After years of just letting the planer chips fall on the floor and sweeping them up afterwards, I decided it was time to find a way to connect my planer to my dust collector. This came in the middle of a project when I had to stop working and sweep up the pile of chips because I could no longer reach my bandsaw.

I’m using this as a kickoff for improving the dust collection in my entire workspace and I’ll be documenting my journey along the way.

Right now I have a Harbor Freight 2 HP dust collector, and it has been connected to my table saw most of the time. It was a good addition, but my table saw was not the primary offender of making large quantities of chips. Here’s my list of chip producers that I need to add or improve dust collection to:

• Jointer
• Bandsaw
• Router Table
• Miter Saw
• Belt Sander(s)
• Biscuit Jointer

Once I tackle the large task of hooking everything up to dust collection, I will then focus on improving the separation of my dust collector by making it a 2-stage unit, likely with a Dust Deputy or similar cyclone and probably replacing the inflatable bag with an actual filter to cut down on the fine dust, not just the wood chips.

Enjoy the video of my DIY planer chip collector and stay tuned for more updates on these as I try to improve the cleanliness of the garage!