Thread: Workshop bagless vacuum cleaner and dust extractor

Originally Posted by roundnbrown

Looking for suggestions for
1 cheap but effective bagless vacuum to clean the shavings etc off the lathe and Workshop floor after a turning session


2 decent chip and dust extractor . It's the < 1 micron particles which do you in, so I guess it will have to have an expensive ( x $00) pleated filter cartridge.

if you add a floor sweep to your second item, you won't need item 1

Hi R&B,
Yes i would agree with Ian,
thts is what i use to keep dust down and clean up
after a session in the shed, no need to double up
D.C. outside the shed to noisy inside
cheers smiife

Originally Posted by roundnbrown

Looking for suggestions for
1 cheap but effective bagless vacuum to clean the shavings etc off the lathe and Workshop floor after a turning session
2 decent chip and dust extractor . It's the < 1 micron particles which do you in, so I guess it will have to have an expensive ( x $00) pleated filter cartridge.

I'm with Ian on; If 2) then no need for 1).

If you are worried about small particles then you might be interested in the following.
After testing about 3 dozen Dust Extractors (mainly needle felt [NF] and pleated filters [PF]) once they are conditioned there's not a lot of difference between the filtering efficiency abilities of these filters.
If anything on average the NFs were slightly better than the PFs.

However, the PFs have other advantages,
i) because they have a bigger surface area they will have improved flow i.e. let more Cubic Ft per Minute (CFM) through the filter
ii) they have easier and better cleaning mechanisms -= i.e. internal paddles V beating the bag with a stick.

The DC filter materials are rarely a problem compared to the fact that most Dust Collectors (DCs) I have looked at that have serious leaks around or in the filters.
Typically the leaks happen
- around where the plastic collection bags and filters are sealed up against the filter housing - just a simple ruck or fold is enough to create a leak
- pin prick leaks or bigger in the filters/bags. This is caused when fast flying sharp bits enter the bags/filters or the DC is left running for long periods and the sawdust swirls around and around in the collection bags eventually wearing holes in the bags. DCs that are moved around also have more leaks than those fixed in one place.
These problems are why it's better to place conventional DCs outside a shed, or at least inside a air tight container that vents outside a shed.
Better still a well designed cyclone with a solid collection canister reduces these problems considerably

Putting the DC outside only solves the back end of dust management as fine dust is concerned because if it is not collected to start with then it contaminates the shed and exposes the woodworker on an ongoing basis.
To capture the fine dust at source a DC that can draw a real 1000 CFM at source is needed and you should bear in mind that manufacturer ratings for DC CFMs need to be divided by about 2 to get real CFMs
1000 CFM is only possible if 6" ducting and larger type of DC is used, for reference, 4" ducting is limited to ~400 CFM and 5" ducting is limited to about 700 CFM.
To maximise flow at source and hence collect most fine dust at source most hoods or naked duct openings restrict flow.
There is one type of hood that works better than all the others for fine dust and that is the bell mouth hood.
Here is what mine looks like - I have a twin bag 3HP DC located outside the shed.


It does not capture all the big chips that fly off but they are not a health issue but it does catch all the fine dust coming off fine work.
I have tested this out using a particle counter and I can turn/sand for long periods (hours) without increasing the fine wood dust levels in my shed.