Down draft tables are they worth it?

[Matthew Curtis]

Does anyone use a downdraft table? Are they effective in collecting dust.

I Invision using one when sanding small parts less than two feet in length.

Has anyone made there own or would it be worth while looking into buying one. If buying what brands are worth while looking at?

[J.R. Rutter]

I have a Sand Pro DL. We use it for doing small roundovers with a handheld router, like 1/16" and 1/8" and it does a fairly decent job when the filters are clean. Not 100% capture, but the worktop is always clean. It is also a sanding station and it does help keep dust from getting airborne. We use a vacuum with the random orbitals, so just have to catch the bit that escapes. The hardest part of having a downdraft table like this, that requires lifting the lid top for filter cleaning is that flat surfaces tend to collect all manner of things that have to be removed first. Other than staying disciplined to keep the top relatively clear of junk, it is a basic design that does a good job. I have a Dylos meter and can verify that it does actually clean the ambient air as well as prevent fine dust from becoming airborne.

[Jim Becker]

I think that downdraft tables have a place, but they are not as overwhelmingly necessary as they were in the past, at least for electric sanding, because of the strides that have been made with dust collection at the tool. (I'll suggest Festool as an example, but some others have good performance, too) There is still benefit, however, because as JR mehtings, even with good DC at the tool, "some" dust is going to escape. Where down-draft tables shine is for hand-sanding and when one is using sanding gear that just doesn't support DC, such as pneumatic sanders sometimes used in pro-shop scenarios.

[Martin Wasner]

I've got a Denray 7200B. It's dang near the best $7,000 I've spent. It's an obnoxious amount of cfm and anything that is sanded on it, does not escape.

I don't route anything on mine, I've found the pulse jet doesn't knock that stuff out of the pleated filters well. Cleaning them manually is an unfortunate experience that puts life choices into question.

[Ben Rivel]

Personally Id rather use a good sander with excellent dust collection than dedicate the space and use the electricity running a larger dust collector to provide proper suction for a down draft table. My Festool ETS EC 150/3 and CT 36 vac setup has been completely dustless in every situation Ive ever used it in.

[Martin Wasner]

I think that downdraft tables have a place, but they are not as overwhelmingly necessary as they were in the past, at least for electric sanding, because of the strides that have been made with dust collection at the tool. (I'll suggest Festool as an example, but some others have good performance, too) There is still benefit, however, because as JR mehtings, even with good DC at the tool, "some" dust is going to escape. Where down-draft tables shine is for hand-sanding and when one is using sanding gear that just doesn't support DC, such as pneumatic sanders sometimes used in pro-shop scenarios.

Sanding with a vacuum attached is one of my less than favorite things to do. Some things don't make sense to sand on the downdraft table. I'm one of those disciplined psychopaths that tries to keep nothing on the table but what I'm sanding. The reason being that the more air that flows through there, the less I have to breath. So things like cabinet box parts are sanded in a different spot with a vacuum.

[Ellen Benkin]

I have used downdraft tables in three different shops and found all of them to be useless for dust collection and only function as a designated locations for sanding. I agree with Jim that having dust collection attached to the sander does the job much more efficiently.

[Carlos Alvarez]

I think it's hard to answer, as you can see above that everyone has different uses. My ROS is a Porter-Cable with the Abranet pad and Abranet discs, hooked to a Shop-vac 6.5. Absolutely no dust escapes (as shown by the particle counter). So for me, a table would be completely useless. And unless you have a bunch of different sanders you want to keep, I'd say that sanding jobs are best collected by using a good sander and mesh disc. But if you need it for other tasks, that's a different question.

[johnny means]

A good downdraft table is a wonderful thing. As noted above there are caveats. I like them for sanding big stacks of small parts with an pneumatic sander.

[Martin Wasner]

Keep in mind. There are downdraft tables, and there are DOWN DRAFT TABLES.

An abrasive with good pickup like abranet and a quality vacuum won't leave much behind. The vacuum does not much for ambient dust though. Not a big deal if you're the only one working, but multiple bodies at multiple machines, the more air you filter the better. I think mine is almost 4000cfm. It helps a lot with air quality.

With a belt sander you're kind out of luck for a vacuum doing anything worthwhile.

[richard poitras]

I have a small Denray that was given to me for a debt of $300.00 so I have little into it. If you have the space I like it a lot. I use it for cleaning ambient air, sanding, wood burning and also with my Foredom rotary tools.

[Sam Puhalovich]

I use mine for a out-feed, assembly, sanding, routing, painting and material drop. My original thought was to also use it for a MFT with the Festool guides; I'll probably get that done this year. It is 'powered' by a hvac squirrel cage. When in-use ... it doesn't seem to be doing much ... but, nothing goes off the top. I am always surprised at how much I have to clean-out.

[dennis thompson]

I made one several years ago. Turned out I rarely ,if ever, used it and it took up a lot of room in my shop. I gave it away.

[Ted Phillips]

I built a table using four of the Rockler downdraft plates and use it a lot for small-part sanding. Most of my sanding is by hand, and this provides a work surface as well as dust collection. I usually substitute a piece of 3/4" plywood for two of the downdraft plates - this makes the airflow through the two remaining plates much stronger, and provides a convenient place to hold parts and sandpaper while working. I have my Jet dust collector hooked up to it via 4" hose.

[Joe Calhoon]

We had one of the first Sandman tables and used it for several years. Liked it except changing the filters created quite a dust storm. We quit using the suction on the table after our first Festo sander and vac. Solved the sander hose issue with a shop made takeoff of the Barth boom cabinet.
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