# Harbor Freight DC



## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

Hello All,

i'm looking to set up some Dust collection in my small basment workshop.

the onloy things that will produce dust in my basement are a delta miter saw, porter cable table saw pcb220ts and a dewalt random orbital sander.

its a rather small space and i've got a similar budget. i just want to not be sick and sneeze all the time and keep the dust down as much as possible. 

i was thinking about purchasing the HF DC the smaller portable one that comes on casters, i'd plan on making a thein separator and possibly upgrading the bag and moving my DC unit around to my different tools when need be. i wouldn't have very long tubing run anywhere and using the separator woudl avoid chewing up my impeller blades...

does anyone recommend a different strategy than this? if so, what else shoudl i do?

also i plan on making one of those box fans with a filter to help move some air around a little bit but more on that later on.

thanks in advance, 

Sebastian


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

The small portable DC that harbor freight has might work for your situation, but BEFORE you buy it, I would look into seeing if you can get the upgrades that you are talking about, namely the bag. That would be a deal breaker for me if I couldn't upgrade the bag.

Definitely looking into making some sort of air cleaner also. The box fan with the best filters you can get would be a good start.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

I think you will be extremely disappointed by that plan. The miter saw is very hard to control regardless of what you do, and the ROS would likely be much better off with a shop vac attached to it. A DC (not that one) might do well for the TS if you have a port on the TS to connect. But for any DC, plan on at least 1 micron or tighter filtration...otherwise it will just spew the finest particles back into the room air. Suggestion: consider the HF 2 HP DC with some change in the filter (new bags or canister) and a shop vac. With both of those, the miter saw will still be a struggle, you'll likely have to construct some kind of hood for it...and it will depend, in part, on what miter saw you have.


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

As has been mentioned, your better off using a vac direct connected to the ROS. Unless your TS is enclosed, DC is problematic. Otherwise you can hope to get most(?) of the dust with upper and lower collection, which means a two hose hook up and some extensive work to fashion the collection devices. The miter saw really needs a hood and is probably the only tool you mentioned that will allow decent DC with the hood. I made a hood for mine out of a 33 gallon plastic storage tub. Laid on it's side with the DC connected at the bottom (side), it does a decent job and a darned site cheaper than a commercial one.
The suggestion of using a box fan and a really good filter is a good one, too.


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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

so my table saw has a collection port where the majority of all sawdust is spit out. this port swings with the blade if its beveled. if this is what is meant by an enclosed table saw, then i'm golden. otherwise, i dont see the difficulty in setting up a piece of ply under the saw and mounting a 2" port there so that a dc line can be hooked up to it. this however woudl still require that i hook up another line to where the majority of all sawdust comes from which would necesitate y connection.

in any case, i guess ill get started on that fan box with a great filter. 

thanks for the tips on using a vaccuum for my ROS (i'm proud of myself, i looked up the thread with all of the acronyms in it).

does anyone have any pics of a hood dc for a miter saw?


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Here's a couple pics of my home made hood.
It's not visible, but I used a toilet flange on the bottom to connect to the DC hose.


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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

very cool sir, i will try to make something similar. 

so just that i'm understanding these concepts correctly. 

shop vac moves small amounts of air rapidly.

dc moves large quantities of air, just not as fast as the vac?


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## toolguy1000 (Oct 4, 2012)

that's a very clever hood idea. gonna file that one away for future reference.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

srestrepo said:


> very cool sir, i will try to make something similar.
> 
> so just that i'm understanding these concepts correctly.
> 
> ...


That would be correct. Thinking of a shop vac as a sniper, and the DC as a bomb.... Shop vac works really well for localized suction, and a DC works good for large areas that need suction.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

srestrepo said:


> shop vac moves small amounts of air rapidly.
> 
> dc moves large quantities of air, just not as fast as the vac?


A shop vac is a low flow, relatively high suction device e.g., 90+in Water in a good machine. Good for use with a tool which has lots of small channels and crevices, like a Random Orbit Sander.

A dust collector is a high flow, relatively low suction device, e.g., 10+in in a good machine. Good for use with a tool with a large internal volume, like a table saw.

The specifications are all at the inlet to the machine, which means no hose or duct. As soon as we add hose, duct, fittings, we introduce pressure drop and things can change a lot - but we are always losing "head" which means we then lose airflow.

If you purchase a shop vac, get one with a 2 1/2in hose. The machines with 1 1/4in hose do not generate as good a flow, due to pressure drop in the smaller area hose.

I have a Fein Turbo I and Turbo III. The specs on these are very similar, but this is measured at the inlet with no hose attached.

The Turbo I has a long 1 1/4in dia hose. The Turbo III has a shorter 2 1/2in dia hose.

I have done a side by side comparison at the end of each hose. Not scientific measurement, just holding my hand over the ends since I do not have any instruments to measure. The Turbo III generates a lot more suction and flow at the end of the hose than the Turbo I.

I got the Turbo I for the wife since it is lighter to move around.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

Gene, how well does it work, say, a 12" mitre saw?

Does it blow back much towards the dust source?

Thanks,

Dale in Indy


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