# Small shop dust collection



## bigarm (Mar 11, 2015)

I have a very narrow, small shop. It is 9' x 30' but the front area has 3 doors (1 front and 2 side doors) which cuts into the space. All the outlets are on the one side wall and the back wall. Currently I have a Harbor Freight dust collector which seems to work fairly well, but takes up a lot of space. I either need to find better use of the space or downsize the dust collector or both. I have a Domino and am going to soon get a Festool track saw so have considered getting a Festool vacuum or maybe a Fein. I know they can be used for small hand held tools. Can they also be used for the bigger things, table saw, sliding miter saw, bandsaw? They are pretty expensive and I probably will have to save up for them, if they are the better solution. I also have a Rigid 16 gallon shop vac which I can use, but have heard it would not be good for sanders because the suction is not adjustable. What ideas or solutions have others done?


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Can they be used? Yes, but they won't do a very good job.


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## Mort (Jan 4, 2014)

There are variable suction adapters that go on the vac hoses. Fein and Bosch make them. 

If you do get a Festool vac get a dust deputy so you don't go broke buying bags. Just don't tell Festool you did it, you may run into warranty issues.


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## ddsalt (Sep 8, 2015)

I used a shop vac for years, still do for smaller tools. There is no substitute for a properly sized dust collector for the larger tools.


Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

I use a Shop Vac for every tool in my shop except my table saw. I just don't have room right now for a dedicated DC and the shop vac with Laguna cyclone (and my added Thien separator) does a very good job on all the other tools. When I use the TS it's just a given that I'll be doing some cleanup afterward.


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## TheGeekPub (Oct 29, 2015)

I also have a small shop. Roughly 16 x 16. It's connected to back of my garage. I just recently installed a dust collection system. I went with a Grizzly 2HP dust collector, but I also installed PVC pipe around the shop, along with iVac automated gates and switches. You can watch my video here: Installing Automated Dust Collection

A lot of people tell me it is overkill for my shop, and it might be. But I actually use it all of the time now! When I flip the switch on my table saw, the gate opens and the dust collector turns on. When I turn it off, the system shuts down. I can't tell you how many times before that I tripped over the hose on the floor, or worse I ran the dust collector for 10 minutes before I realized it was still connected to the other tool and there was a giant pile of sawdust on the floor behind the one I thought it was connected to! 

That being said, I also have a remote control. This is a wonderful thing. If you don't make any other dust collection upgrade, just get a good remote control for your dust collector and carry that around with you in the shop!


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## bigarm (Mar 11, 2015)

Nice video!


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