Please help with my dust collection issue.

[Abdul Azeez]

Hello – after several days I have completed the install of my 2hp harbor freight dust collector. I first added a first stage separator by installing a cyclone kit onto a 55 gallon plastic drum. Then on the exhaust I point to a 5 gallon bucket. I am hearing I have to use a filter or exhaust ourside. Is this an issue of I just exhaust to a 5 gallon bucket?

The machines I use right now include a miter saw, band saw, router table and table saw. Before we get started all my tools with the exception of the miter saw have 2.5 inch dust ports. I read in some other forum that a dust collector will not work well with 2.5 inch ports. So is all my work effort for a waste and do I need to unplug and return the equipment and swallow the loss for all the piping done? If so what is the alternative? The Harbor freight unity I have was only around $275. I had to use some reducers to get to 2.5 inch from 4 inch. Is all my work wasted?

The miter saw connection seems very feeble from a suction perspective as I suspect the hose is small (1.5 inches) since that is what the exhaust port on my miter saw is. As a result I don’t think I would get proper clean up for wood. Any suggestions? The other part of the y you see in the picture below will have a 10 feet flex hose connection to a table saw. Is that ok? I have minimized the use of flex hose everywhere but given that the table saw will be placed in the center of the garage I have no option but to run a flex line as needed from the y you see on the wall below. Is there a better option? I have attached picture for reference.

I would be able to tell about the suction at the table saw once I add the flex hose but for now I would appreciate your help on the above two items.

Additionally is there any outlet that I could put on the wall where the dust collector can plug into and I can operate with a remote. I tried plugging in a wireless switch and the wireless switch no longer works. However dust collector works when plugged directly into the wall. I use this wireless switch in my living room for lights. So I am not sure if it’s underpowered.

[Jim Becker]

If you're exhausting outside and using pre-separation, there will be very little material actually reaching the outside unless you forget to empty the bin under the pre-separator or if there is even a pinhole leak at the pre-separator. Otherwise, a bucket outside will not get much stuff and it might actually not stay in place because of the volume of air coming out of the exhaust. It's unusual to use a container when exhausting outside with pre-separation; only when exhausting outside directly from a blower without pre-separation.

To use a remote switch, you must use one designed for the amperage that the system draws.

[Ron Selzer]

You would be better served with a shop vacuum than the HF dust collector. You need high suction lower cfm for all of the 2.5 inch tools you have, the HF dust collector is designed to work with tools that have at least 4" and you also have a lot of static pressure drop with the cyclone.

[Mark Wedel]

I have a HF dust collector, and with 10' x 4" of flex hose, still provides plenty of suction for things like table saw, jointer, planer, etc. I do have blast gates (spend extra on metal vs plastic if you go that route) and only have one open at a time - if you had a bunch of tools set up, you will loose too much suction if all are open. Most of my tools are on mobile bases, so I have a fairly long (10') section of flex tube I just connect to whatever tool I'm using (get a quick connect adapter)
Most miter saws are just really bad in regards to dust collection - the saw sprays dust in a larger area than where the dust collector port is. I actually just leave a 4" open ended hose at the side (behind the fence) to get some of the dust, but there is still going to be a lot of dust around the saw (I have a dewalt miter saw). But the 4" open ended hose does provide a nice mechanism for sucking up that dust on the workbench or surrounding area.
I suspect a remote switch designed for a lamp (~100 watts) is just not designed for the ~1500 watts that the dust collector is drawing. In my case, I built a cabinet for the dust collector (and air compressor) at the front of my garage, and put a convenient wall switch on the side to turn it on/off (cabinet reduces the noise somewhat, front of garage means that when I need to empty it, if it gets messy, I'm just left with sawdust on my driveway instead of deep in the garage)

[Aaron Inami]

You are absolutely right. A traditional dust collector will not work well at all with smaller connections that are 2-1/2" or less. Your CFM and suction just about drops to nothing. I have personal experience with this. Traditional dust collectors are designed to move a large amount of air from large areas and have low static pressure (i.e. suction).

If you wanted to keep your piping, the only option I can see is to replace the Harbor Frieght unit with a Oneida Supercell:

https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-collectors/personal-shops/supercell/supercell-high-pressure-14-gal-portable-hepa-cyclone-dust-collector

This is kind of like 3 shop-vacs built into one unit and has a high amount of suction with a decent amount of CFM. It requires a 240V outlet and is super loud, but it will work for your scenario because it is designed for smaller 2-1/2" or 1-1/2" tools. However, since your playing in the Harbor Freight cost range, I don't know that you even want to consider a $2600 Supercell.


Your best bet is likely to scratch the idea of piping and return the Harbor Freight dust collector and look for a vac / dust extractor. I would recommend the Dewalt Stealthsonic because it is actually very quiet for a shopvac:
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-STEALTHSONIC-DXV12P-QTA-Reduction-Workshop/dp/B0BQVPKY1J/

Then look around and try different hoses and adapters for your different tools, such as this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FX34QEU/

This setup will work for all your tools except for random orbit sanders. These usually require a dust extractor which can be turned down (the sanders like a lower amount of suction to work well).

[Tom Bender]

I think you mean that you are now exhausting into a bucket that is inside the shop. If that's the case you are breathing all the invisible and harmful fine particles.

[Bill Dufour]

Use the 2.5" ports and add a splitter and another 2.5 hose to the same machine.
With. then holidays coming up lots of remote light switches for sale now. Low powered for a DC but can be used to control a contactor that handles the load.
Bill D

[Patty Hann]

You are absolutely right. A traditional dust collector will not work well at all with smaller connections that are 2-1/2" or less. Your CFM and suction just about drops to nothing. I have personal experience with this. Traditional dust collectors are designed to move a large amount of air from large areas and have low static pressure (i.e. suction).

This setup will work for all your tools except for random orbit sanders. These usually require a dust extractor which can be turned down (the sanders like a lower amount of suction to work well).

If I do not have a dust extractor which can be turned down (which I don't) can I use a blast gate and partially close it?

[Aaron Inami]

If I do not have a dust extractor which can be turned down (which I don't) can I use a blast gate and partially close it?

Hi Patty. It depends on what you are using for dust extraction. If you are using a shopvac or Oneida Supercell, then a blastgate would not reduce the amount of suction. The connections on random orbit sanders are very small at something like 7/8". It's not the amount of CFM that matters here. It's the amount of suction. Generally, if there is too much suction, the random orbit sanders will be sucked down too hard on the wood and the sanding effect will not be as good. Random orbit sanders need some suction to pull the sawdust away, but not too much. This is where you have a suction adjustment knob on extractors like the Festool, Bosch, etc.

If you are using a traditional dust collection, I don't know how well it will work with a random orbit sander. Your suction will be almost nothing, so it might not be enough. I'm not sure because I have never tried this.

[Patty Hann]

Hi Patty. It depends on what you are using for dust extraction. If you are using a shopvac or Oneida Supercell, then a blastgate would not reduce the amount of suction. The connections on random orbit sanders are very small at something like 7/8". It's not the amount of CFM that matters here. It's the amount of suction. Generally, if there is too much suction, the random orbit sanders will be sucked down too hard on the wood and the sanding effect will not be as good. Random orbit sanders need some suction to pull the sawdust away, but not too much. This is where you have a suction adjustment knob on extractors like the Festool, Bosch, etc.

If you are using a traditional dust collection, I don't know how well it will work with a random orbit sander. Your suction will be almost nothing, so it might not be enough. I'm not sure because I have never tried this.

I'm using shop vacs because the equipment I currently have all use a 2-1/2" dust port.
I was reading about a festool Dust extractor (just to get an idea of static pressure needed).
The specs say they have 24KPa static pressure which is 96 inches of water (or 7 inches of Hg).
So what would you lower it to for the typical ROS?

[Aaron Inami]

The Festool static pressure is 96 inches when the suction adjustment is turned up to max.

I have a big Festool CT48 extractor. When I use a 5" random orbit sander, I generally turn the adjustment down to about 50-60%. You want enough suction to move the sander smoothly across the wood and pull away the sawdust but not too much or the sander will grip down onto the wood. It depends on the tool. When I'm using my big 6" Rotex RO150, I will turn suction up to max.

Here's a good review/comparison:
https://www.toolboxbuzz.com/head-to-head/best-dust-extractors-head-to-head/

I think Festool is the best extractor for woodworking because it generally keeps a good amount of suction and CFM even when the bag/filter fills up with debris. Sure, the Hilti has higher max CFM, but the CFM will drop down below Festool performance with a full bag/filter. The Hilti is still a great model and quieter than Festool.

Be aware that the Makita in that comparison is the older model. The current model Makita dust extractor is basically same as the Milwaukee and both do not perform well.

If you're looking for a "random orbit only" extractor and have a limited budget, I would probably recommend the Festool CT15 at about $419 on Amazon. You can buy whatever you want, though. lol.

All of these dust extractors will generally not have as much CFM as a full blown shopvac because they have debris bags and smaller filters. So your bigger 2-1/2" dust ports will probably be better on shop vacs because of overall CFM capability. But shopvacs sure are noisy and annoying.

[Patty Hann]

The Festool static pressure is 96 inches when the suction adjustment is turned up to max.

I have a big Festool CT48 extractor. When I use a 5" random orbit sander, I generally turn the adjustment down to about 50-60%. You want enough suction to move the sander smoothly across the wood and pull away the sawdust but not too much or the sander will grip down onto the wood. It depends on the tool. When I'm using my big 6" Rotex RO150, I will turn suction up to max.

Here's a good review/comparison:
https://www.toolboxbuzz.com/head-to-head/best-dust-extractors-head-to-head/

I think Festool is the best extractor for woodworking because it generally keeps a good amount of suction and CFM even when the bag/filter fills up with debris. Sure, the Hilti has higher max CFM, but the CFM will drop down below Festool performance with a full bag/filter. The Hilti is still a great model and quieter than Festool.

Be aware that the Makita in that comparison is the older model. The current model Makita dust extractor is basically same as the Milwaukee and both do not perform well.

If you're looking for a "random orbit only" extractor and have a limited budget, I would probably recommend the Festool CT15 at about $419 on Amazon. You can buy whatever you want, though. lol.

All of these dust extractors will generally not have as much CFM as a full blown shopvac because they have debris bags and smaller filters. So your bigger 2-1/2" dust ports will probably be better on shop vacs because of overall CFM capability. But shopvacs sure are noisy and annoying.
Great info Aaron...thanks much. I wear ear protection at all times so high decibel shop vacs are no problem.
I'll look into dust extractors for the sanders.

[Paul Schaefer]

Abdul, see my response to your other post. You'll be fine with some creative engineering on the machines' dust ports.

[Rod Sheridan]

On my Festool vac I turn it down to the lowest speed.

The spec you have included is with the vac on highest speed and no airflow.

Are your vacuums HEPA rated? Sanding generates a lot of dangerous fine dust.

Regards, Rod