As the amount of woodworking I have been doing in the workshop has increased, so too has the amount of sawdust I have been producing! I therefore identified a very clear need for some kind of dust collection setup, to remove some of the sawdust from the air and to make it easier to make cuts and sand effectively, without a build up of sawdust getting in the way.
There is a wide variety of dust collection options, including some incredibly expensive and complex air filtration systems. However my house is rented so the permanent changes I can make to the workshop (garage) space are minimal and a setup with very large pipework for collecting wood chips sized material is just not needed. The majority of what I produce is fine sawdust from my mitre saw, jigsaw and sanders, so something that can effectively collect that would be perfectly suitable, and a lot more in budget!
After a lot of reading and watching videos advising on air filtration setups for workshops, I settled on a basic shop vac and spent some time investigating the capabilities of a selection online. I eventually decided to start with something basic and within a small budget and got this shop vac from my local hardware store. To reduce the amount of times I would need to be emptying it I did some further research into separate dust collection containers and then ordered a large barrel for collecting the sawdust in online, together with a “cyclone” cone attachment to assist the sawdust dropping out of the moving air. I know the “cyclone” cone doesn’t work the same way one within a more complex dust collection setup would, but the cone seems to be particularly effective at reducing the volume of sawdust passing through to the filter within the vacuum. The vacuum pulls all the air in along the longer hose to the cone through the side and then out the top to the vacuum. This means that dust and larger material immediately drops down the cone and into the barrel, with only very fine dust still being carried through to the shop vac dust collector. In fact, it is such a tiny amount I have emptied the barrel several times and there has only been a very small amount in the vacuum! Plus the suction is really effective for my needs too and I have found it makes a very noticeable difference when using my mitre saw or sanding.
Making a brace for the sawdust barrel 
Completed brace ready for the barrel
Having used the dust collection setup a few times, I have discovered that with certain tools with a smaller hole for airflow into the system, the suction from the shop vac is actually strong enough to collapse the barrel due to the reduction in airflow entering the cone compared to the rate being drawn out by the shop vac. To address this problem without having to build some kind of complicated pressure release valve or add holes to the barrel thereby making it less effective, I just built a simple cross brace to slot together inside the barrel, due to the opening being smaller than the size of the width of the brace required. This was quick to create and assemble inside the barrel and so far, seems to have solved the problem quite successfully. The brace now keeps the barrel in shape no matter which tool is connected to the dust collection hose!
One of the final parts of my dust collection setup was to fit a permanent hose to the back of my mitre saw with a connector for the hose from the dust collection setup. I found it a bit of a pain to post the collector hose underneath the mitre saw bench and up the back in order to connect it to the mitre saw and then to feed it back out again once I was done to use other tools. Especially when I was moving backwards and forwards between tools repeatedly. It was therefore obvious I needed something more permanent that I could connect to when I want to use the mitre saw but that doesn’t stop me from also easily using the dust collection hose for other tools.
The solution ended up being a happy accident, in that we invested in a new vacuum cleaner for the house last year, as the old one became pretty inefficient at actually picking anything up off the floor anymore! So the old one is currently in the garage to go to the tip (recycling centre) once it is open fully again. The old house vacuum however was a similar design to my shop vac, with a body containing the motor and a hose connected to the telescopic metal brush bit. The hose pleasingly was exactly what I needed and after fitting the end from the house vacuum to the back of the mitre saw, the other end which connected to the metal telescopic handle is now mounted in a simple holder at the front of the mitre saw bench. I can now simply slot my usual dust collection hose onto this whenever I use the mitre saw.
I expect I will make further changes to the setup as my workshop evolves and my requirements change, but right now this should work perfectly to reduce the amount of dust in the air (and in my lungs!) and also mean I can use a selection of tools more easily, giving me a clearer view of the workpiece I am cutting or sanding. 🔨
The Woodworking Scientist 
3 thoughts on “Figuring out dust collection”