Shop Vac for Table Saw Dust Collection

[Don Penniman]

I realize that this topic has been covered multiple times but I thought I would ask a quick question.

I have no room in my 180 square foot shop for a real dust collection system so I make do with a shop vac and various fittings. My table saw is a cheap but reasonably powerful Taiwanese knock-off of an old Delta design. About 40 years old. How I ended up with it is long story that involves a crazy friend. Not a great tool but with plenty of filing, shimming, and modifications I make it work. It has no shroud or dust port. I made a shroud with plexiglass and baltic birch and a vacuum fitting. It doesn't work for many reasons, mostly it seems that the vacuum intake is not close to the blade (about 2" away), and the vacuum is sucking in air from around the base and sides of the shroud. I have enclosed the base and the only problem is the fine dust kicked up from the back of the blade. A dust mask and a Shop Vac dust filter overhead keep the fine dust out of my lungs, but there is still a fine coat of dust everywhere else.

The question - should I continue experimenting or give up on the idea of using a shop vac on the table saw? Given the dynamics of dust generation, it seems that a shop vac just doesn't have enough power or air flow to effectively collect dust.

(The shop vac works great with a similar setup on my shop-made router table, where the router bit hurls the chips directly into the vacuum intake)

[Michael Burnside]

You need volume, not power, but it might not be the shop-vac and rather the design of the table saw housing. On a 40-year old saw it's probably safe to say that "dust collection" wasn't on the forefront of their design (large cavities/holes, hard corners, etc). While I was waiting for my dust collector to arrive, I tried my festool with 36mm hose on my brand new saw that was begging to be used. While the Festool helped, I can for sure say it was inadequate.

[andy bessette]

Fuggetaboutit.

[Patrick Varley]

I realize that this topic has been covered multiple times but I thought I would ask a quick question.

I have no room in my 180 square foot shop for a real dust collection system so I make do with a shop vac and various fittings. My table saw is a cheap but reasonably powerful Taiwanese knock-off of an old Delta design. About 40 years old. How I ended up with it is long story that involves a crazy friend. Not a great tool but with plenty of filing, shimming, and modifications I make it work. It has no shroud or dust port. I made a shroud with plexiglass and baltic birch and a vacuum fitting. It doesn't work for many reasons, mostly it seems that the vacuum intake is not close to the blade (about 2" away), and the vacuum is sucking in air from around the base and sides of the shroud. I have enclosed the base and the only problem is the fine dust kicked up from the back of the blade. A dust mask and a Shop Vac dust filter overhead keep the fine dust out of my lungs, but there is still a fine coat of dust everywhere else.

The question - should I continue experimenting or give up on the idea of using a shop vac on the table saw? Given the dynamics of dust generation, it seems that a shop vac just doesn't have enough power or air flow to effectively collect dust.

(The shop vac works great with a similar setup on my shop-made router table, where the router bit hurls the chips directly into the vacuum intake)

If you have the bottom enclosed, gaps sealed, and are using a zero clearance insert, you should get some mileage out of above-table dust collection with a shop vac. I have pretty good results with a Shark Guard and a dust extractor even when I forget to turn on the below-table collection which is attached to a 1HP DC. The next step may be in re-designing the guard your using (or seeing if you can get an aftermarket like Shark Guard). I came across a plan for an blade guard collector I was meaning to build until I got lazy and just bought something (https://www.woodsmithplans.com/plan/...e-blade-cover/) that seemed like it should--in theory--address some of the issues you mention.

[Don Penniman]

Thanks for the insights. Next time I have a project with lots of ripping cuts I might try to devise something like the Woodsmith plan.

[Jim Becker]

You could also get one of the small, portable dust collectors that at least work on CFM rather than vacuum and dedicate it to the saw. They are not necessarily inexpensive (see Rockler and Grizzly) but certainly might work better than a shop vac will for this application.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use a dustpan on my 1940s Unisaw. I open the door and clear it out before it gets too deep. If your saw is anything like it I think there is not much hope.

[William Hodge]

A shop vac is god for collecting fine dust spray off the top of the saw blade, if you get the intake into the spray. While having less cubic feet per minute capacity, a shop vac will have more static lift then a blower and bags dust collector.

Collecting the dust out of the bottom of the saw to capture the dust coming off the top of the blade by increasing cfm in the cabinet requires a very large amount of dust collection capacity. The best choice for wood dust collection is to collect it at its source, before it loses momentum and drops from the air stream.

[Doug Garson]

Something to keep in mind. The dust that collects in the cabinet is not the problem*, it is the dust (especially small particles) that gets sprayed into the air (and then your lungs), that is the problem. You can use your shop vac to clean out the cabinet a few times a year depending on how much you use the saw. (*Unless it builds up into the saw mechanisms which is unlikely.) The Woodsmith over arm guard looks like a good design worth the $9.95 plan cost although you could easily build it just from the pictures. For those with a router table incorporated in the right extension, one upgrade to the design would be to modify the post so it could be quickly removed when using the router. I can think of a few ways to do that. Making a Woodsmith style guard is on my list of this year's shop projects.

[Patrick Varley]

Something to keep in mind. The dust that collects in the cabinet is not the problem*, it is the dust (especially small particles) that gets sprayed into the air (and then your lungs), that is the problem. You can use your shop vac to clean out the cabinet a few times a year depending on how much you use the saw. (*Unless it builds up into the saw mechanisms which is unlikely.) The Woodsmith over arm guard looks like a good design worth the $9.95 plan cost although you could easily build it just from the pictures. For those with a router table incorporated in the right extension, one upgrade to the design would be to modify the post so it could be quickly removed when using the router. I can think of a few ways to do that. Making a Woodsmith style guard is on my list of this year's shop projects.

I actually went so far as making CAD files for the guard pieces to cut on a CNC or be printed for use as templates. Happy to share with anyone interested.

[Doug Garson]

I actually went so far as making CAD files for the guard pieces to cut on a CNC or be printed for use as templates. Happy to share with anyone interested.

I'm old school, no CNC or CAD but if you could covert anything to PDF I'd be interested.