Dust Collector or Dust Filtration System

The harbor freight dust collector is a great addition and it budget friendly. You can get it new for $160 with a coupon from wood magazine.

-- Ken, USAF MSgt, Ret.

Actually, you can get it for abou $140 or less with a coupon. Watch for it; it’s usually on sale for $149. Works great.

Steve

-- Steve in KY. 44 years so far with my lovely bride. Think I'll keep her.

Thanks for the input on the HF DC. If I have to choose between a DC or air filtration which do you suggest?

-- Shameless - Winner of two Stumpy Nubs Awards

A dust collector will do the most good, probably, hooked up
to your planer and to your table saw. Those machines throw
a lot of chips all over the place, with the saw producing more
airborne dust and the planer just making a mess on the floor.

Contractor saws are trick to set up satisfactorily for dust collection,
but if you have a saw that supports good dust collection, having
a real dust collector hooked up to it is a nice thing and reduced
airborne shop dust considerably.

I’d say at the source dust collection is a better investment than
filtration, but a lot depends I suppose on your own style of
woodworking and the sort of messes you make.

I’m not a big router table user, but they can be very messy. I
usually do router stuff outdoors if possible since router dust
collection tends to be cumbersome and fiddly to set up.

Ya didn’t say what TS you have. I have a Grizz 0444Z contractor’s saw, and use the HF with the bottom hood/shroud/insert (whatever) on the Grizz.
For the money, you could possibly have both.
I added good bags to my HF collector.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

I’ve had a dust collector since I built my shop. I’m looking at making a filter soon. I agree the dust collector makes the most sense, first.

-- Master hand plane hoarder. - http://timetestedtools.net

I have a Ridgid TS4511, Buffalo 14” BS, 1976 Craftsman RAS, router table and drill press

-- Shameless - Winner of two Stumpy Nubs Awards

Buy the dust collector and make your own dust filtration unit to fit your needs. Simple to do : )
Spend the extra money on good dust bags (<5 micron) or a pleated air filter canister for the DC.

-- I'm absolutely positive that I couldn't be more uncertain!

Rob,

Definately get the dust at the source. While you’re at it, go to www.wynnenv.com and look at the pleated air filter conversion made for the HF dc. Drop on fit, 99.5% effecient down to 0.5 microns, radically increases cfm performance, for just a skosh over $100.00. Your lungs will love you. Also check out www.cgallery.com or Phil Thein’s site on his Tgein separator. I added one to the cone in my HF dc and never have to clean the filter.

Steve

-- Steve in KY. 44 years so far with my lovely bride. Think I'll keep her.

+1 what dusty & fussy said.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Okay – got the HF for $150 + 2 yr extended warranty. I am building an exterior “closet” for it on an outside wall of my workshop. I plan to connect it to TS and RAS at minimum plus an open connection (by open I do not mean no blast gate I mean open for other attachment such as for vacuum or other random tools). I am not sure if I will connect BS and DP at this time (partly due to step down but mostly due to not having settled on their locations)

Thanks for all the input LJs

-- Shameless - Winner of two Stumpy Nubs Awards

YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK…IF YOU COLLECT DUST FIRST AT THE SOURCE IT CUTS DOWN ON HAVING TO FILTER THE AIR.

-- IF YOUR NOT MAKING DUST...YOU ARE COLLECTING IT! SOUTH CAROLINA.

Buy the DC…remember the filter is only good once the dust particles are already in the air (and your lungs).

-- “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” ― Thomas Sowell

DC all the way!

-- - Ray

Catch the dust at the tool as best you can first. Thus get a dust collector. Depends on if you can go a little over your budget mark… A Delta 50-760 can be had close to that. If budget constraints are that much of a concern, go for the Harbor Freight 2HP DC and add a Wynn canister filter to it… Best bang for the buck out there. Not the best DC, but it whips the snot out of anything else in its price class…

-- My workshop blog can be found at http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com