dust collector bags

[harold brock]

Does anyone have a source for cheap but good plastic bags for your dust collector. I am looking for something that I can just throw away since where I am moving does not have any place that I can dump the cloth bag easily.

[Jason Beam]

Two things:

You probably don't want to just replace the bottom cloth bag with plastic. You'll likely kill your airflow. I went plastic after replacing the top bag with a canister from Wynn Environmental. Doubled my airflow and had plenty of power to handle the plastic bag on the bottom.

Second - it might take some experimenting, but I've heard some folks have used big heavy yard bags as their bottom bag. Just pull it off, tie it up and toss it in the trash.

I wouldn't go with a fabric top bag if ya paid me now that I've had that canister filter :)

[John Thompson]

I purchase them from Penn State for the DC I have hooked to the router table and SCMS.

Sarge..

[glenn bradley]

I went with American Fabric Filters vs. a canister for space reasons; a tall bag just fit better in my little niche. Bag or canister, if appropriately sized will allow a solid lower bag. I used my existing cloth bag with a regular lawn bag inside and it works fine.

[Russell Tribby]

I bought a 50 or 100 bag roll from American Fabric Filter. The price was reasonable and they were a pleasure to deal with. I kept the felt bag on the top and just went with plastic on the bottom. It has worked out well so far. The convenience of just taking off the bottom bag and throwing it away without having to dump it or bag it separately is not something you'll appreciate until you've had to dump the old cloth bags.

[Charlie Plesums]

Once you have enough airflow through the top to be able to block the airflow at the bottom (as discussed above), try the "Contractor Site Cleanup Bags" available at the Borg. They are about twice as thick as a lawn bag, and about 1/3 of the cost of bags from AFF or other other dust collector vendors. I worried about them being able to handle the air pressure, but over the last several years have not had a problem with my 2hp collector.

[Wayne Cannon]

A second vote for the "Contractor Site Cleanup Bags" (I get mine at the local Ace hardware store).

Regarding air flow, changing the bottom bag from fabric to plastic shouldn't be an issue, as the dust collector needs to have sufficient air flow when the bag is full and provides no airflow, anyway. Jet started using a plastic bottom bag on the DC1200 before they offered the canister filter (at least when the fabric top filter bag was standard and the canister filter was still an option).

[Charlie Plesums]

...
Regarding air flow, changing the bottom bag from fabric to plastic shouldn't be an issue, as the dust collector needs to have sufficient air flow when the bag is full and provides no airflow, anyway. Jet started using a plastic bottom bag on the DC1200 before they offered the canister filter (at least when the fabric top filter bag was standard and the canister filter was still an option).

My experience was different... The standard bags were so open that it just moved the dust to that side of the shop. I got finer bags from the vendor - they insisted that both upper and lower bags were required. It constricted airflow so much that the flow was virtually useless as soon as the lower bag got much in it at all (minutes of use).

When I went to a large custom bag on top, I got the airflow back and was able to use a plastic bag on the bottom.