Follow these best practices to get the most out of your dust collection system. I don’t think that there has been something that’s increased my enjoyment in the shop as much as getting a good [...]
Hoses and dustports come in so many different diameters that you can go crazy trying to match them up. Sometimes, you can find a hose or adapter that will fit inside a dustport, but its smaller [...]
After hooking up my new dust collector to my contractor’s saw, I found that it just didn’t pull as much air as I’d like, even after sealing up the most obvious leaks. After further inspection, I [...]
If your shop is inside or attached to your house, you know that migrating sawdust is a problem, especially if you do a lot of power carving. To minimize dust, I cut out one side of a 65-quart [...]
Zero clearance inserts are wonderful for eliminating tear out, but unfortunately, they also eliminate dust collection. To give my collection system an opening to pull sawdust through, I cut a [...]
Practical solutions for a cleaner shop Vacuum-Assisted Bench I got tired of hooking my bench tools to my shop vac. Now I simply plug their dust collection hoses into the bench. I drilled and [...]
Tool: eCAPR Respirator Shop Now Manufacturer: MAXAIR MSRP: $769+ If you’ve been a subscriber to Popular Woodworking for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I like to turn. A few issues [...]
Tool: DWV010 8 Gallon Dust Extractor Shop Now Manufacturer: DeWalt MSRP: $419 A true dust extractor with HEPA-level (removes at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any [...]
Dust is a real problem when you can’t use a router table’s fence and its dustport. Here's a clever way to suck up that dust using your shop vacuum's nozzle.
Even with a zero-clearance throat plate in my tablesaw, a thin cut-off slips through now and then. These pieces can clog a vacuum hose or damage the blades of a dust collector. I made a trap to [...]
Here’s a quick way to get all the dust out of your machine’s nooks and crannies. Most shop vacuums have one port for vacuuming and a second port for blowing. Hook up a hose to each [...]
The dust collection port on my sliding miter saw missed a lot of sawdust, so I added an additional port mounted directly behind the blade. The port is a piece of 3-in. ABS pipe that’s cut at 45 [...]