Reply by JayT

Drywall dust is so fine that a dust separator will not get much out and it will clog up a shop-vac filter If you do decide to use a hand sander with dust collection, get the filter bags for the shop-vac and skip the separator. Even then, you will still get a LOT of drywall dust floating around and covering everything in sight. Use 120 to start and finish with 180, 80 grit is just too aggressive for drywall.

I’ve used the same method as Hairy on small repairs. It works well if you are good at mudding, which leaves me out. Otherwise, renting a drywall sander can be a good option. It will leave a better finish than a hand sander and captures nearly all the dust. Totally worth it, IMHO, just for the time savings on cleanup.

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