Garage Wood Dust Collection Setup

[Yasha Renner]

Please post your recommendations for an easy, affordable setup. Even with a shop vac hooked up to my table saw, a lot of dust still accumulates over time. To be clear, I'm looking for something like an air filter to capture the wood dust particles in the air.

[Art Mann]

I am afraid you are not going to find a "easy, affordable setup" because an air filter doesn't capture the dust until it is already circulating in the room. By then, your lungs and everything else in the room is competing with the filter to collect the dust. I consider filters like you describe as being merely supplemental. What you need is a dust collector that will capture the dust at the source, before it ever gets a chance to circulate in the room. To accomplish what you want, you need a genuine dust collection system with a high air flow rate and an effective filtration system. Furthermore, your saw has to be designed or modified to accept and work effectively with such a system. For garage hobbyists, the best solution is often to have tools on wheels and roll them into the driveway for use.

[Bill Carey]

Art's right - you need a dust collector. I have a garage shop with a Shop Fox 1 1/2 hp dust collector, and a Powertec air filter. Combined they do a pretty good job keeping the air clean. I never ran permanent collection hose - I use a long hose with a handle on it like this:
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And drag it around to the various machines. Sounds like more of a pain than it really is. Between the 2 (and the occasional use of a shop vac) it stays pretty decent.

[Matthew Springer]

I stumbled along for 10+ years with no Dust Collector, and I'm so glad I finally ponied up and got one. You will be happier actually dealing withthe dust. That said, dust collection is GIANT chasm of information it is possible to get completely lost in.

A couple things:
What kind of saw? (contractor, cabinet, jobsite?)
What kind of floor space/setup do you have?
What else do you need to hook up to the DC?
How much dust are you willing to risk/tolerate?
Budget? Also willingness to spend money vs tinker to solve your problems.

It's very likely that the shop vac on the tablesaw is way underpowered to collect the amount of dust generated. It's also likely if you have a contractor or jobsite saw that the dust collection is also terrible.

[Ron Selzer]

I have a cyclone hooked up to two dust collectors that is piped to table saw, radial arm saw, planer, wide belt sander, shaper, band saw
A Clear Vue mini hooked up to a Rigid shop vac with multiple filters, this is piped to workbench (5 places), table saw top shield, and drill press
A furnace fan with 2- 24x24x12 bag filters with 2- 24x24x2 pre filters that runs all the time I am down there plus left on for days to weeks at a time if I am working in there everyday.
All of the above took a lot of time and money to work out to where it is at now.
We need more information from you to advise you on different options to fit YOUR shop

Based on what little info you have given so far bare minimum would be 2 20" box fans with 20x20x2 filters taped on to them,
a Clear Vue mini or a Dust Deputy or equivalent hooked to a shop vac with multiple filters piped to your table saw
if your table saw doesn't have a dust collection port then you need to modify it for better dust collection

please post back with more info and pictures if possible

[ChrisA Edwards]

If you are looking for something, relatively inexpensive, to scrub the air, take a look at this video. I personally don't know how effective it would be, but I like the idea enough that , I've bought the parts to make one.

This is to aid my dust collector.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzpn09OIyqw&t=400s

[Andrew More]

Please post your recommendations for an easy, affordable setup. Even with a shop vac hooked up to my table saw, a lot of dust still accumulates over time. To be clear, I'm looking for something like an air filter to capture the wood dust particles in the air.

Cheapest thing to do is a box fan with a filter strapped on (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQCEPNFFpy8). Might sound too hacked to work, but studies show it's effective.

Next up is to find an HVAC contractor, and buy an old blower from a furnace that they're removed. My buddy charged me $25 a blower, and all were pretty beefy models. Then you build a box around it, and put on a couple of filters.