Small Garage Dust Collection on a <1000$ budget

[Nick Drake]

You can build one in a day, or buy something like this.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustoppe...HD12/302643445

I would not buy a dust deputy, since I think they're over priced for what they are.


Also something like this can be very useful for cleaning the shop air. It's effectively a used furnance blower with some filters.
https://jayscustomcreations.com/2016...-cleaner-cart/

I tried similar set ups to the first two when cutting a lot of fiber cement board (~700sq ft) for flooring underlayment and found that it didn't separate the fine dust well. I was still getting short bag life.

You can get the better designed oneida cyclone without going for the overpriced kit, this is only $10 more than the home depot lid linked: https://www.oneida-air.com/anti-stat...lone-separator

A 5 gallon bucket/lid and you're good to go. I would also suggest cutting out a circle of plywood to support the middle of the bucket. Without support a 6hp shopvac would collapse the bucket on longer run times.
Later on I got tired of frequently dumping a 5 gallon bucket and have gone to more capacity in the garage where I'm rarely moving tools: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ray Newman]

Jeff Norris 2011 mentioned wearing a mask. A good mask will work well as long as you do not have a beard. I have beard and know of several other who also have beards and we have found that dusk masks really do not work very well with a beard.

[PHILIP MACHIN]

That’s my problem. I have a full beard, and my wife doesn’t want me to shave it. (I would do it in a second to keep working)

After reading responses and talking it over, My wife wants me to hold off on investing in the shop because we’re going to move in 3 years. If I find a property with land I can build an outbuilding with ventilation in mind.

It does suck having to wait, but I am worried about tracking the fine dust into the house from the garage. (I have a daughter with asthma)

Thanks for all the input.

[Dave Sabo]

While I understand the SWMBO edict, I think it's a bit short sited.

She's correct on principle , but not totally. No sense investing a lot into something you know will be replaced soon. However , there a real benefits to having dust collection NOW even if it's not your be all need all system.

The cleanliness and health benefits of having a collector are a real need now.

Perhaps a harbor freight collector (on sale) and a Wynn cartridge filter would be a sensible middle ground. If you to a few hours and made a Thein baffle for it , you'd have a pretty bang up system for a single tool at a time for $500 or less. A box store box fan and some good pleated furnace filters will clean the shop for another $30-$40. Bith can easily be taken with you when you move. The collector could even be sold at moving time recouping a decent amount of your money to put towards a bigger cyclone at the new shop.

[Brice Rogers]

Consider buying a powered respirator like the Trend Air pro. They work well with beards. They presurize the helmet and have a curtain around your face. So, you are supplied with fresh air and they expect it to leak out somewhere. They cost around $400 but everyone says that they are worth it.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Consider buying a powered respirator like the Trend Air pro. They work well with beards. They presurize the helmet and have a curtain around your face. So, you are supplied with fresh air and they expect it to leak out somewhere. They cost around $400 but everyone says that they are worth it.

Just bought a Trend Airshiled Pro (Impact version) a couple of weeks ago. I started a bit of wood turning and quickly realized there is not a good way to collect saw dust and shavings at the source like you can on most other tools.

I find it relatively comfortable to wear and it stays in place while I'm moving my head down, such as marking and measuring. I don't find the weight an issue for extended period of wearing it. I put it on anytime I'm using a power tool now. I wear prescription safety glasses and in goes on and off easily over those.

[Jim Dwight]

I also have a beard, I have for nearly 50 years now. I think a mask still reduces dust but I do not wear one while woodworking. I use my DC or shop vac to get as much dust as possible (although the DC needs upgrades still) and let air blow through my shop whenever possible.

My goal for air cleanliness in my shop is to be no worse than outside air that isn't terribly dusty. I do not know if I get there yet but I will find out. But it is important, I think, to note that Bill Pentz's goal is very different. He wants his shop air to be cleaner than most people have inside their house. That takes a lot more. Bill needs this for health reasons but I do not. (Bill also has significantly upgraded the air filtration inside his house for the same reason)

I don't think it's terribly healthy to have a closed up shop without doing something to collect the dust. I used to do it but I did not like walking out all dusty and coughing etc.. But I find that even the simple, relatively inexpensive, equipment I have prevents any gross amount of dust in the air. I need to clean up my shop, I am messy, but that isn't my DCs fault. I am really pleased with Rockler's floor sweep powered by my HF DC but I still have to pick up scraps before I can do a good job cleaning the floor. That is underway, just not done yet.

[Ben Schmidt]

Just bought a Trend Airshiled Pro (Impact version) a couple of weeks ago. I started a bit of wood turning and quickly realized there is not a good way to collect saw dust and shavings at the source like you can on most other tools.

I find it relatively comfortable to wear and it stays in place while I'm moving my head down, such as marking and measuring. I don't find the weight an issue for extended period of wearing it. I put it on anytime I'm using a power tool now. I wear prescription safety glasses and in goes on and off easily over those.

What's the noise like? I feel like that motor running inches from your ears would get annoying after a little while.

[ChrisA Edwards]

You can hear the motor, but it's not loud, above the same level as hearing the engine while driving a car.

With ear protection, it almost disappears.

[glenn bradley]

Dust collection seems to be a passionate topic for a lot of folks here,

It is one of those polarizing topics. those of us who have suffered the impact of too little, too late need to be careful to not terrorize folks with gigantic price tags and tales of doom and gloom ;-)

I have a super dust deputy and a regular one for the shop vac. I like them both. They work as advertised.

If you can, vent the output of your blower outside; this will eliminate the need for a filter.

Prashun has summed up an answer to your question in about as brief and a succinct way as you are likely to get.

Your location is not posted but, I will guess that venting outside is not an option as anyone who can do that earns good-natured, jealous wrath from the rest of us. It boils down to this:
- Get the best you can afford. Given your shop size you can get away with a portable unit and I would spend the lion's share of my budget on the machine itself.
- If you exhaust back into the air you are working in, a bag filter is not going to cut it. A pleated filter will clog quickly and require frequent maintenance in a single stage machine.
- A cyclone will keep your filter cleaner longer and allow decent air quality to be exhausted back into your work space.

You do not mention your height restrictions. There are a plethora of short, fat-cone portable cyclones currently on the market that do a sub-optimal job of separation. This leads to more frequent filter problems than a typical cyclone geometry separator. The Super Dust Deputy mentioned is a good modification for a bagger to get the separation you want. This setup can be challenging to portabilize which means ductwork and the asociated cost of that ductwork eating into your machine's share of the budget.

Using a quick Google search I would stay away from things like the short-cone machines and lean towards a portable long-cone machine if possible. The ones I linked to were just spit-balled and not a thoroughly researched recommendation.

[George Yetka]

Elipse is working pretty well with my beard (about 1-1/2 inch)

There a whole bunch of ways to skin cats. I went the way of starting with 2hp HF(added Wynn air filter to it. the bag does little to save your lungs) and eventually added ducting and seperator.

I upgraded to a Clearvue with ducting.did all install myself not too hard and I vent outside now. Cost me less than 2500 total with all ducting and gates

Looking back I would have bought the HF/ wynn filter and a hose to move around to machines for a while until i could afford the clearvue.

[PHILIP MACHIN]

Just a little update:

Fortune smiled upon me a bit (in the form of a scratch off lotto win), and I have a little more money to work with than I initially thought. I am going to pick up the Dylos 1100 meter, and the Jet Air Purifier.

I'm still mulling over what kind of DC to buy. HF and the Wynn filter is a cheap/effective solution, but I think I can probably do a little better. My garage has 9/10 foot ceilings so I believe that would accommodate most of the tall vertical units. I think I can afford around 1000$ on the DC unit. Any suggestions? Is the 600-700$ Jet unit a well performing option? I'm completely ok with swapping the hose between machines.

Thanks for all the help guys. Sorry for my slow replies, been busy at work.

Phil

[ChrisA Edwards]

Is the 600-700$ Jet unit a well performing option? I'm completely ok with swapping the hose between machines.
Phil

Congratulations on the win....

I've been happy with my Jet, the one I reference in post #3 and #14, that's the one I've had for 5 years.

I think most of these <2Hp DC's are pretty much the same unit with a different paint job.

[PHILIP MACHIN]

Congratulations on the win....

I've been happy with my Jet, the one I reference in post #3 and #14, that's the one I've had for 5 years.

I think most of these <2Hp DC's are pretty much the same unit with a different paint job.

I was thinking of going with one that already had the cyclone built in. Something similar to this guy.

[ChrisA Edwards]

That'll work.