Valentine's gift, part 1

We assembled the new dust collector yesterday--the first part of my Valentine's Day present.  It was just a bit larger than we expected, but the footprint is fairly small, and it should not be difficult for me to move around.  We're planning to use it for the belt-disc combo sander, the band saw, and the new drum sander.  Later today, we hope to get the stand for the drum sander assembled, and see what kind of help we'll need to get the sander itself (Valentine's Day present, part 2) on the stand--it is very, very heavy!

How to Make a Box Fan Dust Collector

If you do a lot of sanding with your drill press and would like to make a dust collector like the one I posted, you'll need a 20" box fan, two 20" furnace filters, and some masking tape. One of these filters should be a standard one, and the other should be one with a higher rating that is meant to trap smaller particles. Here's how to do it:

1. Tape the two filters together so that the standard one is on top of the finer one, with the arrows pointing away from you.

2. Place the box fan with the back side facing you. This is the side into which air is drawn. You'll feel the breeze on the opposite side.

3. Tape the joined filters to the back side of the fan. The air will first go through the regular filter, then the finer one, then out the front.

4. Place the dust collection system close to your drill press, filters facing the drill press. You should be able to see the dust fly into the filter.