Shop Vac for Table Saw Dust Collection

[Don Penniman]

Thanks for the insights. Next time I have a project with lots of ripping cuts I might try to devise something like the Woodsmith plan.

[Jim Becker]

You could also get one of the small, portable dust collectors that at least work on CFM rather than vacuum and dedicate it to the saw. They are not necessarily inexpensive (see Rockler and Grizzly) but certainly might work better than a shop vac will for this application.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use a dustpan on my 1940s Unisaw. I open the door and clear it out before it gets too deep. If your saw is anything like it I think there is not much hope.

[William Hodge]

A shop vac is god for collecting fine dust spray off the top of the saw blade, if you get the intake into the spray. While having less cubic feet per minute capacity, a shop vac will have more static lift then a blower and bags dust collector.

Collecting the dust out of the bottom of the saw to capture the dust coming off the top of the blade by increasing cfm in the cabinet requires a very large amount of dust collection capacity. The best choice for wood dust collection is to collect it at its source, before it loses momentum and drops from the air stream.

[Doug Garson]

Something to keep in mind. The dust that collects in the cabinet is not the problem*, it is the dust (especially small particles) that gets sprayed into the air (and then your lungs), that is the problem. You can use your shop vac to clean out the cabinet a few times a year depending on how much you use the saw. (*Unless it builds up into the saw mechanisms which is unlikely.) The Woodsmith over arm guard looks like a good design worth the $9.95 plan cost although you could easily build it just from the pictures. For those with a router table incorporated in the right extension, one upgrade to the design would be to modify the post so it could be quickly removed when using the router. I can think of a few ways to do that. Making a Woodsmith style guard is on my list of this year's shop projects.

[Patrick Varley]

Something to keep in mind. The dust that collects in the cabinet is not the problem*, it is the dust (especially small particles) that gets sprayed into the air (and then your lungs), that is the problem. You can use your shop vac to clean out the cabinet a few times a year depending on how much you use the saw. (*Unless it builds up into the saw mechanisms which is unlikely.) The Woodsmith over arm guard looks like a good design worth the $9.95 plan cost although you could easily build it just from the pictures. For those with a router table incorporated in the right extension, one upgrade to the design would be to modify the post so it could be quickly removed when using the router. I can think of a few ways to do that. Making a Woodsmith style guard is on my list of this year's shop projects.

I actually went so far as making CAD files for the guard pieces to cut on a CNC or be printed for use as templates. Happy to share with anyone interested.

[Doug Garson]

I actually went so far as making CAD files for the guard pieces to cut on a CNC or be printed for use as templates. Happy to share with anyone interested.

I'm old school, no CNC or CAD but if you could covert anything to PDF I'd be interested.

[Nickolas Martin]

Hello!
I need an industrial vacuum cleaner or a shop vac for a woodworking workshop, wood shavings + dust (sanding). I don't quite understand them. the workshop has a concrete floor.
thanks!

[William Hodge]

Hello!
I need an industrial vacuum cleaner or a shop vac for a woodworking workshop, wood shavings + dust (sanding). I don't quite understand them. the workshop has a concrete floor.
thanks!

I use an Ultra Clean central vac. It's great for the floor, sanders, rip saw, etc.

Air Flow:		Air flow of 135.2 (CFM) cubic feet per minute
Suction Power:		Excellent suction power of 137 inch H2O lift

It's almost all metal, and made in Canada. The motor is replaceable.
https://www.allegrovacuums.com/ultra...ome-sc100.html

[Patty Hann]

I use an Ultra Clean central vac. It's great for the floor, sanders, rip saw, etc.

It's almost all metal, and made in Canada. The motor is replaceable.
https://www.allegrovacuums.com/ultra...ome-sc100.html

Do you use a cyclone separator with it also?

[Michael Burnside]

The filters on those may say HEPA but they don't specify the rating or link their certificates, so I would be very weary of trusting them to filter dangerous dust particles from sanders, etc. Festool and Oneida, both brands I use, are rated and certified. Small dust particles are no joke.

[William Hodge]

Do you use a cyclone separator with it also?

I have a little Dust Deputy cyclone on a 55 gallon drum, all outdoors. The 55 gallon drum really seals tight.The exhaust has some fine dust in it, I aim it at the sawdust trailer.
I have been using the Ultra Clean vac for two or threes years, with no problems. I would like to take the cloth filter out, so I don't need to blow it out with an air hose.

This use must void the warranty, but it is a good stress test for the vacs.

[Michael Schuch]

I have had a few different shop vacs and am down to only a couple of them now. My old 18 gal Craftsman is more upright so it takes less floor space and it is easier to change the bag on. My new Rigid 18 gal 6hp shop vac is more squat (bigger around). It takes more floor space, is hell to get a full bag out of, almost as difficult to get a new shop vac bag mounted but is quieter than the old Craftsman.

I always use the more expensive yellow dry wall shop vac bags. Running a shop vac with out bags plugs the filter in a matter of minutes. With the bag doing the majority of the filtering I use fine dust rated filters that only have to catch the fine dust instead of handling all of the filtering responsibilities.

I also have a very expensive Husqvarna DC 1900 HEPA dust collector which has a solenoid that is supposed to shake the fine dust out of the HEPA filter automatically. The flow through it is so lousy after 10 minutes of sanding (with a Husqvarna vacuum bag) that I gave up on it a long time ago.

[Alan Lightstone]

You need to be wearing a good respirator (I use 3M, but several good P100 ones out there), not just a dust mask. Especially as you describe the fine layer of dust everywhere.