How to control saw dust if I move my radial chop saw to 1 of 2 old kitchen tables( my worktables) in my cellar?

There are aftermarket adapters for a shopvac that will hook onto many models of saws. Try the saw's manufacturers first, then major hardware stores, or just google.

After attaching the shop vac to the chop saw, you could throw a plastic tarp over the layout. 

You can use a shop vac hooked up to your saw, but it will not catch and hold all the dust. If you can also rig up a strong exhaust fan where your cutting, that will help. Personally I just go out in the unheated garage and make my cuts.

get a big big box lay it  with the open side towards you  cut slots for the wood   in the back cut a hole for your shop vac  tube and cut away..  the dust will be in the box  ..  keep cleaning out after each cut  build up will fly because of the blade  fan event..

My saws(radial, table, band, scroll) are off the train room. I use two vacuums but it is still difficult to stop the dust.

Another option is get a portable electric heater for the garage.  Some of them will heat up a small area quickly.  We have one at the train club that warms our large meeting room in about a half hour.  The meeting room is about the size of a two car garage and has a 20 foot ceiling.  Of course, you would need to keep the garage door closed.  Joe

It's not a good idea to have a sawdust generator in close proximity to an operational train layout. Trust me, I've spent more than my fair share of time cleaning the layout after construction.

For years I kept my chop saw in the next room, around the corner from the train room, in the heated basement. I finished my major construction last year, and moved the saw out to my unheated Minnesota workshop/garage. I haven't really used it since, not for lack of wanting to though. Spring is coming (maybe someday).

I have given thought to getting a space heater. If it's just something quick, I'll tough it out in the cold. I spent 20 minutes out there in below zero cold, drilling holes in the side of a passenger car I've been working on, on Sunday.

I say don't bring the saw inside at this point. Put on a coat and gloves or get the space heater. The time you save cleaning will be your own.

Have a helper (spouse, adult child, significant other, etc.) hold a running shopvac hose up to the area where the sawdust is generated and spewn out by the saw.

I do my sawing and grinding in the next room that's closed off from the trains.  Problem solved.

I have this very problem and I don't have enough space in the garage and no separate room.  I am considering this solution.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYIAUi7CzbU

A shop vac is OK, but a dedicated dust collector is much better.  

Neither capture all the dust; I use the dust collector in the shop/garage.  The very fine dust still settles everywhere. 

https://www.grizzly.com/dust-collectors

I used to teach wood shop. It had a 7hp dust collecting system that worked  quite well but there was always some dust around

I have tried many ways to collect the sawdust any of my powered mitre boxes have produced.  And I have worked with plenty of different makes of them.  All you can do is try to get most of the fine dust into a shop vacuum.  The heavy particles are going to go where they want to.  

No manufacturer, that I know of, has produced a fool proof 100% effective dust collection system, yet.  I have two Makita mitre boxes.  An eight inch and a twelve inch.  Makita is one of the better makers of powered mitre boxes.  Neither of them collects dust like I would like them to.  My 12" is stationary in my shop, with a 2 1/2" hose and funnel system that is connected to my shop vac.  I still have to vacuum the sawdust around the saw regularly.   

In addition to collecting as much dust as possible at the source, for fine dust, I've had good luck using 20 inch box fans with 20 inch pleated furnace filters taped on.  There are also large dedicated filter fans that do about the same.  But I agree with the comments about doing it in the garage.

As just about everyone has suggested, having a chop/miter saw and a train layout in the same area is incompatible in the long run -- the real issue is the fine sawdust generated by the saw.  This dust stays airborne the longest and can migrate/disperse throughout the room.  The larger sawdust isn't as much of a problem, as it settles out quickly and mostly collects around the saw and behind it.  So a 'tent' like Chris shows above will work to help contain the bigger particles but a lot of the fine dust will escape the enclosure.

You might be able to use something like that along with a big shopvac (emphasis on the word 'big'), but in my experience, some 'fugitive' fine dust will still escape.  I fought the dust generation from my radial arm saw in my garage workshop - mostly unsuccessfully - until a friend gave me his Jet dust collection system (lots of airflow - much more than a shopvac).  I plumbed it up using 4 inch ducting and a large 'table top dust hood' from Rockler (their picture attached) and it works pretty well, though there is still some really fine dust that settles on various surfaces over time.  I may suspend a box fan with a 'good' furnace filter attached on the upstream side (as suggested in an earlier post) in the space above the saw to see if I can cut down on the fine dust dispersion even more.

You might be able to combine the 'tent', a good shop vac and a box fan/filter (located near the saw) for use when the garage is too cold - it would at least minimize some of the fine dust problem.

What do you mean it's too cold in NJ? 

Last year I had my table saw and chop saw setup on a back porch.  I temporarily enclosed it on two sides with heavy plastic sheeting.  I did ALL of my cutting through the fall, winter and spring. 

You've got a garage.  I wish I had one with usable space.

Fred

Well everyone has some great suggestions the best being don't have the saw in the same room as the layout. After two winters finishing the basement and constructing the layout benchwork I have come to the concolision that no matter what you do having any kind of powered saw is going to make dust that the best system will not collect. I have a dust collector on my Radial Arm Saw with a big open intake right behind the blade blowing the saw dust straight back into the collector and the intake is 3 inches wide and 12 inches tall and still only collects about half the saw dust. 

All that being said GOOD LUCK with having the saw in the same room.

This helped me a lot with fine dust that wasn't trapped by the Shop Vac. Can be ceiling mounted or just set on its side on the floor like I did.  

But, it has to be used in conjunction with the Shop Vac or a dust control system for the heavy stuff.

Jim

A word of caution when working with electric saws in the cold. Never ever keep your gloves on when making the cut. What would have been a nicked finger, if you got careless, turns into a couple of fingers getting cut off. When a saw tooth catches a glove, each tooth pulls more glove into the saw. By the time your mind is telling you to pull your hand away, it's too late and your fingers are gone.

Jim Policastro posted:

This helped me a lot with fine dust that wasn't trapped by the Shop Vac. Can be ceiling mounted or just set on its side on the floor like I did.  

But, it has to be used in conjunction with the Shop Vac or a dust control system for the heavy stuff.

Jim

 

And get one of these. Much better than shop vacs.

Still- no matter what you do, if you work in the house you will have dust. I don't have room in my shop for my power tools so I set up in my garage (LI NY) when I need to cut any wood. Put on a coat and keep the mess in the garage.

New Haven Joe posted:

Another option is get a portable electric heater for the garage.  Some of them will heat up a small area quickly.  We have one at the train club that warms our large meeting room in about a half hour.  The meeting room is about the size of a two car garage and has a 20 foot ceiling.  Of course, you would need to keep the garage door closed.  Joe

I use a 150,000 btu kerosene jet heater in my two car garage, heats up he garage in 10 minutes, but you do need to keep the garage door open a couple of feet and a window to keep the air venting. Bought 20 years ago when I moved to N.J. And when my young ones went out in snow playing, they dried off fast before going in the house. Or just stayed out longer. Also have used heater in doing work on sites where there was no heat. 

Get a HEPAFilter for your shop vac; mighty improvement over factory filters.

Wally

Lots of neat thoughts.  This is how I try to do it.  Not how I started but where I am now.  Hope to get better.  Saw dust is like a bad reputation, just can not contain it all. 

For friable dust I use air handlers.  Some mounted on the ceiling or on a high shelf, and some I roll around to a place where I am making a real mess.

I use dome style window well covers as a dust funnel.  The one on the left was first used on my radial arm saw.

All hand power sanders have a vacuum hose.  I use hepa filters for max filtration.

There is a white shower drain screening out chips for the  4" dust pickup.  Also a direct vacuum hose connected to the Mikita dust port. 

The sander has a topside dust pickup and a under deck pickup which keeps dust pretty much clear.

The roller, bottom left, feeds the chop saw.

Over all shot how it all fits tight on one wall.

Note the two white shower  drains / dust ports.  The one on the left has a 4" cap.   The cap is swapped, L to R or R to L, depending on which side does not need dust extraction,

4

My biggest saw dust, chip mess is in cutting 1 1/8"  wire management holes.   I found a real tight 90 degree elbow which after surgery,  accommodates wood bits and does a great job keeping the floor clean.

There are two blast gates below the wood bracket which can switch suction from the drill press to the table deck.  Sorry for the poor contrast.

All router work is done in another area.  Just have not developed a satisfactory chip handler for bulky work.  Routers and router tables can really throw some dust.  

Many ideas that I will implement. Very much appreciated 

You should do a YouTube video on what you do in your workshop to control dust. It would share your knowledge 

For working in a finished room or around delicate or sensitive products...……….

In times past,  when I would work in someone's finished basement I would still set up a chop saw,, router, sanders and other equipment. The difference was I would also set up  my Zip Wall system.  It is a series of lightly sprung telescopic poles holding poly walls in place with either a zip door or an overlap door. 

You can set up Zip  Wall anywhere and make as much of a mess as you need to.   Absolutely nothing gets out.  Today you can even get them at HD.  If you go to a commercial contractors supply house you will see a  much larger assortment.  The spring poles are so light they will work on suspended ceilings.  Just place the pad at a frame intersection.

It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to set up a 10' X 20' area. Just watch the take down.  Fold the inside surfaces over themselves due to static cling of the dust.  I always used  new plastic on each job.

I used the Zip Wall system when I did a 12' square display floor in a crystal shop with no dusting needed when finished.

Google: Zip Wall.

I really like the window well idea. I’ll have to borrow that idea.

The key to dust collection is to capture as much dust as possible before it’s airborne in the open room.  Collection at the machines is the best defense.

Miter and chop saws are notorious for bad dust collection. Usually, only the most expensive models have made an attempt at good dust collection design.

I spent the last year building out a new shop.  My approach centered on a strong dust collector.  2hp, 220v system that has been upgraded with an industrial 15MERV filter that collects dust as small as .3 microns.

From that point, two pipe runs along the walls, with blast gates at each machine that allows you to isolate suction at each machine, for maximum air flow.

4” and 2 1/2” hoses connect the machines to the main lines

Miter saw has been modified with aluminum flashing to improve dust collection.  Still is only 75% efficient.  If I have a large amount of cutting to do, I roll the saw outside, on the patio.

The sanding machines are connected to either the dust collector or the shop vacuum.

Any dust that does get airborne is controlled by an air cleaner that is mounted along the long wall in order to create a circulation around the room, which helps maximize air movement through the cleaner.

And finally, if the job will result in excessive dust, the shop is sealed from the rest of the basement with a removable door seal, similar to ones used in lead paint remediation.

Extra nice!! Love that 15 MERV filter.

Nothing like a strong dust collector for wood working equipment and keeping the dust to a minimum on the layout. Best if their kept outside or if they can be rolled outside when it's time to empty the bag. A great addition that is very inexpensive and saves having to deal with the collection bag as often, is a metal garbage can with a cyclone lid that separates the heavier particles before they get to the blower impeller. Very easy to empty too. In our shop we called them a "screw catch". Our collection system had floor sweep ports and our planer heads used small square carbide inserts that would sometime break. Anything heavier then dust would get caught in the garbage can and could be found later by dumping the can and sweeping through the pile with a metal detector. Their also great because they catch metal before it makes it to the impeller where the sparks will fly and cause a dust flash explosion. We also grounded every piece of equipment through the duct work with a grounding kit to dissipate the static charge that builds up in a large dust collection system.

Another thing nice about collecting clean saw dust.  I have on occasion mixed semi course saw dust with gypsum powder for textured ground forms.

  Tough to envision spending dollars upon dollars for a dust collection systems. ( Model train layout).  You still gotta maintain and clean the dust collection system.   Small broom and a dust pan works just fine.  I was able to find Costco heavy plastic bags that fit my garbage can. That seems to stream-line the dust/scrape handling process.  IMO.   You can multipurpose the broom to remove snow from the driveway.  

Mike,  I use a frequently changed hi MERV filter in our HVAC system and an auxiliary air handler to keep the RR clean.  Under normal  circumstances that would do for most layout situations.

Last Straw 124 and I do wood woodworking which calls a more ambitious effort.  He has one sweet system!

artyoung posted:

There are aftermarket adapters for a shopvac that will hook onto many models of saws. Try the saw's manufacturers first, then major hardware stores, or just google.

Most cases Duct tape is a pretty good universal adapter.  IMO   Mike CT   Tool vibration, even some of the made to fit connections, may require duct tape to hold in place.   

Use the radial arm saw out in the driveway.  Just pull it out when needed.