Harbor Freight Dust Collector

[Steve P]

Wondering if anyone is using this & any thoughts on performance. Attractive price.

12 Gallon OSHA-Compliant Dust Extractor

Amazing deals on this 12Gal Dust Extractor at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I recently got one--have used it with sanders and have been very pleased with its dust extraction. Haven't had it long enough to know how it will hold up, but have found other of HF's Hercules tools to be good over time.

 

[mdbuntyn]

I recently got one--have used it with sanders and have been very pleased with its dust extraction. Haven't had it long enough to know how it will hold up, but have found other of HF's Hercules tools to be good over time.

What were you using before, and what sanders do you use?

 

[charlessenf]

I watched a pretty good review/impression video earlier today:

Opinions are ubiquitous.
He says, for instance, "this is a really heavy duty cord," but does not note the AWG of the cord. As he is noting it's generous length as well as it serving both the vac motor as well as the tool's motor.
He mentions HP ratings while ignoring the amperage ratings.
He talks about "this thing still has 'full suction' on it" without every testing the vacuum of any of them.
For a comparison of this to objective reviews take a look at Project Farm. PF's annoying voice and fast pace is worth getting past for the charts and graphs comparing apples to apples objectively.

 

[charlessenf]

Here's another one:

"This thing is very very sucky" - he ran his 'cheek test' in lieu of a vacuum gauge.

He only mentions the relative 'rated cfm' but never tests any of these claims.

It is always wise to consider the incentives behind the time, effort and expense required to produce a product advertisement of this sort.

Reminds one of W.C. Fields famous quotation.

 

[dmbtjclark]

I'm in the early stages of my HF DC thein baffle conversion. Here are some pics. I 3D printed the connections.
Hoping to start piping this weekend. 3D printing ball valve blast gates, hooked to a magnetic micro switch to turn is on and off. More pics to come.

 

[charlessenf]

Wow, you're serious!

Has anyone built their DC/DE hardware outside the shop?

 

[mdbuntyn]

Opinions are ubiquitous.
He says, for instance, "this is a really heavy duty cord," but does not note the AWG of the cord. As he is noting it's generous length as well as it serving both the vac motor as well as the tool's motor.
He mentions HP ratings while ignoring the amperage ratings.
He talks about "this thing still has 'full suction' on it" without every testing the vacuum of any of them.
For a comparison of this to objective reviews take a look at Project Farm. PF's annoying voice and fast pace is worth getting past for the charts and graphs comparing apples to apples objectively.

When Project Farm does a dust extractor comparison video that include the Hercules extractor, I'll be sure to watch it

 

[Tarhead]

Air quality monitors are very inexpensive. Good ones are less than $30. They should be in every shop to tell you when you should wear PPE. Don't assume your dust collection gets everything because you can't see the particles that cause damage to your lungs. Wood dust in the 2.5 micron and below range (PM2.5 on the meter) above 5mg/cubic meter in shop air is hazardous.