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After many years of faithful use, my beloved Craftsman 6 hp, shop-vac has sucked its last shaving. Its last request was that I take yet another shop-vac as my little helper around the shop and not digress to the 'broom' for any longer than grieving would require. That was two weeks ago, and now, I'm ready. Ready to get out there and see what new low pressure horizons lie ahead. 

Seriously though, the loss of the vac has been tough. My shop has never looked so unkept. I've been looking at new vacs here and there and have been kicking around the idea of installing a central dust collecting system. What I've discovered is that I need a new vac sooner than the time it will take to do all the research. I hate to buy anything and wish later that I had done more homework.

So, I'm asking the all knowing list for recommendations on current brands of shop vacs or dust collecting equipment appropriate for a small but busy rod shop? Has anyone purchased one of the Grizzly dust collectors or recently purchased a new shop-vac? Anyone not happy with vac equipment? Any tips? (Jim Harris)

A one hp Grizzly dust collector should serve you well, but buy or make a first stage barrel to collect the bulk of your shavings in before they get to the impeller blades or you'll keep clogging up. Good article in one of the old Fine Woodworking magazines. Some hardware store in GA had plans in their catalog for making one on the cheap. (Brian Creek)

In addition to making the system two-stage as Brian suggested, make sure your dust collection system is grounded, that is, the collection piping is grounded so you don't get static creating a spark igniting the dust and shavings.  If you use plastic pipe, run many grounding wires. (George Bourke)

PS: Sawdust is about as explosive as grain in grain elevators and it seems one of them goes sky-high every year. Just put a little flour on your fingertips and toss it into a candle flame. (George Bourke)

I have the Rigid 5 HP shop vac and the Rigid portable air filtration set up. While not a large unit, the air filter works like a charm. I think you will need a good shop vac as well. I think these two are a cheaper alternative to a central system. The 5 HP vac works great for the mill and roughing beveler. It sucks up shavings without clogging. I bought both at the Home Depot. (Bob Maulucci)

Are these systems vented to the outside of your shop or do they exhaust back into the room? (Mike Canazon)

I let mine exhaust into the room. I thought about exhausting outdoors or putting the unit in an enclosure outside, but then realized that there would be enormous heat loss from my shop in the winter and A/C loss in summer. The negative pressure would pull in air from the outside. It would be like a 1 1/2 hp air pump on my shop. (Steve Weiss)

For me a two stage system makes the most since & works well. The first stage collects the big chunks and the second collects the dust in a filter. I have a set of plans for a two stage system around here someplace from an old "Wood Worker's Magazine" article. Any shop vac could be used for the final stage instead of the power house suggested unit located between the first and second stage. (Don Schneider)

I just purchased the Grizzly G8027 dust collector ( the smallest one with an upper and lower bag) in January. My shop vac has been relegated to the garage. With a 3" hose it will suck up just about anything that gets in the way. MUCH quieter than a Shop vac when running with a lathe or when sanding by hand and using it to pull off the dust. I have gotten very sensitive to wood dust over the years and this thing is a life saver.

I had built one years ago from old clothes dryer parts and a fiber drum, but it was scrapped several moves ago. If you are seeking to run an entire shop with multiple tools running at once, this one would be too small (low CFM), but for 1 tool at a time in a small shop it works great.  They have what they call floor sweeps, which is a trap door at floor level and is designed to sweep stuff over to it and it sucks it up. I also vacuum with mine but keep the pets and small children away. (Kurt Clement)

I've been using one of the Grizzly dust collectors for about 7 years now and it works great. I have the 2 bag, 110 volt version. I had to buy the .5 micron bags for its original intended use, because I was cutting and routing a lot of balsa for a model airplane kit business I used to own. I set up the shop using the 6" flexible hose, "T" and "Y" fittings, and about a half a dozen "gates" to hook up to my individual machines. It didn't catch all the dust, but it caught about 95% of it. I ended up also building a ceiling mounted "fine" dust catcher, made out of a couple of really fine furnace filters, and a squirrel cage fan unit. I'd say that caught about 99% of the rest of the real fine balsa dust. Balsa dust is really nasty stuff, in that it's so fine, and light, and it gets everywhere. I ended up also wearing a respirator whenever I was cutting and routing the wood, otherwise I'd be coughing for a week, and blowing out balsa nasties in my handkerchief at night. Cane and the woods we use for rods shouldn't create that fine of a dust, so you shouldn't need to go to those extremes. I also have a "T" drop with a gate and a bench top collector, so I can sweep the crud on my bench right into the mouth. Don't need a dust pan.... I've got the same setup to one corner of my work shop floor, so all I have to do is sweep the floor mess over to the collector. No need to bend over if you don't have to. The nice thing about the flexible hose, if you ever rearrange your shop like I just did, you just move the hose. With the solid pipes, it makes it a bit more difficult. If you do go with a dust collector, make sure you run bare copper wire through the ducting from the dust collector to each individual machine, so that you ground out the static build up in the hoses or pipes that you use. It's pretty amazing how much static electricity can build up in those hoses or pipes. I've heard stories of dust explosions and fires caused by the static electricity build up. If you have any other questions, let me know. (Mark Wendt)

You can also mount the final filter outside if you wish. I can't find the article so I went to the Wood Magazine web site. They do not have that back issue but you can get a pretty good idea of how it works, see a picture of it and order the plans. What's that saying about chrome & trailer hitches? The 750 CFM should be more than you will ever need. The expenses in these thing are the blower & final filter.

Wood Magazine http://www.woodmagazine.com/

Idea Shop 3 - Dust-Defying Cyclone, Nov 97, Issue 100 Page 54 Look under downloadable plans: Cyclone Dust Collector Plan. $7.95 http://store.yahoo.com/woodstore/cycduscol.html

In issue: April 1997, Issue No. 96, Page 58, Article "Lowering the boom on dust" tells you how the different systems work. I do have a copy of this one. (Don Schneider)

In outfitting my "Bamboo Shop" I purchased a Sears on the Wall vac. It is made by Shop Vac for Sears. It goes on the wall and has a very long hose (~40 ft) with the standard tools. It seems to do the job and lets one clean my whole shop area without moving the vac - a big plus for me. (Frank Paul)

I've spent most of the past week rearranging my shop so that a couple more workbenches could be added. I literally took everything in the shop, except the lathe, outside and dusted it off, then wiped it down with a damp rag, before bringing it back in. Threw out two huge garbage bags full of junk, much of it belonging to my better half. My shop looks so nice right now that I'm thinking of taking some pictures for future reference. [;-)]

Therein lies the problem. I could not believe there was so much dust. Filled up the Shop Vac a couple of times. Top shelves had more dust than I could ever imagine.

Here's the question... Do any of you have suggestions for keeping the dust semi-controlled? I'm very familiar with woodworking dust removal systems, but in my tiny 6.5'x18' shop that's a little like a $100 saddle on a $5 horse. I'm pretty diligent about using the Shop Vac, and I have one of the small hepa filter arrangements from Wally World near the varnishing area. It seems to me that almost everything related to bamboo rodmaking creates clouds and clouds of dust, from check splitting to polishing out the varnish. (Harry Boyd)

Just smack your pant leg or your shirt sleeve and look to see how many dust particles fly off. Or just move your light bulb that you work under.

My trade is Heating and Air and I think the best thing you can do is use an electronic air cleaner attached to your furnace, and then put a Exhaust Fan on the opposite side of shop, then all dust will collect on opposite side of your shop. (Dave Henney)

I too have suffered from a bad dust problem in my shop. My breathing has gotten so bad that I had to stop making rods for nearly a month. I previously had bought an air cleaning system for $250.00 with the hope that it would take care of the problem, wrong! What I've finally done is to first clean the entire shop, then I put doors on the front of both of my workbench's. This has really helped to keep the dust from settling on all of my shelves and tools, being as the shelves are behind the doors. I also added shelves and now keep almost nothing on the top of my workbench's. Nearly everything is stored behind the doors so the dust don't end up settling on the tools and materials that were perviously on top of the benches. I can actually now see the top of my workbench and can easily clean it with little effort. I've also stopped all sanding in my shop. If I need to sand anything, I now take it outside, no matter how cold it is. Haven't quite figured out! what I'll do in February when it'll be 30 below? (Jim Bureau)

Here’s a funny thing. I work out of my garage to make my rods. It is a wood shop with sanders, table saw etc. My wife is a fantastic tole painter. I taught here how to use all of the tools, this way I do not have to do it. Dust is a way of life here. One way I deal with it is I open up the garage door and get out the leaf blower. I set that sucker on tornado power and have at it. It looks like desert storm with all the crap that comes flying out of my garage. I let the dust settle and do it again. When my wife comes in and starts up her belt sander I just walk out. The last thing I want to hear when I am planning is Whrrrrrrrrrrr! The crazy part is even if no one is working in the shop everything gets covered with dust anyway.

Thank God for the drain tube for finishing. (Adam Vigil)

I have considered purchasing one of the muffler systems for shop vac or vac systems. They claim a 50% reduction in noise. Has anyone used one & found it up to claims? Any place to get a discounted one? (Chad Wigham)

A trivial point, but when considering the cost recall that a 50% reduction is only 6 dB. In other words, if your vac is like mine, and is ~95 dB SPL (very loud), it will only drop to ~89 dB SPL (almost as loud). (not a whole lot on the loudness scale for the money.) If it dropped it by 90% (~20 dB to 76 dB SPL), that would make a real difference. (David Smith)

I had a Shop Vac brand and it was so loud I'm sure OSHA would not let you work there. I solved it by buying a Fein from Woodcraft when they were on sale. They are quite quiet to start with. (Dave Norling)

I have one. It seems like it is just as loud without it attached! (Bob Maulucci)

I use a muffler, Shop Vac brand, on the same. Never put a dB meter to it, but 50% seems about right. It no longer screams in my ears. This is a small one, just about a 45 degree elbow, about 6-8" long overall; not the one that reaches down almost to the floor. A little loss of suction power I think, not much. Makes the vac sound tolerable for a short period. (Rick Funcik)

These posts on shop vac mufflers got me to thinking. What is the best, quietest, shop vac? I abandoned my old Montgomery and Ward shop vac when I oved to Colorado. Even with ear plugs the old one was very loud and disruptive. It was literally a pain to use.

My basement finishing, including rod shop, is close to being completed and I'm in the market for a new vac. Does anyone have suggestions for a new model that has sufficient power and still allows one to hear themselves think. (Mark Cole)

IMHO all shop vacs make to much noise. If you are doing the finishing touches on your shop anyway, is it possible to mount your vac in another room/space, run the hose through the wall along with a remote switch? (Don Schneider)

I would think you'd want it in another room anyway, regardless of noise because the exhaust does stir up any dust. (Unless, of course, your workshop is in a Class 100 clean room. (George Bourke)

It would be possible but, I'm looking for something more portable that I can use to clean the car and move around as needed. (Mark Cole)

Could it fit both your quietness criteria and your portability criteria just to have the Shop Vac hose hooked up to PVC that runs into your shop and the Vac turned on and plugged into an X-10 outlet. Then, for shop work you can control it from another room (your shop) with any of the cheap X-10 controllers and for portability you unplug the Shop Vac and pull the hose off the PVC, what could be easier??? (George Bourke)

As a woodworker as well as a rod maker, I can tell you that some of the best and quietest shop vacuums made are by Fein. They are available at Woodcrafters and other woodworking stores. The mini-turbo wet/dry vac sells for $149.95 with accessories and its noise level is advertised at 63 db at 3.5 feet. This model filters down to 1 micron. The next up model, the Turbo II Vac includes an electronic switch that automatically turns on the vacuum when you turn your power tool on. It sells for $229.95 plus accessories. The larger model is quoted at 58 decibels. I attended a bandsaw demonstration that had a 14" Delta bandsaw plugged into the turbo I. Several people in the front row placed their hand on the vacuum to be sure that it was running as you could not hear it above the bandsaw. Both models  can  occasionally  be  found  on sale.  Watch AmazonTools.com.

These vacuums will do a great job of keeping your shop clean without a lot of noise, but my experience is that a shop vac is the wrong tool to pick up bamboo plane shavings. These large balls of twisted shavings will quickly clog a small diameter hose. They are better picked up with a dust pan. (John Sabina)

It didn't use to bother me much, but these days it's driving me nuts -- the dust. I think most of the problem comes from using an orbital sander, but lots of other activities seem to produce dust I guess.  Anyway I've had it and seem to always be vacuuming with not much result. So I'm thinking of getting one of those ceiling mounted air filtration units. Woodcraft has a Jet model at a pricey 200 bucks. Will this kind of unit solve the problem?  Anyone with some experience or recommendations. (Bob Milardo)

Hate to say it, but I'm not so sure the ceiling mounted dust collector will help much. I put one in my shop about a year ago, and I still constantly vacuum, wipe, and cuss the dust bunnies. Mine is a $300 Delta model. The Jet may be more effective. (Harry Boyd)

While it may help, the best thing to do is control the dust at the source. Check out the Grizzly catalogue, they have many kinds of dust collectors for different power tools and some that work for sanding areas. A small dust collector will work better than a shop vac for these kinds of collection systems, they are designed for the larger piping. (John Channer)

I have a Jet and a Delta 1 HP dust collector on each side of the shop that collect dust directly from the tools. I also have a Rigid air filter that runs in the shop most of the time. I make a lot of saw dust, and it helps but does not cure the problem. I still sweep up pretty regularly. I think Jeff Schaeffer has one of those Jet units hanging in his shop, maybe he will chime in. (Bob Maulucci)

Todd Talsma's brother-in-law is a professional sawdust maker. The shop where he works has dust collection that exhausts into two feedlot-sized silos through 4' diameter main ducts. They still have to sweep up all the time. Dust is, well, dusty! (Brian Creek)

I have a ceiling unit AND a dust collector. Both help, neither is perfect by any stretch. Still have to wear a dust mask, dust myself off when I leave the shop, sweep/vacuum often etc. (Neil Savage)

The Jet has made a difference- I usually run it whenever I am sawing taper jigs or sanding reel seats on the lathe. And if I remember to turn it on, a couple hours before dipping then off to let everything settle. Two other tricks: 1) installation of HEPA filters on both my ShopVacs and 2) regular changes of the furnace filters. I spray the furnace filters with PAM no-stick cooking spray and it makes a huge difference in how much junk they pick up.

The only dust problem I have not solved is how to keep SWMBO and the teen age daughters from letting the three dogs down into the basement every time I am right in the middle of the final dip on a rod that has to be ready in time for a fundraiser. The miserable curs head right under my feet as I am seated in front of the dip tank and begin fighting. Then they race to their kennels and pull their blankets out and parade around with a lot of head shaking and tug of war. And let us not forget about the eau de skunk that was added Saturday night, and seems to get worse every day.

Most rodmakers polish out dust, I polish out fur. (Jeff Schaeffer)

To remove the 90% of the dust from a room every 10 minutes you need to filter the room air 14 times an hour. For example: a room that is 10' x 10' x 8' requires a filtration rate of 187 CFM (800x14/60). If the unit produces this volume of filtration, it is worth the money to relieve the discomfort. (Lee Koeser)

I put in a JDS cleaner a couple of months ago. I haven't had the opportunity to test it severely, but I can tell you that it has reduced the visible dust in the air, as seen through streams of light, etc. (Larry Blan)

I have the Jet unit in question and absolutely love it. It works great.

I don't have individual devices at each shop installation so I simply turn the Jet on and use a regular shop vac. My shop vac gets all the heavy stuff and the Jet gets all the airborne stuff. I've been working with MDF lately and if you've ever used it, you know how much powder it leaves. The Jet has left my shop clear of the powder that usually deposits the next day.

By the way, I don't have mine ceiling mounted but have it sitting on a table. I'm going to devise a rolling closet of sorts which will allow me to store the unit against the wall in my "shop" (garage) and let me roll it out when needed. The closet will let me store stuff or even hang rods to dry. (Jim Lowe)