Dust Collector vs. Shop Vac for Grizzly G0513x2 Bandsaw

[Elmer Haley]

I just purchased a Grizzley G0513x2 Bandsaw (17") that had two 4" dust ports. It sounds like some kind of suction is necessary to keep the dust down in my two-car garage. My budget is limited. Grizzly has a 1hp Dust Collector for $199 1 HP Dust Collector - Grizzly Industrial. I see some simply use a shop vac. Which of these two choices would you recommend? Is the 1 hp Dust Collector enough to do the job? Will a shop vac be enough to suction from two 4" ports? Or am I best just to use a broom and dustpan after each use? Decisions, decisions....

[John Kananis]

Neither really. If your budget is 200 bucks, check the used sites and you'll find something decent at that price. Even the harbor freight model would be better than the 1hp grizzly and a shop vac has no business serving as a dust collector. Congrats on the saw, enjoy.

I just purchased a Grizzley G0513x2 Bandsaw (17") that had two 4" dust ports. It sounds like some kind of suction is necessary to keep the dust down in my two-car garage. My budget is limited. Grizzly has a 1hp Dust Collector for $199 1 HP Dust Collector - Grizzly Industrial. I see some simply use a shop vac. Which of these two choices would you recommend? Is the 1 hp Dust Collector enough to do the job? Will a shop vac be enough to suction from two 4" ports? Or am I best just to use a broom and dustpan after each use? Decisions, decisions....

[glenn bradley]

This will depend on your use to a large extent. I have a couple of G0513 series saws and either would bury a shop vac in short order during a project. Years ago I sealed the lower port and use something like so . . .

G0513X-DC-mod 002.jpg

G0513-DC-Upgrade (8).jpg

I snapped a pic after emptying my cyclone barrel a half a dozen times and this is all that was in the lower area.

BS-DC-Under-Table-Status (3).jpg

The Cisco sign is just a piece of sheet magnet I use to cover the lower factory collection point.

All in all I don't know that this info is helping you. For collecting for short intervals on a budget a small cyclone setup would probably do you. A vac without a Dust Deputy or the like will clog quickly and lose airflow. A small single stage DC will just broadcast fine dust all over the place.

Dust collection decisions are primarily driven by budget. Secondarily they should be driven by what you are trying to accomplish. If you just need basic chip collection almost anything will do for a short period. If you want chip collection without frequent filter cleaning you will need a separator. If you want to remove the danger of fine dust you will need good filtration on top of your separation.

Anything is better than nothing. The levels of improvement step up from "nothing" with the price following suit. I think this is why the most common response to DC questions is to get the best you can afford. We all have limits; some desire-based, some health-based, and all budget-based.

A small 4" blower with an exhaust outside can do a lot for you. If you are heating your shop in winter this becomes problematic. If you need to exhaust back into your workspace good filtration is critical. Try to put together a long term plan and then step your way toward it wearing additional respiration protection along the way. Most of all . . . enjoy the journey.

[David Dille]

Bandsaws, at least with my limited experience, don’t generate a huge amount of dust. I have a 1 1/2 hp JET and, one at a time, it provides dust collection for all of my shop tools.

Harbor freight has a little 1hp, rolling model, that may work if hooked up close. $140. 2hp larger model $300.

I wouldn’t use a shop vac for a dust collector on a 17” bandsaw.

[Ron Selzer]

Very nice write up Glenn, the fine dust that comes out of dust collectors is not good for anyone in the house.
The top hose on your bandsaw is connected to a shop made box? Would like to see more pictures of it. I am running a late 50"s 19" bandsaw out of a school. Very dusty when only hooked to factory port. Haven't used it enough to do anything yet, but on list of needed repairs.
Elmer, if $200 is budget then you need to stretch a little bit, get a large shop vac with at least a paper filter bag inside before the cartridge filter, a Dust deputy atop a 30-gallon barrel with removable, clamp on top, piped to bandsaw. this will take the fines out of the air. A shop air filter running all the time is a big help. Good dust collection is expensive, no way around it. $500-$1500 dust collectors are really chip collectors putting the harmful fine dust back in the air.
Ron

[Myles Moran]

Neither really. If your budget is 200 bucks, check the used sites and you'll find something decent at that price. Even the harbor freight model would be better than the 1hp grizzly and a shop vac has no business serving as a dust collector. Congrats on the saw, enjoy.

I'll second the harbor freight dust collector (the upright one with a separate filter and debris bag). That's what I have in my shop and it's not perfect, but it's a heck of a value. There is a lot of information on upgrades to it as you have more money, such as an improved filter, transforming it into a cyclone collector, or adding a cyclone separator to it.

[Elmer Haley]

Oh boy, I didn't realize this was so complicated (and somewhat discoraging). The Harbor Freight 2-HP, 35 gal. dust collector has a really good sale at the moment. Am I correct in understanding that it will collect most sawdust, yet project fine dust throughout the garage??? If that is the case, am I just throwing money away?

[Mike Cutler]

Elmer

Look very closely at Glenn's "hack". That pickup he cobbled together under the table is more effective than either of the factory OEM pickups. I have a Rikon 18" Bandsaw and had to do essentially the same thing.
If you only have a shop vac at this point. Build a box enclosure around the blade like Glenn did, and it will be much better than nothing, but not perfect.

I would have to disagree that bandsaw don't create a lot of dust in my experience\. Resawing can put up a cloud of dust depending on the material and how wide it is.

[Ron Selzer]

Oh boy, I didn't realize this was so complicated (and somewhat discoraging). The Harbor Freight 2-HP, 35 gal. dust collector has a really good sale at the moment. Am I correct in understanding that it will collect most sawdust, yet project fine dust throughout the garage??? If that is the case, am I just throwing money away?

Yes, no, maybe First dust collector was bought, 1988 to deal with chips from 12" Woodmaster planer. Working in a barn built in town in 1913, on the second floor. Lots of ventilation due to wood siding shrinking, was good there, I did not worry about dust in the shop THEN. Used to working in lot worse dust at work. Next house never set up a shop, 1999 bought a ranch house with full basement, started building shop in basement. Wife complained about the dust smell, triggering allergies, breathing when she came down and then fine dust on the furniture. Built worktable with furnace fan under one half and 2 sets of 24x24x18 or 24 bag filters now fine dust was under control when fan was left running full time. Still fine dust problem from dust collector. Added a cyclone, it was too big for dust collector, so bought a 3hp 4 bag from Grizzly. Still fine dust problem around dust collector, and not happy with suction at end ports, connected both dust collectors together to the cyclone, still fine dust around dust collectors, bags were not getting dirty as fast. Done more with it since and finally satisfied I am doing the best I can until I spring the $5k loose for a top line home dust collector. I have gone into way more detail on here in the past if you can find it. I also have the shop vac piped to a dust deputy connected to a hard piped system with over 9 inlets. Electronic air cleaner added on to the furnace helps also.
Your money, your house, spend on what you consider important. Garage is a better space than I am working with, as long as you can keep doors and other openings to the house closed and garage door open then you will be able to make it work. Get a leaf blower and blow dust outside.
We all start somewhere, and we have different amounts to spend at different times. I have probably spent $1500, best guess over almost 40 years on dust collection. Never could spend much at a time. Slowing down fast due to health and probably done making major modifications to the shop. Out of room for anymore equipment and need to repair, new bearings, existing equipment.
Good luck
Ron

[Myles Moran]

Oh boy, I didn't realize this was so complicated (and somewhat discoraging). The Harbor Freight 2-HP, 35 gal. dust collector has a really good sale at the moment. Am I correct in understanding that it will collect most sawdust, yet project fine dust throughout the garage??? If that is the case, am I just throwing money away?

The stock filter bag will let a good amount of fine dust out. Depending on how you set up the shop, you can manage this by wearing a mask, working with the garage door open, and cleaning out the fine dust with a leaf blower. There are better bags you can upgrade with, or there are modifications to use a proper filter (Wynn, or a bulldozer air cleaner) that will perform much better.

Before I upgraded the filter on mine, I would say the fines it let out are about as bad as running a random orbit sander with no dust collection.

[Elmer Haley]

Well, I did it. I pulled the trigger on the Harbor Freight dust collector. At $100 off, I couldn't resist the temptation to try it. Thank you to all who provided advice. It is truly a learning experience, and your input is valuable.

[David Dille]

All things are relative. My bandsaws create less dust than my TS, Router, Jointer, Planer, Miter Saw. The only large power tool that makes less dust is my drill press. It doesn’t sound like Elmer has a huge commercial shop and is just looking for something to get him by. I know of no reasonably priced dust collector for a single person shop that filters all the fines out of the air. Best mitigation for that would be to wear a mask. I can literally run my bandsaws without dust collection and wearing a mask. Yes, I don’t do it because it makes a mess in the bottom of the machine but the amount of dust is very small compared to those other tools. I was trying to give Elmer some perspective. I appreciate you opinion though. Just as valid as mine as we are having different experiences with bandsaws. 👍🏻

[Doug Garson]

Spend another $50 and get an air monitor like this, it will let you know when the dust concentration is getting high and you can take the appropriate action (put on a respirator, open the garage door, take a break etc)
https://www.amazon.com/Zetiling-Dete...s%2C155&sr=8-3

[David Dille]

My opinion Elmer. You absolutely need to have dust mitigation. The sawdust makes a huge mess in your tools and around your shop. As I stated to Glen, I know of no small dust collection system that most single person, private shop can afford that will remove fines from the air. I think the Harbor Freight one ideally filters particles greater than 30 microns. The fine dust that you can see. I’m old, have great lungs and don’t worry too much about what the 20 or 30 minutes of actual sawing per day that I do will to them. But, I still wear a respirator style mask when sanding or really getting with it on the table saw. My jointer and planer have great particulate collection in conjunction with my DC and if I’m doing very much, I move outside. IMHO, people get way too crazy about dust. It is harmful and you certainly should be aware but most data is from commercial shops where employees are spending 40+ hours a week, 260 days a year, in a dusty environment.

So my recommendation, buy the best, not necessarily the most powerful, as far as particulate size goes, as spend $50 on a good respirator style mask (like used for painting) and another $20 for a good pair of googles and go for it. Don’t have your shop where the dust is going to be drawn into a living space or a furnace intake. Don’t get too freaked out. Have fun. ��

[glenn bradley]

The top hose on your bandsaw is connected to a shop made box? Would like to see more pictures of it.

I make them from 1/4" ply or luan door skins (both from the scrap bin) and some thicker material; solid wood or ply. The thicker material allows for the Forstner bit holes for the magnets. Pretty crude but effective . This shows my previous 2-1/2" hose "under the table" shroud versus the current 4".

G0513-DC-Upgrade (2).jpg

The variations on bandsaw configs makes a universal fit unlikely. The G0513 series saws look like so:

BS-DC-Under-Table-Status (2).jpg

The two 1" rare earth magnets hold it in place well. It does need to be removed to align guides and so forth but it is just stuck on with magnets so this is pretty quick. It almost jumps back into place when putting it on.

BS-DC-Under-Table-Status (1).jpg

I found a readily available wye to split the pair of 4" hoses from the 6" feeder pretty workable.
G0513-DC-Upgrade (7).jpg

It looks a little clumsy but works well in use.

G0513-DC-Upgrade (6).jpg

I use short sections of hose between the piped duct and the machines as I do occasionally move the saws to allow access for odd shaped pieces of stock.