Poll: Dust Collector vs Shop Vac

i would like to start a Poll between shop vacs and dust collectors.

If given the opportunity to add the vac of your choice which would you prefer?

Option 1 a Shop Vac

Option 2 a Dust Collector.

I prefer shopvac, but there’s a couple reasons:

-I designed my CNC cart to hold a shopvac
-My dust collector is WAY across the garage

This might help

  • Shop Vac
  • Dust Collector

0 voters

It worked for you! Must be some Inventables Magic that I do not have :stuck_out_tongue:

Nah, just check this out:

Ya I think I figured it out, there has to be a space between the " - " and the option or else it doesn’t work.

Anyways back on topic! I don’t have a Dust collector but I want one, less noise, and better suction (I think) than a shop vac.

That’s not exactly true. They work differently, and you may not get the suction you need when you decrease the diameter of the hose. At the very least, you should employ a splitter, with an adjustable gate on the side that does not connect to the machine. It will need to be at least partially, if not completely open for the dust collector to operate at optimal efficiency, which, irconically, will increase your suction at your dust boot. There is also the problem of incredible amounts of static electricity when using a dust boot and the very sensitive Arduino electronics. I have both and am 100% reliant upon my shop vac.

Fair enough, I don’t know a great deal about either system. I would be mainly looking to get a dust collector for the noise. My shop vac is louder then my X-Carve!

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I bought a 1.5 hp Hepa portable Dust Collector (DustFX). Quick to set up, quieter than shop Vac, Healthier, love it.

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just ordered a harbor freight dust collector. will be building a separator also. currently using a shopvac however.

Ryobi ShaopVac, but with a Dust Deputy in line to pre-filter most of the stuff out. Works really well.

I’m running a shop-vac with a Dust Deputy right now, but I’d vastly prefer a dust collector. They’re made for the extended run times, and they move a lot more air which will greatly help overcome the DeWalt’s tendency to blow chips out from your dust shoe.

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Continuous run is the keyword. Shopvac sucks more air with smaller diameter hose, but can’t run extended time. If well designed pipe system used, dust collectors runs as long as needed with no heat generated and noise level is the plus advantage.

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I will add all shop vacs aren’t created equal. The Fein and Festool units are more expensive but much quieter than the other models you are familiar with and commonly find at a home center.

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:airplane: $$$$$

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For the most part

$$$$$=Quieter

$=Louder

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Dust FX 1Hp Hepa Dust Collector

This is the one that @DougBornyk has and the one I’m looking at getting. Not bad price ($500 CAD which is like $50 USD :stuck_out_tongue:) Compared to the least expensive Festool (which is still more expensive) the Dust collector comes out on top in specs IMO.

Festool CT Mini Mobile Dust Extractor

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I really like the Festool Set up but it was more money. The DustFX was an easy set up and runs quite. It’s like a Hum in the background of my X-Carve, and does a fantastic job of extracting the evil dusties. I just have to tighten up a few areas for a better seal. Good part is I can move this baby to a larger work area when needed.

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The $160 (on sale) 2 HP dust collector from Harbor Frieght has performed very well for me. I have a 2.5 inch line from it going to my dust shoe and a 4 inch line I leave open to increase air flow. It has a 5 micron filter that keeps the shop air very clean. I can run the thing all day and it never even gets warm. It is also much quieter than the shop vac I was using before.

3 Likes

If you are up for it, read the Bill Pentz (billpentz.com) pages on dust collection. It is long but covers in detail. If you do the HF dust collector replace the bag with a good hard filter like clearvuecyclones.com uses from http://wynnenv.com/

There is a HF conversion that uses Wynn filters. Sorry, I don’t have the link.

Hope some of this helps!