Table Saw: Dust Collection

[barddzen]

Hello,

I am creating a small workshop in my garage and it's starting to come together, but I have a contractor or portable table saw I got at HF and it works well up to this point, but not so much in the garage.

I created a mobile cart with locking castors with some mobile out tables, etc. for the table saw and it's all working very well.

However, the HF saw itself has a simple hole in the back for dust collection but also has vent holes on the sides and a ridge on the bottom that creates a space. I tried putting some heavy duty tape on the vents and tried various things to keep the bottom from blowing dust but my question is:

Is this a lost cause? Should I just get another saw built with a better enclosure and dust collection ports? Or is there some way to shore this kind of saw up and make it work?

I don't mind spending to get another saw, but I don't have thousands. So if the only option is to replace, what's "good enough" for a small garage shop vs spending too little or too much? $200? $500? I have no idea.

I'm not planning to make a career of woodworking, but do plan on some home-based projects.

Any thoughts or recommendations is appreciated.

 

[rlitman]

I have a cabinet saw that's closed at the bottom, and which has an enclosed motor cover, plastic sheeting sealing the openings where the handwheels protrude, and a 4" dust power that is hard piped to a 1.5HP dust collector that's only 5' away. The dust collector helps, but the exposed part of the blade still sends plenty of dust into the air.

 

[lardy1]

There are a lot of hybrid table saws on the market these days. I've never used a Harbor Freight table saw so I'm unable to do any comparisons. But I do know the enclosed cabinet is the only way I'll ever go again. All I use is a decent and dedicated shop vac with a dust deputy. Like the poster above points out, you'll still get the **** thrown from the blade. But it gets most of it. I don't pretend it's protecting my lungs. I only benefit by less mess & cleanup.

 

[woody 73]

I have a 6 month old dog, I tell him hey schmuck stay out of the sawdust and does he listen...He just spreads it all over the garage problem solved.

 

[matt_i]

I think you're in one of three camps.

1) let it go "wherever" (meaning "everywhere")

2) roll your saw outside and let Mother Nature work her magic

3) invest in a real dust collector and a hanging filter-fan to get out the fines.

 

[PelicanPines]

A forth option would be to permanently remove the blade from the saw.

What I'm saying... run the vacuum... run the saw... some dust will occur no matter what you do. Unless you spend over $10,000 in high end saw and dust collection. There is no $500 99% solution.

 

[Git]

I have an expensive, modern table saw and an expensive dust collector to go with it. Unless your willing to use an 'overarm dust collector' which encloses the blade above the table, (and I am not), you're still going to get sawdust... I even have sawdust falling to the floor under the table.

So if you have to clean up a little bit of sawdust or perhaps a lot of sawdust, does it really matter? I mean if you break out the dustpan or whatever you're going to use to clean it up, it doesn't take much more effort to pick up more.

 

[rlitman]

A forth option would be to permanently remove the blade from the saw.

What I'm saying... run the vacuum... run the saw... some dust will occur no matter what you do. Unless you spend over $10,000 in high end saw and dust collection. There is no $500 99% solution.

Absolutely. ANY dust collection is still better than none. If you have the option to vacuum, do it. Just keep your expectations in check.

I've owned two plastic table saws very similar to the HF. The second (a Craftsman) came with a plate that sat underneath, which funneled dust into a bag which sat between the legs. If your saw is completely open underneath, cover the bottom with something if you want to use the vacuum. Even cardboard will do. You just need enough that with the saw off and the vacuum on, you can feel a slight draft through the table slot. Just remember that you need to remove this bottom every so often to get the collected dust out. If the bottom fills up with sawdust, you WILL overheat your motor.

I certainly haven't got ten grand to dump on dust collection.
My current dust collector setup cost me under $100, but it's a home made Thein baffle, some 5 gallon buckets, a lot of scrap ply, 4" steel vent tubing, and two 20"x25" (IIRC) pleated filters (a 1" MERV 11 filter covering a 4" MERV 16), plus a HF 1.5 HP blower I got for $20.

I've seen a number of plans that use an overarm guard which have ports for a shop vac for additional dust collection. That's on my long-term to-do list, but I think that if I had the two working in tandem, I probably wouldn't have to wear a respirator when sawing. Maybe we'll see...one day.

Oh, and having the dust collection port on the TS has come in handy for more than just sawing. When I'm sanding small projects, I'll put a scrap piece of ply on my TS top, remove the table insert and turn the dust collector on. I can actually watch the dust that escapes the sander head towards the table opening and get sucked in. It's like a mini down-draft table.

 

[Bigbandguy]

Just 2 cents worth, you likely can significantly improve on the HF saw by watching CL for a month under "Tools" It is fairly easy to find a good belt driven saw at a good price in most places. You would of course want to find one that would be easy to adapt to a vacuum setup.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Because of the characteristics that differentiate a "contractor saw" from a "hybrid" or "Cabinet" saw, It will be almost impossible to improve on the dust collection.

Cabinet and hybrids use enclosed cabinets or bases that allow for much better dust collection. Contractor saws have a tilting arbor designed around table mounted trunions means that the back must be open to allow for the externally mounted motor to tilt with the arbor. You cannot effectively close the base on a contractor saw.

There are plans out there for enclosing in the front and sides better, and making a bottom for a DC port. But this still leaves the back open. I did this a long time ago to my contractor saw (Delta) and when all is said and done, it was a fun project. That's all. No real improvement in DC.

Rockler and others sell a "diaper" that catches dust as it fall out the bottom but does little for the fine airborne sawdust.

And lastly, when ripping with a zero tolerance insert, virtually all of the dust comes right at you. It never sees suction. An overarm DC is the only thing that seems to work in that situation.

Bottom line: Contractor saws are nice and inexpensive. They are the perfect saw for most homeowner hobbyists, but they have their limitations, only one of which is DC. And stepping to a hybrid or cab saw is a big expense for the casual hobbyist who already owns the contractor saw.

Hope that helps,
Rick

 

[RTM]

I’ve got an old Craftsman table saw contractor style that I’ve added a jet 1200 dust collector to,and I’ve used a friends cabinet with overarm dust collection. His leaves much less mess behind than mine does, but he still has dust that needs cleaning up. His is a dedicated wood shop, mine is storage plus lots of other tools etc.

I just use my setup in the driveway, reduces the amount I care about all the fines running around.

 

[PelicanPines]

I have a hybrid saw with dust collection... I still get a "spritz" of dust ... if I hit the saw with a leaf blower... I can spot the areas it leaks...

It's not a concern of mine as I'm forced to open my big door to use the saw and I'm always using a particle respirator while woodworking.

However, after I do woodworking, I do sit in a chair at my open bay... without the respirator... to enjoy a beer or shooter of shine... as I enjoy the smell of cut wood in the air.

 

[dubdoc]

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/workshop/dust-collection

 

[Minnesota Steve]

I don't know anything about the HF saw. I had a Dewalt portable saw, DWE7480 I think it was, and it actually had pretty decent dust collection with a shopvac. The blade was enclosed underneath with a shroud and the shopvac plugged in at the bottom vac. That worked for dust that went down, but often times with a table saw dust also goes up and to the side. And for that you need a model like Sawstop cabinet saws which has overhead dust collection. But that's a lot more money.

If you were going to buy something new, and didn't want to go with a bigger cabinet saw... the Dewalt is a good choice.