I've been using a shop vac for the table saw and planner. I'm ready to upgrade to a dust collector. The shop vac does a good job vacuuming the saw dust on the floor. Will a dust collector with a 2 1/2" hose running off of
4" hose work as well or should I keep the shop vac for this purpose?
I mostly use the dust collector's 4" hose for cleaning up as shop vac bags are expensive and don't hold very much compared to the two stage dust collector.... The vacuum is saved for "dusting" with a brush attachment and for cleaning up dirt dirt from the floor... Thus, to answer your question, they both have a place in the shop.
John
SWEAP the floor with a broom instead of a vac. Then suck up the dust pile with the 4" DC hose.
Just curious what you mean here. Could one (or should one) use "drywall dust" bags in your ShopVac, or something like that?
Sorry for the newbe question, Bill
The vacuum is saved for "dusting" with a brush
I use bags and a cartridge filter in my shop vac to keep dust out of the air... Though it could be used without a bag and with just the foam filter too much dust would make it through the vacuum and into the air. That isn't a problem if you are vacuuming your car out-doors. However, inside the house or shop I don't want to breath in that dust and I don't want to distribute dust throughout the building.
See these links for examples.
I only use my dust collector in the shop. My shop vac is so noisy that it sits and collects dust. I use a wand and floor attachment on a 2 1/2" hose for floor cleaning. A brush attachment for dusting, and a narrow attachment for cleaning in tight places. It works fine for me.
So, the dust collector has enough suction to use for floor cleaning? I know the collector moves more air but I have read that collectors don't have as much suction as shop vacs. Have I been mislead?
For saw dust and chips it should be fine... assuming you are talking about a
1+ HP unit. Those small wall-mounted units I see advertised now may be a different story."Neal" wrote
I don't know about that. I have an Oneida Super Dust Gorilla and it would suck the nails out of the drywall if all the doors and windows were closed.
Max
Yeah, but can it suck the chrome off a trailer hitch?
How about just ALL chrome bull balls hanging off of trailer hitches?
PSA ...
Bill, I have a small, older Shopvac with the 1.5 inch hose. Probably 15+ years old. It originally came with the Gortex fabric filter, which actually did a good job keeping the dust from escaping. I eventually bought a Sears HEPA filter. Seems my Shopvac uses the same size HEPA filter that the Sears machines use. The HEPA handles drywall dust and doesn't blind as quickly as the Gortex cloth did. To clean I take the shopvac outside, open the lid and dump the contents into the trash. I use compressed air to clean the filter.
Mine is loud as hell, but I actually take it in the house on vacuum day to do all the tile and wood floors. Works much better than the Hoover. I wear a pair of shooting muffs whenever I use it. Must be over 95db.
I vacuum the floor in the shop most of the time. Stirs up less fine dust than using a broom. I also bought a long flexible hose for the Shopvac and plug that into my sander or router which makes a big difference. I have a 1.5 hp dust collector and an overhead fine dust collector. The shop vac fills several needs better than the DC does.
HTH. Roy
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