....i have 3M self vacuuming sanders with a bag, similar to the picture u posted and i use 3M Clean Sand type of sandpaper with multiple small holes...

if you go with a vacuum system, it is even better.

What he said. Yes, they collect a lot of dust. A lot escapes too. A real vacuum will collect more dust, but sometimes that's not an option.

Oh, and yes, it really only works on flat surfaces. If the paper is lifted off the surface (as it has to be on a curve) the dust gets out that way as the suction is pretty weak.