Dust-collection Hose that Fits Small Power Tools

I always connect my shop vacuum to my random-orbit sander. With today’s perforated sanding disks, the vacuum pulls the dust right off the wood, keeping the sandpaper and, more importantly, my nose and lungs clear. What I don’t love is wrestling with the combination of duct tape and hose adapter that I use to connect the vacuum to the back of the sander. It is hard to put the adapter on in the first place, and then it pops off in use. Rockler solved this problem with its Universal Small Port Hose Kit, part of the Dust Right system.

 I’m a fan of the Dust Right collapsible hoses, and the one on this accessory expands from 3 ft. to 15 ft. At one end is the standard 21⁄4-in. (outside diameter) fitting that plugs into all shop vacuums except the Festool. At the other end, you thread on one of two rubber ports, one at 1-in. inside diameter and the other at 11⁄2 in. Each is flexible and ribbed inside for a firm grip. The larger port seamlessly fit my two Porter-Cable sanders. The smaller one fit a Festool Domino perfectly, meaning it will fit the whole Festool family of tools. While neither port was perfect for the Ryobi and Ridgid sanders in our shop, the larger one worked great with a few wraps of duct tape over each tool’s port. It might be a good idea measure the ports on your tools to see if they are close to a 1 in. or 11⁄2 in. outside diameter.

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Grizzly G0495X Industrial Helical Cutterhead 8-in. Jointer

Regardless of the board’s grain, this jointer produced excellent results. Its fence was totally flat, worked smoothly, and locked well, staying in place even after jointing multiple edges. Getting the fence to 90° was very easy, but the 90° stop was a little tricky to set and the fence did not go back to square when using it. For those who would use it, there is also a digital depth-of-cut scale.

Buy at Amazon

Stanley Powerlock 16-ft. tape measure

With its smooth lock, tough case, compact size, and excellent accuracy, this Stanley tape is perfect for workshop use.

Buy at Amazon

Rockler Dust Right 1250 CFM

You’ll need help to get this heavy unit onto its bracket, but if you’re looking for a central dust collector that won’t gobble floor space, this may be the unit for you.

Buy at Rockler