Shopvac with a Delta thickness sander?

[Tom Frei]

Im looking at a delta thickness sander, but then you have to buy this an that etc. So, can these work with a shopvac until a larger unit is purchased? I suppose you have to rig a reduction system for the hose, but will it pull most of the dust?

[Chuck Tweedy]

No - you need a proper dust collection system to draw enough volume for a thickness sander.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Not having neighbors close by, I wheel my drum sander outside, open the shroud and let the dust fly! Sometimes I even blow the dust off the drum with compressed air during sanding. Dust extraction is critical to extending the life of the sandpaper.If you can't pull the sawdust away quickly it gums up the paper and causes burn marks in the wood.

[Bob Gramann]

A thickness sander makes an amazing amount of dust. It will clog the filter in a vacuum in one or two passes of a board through the sander. I tried it with my homemade sander right before I bought a dust collector. Now, I have the Delta sander and a decent dust collector. You need the dust collector. It all seems expensive now, but when you look back on it in a few years, you'll be happy you got it and it won't seem like so much. When you get the dust collector, spend the extra to get a paper filter of 1 micron or less and get one that you can add a cyclone to or that already has one. In the long run, you'll save money and be much happier every day you use it. Going cheap on tools doesn't save money.

[Tom Frei]

Ok, but I am not using a normal filter, I have a 5 gallon bucket it goes into first, so volume is NOT a problemo. Problem is suction. With a funnel reduction sleeve, could it get enough?

[Chuck Tweedy]

Tom, I don't think you are getting what we mean by volume - we actually mean volume-flow.
I use a dust collector that draws more than 1500 cubic-feet/min (that's cfm)
I think what you are referring to as "suction" is really volume-flow. The volume of dust that is collected (in the bag) is a lot, but not giant.

So, again, no your shop-vac does not have enough "suction" (AKA volume flow) to do the job.

[Chris Lounsbury]

I use a Ryobi 16-32 open ended drum sander. At the moment I use a 5-gallon shop vac to collect dust and it is working fine. I take only a small bite on each pass, and I am using disposable bags in the shop vac which do not seem prone to clogging at all. I have not tried it with the standard foam filter. If the shop vac is all you have right now, you can make it work.

[Tom Frei]

Cool@! Did I mention the 5 gallon bucket? No way for that to clog. I guess I would try the shopvac and it it fails, then pick out a used Delta or Jet, there seem to be quite a few. A clear hose would help I think.

[Rodger Knox]

I have the Performax 16-32 that I've been running with a shop-vac. It's not ideal, but it works.