Small shop DC challenge

[Phil Mueller]

My shop is small and located in the utility area...furnace and water heater. Typically, I don’t do any sanding inside, but when it gets to be in the teens tempurature wise outside, it just can’t be avoided. And I just can’t live with the Rigid canister running constantly. I don’t have a power sander with DC attachment, nor would I want to use it with the Rigid. Maybe time for a quieter small system.

I set up my air cleaner next to the sanding area and vacuum the filters from time to time during sanding.

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Gets about 90%, I suppose (?), but still leaves a layer of dust around the shop.

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My HVAC guy, recommended a filter over the lower efficiency furnace intake...which I change after a sanding episode.

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The whole shop will need a good cleaning when done.

I’ve considered a dust devil, but again, the canister is just too noisy and I really don’t even have the room for that. Anyone doing any creative DC in their shop that works?

[Marty Schlosser]

I think you should consider getting a better shop vac, as it appears you suffer from the same thing I used to: a noisy shop vac!

I eventually settled on a Fein Turbo II HEPA Set (https://fein.com/en_ca/surface-finis...a-set-0316208/), which comes with the complete floor vacuum set, as well as connections for Festool machines. I'm a fussy guy when it comes to quality, and have been highly impressed with its performance and low noise level. I teamed mine to my Dust Deputy and set the two of them on a piece of 1/2" plywood, mounted atop a set of 5" casters. Works great!

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[Joe. Rivera]

I just built a downdraft table with 2" 20x24 merv 8 filters I get from work. I used an old furnace blower and motor.
Works pretty good, when the filter are plugged, I just take them out back and knock the dust out then just drop them back in

[bridger berdel]

I just built a downdraft table with 2" 20x24 merv 8 filters I get from work. I used an old furnace blower and motor.
Works pretty good, when the filter are plugged, I just take them out back and knock the dust out then just drop them back in

I really like that idea but I don't have room for another work station.

[James Waldron]

No sanding. Planed surfaces, scraper surfaces when required, polissor for final smoothing. Sanding can't compete for smoothness and I get zero dust.

[Stanley Covington]

James' policies are very sound.

If you must sand, use a Festool sander with a powerful shop vac and hepafilters.

Plain shop vac filters won't do the job. Fein makes a great but expensive shop vac with good filters. Wear earplugs if the noise bothers.

Not cheap solutions. Therefore, James has the right idea, IMO.

Stan

[Frank Martin]

I am getting better with planes, but not there yet to eliminate sanding entirely. About 14 years ago invested into Festool vacuum and sanders. They work well for me in reducing sanding dust to a large degree.

[Phil Mueller]

Thanaks all. I’m in the same place as Frank. Working on getting to a finished surface with planes...
In the meantime, looks like a Fein or Festool may need to be on my upcoming birthday list!

[Phil Mueller]

Well, this is probably the most spontaneous solution to my problem, but walked into Woodcraft today to look for a piece of cherry I need to complete a project. Walked out with a Festool Midi vac and a palm sander. I guess I could think of it as paying about $40 per board foot for the cherry.

[Frank Martin]

Phil, congrats on your purchase! One small consideration is to make sure the sander you purchased, which I assume is the small 5” ETS 125, the right one for you. That particular sander is pretty mild and is a great finish sander. My most used sander is the ETS 150 with 3 mm orbit size. It is the smoothest sander I ever used. If I need to remove some wood, I start with Rotex in the rotary setting and then move to ETS 150. I have the 5” ETS 125 and it is my least used sander. The good thing is Festool comes with 30 day no questions askes policy. Try your sander and if it is not what you expected you can return and get the one that works better for your use.

[Phil Mueller]

Thanks Frank! Yes, I got the ETS 125. Mostly because I wasn’t even planning on spending what I did for the vac. I’ve got a panel to work through the next few days...so will give it a proper trial. Most of my pieces are fairly well planed, so I’m thinking the 125 will work. Appreciate the ETS 150 suggestion...we’ll see.

By the way, I hooked it all up just to run it over a board or two...all I can say is wow. Not one spec of dust I could see. I’m going to love this vac.

[James Waldron]

I am getting better with planes, but not there yet to eliminate sanding entirely. About 14 years ago invested into Festool vacuum and sanders. They work well for me in reducing sanding dust to a large degree.

Thanaks all. I’m in the same place as Frank. Working on getting to a finished surface with planes...
In the meantime, looks like a Fein or Festool may need to be on my upcoming birthday list!

Practice, practice, practice. It's really worth it. And it's more than choosing a cheaper solution: you can get a better finish than sanding can provide.

[Frank Martin]

Thanks Frank! Yes, I got the ETS 125. Mostly because I wasn’t even planning on spending what I did for the vac. I’ve got a panel to work through the next few days...so will give it a proper trial. Most of my pieces are fairly well planed, so I’m thinking the 125 will work. Appreciate the ETS 150 suggestion...we’ll see.

By the way, I hooked it all up just to run it over a board or two...all I can say is wow. Not one spec of dust I could see. I’m going to love this vac.

Festool vac is great. As to the sanders if you end up wanting a more agressive sander and don’t want to spend Festool money, I highly recommend the Bosch 1250 DVES. It is basically equivalent to Festool Rotex including dust collection when attached to a good vac. I had one over 10 years ago and switched to Festool as I thought I was upgrading. To me that Bosch sander is every bit as good as the Festool Rotex and costs less than half of Rotex. Back when I bought one it was made in Switzerland.