I read through the thread asking about Harbor Freight dust collection. Most seemed to either have one or recommend it.

I need more info for 2 thoughts.

How do I determine how powerful the blower needs to be? 1hp, 1.5hp, 2hp...?

I don't have dedicated shop space, so I'm envisioning something that's either portable or can support hose lengths that make it wherever I am cutting.

Also, does anyone use dust collection system for fume exhaust for welding? Would a system the vents outside work well for both?

For sawdust yes?  

As with all things woodworking you should get the best tool you can afford when you need it.  I have a 2 HP in my shop but I’ll likely upgrade to an Oneida 5 HP Dust Gorilla in the next couple of years.  Hard pipe right up to each of my tools with blast gates on each line and at each tool.  

Don’t know shit about welding venting.

Separate systems for metal and for welding, don't mix the two.

I don't have a dedicated shop, I have my woodworking tools in my garage and most of them are benchtop models - but still, dust collection is a necessity unless I want a total mess in the garage.
I simply use a 2.0 HP wet/dry vacuum and connect the flex hose to whatever tool I'm using at the time.
It works fine, but the vacuum really fills fast when I'm using it on my jointer or planer!

If using a shop vac for dust collection, put a dirt devil on top of a five gallon bucket in line.  It will save a ton of bags and/or filters for the vac.

I have one built into a workbench system.  I never have dirt or dust in the vacuum.  I just empty the five gallon bucket.  I have four blast gates going to the table saw, a floor vac, a down draft table and and extra port for attaching to portable tools.

I purchased a basic Rikon single stage collector.  It works great for a single tool at a time (as was the case when I got it), but I will say that when plumbing for multiple tools or even using a surface planer the limitations become very apparent.

So without too much detail, I vote for the most powerful / largest unit you can afford and accommodate.  Outgrowing a system and needing to purchase an upgraded unit is not fun.

Get one that has a cyclone setup that drops the dust in a trashcan, much easier to unload than one that puts in in a cloth bags. Once you takeoff the bag once to empty and redo it it you will understand how frustrating that task is.

You don't want the welding fumes going through a saw dust collection system, seems to me to be a fire waiting to happen. Also welding fume hoods usually have some sort of activated carbon filter that is used to filter out the worst of the chemical fumes from flux and crud on the metal being welded.

My general advice for DCs: The HP rating of the motor does not matter for anything but being "enough" to spin the size of impeller the designer chose for the blower.

Likewise, ignore manufacturers CFM ratings.  Unless they give you their test parameters, the number doesn't mean much.   What cfm...at what restriction?

For a dust collector, the important thing for you to look for is the size of the impeller.


Mind you, unless you are willing to spend more than a couple hundred bucks, you're really shopping more for a chip collector than a fine dust collector.  Fine dust collectors need ALOT of flow.

Look into building an air cleaner to constantly cycle your workspace air.

Also, whatever consumer grade DC you get, DO replace the cloth bag on top with a big fine canister filter.  This will give that DC it's best performance with both increased flow AND finer particulate capture (pleated filter has smaller holes but alot more of them)

For welding fumes?  Inline blower or something and vent it outside.  Same as some people do with laser engravers and 3d printers

You keep telling yourself that the motor and its rating does not matter but I know better.

An undersized china motor WILL shit the bed under hard use long before a properly sized American motor. The 'buy once - cry once' concept is real and for many professionals - 'downtime' can cost a LOT of money. A properly sized motor is not going to have issues in the long term even if things become 'restricted' every so often. Powering through it is not a joke...




American Fabric Filters. (that is the company name)


They will custom make anything you want, to fit anything you want, attach to whatever it is however you want, at the airflow that you want, and filter whatever you want, to whatever micron rating you want...



There is plenty of reasons you do NOT (or very, very rarely) see canister type filters in production shops... Especially so when it comes to catching fine dust... :)




A good quality fabric filter (or filters) will last pretty much forever and do jobs that a canister filter simply can't. (or at least not for very long LOL!)

This motor 'could' do the sucking for the entire shop if I wanted to run all the pipe for such but due to the size (15 real American HP - not little HF chinese horses) but due to the jet engine sound it makes when running (loud as hell is putting it mildly) it only gets used for the one sander that makes the most dust.



Notice how the baghouse bags are hung right at trashcan height for ease of emptying? Roll the can under each, undo the zipper and done! Floor space is also still usable to some extent...



The part that is supposed to be only for catching the bigger stuff and chips - Fills up with fine dust as well seeing as how there never are any chips to catch...




What a properly sized and spec'd American fabric filter looks like when in use -



Notice that is is not blown up tight as tick like what you would normally see with under sized and over restrictive china crap... :)

This collector came with a china canister on the top and plastic bags for the bottom. Never used either before replacing with AFF stuff that filters better and will last forever... :)

It doesn't matter so long as it is sized properly for the overall design of the blower.  Yes, we agree.  Not sure why you thought I said it didn't matter at all.

All things other things being equal, 2 blowers with the same design impeller and housing with the same restriction and spinning at the same speed will move exactly the same amount of air at the same pressure regardless of motor rating, so long as both are powerful enough to handle the load put on them.

The HP rating has nothing to do with how well a blower will move air is all I was saying.   You could fab up an adapter to run your dust collector with a 3ph 25hp motor...but it won't move anymore air than it did with the stock 2hp motor.

That would last for a million years under the most harsh of conditions.






As filters become clogged (some will call it 'seasoned') and thus actually filter 'better' and pass / flow fewer particulates and make for more pressure on the motor...


You don't really want a motor that can barely pull off what you are asking of it (how much air you want it to flow) for a sustained period of time when things are perfectly clean and flowing in the absolute least resistance to flow that they can.  

You want the motor sized large enough to be able to work comfortably (not overheat or otherwise crap the bed) under whatever the 'normal' load would be.


It is cheaper and easier to go bigger and better on the motor than it is to try to go with fewer restrictions / 'smoother' air flow in my opinion.

The harbor freight dust collector will do you fine. Especially if you just want to exhaust it outside.

I’ve been running a harbor freight blower with a larger wen impeller and 6” inlet for 8 -12 hours a day 3 days a week for 5 years without issue. If it really were to shit the bed I could get a replacement and swap impellers and input housings in 2 hours and be set for another 5 years for a couple hundred.

And I could do it a couple more times before I get to the cost of a quality American motor and blower.