I'm going to go 6x3 or 6x4 melamine top with dog holes for the workbench and try and figure out a folding outfeed table for my table saw. I thought about putting the saw in the middle of the room but then I'd have to get creative with dust hose routing and all that stuff so decided against it for now. May revisit once I actually start moving stuff around.

 

I think all of my dust collection will be on the ceiling except the second inlet on the system I am going to bring out on the floor from the closet and have a flex hose to hook to the table unless I can find another option.

 

I think that's what I may have to resort to if I decide to go to the middle with the saw. I have two dust collectors right now (big and small) and am trying to get all my bigger tools like table saw and jointer to one side and put the big collector there. The smaller one can go on the other side where I have smaller tools like the spindle sander, drill press, and miter saw. Workbench will have a dust extractor in it so I can avoid overhead or long pipe runs. I do plan on putting in a shop air filter on the ceiling though.

 

Is one built into a center work bench as powerful as a full size one and just running a remote hose? I have not looked into it enough yet. I am putting an extra circuit in my utility closet in case though. The full room air filtration is on the list as well.

 

Depends on what you mean by powerful. The one for bench duty is more than powerful enough to suck a sander to the surface, to the point that I have to turn it down to get it to work properly. Dust extractors are meant for things like sanders and smaller tools that make more fine dust than the big chips that come off a table saw or jointer.

Also a good dust extractor isn't cheap, plan on paying ~$600+ for a good one.

 

I know I can dive in and make it expensive fast but some research seems to show some of the budget ones with a filter upgrade are not bad to start with. Although I usually hate buying stuff twice at the same time.

I was hoping to get away with one of these two and an upgraded filter. But might just dive in and get the Grizzly instead.

https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...tor-59726.html


The Grizzly would be a buy once and be done though for sure.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/gri...series/g0548zp


Then I have been looking at these two for air filtration.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-Sp...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.grizzly.com/products/gri...w-remote/g0572


Even though I now am going to have a dedicated shop with doors to the garage to keep the dust in. I would really like to keep it still to as little as possible.

 

Honestly, Grizzly is pretty shitty and you might as well get the HF instead for similar quality. Plan on doing mods to make it good/effective though. It sucks (not in a good way) as-is out of the box.

I have the smaller of the HF dust collectors for one of mine (the small one): https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...tor-31810.html

The dust bag is shit on this one and I rigged it to hang on the wall rather than on the floor. You can easily buy better dust bags. Added a separator to keep the chunks out of it and it has been solid.

Then I added this beast for the table saw and jointer: https://www.rockler.com/rockler-wall...hoCu6EQAvD_BwE

Got it on sale for less than this, wait and you might be able to as well. Added a separator to this as well. Works awesome.

For my workbench vac I splurged... https://www.rockler.com/festool-ct-m...tor-574837-bdl
This thing is fucking awesome though. HEPA filtration, super quiet, and you can trigger it to turn on when you flip the tool on. Expensive but mostly worth it. This runs all my bench tools like sander, domino, jig saw, router, etc.

I was looking at the WEN ceiling filter and read some not great reviews. Jet makes a nice one for ~$450 that I'll probably go for. I feel like that's not really something to cheap out on.

 

Dang so what you are saying is one powerful system I can put in the closet and run pipe through the shop to each tool won't work with any of these? I was trying to not buy multiple systems and have a separate for my table.

Appreciate the suggestions for what you have narrowed down.

 

If you're going to do a centrally mounted system with lengthy pipe runs, you're going to need a lot more power than the HF or Griz are going to provide. Think more along the lines of an Oneida or a larger Laguna. You need a lot of power to move air over a long distance not to mention the lack of flexibility for where you want to put tools and cost of hard line pipe runs.

I decided against doing hard runs just because of the lack of flexibility and price tag. I got an expanding dust hose from Rockler and it works great to reach any point in my shop and compresses back down once done.

I guess this also all depends on what your end goals for tooling are. Do you plan on getting a big cabinet saw and jointer or are you going to stick with the smaller tools?

Edit: One other thing to consider is the application. For tools that make bigger chips (table saw, jointer, planer, maybe router, etc) you want a high volume, low pressure system like a dust collector to be most effective. For tools that make finer dust (sanders, routers, etc) you want more of a high pressure low volume system like a dust extractor/shop vac to be most effective.

 

Big boi dust collector installed. Turns out the hose I had for this wasn't long enough for the new install so I didn't really get to run the damn thing.

Next up is work bench construction as soon as I can get this dust collector going and table saw operational. I guess it is right now but would make a huge mess without the vac connected.

 

It's how you use it that really counts though.

 

Fear not, a long girthy hose was ordered to ensure the problem is fixed.

 

Ok so not even with only one tool operating at a time can I run like 20ft of pipe off of those. That will be a problem. Looking up some of the brands you suggested it seems that I am going to need more than a dedicated 120v circuit then to power them as well. Hmmm, I need to figure this out this week then. I was really trying to keep this stuff all self contained and out of the way but that is proving it might be harder that originally thought.

 

No one likes a show-off

 

Yup, 20ft of pipe is a lot. Remember that's just the main run, you'll have more losses from the main trunk to splits, tools, through connections, blast gates, hose size differences, etc.

I also looked into doing the same as you're suggesting with one big ass unit but it was just not worth the cost of doing it that way vs 2-3 localized units.

 

Going to have to really price out the cheapest way to do a single unit this weekend cause I would rather not maintain and empty more than one. I trust that you did you due diligence on it though. Even if I could get one to work the chop saw and drill press and the wall and hide it in the closet but still 20ft of pipe and then you a second on my island table for the table saw, router, and planner at least that would be better.

 

Chop saw and drill press you can get by with a shop vac with the high pressure, low volume situation. They don't run that often or for as long so going this route is actually a great way to do it. Easy to hide a shop vac or similar in or under some cabinets, make sure you get a good separator though. The table saw, router, and planer will need a real dust collector to be effective.

FWIW, there's very little maintenance other than emptying the bins out. Something you have to do regardless of if you have one or more than one. If you have just one, you get to empty it more often lol. Make sure you get a good filter or filter bag whichever way you decide to go.

Edit to add, also look into getting some way to remotely turn all your units (if you go with more than one) on/off remotely. I can't even describe what a game changer that was for me.

 

Would it be possible to install some sort of baffle system that lets you close off certain areas to keep the max flow available to area you need it?

 

Yep, you definitely have to have blast gates for each tool drop otherwise nothing will work no matter how big/powerful your system is. You can definitely add more but then you're just adding more complexity, failure points, leak locations, cost, etc.

I've thought a lot about this.

 

I just let the dust go where it wants. I call it character.

 

Fixed.

 

Here I am wanting to install a setup so that I have almost no dust when I should be embracing it.

 

I think you might have sold me on running two of these at least for the time being. My next question is, do you think that Festool unit is powerful enough to be hooked to 3 tools at once on a center table or do you still need to move it around each time? I might just end up using two of those in my setup. One for the island and the other for the drill press and miter saw on the wall.

 

I too splurged on a dust extractor a few years ago and freakin' love this thing: https://www.flexpowertools.com/12-ga...vacuum-460060/. It was a lot cheaper than the Festool at the time so I opted for it and it's been a beast. I primarily use it when I go to client sites but when I'm at home cutting things on the Table or miter saw, routing, etc, I plug it in and it keeps things nice and neat. I definitely can't recommend a quality extractor enough.. If i had a dedicated workshop, i would opt for a stronger built in unit, but the mobility of a unit like this is amazing as well.

 

I want the built-in setup but early on I might have to go for something else as spending $3500-5000 on a dust extractor is not in the cards. It would be the most seamless option so going to have to search the rest of them. The bluetooth remote for remote turn on is pretty cool with the Festool.

 

The Festool (pretty sure all of them) extractor isn't designed to stay hooked up to multiple tools at once. It's essentially a one tool at a time type of thing. I plan on making a boom arm that goes out over my bench and have the dust hose come down from that. I can then easily swap between tools from there since I'll never be using more than one tool at once.

I wouldn't use an extractor for a tool that generates a lot of big chips like a table saw though, you should definitely get an actual dust collector for something like that. It might be ok for a jobsite saw like you have but there's no way an extractor is keeping up with a larger saw if you plan on upgrading eventually. Getting one big wall mount dust collector and a long hose is what I've decided on. Easy enough to swap between tools and allow for flexibility while I refine my shop layout. I may get a permanent setup eventually but I don't want to do that until I firm up a layout.

The BT thing is cool but I just plug into the port and it turns on when the tool turns on. I don't have the BT thing now but will more than likely get it because it makes it easier if you just want to vacuum up dust...and because my new layout will have the machine in a less accessible spot.

 

BT is not necessary, i use this set up for remote turn on

https://www.ivacswitch.com/


also Jet makes some affordable options as well e.g. : https://www.rockler.com/jet-vortex-d...r-dc-1100vx-ck.

 

Their control box is cool. I wish it was 20amp though so that you could use a table saw and the collector at the same time. I assume the collector uses at least as much power as my shop vac would and together on the same circuit they would trip my 20amp breaker.

The Jet is affordable I just didn't think it had the power to handle a fully plumbed system with like 5 stations with gates. It seems you need 3hp or above for that.

 

Best practice would be to have the dust extractor on its own dedicated circuit anyway
what do you mean, they do have 20 AMP versions, in fact, it's the one exact one i use: https://shop.ivacswitch.com/collecti...-remote-switch

 

This is the way.

My shop has 3 circuits, two 20A circuits for tools so that I can have big tools on one and dust collectors on the other and one for the lights so they wouldn't go out if I ever tripped something. I never use the big dust collector with smaller tools so they can be on the same circuit.

 

I was looking at this. https://shop.ivacswitch.com/collecti...vac-switch-box

 

I have gone crazier. Two 20A for outlets on the work bench wall, 2 20A that will feed the center table, and then two 20A in the closet one for air compressor and the other is where I was going to put the dust collector originally. I might have that last one upgrade to 240 30A though as that I think is what would be needed for a dust collector if I ever build a full shop system. Oh and a 20A for the dust filtration. I likely could combine the circuits for the two for the table and the two for the outlets on the wall though since I could never use them at the same time.

 

FINALLY bought a track saw. Been a long time coming but this is the second to last major addition to my tool collection, the last being an actually good band saw.

Found this one on FB marketplace a few mins after it went live at an absolute steal so I grabbed it. Some guy bought it 3 years ago, never used it so it's literally brand new, and decided to sell it and probably $400 worth of add ons (two clamps, two tracks, track connectors, 3 more blades, etc) for $100 less than the price of a new saw alone. Apparently he had like 15 people in line after me lol.

 

Congrats on the new saw. Sounds like a smoking deal. I always here about people talk about these but can't say I understand what you gain over a table saw. I obviously don't understand their purpose cause there must be a good reason as I know a lot of people want them and you wouldn't have bought one if it didn't make something easier in your work flow.

 

Ever tried to cut a 4x8 sheet of plywood whole through a table saw? Sucks and is very dangerous. With track saw, lay it on the floor and get a dead nuts straight cut.

Joint a long board or need to make a precise cross cut bigger than miter saw can do? Track saw. Cut an assembly flush? Track saw. Trim table tops to size? Track saw.

Every woodworker I've talked to has said the track saw is the biggest game changing tool in their set up.

Also the dust collection is 1000x better than a circular saw since the blade is entirely enclosed.

 

Well sounds like my tool list once I have the shop setup just grew by another item. For my last two tops I just used a circular saw and a level clamped square to the top. I am sure that is much more accurate. I finally gave in and bought a circular saw this weekend after considering borrowing friends for the 4th time in 2 years and here you are telling me I need another saw.

 

That's what I'm here for.

I did the same as you for a long time and never got good results.

Circular saw is still good for rough cuts and when you don't really care all that much about precision so not bad to have one on hand.

The awesome part of this is that I can run the track saw from the outlet in the bed of my truck so it's "cordless" and has an absolutely enormous battery to drive it.

 

My first go around was the top for my egg table. I just used a finish blade in the circular saw. The second was the top for my TV cabinet. On that I ended up choosing to leave about 1/16 to 1/8 and then clean it up with the router. I will eventually sell myself on one of those as saving time from having to do a 2 step process.

I mainly just bought the cordless circular saw as I am about to start building the catwalk in attic area of the garage before I being wiring my low voltage stuff and I didn't want to deal with a corded saw my neighbor has.

 

Cordless circular saw is an amazing thing to have. Cordless tools in general are an amazing thing to have. Would not recommended corded for most tools these days.

 

man the festool Track saw is definitely high on my xmas list.. their splinter guard gives me gentleman boners...