# Dust collection system for hobbyist



## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

My woodworking life is usually building small/medium size project,could be a cubby shelf for storage,a small floating shelf.or a foldable stool to seai in a park,sign making,usually i build something around every 2/3 months,and it takes me around a week with an daily hour of work

My tools are a circular saw,sander and a router,and i usually work in my balcony or in the living room

the question is,how relevant is it to me all the issue? if it is despite the fact that is not so frequent,what would the recommendations be?

maybe working always in the balcony + a dust mask (for which I would ask what would you guys recommend)
or If i get a shop vac attached to the tools maybe I wont need a mask altogether?


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

welcome to the forum, (yes, we are connected to the RouterForums too). 
I have several of the "newer" hand tools that have have a fitting on them to connect the vacuum hose. Except for the router, I had to build a fitting for it and that is not really in the novice skill set. I lived in Italy for a couple of years with the military and my first rented apartment there was on the 2nd floor. I had my radial arm saw and small table saw on the balcony just for work that you describe. Very seldom did I use the power tools inside the house. It's not the issue of a dust mask, per se, but, all the dust that the tools generate that drifts all through the house. Which means that "somebody" has to do a lot of housecleaning. So controlling the dust at the source would be my first approach - not a dust mask.
I see that you are in Israel ?? We have no clue as to what you have there for ventilation and filtering room dust. If your tools have a fitting for a vacuum hose, I would look into a small Shop-Vac first and experiment with the connections to the tools.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

Circular saws and routers are hard to collect dust from. 

You will have good results with your sander of you get a shop vacuum or dust extractor. This is where your harmful dust comes from.


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## packsteven575 (8 mo ago)

Personally I use a 3M Half Face piece Reusable Respirator 7502 with P100 filters (they are pink). It does an excellent job and I have dust collector on table saw and router I don't know how available they are where you live. I got my filters from welding shop during first 2 years of pandemic.


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## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

John Smith_inFL said:


> welcome to the forum, (yes, we are connected to the RouterForums too).
> I have several of the "newer" hand tools that have have a fitting on them to connect the vacuum hose. Except for the router, I had to build a fitting for it and that is not really in the novice skill set. I lived in Italy for a couple of years with the military and my first rented apartment there was on the 2nd floor. I had my radial arm saw and small table saw on the balcony just for work that you describe. Very seldom did I use the power tools inside the house. It's not the issue of a dust mask, per se, but, all the dust that the tools generate that drifts all through the house. Which means that "somebody" has to do a lot of housecleaning. So controlling the dust at the source would be my first approach - not a dust mask.
> I see that you are in Israel ?? We have no clue as to what you have there for ventilation and filtering room dust. If your tools have a fitting for a vacuum hose, I would look into a small Shop-Vac first and experiment with the connections to the tools.


haha the forum did look very similar.great to see i can count on a good friend for good advice in more than one website

I live in a small apt,very similar to what you described,I just became aware of the whole subject of the danger there is in the small particles
my question is how crazy should i go about it given the fact that i think i do woodworking rather seldomly
If I stick on working in a balcony,maybe a mask would suffice, and if indoors then using a shop vac? 
(what would i look for in a shop vac?)


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## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

packsteven575 said:


> Personally I use a 3M Half Face piece Reusable Respirator 7502 with P100 filters (they are pink). It does an excellent job and I have dust collector on table saw and router I don't know how available they are where you live. I got my filters from welding shop during first 2 years of pandemic.


thanks! for how long do the filters last? (each one).
what is the difference between a dust collector and a shop vac?
and no,as far as im aware i have no clue if I could buy those things here,maybe a shop vac yes,or from amazon.


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## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

BigCountry79 said:


> Circular saws and routers are hard to collect dust from.
> 
> You will have good results with your sander of you get a shop vacuum or dust extractor. This is where your harmful dust comes from.


meaning,a shop vac for the sander and then use a mask for the circular saw and the router?


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## packsteven575 (8 mo ago)

Amazon has the respirators and filters. I got my filters from welding supply during the first 2 years of pandemic.
The P100 2097 has charcoal layer for chemical odors from thinners, acetone etc. 2091 is the same no order filter.
They are excellent filters however being 99.7% filtration they plug faster than others, but filter change is better than dust and chemicals in lungs. I can get a lot of use form pair. A dust collector passes wood debris thru impeller and into bag, impeller is metal and I have heard wood chips hit mine no damage. A shop vac is a good solution as it does not eat up floor space. As an aside John Smith I was in military and live in Tirrenia . Wife and young daughters walked to the beach ( 3 blocks) Have fun and be safe.


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

a548402653 said:


> meaning,a shop vac for the sander and then use a mask for the circular saw and the router?


Basically. The shop vac will clean up the mess after with the saw and router.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

I'm guessing that you don't have a Box Store like Home Depot or Lowe's in your area ? How about a big hardware store ?
here are some photos of "Shop-Vac Related" accessories.


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## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

thanks to all of you guys for the worthy advice.it seems i gotta save for the masks,filters and a shop vac


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## a548402653 (7 mo ago)

John Smith_inFL said:


> I'm guessing that you don't have a Box Store like Home Depot or Lowe's in your area ? How about a big hardware store ?
> here are some photos of "Shop-Vac Related" accessories.


no not at all haha.not that im aware of,certainly not in my area
what am i looking for in a shop vac? 2HP? anything besides that?


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

try to envision the standard 5 gallon plastic bucket with a motor on top of it.
something smaller or larger would be your call. and they ALL have a terrible LOUD voiice !!!!


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