Dust collection: Mobile, stationary, or (wallet crying) both?

[pgray007]

I'm building out my shop and planning to build most of the cabinets from plywood. I don't currently have any dust control, other than wheeling my miter saw outside, and using a respirator when I cut "nasty stuff." When the shop is done I plan on doing woodworking, general mechanical stuff (mainly around bicycles and firearms), and using it as a workout room, so having dust on everything is a no-go. The shop will also be conditioned via a mini-split.

I'm a hobbyist/homeowner so I'm not toting tools to job sites on a regular basis, or making a living in the trades. That said, I'm far from broke, and would happily splash some cash to keep my lungs (and my kids lungs when they're working with me) in tip-top shape, and prevent a layer of dust on everything whenever I want to break out the woodworking tools.

I started looking at the portable "dust extractors" by the likes of Festool and Bosch as I contemplated purchasing a track saw, but quickly realized that prices in the ~$500+ range would buy a pretty nice stationary shop setup.

What has me not totally sold on the shop setup is two things. First, I'm still building out the garage, so a mobile unit would be nice for things like grinding concrete and sanding walls, and also allow me to do my moulding and flooring cuts for my upstairs room in the room itself, without toting tools downstairs or sucking in sawdust. The few times when I need to do major dust-generating work in the house or at a friends home would also obviously benefit.

The shop setup seems like it would be better in the long run, as I'd move my tools around less, and wouldn't have to worry as much about filter bags and doing anything beyond hitting a switch when I need dust control vs. moving around a large vacuum, moving hoses, etc. What I don't know is how well the shop-based systems work with portable tools, like a RO sander or similar.

If anyone has worked through this decision or has any insights, I'd appreciate it, even if it means "sucking it up" and buying two giant suckers.


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[CSRPenFab]

I've got a wall mount dust collector from Shop Fox and it's been great. Add a 25' Dust Rite collapseable hose from Rockler, and you can pretty much cover your entire shop. The nice thing is the unit hangs up high, out of the way on a french cleat (included with unit). If you wanted to do work elsewhere in the house, just pull it down and take it with you. I use a light remote control to turn the unit off/on when in the shop.

With the one micron bag, it keeps the air very clean. Total investment was under $300, and I got mine on Amazon.

Mine mainly runs duty on my lathe, sucking up all kinds of dust/shavings from wood, composites, carbon fiber. I also have Dust Rite quick connects to my table saw, band saw, disk sander, and a floor sweep.

 

[4Kings]

I think you need to evaluate how far you plan on taking your woodworking. Depending on what you end up with as far as machinery, you'll need to collect chips & dust. Chip collection is best done by a collector; ie cyclone or bag style. The extractors excel at fine duct collection from sanders and such.

I have a small cyclone collector that I wheel around from my table saw, jointer and planer. Also have a shop vacuum outfitted with a tiny cyclone (Dust Deputy) from Oneida Air that I use when sanding.

If I had a bigger shop I would have a dedicated cyclone and appropriate duct work to each machine.

 

[pcmeiners]

One of my clients build a system whereby the vac system turns on after a "gate" opens at the machine(s) in use, triggered by a current sensing relay, current pickup coils at every machine, pretty neat.

 

[TerryH]

I think you need to evaluate how far you plan on taking your woodworking. Depending on what you end up with as far as machinery, you'll need to collect chips & dust. Chip collection is best done by a collector; ie cyclone or bag style. The extractors excel at fine duct collection from sanders and such.

I have a small cyclone collector that I wheel around from my table saw, jointer and planer. Also have a shop vacuum outfitted with a tiny cyclone (Dust Deputy) from Oneida Air that I use when sanding.

If I had a bigger shop I would have a dedicated cyclone and appropriate duct work to each machine.

This is spot on. The portable extractors are for portable tools like sanders, track saw etc... They excel at collecting the fines from those types of tools but will not flow enough to support stationary tools like a table saw, band saw, planer, jointer etc... What's best all depends on the tools in question.