Finds: Power Carving Dust Collector

Controlling wood dust in the shop is a major concern.  If you do a good job of it, clean up is a breeze.  If not, it’s a major PITA.  And tools like the Dremel Stylus make keeping your work area clean even harder because they remove tons of wood quickly and efficiently — turning it into tiny dust particles that go everywhere. 

That’s why this tool caught our eye.  It’s essentially made of two large-ish computer fans in a box with a filter.  It draws up to 500 cu-ft/min of air from your work through its filter, putting the dust in the filter instead of all over you. 

It’s a bit expensive, starting around $179, but still seems like a good idea.  Better yet, why not make one yourself?  Computer fans are easy to source as are DC power supplies.  All you’d really need to do is shape the box correctly to accept filters from an existing source — like the semi-HEPA filter in most modern shop vacuums.  I’d imagine that something like this could be assembled for more like $50 instead of $179 — and less if you have a good parts stash around.

Street Pricing: Power Carving Dust Collector [Froogle]