Sanding Station Dust Collection

[Ken McColly]

Has anyone ever plumbed in a "whole-house" vacuum system for use on the ROS in lieu of using a shop vac? I'm tired of having a rolling machine on a leash. It seems to have a tendancy to park where I want to walk or stand.

[Lance Norris]

Im not sure what you mean...most of us have dust collectors that are piped into the dust ports of our large machines. If you are talking about something like the Vacuflow systems that you just plug in your sweeper hose and move from room to room, I dont think it would be much more effective than a shop-vac for dust collection. Thats why dust collectors are made. They move many more cfms than a shopvac and are much more effective. Even the smallest 600 cfm dust collectors are better than the best shop vac. Some of the good budget ones are from Delta, Jet, Grizzly and Harbor Freight

[Alan Schaffter]

Im not sure what you mean...most of us have dust collectors that are piped into the dust ports of our large machines. If you are talking about something like the Vacuflow systems that you just plug in your sweeper hose and move from room to room, I dont think it would be much more effective than a shop-vac for dust collection. Thats why dust collectors are made. They move many more cfms than a shopvac and are much more effective. Even the smallest 600 cfm dust collectors are better than the best shop vac. Some of the good budget ones are from Delta, Jet, Grizzly and Harbor Freight

A contrare- shopvacs with their much higher static pressure are much better suited to dust producing hand tools- ROS, biscuit jointers, Domino, etc., etc. with small (2.5" or less) dust ports, than a big DC which is designed to move large quantities of air at usually much less SP than a shopvac.

Ken, a plumbed shopvac or whole house vac system is ideal for a ROS. I have my shopvac in an enclosure to reduce the noise, and use 2" pvc to plumb it to my bench. I may move it to another room. I have also been looking for a cheap scratch and dent Beam central vac unit- they are usually quieter than shopvacs.

[Ken McColly]

Thanks Alan -

I never thought of putting my shopvac out to pasture, and just plumbing it in. I will do that in the interim. What I was considering was one of the central vac systems that are plumbed into new construction. That will be my ultimate goal, but the shopvac will work til then. I am also in the process of building a RAS/CMS bench that will do double duty as a downdraft table. Between the two systems it should get rid of the vast majority of the stuff.

Ken

[glenn bradley]

I purchased a long 2-1/2" hose that reaches nearly everywhere I need it in the shop. I add a 7' samller hose that hooks to the ROS, router and such. I have a 7 foot 2-1/2" hose that extends the "anaconda" on clean-up days to reach the far corners. My vac always stays put. The hose and all attachments hang on a rig mounted above it that also holds the 5gal. cyclone.

[Chuck Tringo]

I would consider a high quality Vac before a central vac unit. Something like the Fein Turbo III or another 2 or 3 stage vac...price is better than most central units and pulls more air watts as well (twice as much as some of the central vacs ive seen if my math is right). Also the Fein Turbo III is quiter than most, and quiter that any borg bought vacs by far.

[Alan Schaffter]

For a really slick system that will allow you to go much longer before needing to clean or change your shopvac filter (one of the big disadvantages of a shopvac) is to run it through a mini cyclone- not a trash can lid wanabe- but a real mini cyclone designed for use with a shopvac like the one below from ClearVue which is currently on sale.

[jerry nazard]

I'm with Alan on this one: 2" PVC, shop vac, mini-cyclone, and lots of pipe and blast gates. I recently ran a pipe upstairs to the kitchen and it works great. In the shop I also have vac nozzles at drill press and bench mortiser. Love the clean!

-Jerry

[Don Brubaker]

WARNING: Anyone considering using a whole house vac system for their workshop better check with the manufacturer. I think you will find that it is not intended for this type of use. All that sawdust can clog, can potentially explode, and the units are just not intended for that much, or that kind, of debris.
They can be used for a little "clean-up", as many have an outlet in the garage. I may be off-base, but I have one and have experienced "adverse effects" when over using for sawdust or similar very fine particles. This is not just related to the filter at the unit, but in the built-in pipe system.

[Chuck Tringo]

Theres a guy on that huge online auction site who sells one also, just search for dust cyclone in home and garden and it will come up. With shipping its right about $100, but its steel, not plastic and it works great. I filled up a 5 gallon bucket twice with very little entering my shop vac bag, and my gore cleanstream hepa filter still looks new.

[Steve Perez]

I'm tired of having a rolling machine on a leash. It seems to have a tendancy to park where I want to walk or stand.

Ken, something else to consider ...

Install a decent quality set of 4 swivel casters of at least in the $40 to $50 range (for the set). You'll love walking your shop vac now as it will be more obedient. Install 'em on a ply base and secure your vac to it or install them direct.

I also have it plumed behind a work area. The PVC terminates above head level so the hose drops down and never touches my table top or interferes with anything. It just connects to the tool I am using.

[Rod Sheridan]

A purpose designed vacuum such as the Fein is ideal for this situation.

At work we use Nilfisk vacuums for the same purpose.

At home, I use my Oneida cyclone for my Random Orbital Sander, and it works great.

The hose for my sander has a small opening in it to allow air flow while the sander is sanding, and I open a 4" gate downstream from the gate I have my sander connected to, to generate enough airflow to carry the dust to the cyclone.

Regards, Rod.