Dust Collection

[FINER9998]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the relative merits or problems associated with using a dust collection bag in a shop vac as opposed to just letting the debris fall into the cannister and changing or cleaning the filter?

[BadgerDave]

Obviously the more filtration you have the better it is for your lungs, expecially when sanding. I use a small 6 gallon Shop Vac that I use in conjunction with my sanders. I have it equiped with a HEPA filter AND a drywall rated bag. Ever since I added the bag I've found that I don't need to clean the HEPA nearly as often. The HEPA filter by itself did a great job of catching the fine sawdust but with the addition of the drywall bag I think very little, if any, of the fine sawdust excapes from the vac.

I can't really comment on the +'s or the -'s when it comes to hooking up to a TS, Planer, or a Jointer as I have everything but the sanders hooked up to a Dust Collector.