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Hey guys what do you all do for dust collection for power carving. I am setting up a dedicated bench for this in my garage so I have some options.
What I have done in the past is rig a shop vac to hold near the peice, but that is not terribly effective.
Are the bench top units any good?
Is a mobile floor model with a hood close better?
Could a small box with shop vac attachment mounted into the bench right below the surface work?
I used to do only power carvin at one time when I did decoys out of Tupelo.
I used a cheap 20" box fan and housed it in a plywood frame. A small 1"X 1" strip around the inside allowed me to sandwich 2 -20 " air filters between it and the fan. I then added a slanted top where I could position photo references and on each side added 2 swing arm lights.
Smaller versions could be made using those dual window fans or something similar. But this was all so dirt cheap and really effective . Occasionally remove the filters and blow them out.
Shop vacs aren't effective unless you're right in front of the nozzle. And many others seem to have drawbacks as well . I didn't want to sit there with a laptop type either as that gets in the way and is a nuisance.
To to really minimalize this you could just tape a couple of filters right on the fan. I've seen them under $20.00 and the filters are a couple of dollars. Sit it on the bench , turn it on and off you go.
And this is much quieter than having to listen to the whine of a shop vac . 5 minutes of that and I'd quit carving.
Let me also suggest that you put a small fan behind you blowing past you toward the filter system.
No need to if something like this is used. On low speed all the dust is pulled away. On high ,, even using a Kutzall bit in a Foredom spinning like mad the sawdust rises about an inch and makes a 90 degree turn for the filter.
The draft getting pulled past you works terrific. Used this for years no problem or dust.
Good to know, thanks.