Using dust collection to vacuum

[David Song]

Can you use dust collection like the one linked below to do the job of shop vacuum? Yes, I'm trying to save money and if this dust collection can do the job better, why spend the extra $.

Pros and cons for using DC in place of Vacuum would be appreciated.

http://www.woodcraft.com/product.asp...FamilyID=20305

[Prashun Patel]

While not optimal, you CAN do it.
You don't want to use yr dc for vacumming metal stuff though, because if it sparks around all the saw dust, there's a possibility of ignition.

You can reduce the probablility of sparks by adding a preseparator.

If it were me and I was on a budget, I'd get a cheap mobile dc for the table saw and use a shopvac for everything else. Shopvacs are more mobile, and can be used for wet pickup too.

[glenn bradley]

Rockler has been busy marketing that approach while others state clearly that a DC is not a vacuum so don't set yourself up for disappointment. I occasionally take a quick connect hose off of something to suck up a bit of sawdust around a machine. If I want to suck up all sorts of debris, I use a vac. The big Ridgid goes on sale at HD frequently for about $100. A new impeller for your DC will beat that. A 5 yard dump truck and a Honda Prelude are both motor vehicles but one does something well that the other doesn't. JMHO.

[Keith Outten]

David,

My opinion is 180 out from everyone else it seems, I use my dust collection system to vacuum all the time. I have a 25 foot long hose with a 4 foot long piece of PVC pipe on the end that I use to vacuum the floor and just about everything else in my shop. Performance wise the DC is ten times faster than a ShopVac and I can't say that the steel impeller in my DC has ever been harmed but its a wonder I guess.

My DC piping is all PVC so I've never worried about sparks. It could hapen I guess but it would be at the impeller, not inside the pipe. I don't use bags with my system, the outlet blows through the shop wall to an exterior chip box.

Works for me!
.

[Sonny Edmonds]

I have done both.
But when you do use your DC system as a vacuum, you get a lot of dust in your final filter. The fine dust that does not separate out, but instead goes into the filtering media.
What I do, and advocate, is 3 levels of dust collection. Have a DC system for the tools, have a shop vac system for clean up and small tool collection, and finally, have an air filter to clean the air.
So you are going to spend $XXX.00 on a dust collection system. Cool!
And you don't want to spend $XX.00 in a shop vac????
Besides, a DC will not compare to the ability of a shop vac to suck up the dirt and dust. Static pressure of a radial blower is 8 - 14 inches of water column. Static pressure of a shop vac is many times that, usually 50-60-up to over 100 inches of water column. More suck for the buck, and better/easier cleaning out of the unit.
A DC does bulk dust collection. A shop vacuum does intense spot cleaning.

This question is like, "Can I use my miter saw to rip with?"
You could, sort of, but it isn't what the tool was made to do.