vacume and table saw question

[aurelio alarcon]

I have a shop vacume that I was going to hook up to my table saw. My question is this, am I supposed to remove the filter on the vacume before using it this way, or do I leave it on the unit? Won't it clog right away with saw dust and chips?

[Tony Falotico]

I would NOT remove the filter. 1) it will clog as you say 2) it will exhaust mucho dust & airbornes into your shop.

I would seriously consider going two stage, that is, dropping it thru a barrel (trash can) before entering the vacuum. Several manufacturers (see Grizzly on-line catalog) make a trash can cover with an inlet / outlet port that will drop the larger particles into a trash can. The Store bought's are set up for 4" hose, not sure how you would adapt to a shop vac. Perhaps a shop made unit.

[Tom Hintz]

Leave the filter in or your shop vac will turn into quite a respectable sawdust disspersement machine.
Shop Vacs as a rule have trouble moving sawdust anyway because they don't move a sufficient volume of air as a regular dust collection system does. However, it will move the fine dust readily, which without the filter in place will go right through and out the exhuast.
The double-drop deal is proably your most effective (and pretty cheap) alternative. Keep the lines as short as possible to maximize it's efficiency.