Best miter saw for dust collection?

[Jason White]

I have a DeWalt chop-saw hooked up to my Festool vacuum (talk about "The beauty and the beast!"). The dust-collection with the DeWalt is less than stellar.

Which miter saw puts out the least dust when connected to a shop-vac? I'm talking out of the box -- not with some aftermarket shroud or homemade setup. Soft-start would be a nice feature, too!

JW

[Jim Becker]

None of them, frankly. CMS and SCMS are some of the hardest machines to collect from just due to how they work and how we use them. Even a large hood behind with a very high CFM will not get all of the splash from the tool. Nature of the beast.

[Loren Hedahl]

Kapex. Kapex. Kapex.

[Per Swenson]

Loren,

Are you aware that every time I read Ka*** in print

I have to put 5 dollars in the shoe box?

Thank you for your support.

Per

[Dave Falkenstein]

In the CMS/SCMS arena I have a Dewalt and a Bosch now and until recently had a Hitachi. I don't even bother trying to collect the dust from any of these saws. Judging by the amount of sawdust that collects in the bag compared to the sawdust on my cutting table, the dust collection properties of all of these saws is somewhere way south of marginal. I think patience is in order, waiting for the Kapex to arrive in the USA. (That's another $5 in the shoe box Per)

[Jason White]

I don't expect perfect, just better than my DeWalt.

JW


None of them, frankly. CMS and SCMS are some of the hardest machines to collect from just due to how they work and how we use them. Even a large hood behind with a very high CFM will not get all of the splash from the tool. Nature of the beast.

[J.R. Rutter]

When I was shopping for a SCMS, I found the Hitachi to have the largest port. I made a larger flexible shroud for beside and behind the blade from a 2-liter bottle. I just run it with a 4" drop from my DC and it gets a lot. WAAAAAAY better than just a bag or the stock shroud and shop vac...

[Rob Wright]

I read an article last year that Metabo was going to have a new saw that had a unique dual dust collection through the base as well as the rear. It looked interesting and did get a good preliminary review. - Rob

[Andrew Williams]

My 10" Hitachi has very good dust collection when I actually hook it up.

[Greg Cole]

I have to say after watching a short video of a KAPEX (pay up Per), I was amazed at how well it seemed to do. Then again it would be slightly silly to put information into circulation showing a tool like a KAPEX (that's $10 in the box Per) doing less than the FESTOOL standard of dust collection.

I have a shroud on my Dewalt 10" CMS to catch most of the mess. At the end of use with my CMS, one or 2 passes with a hand broom to pick up the rest and toss into the shroud.


Greg

PS - Hey Per, heard the word KAPEX lately?

$15 in the Uncle Bob box! (Bob can thank me later! LOLOL)

[James Hebert]

its no problem to very effectively collect dust from a miter saw. My miter is a attahced to a semi- permanent miter stand. I built a simple mdf box that attaches to the stand and closes off the back 1/2 of saw and still allows +/- 45 degree swing and then ported the DC to a couple of spots in the box. When I tested with MDF cuts, I could see some of the dust actually eject to the front and then suck back into the DC system. It was the messiest tool in my shop until I made the box.
its a Dewalt 12" Miter and the DC dust collection port/bag that comes with it is worse then worthless

[glenn bradley]

Since you asked for "out of the box" behavior, I'll go with Jim. On the other hand if you don't mind building a box with a duct on it to enclose the back half, you can do pretty well. I put a 6.5HP (yeah, right) Ridgid Shop Vac on a 2 1/2" duct in the factory position and do pretty well. Good enough that I have not opted for the enclosure.

[James Carmichael]

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32926&cat=1,42884

[Brad Townsend]

its no problem to very effectively collect dust from a miter saw. My miter is a attahced to a semi- permanent miter stand. I built a simple mdf box that attaches to the stand and closes off the back 1/2 of saw and still allows +/- 45 degree swing and then ported the DC to a couple of spots in the box. When I tested with MDF cuts, I could see some of the dust actually eject to the front and then suck back into the DC system. It was the messiest tool in my shop until I made the box.
its a Dewalt 12" Miter and the DC dust collection port/bag that comes with it is worse then worthless
I did the same with my Dewalt. Does it collect all, or even most of the dust? No way! But it does suck up most of the really fine dust that would otherwise be floating all over the shop and into my lungs. For that alone, I am thankful. The heavier dust settles in the back of the box, on the saw, sawstand and floor. That dust I just suck up with the vacuum every so often.

[James Hebert]

I did the same with my Dewalt. Does it collect all, or even most of the dust? No way! But it does suck up most of the really fine dust that would otherwise be floating all over the shop and into my lungs. For that alone, I am thankful. The heavier dust settles in the back of the box, on the saw, sawstand and floor. That dust I just suck up with the vacuum every so often.

I find extremely little dust escapes with my rig on the straight cuts. I have to guess at something like 95% effective with the 12" blade on 3/4 material. I have two 4" collection intakes into the box, one on the back and one on the bottom. The box is angled so dust is deflected towards the ports. The top port is located so that the dust from the say ejects pretty much straight into the 4" intake. 4" Intakes go to a 2hp DC with Wynn Filter.

performance is not as good on 45 degree cuts where more dust bounces off the back of the box and out. So there I will add some angled front covers to deflect that dust back into the box and these covers will also improve vacuum and I expect to get excellent dust collection with 45 degree cuts. Will probably do that tonight.

What dust is not sucked up is mostly in the box and and kept from being thrown out in front.

[Loren Hedahl]

Loren,

Are you aware that every time I read Ka*** in print

I have to put 5 dollars in the shoe box?

Thank you for your support.

Per


Sorry Per.

Somehow my computer wouldn't let me just post one Kapex. There was some excuse about posts having to be at least "xxxx" (don't remember the actual number) of letters long.

One Kapex just wouldn't cut it.

Next time you get over to the left coast, I owe you one.

Loren

[Noah Katz]

"performance is not as good on 45 degree cuts where more dust bounces off the back of the box and out."

You could put a layer of foam in to keep it from richocheting, and it will probably quiet it down some too.

[Todd Jensen]

My Hitachi C10FHS does okay with the vacuum attached, but the real answer to your question is, "hahahahahahahahahahaha".:p I think they all aren't that great; the truth is you have to compromise - you could have perfect dust collection, but your mitersaw would look like the michelin man. Some may be better than others, but for me dust collection is secondary to the accuracy of the saw. My Makita may have been slightly more efficient at dust collection than the Hitachi, but I feel the Hitachi slide is more accurate(and definitely not trying to start a whole new thread on that subject).
Some of the previous posts definitely have good suggestions on improving the 'stock' dust collection. I don't remember if you said where you would be using the saw, but in an open enough area I have run my vacuum and staged a fan to blow the remaining dust away from the saw, me, and the immediate work area, and then another fan out a window to help clear the air. I think in the shop though, if you've got a decent dust collector(I've got a Jet 1hp), and use that instead of a shopvac you'll collect a much greater amount. I use that dust collector on my dewalt planer and can run it in my small shop with the doors and windows closed. Anyways, good luck - I'm counting on someone here to make a sawdust blackhole so I never have to choke on it again.:cool: