Reply by woodforge

Hi Bill, I see you are a fellow WNY-er :-)

I went through many of the same issues when I started buying tools. Most of the money seemed used up by the time dust collection was thought about. I am very careful with my money except when it comes to tools and my safety. With having a large door you can open, that helps unless it is 20 below and snowing. I had a Jet 650 and upgraded the bags, tried different lines, and finally gave up. Most of the time I didn’t use it because it was either full or the bags were dirty and basically it was a pain.

My recommendations;
- The cheapest option is buy a box of good quality dust masks and use them. I never got the formed masks that look like a boob to work right with my beard and found the newer fold-up 3M masks to work great.
- If you are using a shop vac, upgrade it with a $39 Dust Deputy cyclone and save up for a real system.
- Sell some more projects and ask Santa for cash. Then go visit Oneida Air over in Syracuse. If he has time, the owner Robert is great to talk too. He has a background in industrial hygiene and knows the effects of long term exposure to contaminants.

Hope this helps. If you do get to Syracuse, tell Robert I said “hi” :-)

- Ed