Show above: a Jet dust collector that Ben was able to score for free in his neighborhood.
Now, shown here, is my Festool CT26 dust extractor, which I purchased a few years ago. It works fantastic when paired with my Festool track saw and sander, and also the router sample and Domino joinery machine I’ve been testing.
It also does a great job when paired with a portable table saw.
But I’ve been discovering its limitations.
Over the weekend I used a trim router with a small nozzle attachment I hoped would catch some chips and sawdust. Nope. There’s a lot of dropoff, and not a lot of suction just beyond the 2-1/2″ outlet part of the nozzle.
(It was a Loc Line nozzle attached to their 2.5″ modular hose and a vacuum attachment. The nozzle works great for fine dust, but next time I’ll pick up the Dewalt dust collector attachment.)
The Festool dust extractor excels when paired with handheld woodworking power tools and some other types of equipment.
I’ve got a router table on the way and have started working with a small woodworking lathe. It looks like I’ll need a dust collector with more airflow.
I’ve read that the Rockler lathe dust collection scoop doesn’t do as good a job when paired with a 2-1/2″ shop vac-style dust collector as if paired with a true dust collector.
Dewalt’s DW735 planer has a built-in chip blower that users have said tends to over-power shop vacs and other similar portable dust extractors.
I’ll be putting a lot of maple and birch through that planer in a few weeks, and will likely channel the dust into pail, garbage bin, or similar. There is no way my Festool extractor can handle the chips output from a planer, even a portable planer.
Something like the Big Gulp dust hood ($16 via Amazon) seems useful for some of the work I do, and it’s said to be good at collecting dust thrown out the back of a miter saw, but I’m thinking it’s probably not going to be very effective at gathering chips and dust when connected to my Festool vac via 4″ to 2-1/2″ adapter.
Maybe that Big Gulp will work better as a shield that deflects chips and dust to the vacuum hose. Its design seems to suggest that – if I use something like that where the bottom is flat or inclined down to the hose, it might work better with my dust extractor vac.
I’m left with a dilemma… do I buy a dust collector with 4″ port, and if so, how big do I go?
I have the needs for one, and my budget can handle it, but I’m not quite sure I have the space for one – at least not the size that’s most suitable for personal woodworking use.
There are some wall-mountable systems, such as Rockler’s. There’s also a new canister-type filter that improves the filtration efficiency of that Rockler unit. But… the main unit is $250 and the canister filter $200. So that’s $450 right off the bat.
And although it’s wall-mountable, it’ll take up appreciable space.
Some user reviews say it’s comparable in power to their shop vacuums. It also lacks a cyclone stage, which would cut down on bag changes.
I have a 220V outlet in the corner of my workspace, and plenty of 15A outlets wired with 12 gauge wire and connected to 20A breakers, and so I can go a little beefier.
So then I came across a portable Laguna dust collector,the B Flux 1, for $500 via Acme Tools. It looks okay, but I can’t find much info about it online except for a single 2-line user review complaining about an air leak that Laguna customer service told them to seal with silicone.
At $500 for this setup, including a mobile base, the Laguna seems like a better buy than Rockler’s dust collector and canister filter duo.
All of Laguna’s marketing efforts seem to be on their much larger and more featured full-size dust collectors.
I came across some good-looking semi-mobile dust collectors by Oneida, but they’re rated for over 15A. I would ideally like a 110V <15A unit that can be moved around my workspace with greater ease. If I’m going 220V, I’d stick the dust collector in the corner by the outlet.
So then I looking at Clearvue, Jet, and other typically well-regarded brands, and the cost goes up along with size and weight, while mobility goes down.
I won’t have a traditonal woodworking shop setup, at least not anytime soon. I’m working towards equipping my new workspace with a more fluid setup, where I can roll mobile-base-mounted tools out of the way, or shelve lighter benchtop tools when they’re not being actively used.
With more space and upgraded electric, I want to upgrade to a larger benchtop milling machine, maybe a benchtop lathe.
So do I compromise when it comes to a woodworking dust collector, or keep putting it off?
Right now, space is my biggest limitation. I’d really like a good wood jointer, but where to put it? I’d also love to buy a cabinet-style table saw, but where to put it? A track saw and portable table saw can substitute for a large table saw, but every time I shop around for a benchtop jointer the negative reviews discourage me.
I’m very reluctant to seriously consider the smaller Laguna dust collector, shown above. It would be a good compromise, but it seems to have been designed to be “more affordable.” And if I take Laguna’s zero marketing as a sign of its lower popularity, what happens in a few years when I need a replacement filter or other parts?
Thoughts? What would you do in my place?
“Work outside with messy tools” only really works a few months out of the year. I tried to do that yesterday, but it started to drizzle every time I moved some tools to the driveway.
Maybe my short-term solution is to design some kind of shielded downdraft table that would work well with my Festool vac. I’m sure I can come up with a way to trap fine sawdust, and if I can at least contain larger chips for easier cleanup, that will put off this headache of a dust collector purchasing decision for a while longer.
The frustrating part is that I have the budget for a good dust collector. It’s the right tool for the job. I just don’t have the space.
Realistically, I’m not going to have large woodworking tools, such as a cabinet saw, jointer, planer, drum sander, or shaper. Maybe eventually, but not anytime soon. Maybe I should take that as a sign to hold off on getting a large dust collector.