Did a search but didn't find anything of relevance.  I am a hobbiest woodworker working out of a semi dedicated 2 car garage.  Semi dedicated meaning I need to be able to move everything aside and park at least one car whenever there is a chance of hail.  A dedicated shop is a short term goal (5 years or so), so any purchase I make I try to take into account the current setup as well as the possible future setup.

I have a table saw, planer, router table, band saw, and 12" miter saw, plus the usual small tools like sander and such.  I use a shop vac for everything right now, but am in the market for a dust collector.  There will never be any need to handle multiple tools at once.  Here is what I'm currently looking at:


https://www.rockler.com/jet-vortex-dust-collector-1-5hp-w-canister-filter-dc-1100vx-ck

I'm familiar with the Jet brand, but have no experience with it directly so don't know if it is G2G compared to other brands.  I definitely want to stay under $1k.

Any recommendations?

should be alright. amazon and other places have 2 hp collectors for well under $500. i highly recommend a cyclone separator inline with your dust collector, as well. cheap to buy and use and makes emptying chips soooo much easier. check your local craigslist for deals; i'm less than $300 into this:

Believe it or not, the Harbor Freight dust collector  is pretty good, especially for the price, and you can often find a 20% off coupon.  Add one of these Wynn cartridge filter and you'd be good to go.  There are also a lot of videos on Youtube on modding the Harbor Freight unit.  I built something like this which works very well.

ETA: Thien baffle info here.

I second the HF idea with some mods and then add two WEN air purifiers/filters in the garage. 

If you have a window in your garage that opens you can also vent the DC direct outside and purge the fine dust rather than deal with filter bags. Just another option. 

I'd agree that getting a cyclone is your best bet.  However, you are looking for portability and something to get you buy until you can have a full blown wood shop.  



portable dust collector

Here's something else to consider

When you have a shop set up, you could dedicate this to a single machine.

I have a small shop so I went with a wall hung unit. Been installed for about three months now and it's working great. I'll add a 20/30 gallon cyclone when I get the right bucket. I'm just a hobbyist so it only sees use once a week or so.

Check craigslist for units and systems.

Attached File

Get one with a cyclone in front of the fan.

I would recommend saving a bit more and going with a Clear Vue cyclone. If you can exhaust outside that is the best scenario. You need to understand the difference between "chip collection" and true dust collection. Chip collection makes the shop look clean. Dust collection protects your lungs, and your families lungs if the shop is attached to the house.  

Your dust collector is the most important tool in your shop. If you want to read about this ad nauseum, check out http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

If you just want a chip collector to make the shop look clean you need to look into a respirator, the 3m 7500 series can be had for about $20-30.  This will protect your lungs if you wear it religiously.  Sawdust is a serious health hazard over the long term. It's up to you if it's worth taking the precautions, based on how much shop time you get

Do a DYI and size it to your needs.
Check out some of these videos..

Check out some forums for a "Thien Separator".
Lotta build threads there..

best luck & be safe in the shop.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thien+seperator&page=&utm_source=opensearch

I recently got an Oneida mini gorilla I am satisfied with, but in retrospect I should have gotten a bigger unit in terms of both HP and drum size. But it is quite hard to argue with the price on the mini gorilla. Bigger units I was looking at would be something like a Clearvue cyclone or Oneida Dust Gorilla Pro.

Vent outside if you can.

99% of collectors will leave your air filled with micro-particles that are bad for your lungs.

I get sick every time I wood work (allergies) and it's not from the dust you can see.

Small shop here too. I bought a Dust Deputy and a metal 5 gallon bucket with a latching lid. Hook it up to any shop vac.
I've yet to assemble it though.  
Small and portable and easy to store away.

A cyclone separator and very fine filters will stop pretty much everything.

Venting outside can run up heating and cooling bills quickly.

You are moving a lot of air you already payed to heat or cool.