Sander Dust Collection Requirement

[Mitchell Ristine]

I am thinking about buying a used performax 16-32. But I do not have a dust collection system. I don't have the funds for both right now. Will a shop vac provide enough suction for a drum sander until I have the ability to get a proper dust collector?

[Dave Sweeney]

I would say yes as long as you set up the shop vac properly. By that I mean, use a drywall dust collection bag and a HEPA filter inside the shop vac.

[Matt Day]

I doubt it will handle it. Most people would recommend the DC first to handle all the other dust/chip collection duties in your shop as well.

[Nick Decker]

No. I actually tried a very good shop vac when I first got a Jet 10-20 sander. You need to be collecting a large amount of dust from all along that drum, and a shop vac is just too concentrated in one spot. Not only will the sanding dust not get collected, it'll quickly gum up the works of your sander.

[Jim Becker]

I do not believe you are going to be well served trying to get a typical shop vac to function well with a drum sander. Shop vacs work differently than dust collectors; the latter is all about the volume of air flow at lower pressure which in turn is what moves the dust. Shop vacs are high pressure, low air volume...great for small tools, such as hand-helds, but pretty inadequate for larger tools.

[J.R. Rutter]

Put me down for a "no" as well. Not sure if it is possible to have too much air flow for a drum sander.

[Julie Moriarty]

I use a Festool CT 26 on my Ryobi 16-32 and it works fine as long as the vac bag is relatively empty. One day I'll duct the DC from the garage to the inside workshop but for now the CT 26 has been doing an adequate job.

[Larry Frank]

No..........

[Joe Kaufman]

The early Performax 16-32 only had a single 2 1/2 inch port so the only option was a shop vac or modify/update the cover to 4 inch I found that a good shop vac worked better than 5 feet of 2 1/2 inch hose from a 1 1/2 hp Pen State dust collector. The same dust collector is adequate with the performax 10-20 that I now have (4 inch port). You have to consider both S.P.and CFM at the machine.