Dust collection...built a cyclone seperator system

[Saltheart]

Put together my mini dust collector last night. I started out with a shop vac. Then I put a cyclone seperator ahead of it. This takes out 99+% of all the dust and chips so the shop vac just handles the finest stuff. I then swapped the stock vacuum filter with a HEPA filter (HEPA filter cost almost as much as the whole vaccuum). The Hepa will get 99.97% down to 0.3 microns. Only thing left to do is change to the fine filter dry wall sanding bags. This will keep even more stuff in the bag and extend the life of the HEPA filter. Oh , the HEPA filter is also cleanable.

So the dust comes in through the cyclone that spins out 99+ % and all the big stuff. Then through a very fine dry wall sanding dust filtering vac bag then through the HEPA filter then out again. Whole thing cost me under $150 but I had to design/ find the parts/ machine some custom parts and assemble.

I may eventually add a big dust collection system with ducts , etc and I am thinking of adding a big vent fan to the area but for now I think this new cyclone/HEPA set up I made should be pretty good at getting the particles that would cause health concerns. I still plan on using a HEPA face mask but that may be overkill with the new system in place.

What do others do for dust control in their woodworking shops?