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Drum Sander Dust Collection using a shop vac? Possible?

HoosierBuddy

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Joined
May 9, 2006
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2,919
Location
Southern Indiana
Hey guys,

I'll post up this whole project when complete, but basically what I have done is scratch build a 24-inch drum sander. It works and will sand boards. My next step is to use it to sand an actual project. I was thinking I'd build a cutting board using oak and walnut strips glued up and then see how the sander handles that.

One thing I'm positive of....this sander creates more saw dust per second than anything I've had access to before. I do not have a dust collection system at home, but I can see how it would be possible to create a 25-inch wide hood over the top of my sanding drum and hook that to my shop vac for some dust sucking. Then I got thinking that is going to be an awfully large suction hood and a lot of work to fab (probably out of aluminum) just to find it won't work.

Thoughts?

In the meantime, I'm glad I built it with casters. I'm going to push it outside to use it and position myself upwind. Using this thing inside without dust collection would be about half a disaster.
 
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HoosierBuddy

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May 9, 2006
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Location
Southern Indiana
You need about a bazillion more CFM for a drum sander than your shop vac can pull.
It would be like cleaning up the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a Dustbuster.
That was what I feared.

Probably better off just keeping the shop vac handy and using it to **** the dust out of my hair and off my safety glasses.
 
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RTM

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May 13, 2019
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SF Bay Area
You should examine your finished product to see if that works. On my planer, running without the DC often leaves indented mark from chips that didn't clear. I don't imagine sanding waste would be that bad to indent, but look before you get too complacent.

You might be able to dummy up a hood using CorPlas, or good corrugated cardboard, easier than metal. We've done some HVAC custom ductwork that way, not sure about vacuum or even DC not collapsing it.
 

PoorUB

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Mar 29, 2021
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Fargo, ND
There are some low priced dust collectors out there. A few years ago I bought a Harbor Freight dust collector and it has served me well.
 

ez-duzit

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Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
5,095
Location
Marina del Rey
You need about a bazillion more CFM for a drum sander than your shop vac can pull.
It would be like cleaning up the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a Dustbuster.
This.

The drum sander requires a sufficiently powerful dust collector. Period.
 
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