# Router to House Vacuum cleaner



## Larry Gill (Apr 25, 2014)

Greetings everyone,
I'm new to routing and to this forum. I want to buy a Dewalt DWP616PK Router and need to know how I can attach the dust port on the router to my Bissell upright vacuum cleaner. It has a 1-1/2" O.D. hose attached to a 1-1/2" round wand/tube.:help:

Can anyone help me out with this issue? I'll be greatly appreciative.


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## BCK (Feb 23, 2014)

there are several different size fittings for attaching a vac to a router..check anyplace that sells shop dust collection equip and many shop vac areas of places like home depot etc...


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Duct tape was the first thing that came to my mind.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Welcome to the forum Larry. Hopefully BC's suggestion pans out. Next best suggestion might be to run the correct size hose off the router and at a convenient distance run it inside the Bissell hose and duct tape the connection. I hope you have a good supply of vac bags. I suspect the Bissell will fill quickly.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hi, Larry; welcome.
Ditto what Charles just said. If the cost of my ShopVac bags is any indication, you're going to find yourself spending a lot of money on bags, unless of course yours is just a solid container that you simply empty into the garbage.
If the router is the only thing you need a dust collector for, you might be happier with a big ShopVac, and a cyclone separator to collect the waste.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Does a rug vacuum have sufficient suction? I hooked a bag less type to my disc sander and it kinda kept the dust down. But not sure it would work on my RT. Home depot has small shop vacs for under $50.00 that work well.


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## Selwyn Senior (Jan 11, 2014)

Any business that deals in dust collection should have the necessary reducers. My table saw dust port is a 4" and my shop vac 2 1/2" and Busy Bee Tools had what I needed. If you can take any of the parts with you it will help you to get the best fit. Other areas, such as plukbing and heating, have reducers but I couldn't find anything until I went the dust collection route.

A second source might be to work from your home central vac people and see if they have a fitting.

Peter


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

if you plan to use the bissell, I would recommend the same as someone already has said to use a hose outlet from the router port. Then reduce to whatever size you need to get to your bissell. This will help to alleviate plug up at the router outlet. I have found that a wrap of duct tape still helps maintain the suction so it maintains a good connection..


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## alaskagypsy (Jan 31, 2009)

A house vac is a house vac and not a shop vac. A house vac just isn't made for shop work. It doesn't have the power/long life of a shop vac, the motor just doesn't compare to a shop vac, the sacks won't hold the fine dust - dust which will go right through a house vac and into your working area, the sacks are actually thinner, so weaker and the wood chips could cut the sacks while the chips are coming in causing more dust to escape into the room and ruining the house vac. The size of the wood chips could plug up a house vac as their internal connections are down sized compared to a shop vac. There is a reason they're called "shop" vacs.


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## Goblu (Mar 5, 2012)

*get a dust collector to save on bags and filters*

I've used a house vac a couple of times in a pinch for dust collection. It's not good for the machine, though, so I wouldn't do it much. Shop vacs are cheaper and work better. I'd recommend a second item and that is 5 gallon bucket with a special lid that acts between the shop vac and the power tool. The easiest/least expensive solution is Woodcrafts "mini dust collection lid" $19 on sale right now. This saves a lot of filter and bag use since the majority of the debris goes into the bucket. If money is an issue can also get a cheap shop vac head from Home Depot that goes over a 5 gallon bucket, though I don't have one, but rather a regular shop vac. This will let you know if you want to upgrade to a more expensive "cyclone" system over time.

(Sorry, I tried posting links but don't have enough posts to do that yet, but if you look at the woodcraft site you'll see the pictures, etc. Other places have them, but that's the cheapest I've found. You'll need a few additional hoses, and could use your house vac hose if it's detachable and fits. I use a house vac hose on mine for some tools and it fits perfectly.).


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## Larry Gill (Apr 25, 2014)

Wow! You guys are great. I never expected such a huge and informative response from so many. Thank you all for your advice. Believe me, it helped.


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## FCarvi (Mar 5, 2014)

Hello, you may want to search for thien-baffle cyclone


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## Edgar1985 (Nov 5, 2018)

I really like the Shark Navigator vacuum cleaner, I wrote a small review about such vacuum cleaners, I hope you will be interested


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Dewalt DWP616PK ? I think you mean DWP611PK. For my DWP611 router I bought the following DeWalt dust collection adapters. One is for the fixed base and the other for the plunge base. They both attach and remove easily via included thumb screws into existing threaded holes in the router bases and are clear plastic to let light into the bit area while using them. They don't always collect 100% of the dust, but do a pretty good job. 

The vacuum system that I use is a re-purposed whole house central vacuum with a Dust Deputy installed just ahead of the vacuum to separate out the dust and chips so the filter in the vacuum never clogs. I've found that this vacuum system is very satisfactory for dust collection from all of my shop's lower level dust producers like scroll saws, drill presses, hand held routers, and sanders. I also vacuum the floor with it. An old re-purposed canister vacuum system or a Shop Vac with a Dust Deputy ahead of it should be adequate for your router dust collection needs too.

When using my sanders or the DWP611 router, I use a PORTER-CABLE 39332 Vacuum Hose for 1-Inch O.D. Dust Ports that attaches to the Router and adapts to the end of the standard house vacuum hose quite well. Unfortunately, this hose no longer seems to be available. 

I found the following dust collection hose that might be a suitable alternative to the Porter Cable one that I have, but since I haven't tried this hose I can't say for sure that it will work for you. I do frequently buy from Peachtree Woodworking though and have always found them to be very easy to do business with. This link below lets you buy it from them through Amazon anyway.


https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DNP615-Compact-Collection-Adapter/dp/B004AJEUKS

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DNP616-Compact-Collection-Adapter/dp/B004AJ95FI


https://www.amazon.com/Collection-P...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VZ9VNDV27FV4A51GZADD


Something else that I've found handy when using a small vacuum hose attached to a hand held sander or router is to use a self rewinding clothes line reel attached to the ceiling above my bench to keep the working loop of the vacuum hose and power cord held above the bench and out of my way. I attach the power cord and vacuum hose together in several places with Velcro strips and also attach the plastic end of the clothes line to the center of the working loop the same way. Mine is a different brand, but one like this should do the job. You may need to add or remove a turn or two to the spring tension to get it just right.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Minky-49-ft-Retractable-Clothesline-VT20500103/301024423

The Velcro straps that I use can be found here. They are available in different lengths and I use them for many things.

https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-ONE-WRAP-Management-Gripping/dp/B00144CABS

Charley


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## pusserboy (Mar 4, 2018)

Maybe this would be another idea instead of breaking your home vacuum.
Stuart


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## Edgar1985 (Nov 5, 2018)

Thank you for your advice, I think they will be useful to me. And what can you say about modern vacuum cleaners, cordless or robot vacuum cleaners?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

The router is going to produce a LOT of sawdust. I suggest you put a chip collector in place and connect the DC connector from the tool to the chip collector on one side, and the vaccum on the other. This will dramatically cut down the amount of sawdust that goes into the vacuum. Sawdust will clog the vacuum filter very quickly otherwise.

Ideally you'd use a Dust Deputy "cyclone" on top of a bucket, but HD also makes an inexpensive chip collector device that has decent reviews. Pix of Dust Deputy (about $50) and the HD Dusttopper (about $40). Either fits on a standard 5 gallon bucket. 

You can resort to tape to make the vacuum connector fit, but use the aluminum tape, not duct tape. Better if you can find a connector that fits, but any port in a storm.


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## mimac (Dec 13, 2009)

Don't use the "Honey Bucket"


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## gdonham1 (Oct 31, 2011)

Larry,

I think you are courting disaster using a house vacuum to collect saw dust. First the capacity of a house vac is very small compared to even a small shop vac. Second the bags for a house vac are not designed for saw dust. Saw dust is fine and will clog your bag in no time. Third is a safety factor, I think it would be dangerous from a fire stand point using a house vac. 

I have a Craftsman 16 gal shop vac as well as a Jet 1.5 HP Dust Collector. I use the shop vac to clean in general and got an Onieda Dust Deputy. The trouble with the Dust Deputy is it is not portable. So I made a cart but the portability is still an issue. The hose on the Dust Deputy is very high and that puts the hose in a weird angle. So next I made some connectors to lower the center of gravity and just use hose to connect the Dust Deputy. Finally I just went back to using the shop vac and dumping it often. The whole cyclone idea is good but the execution was not very good for me. 

You can weld a hitch on the back of a VW Bug and then hook up a heavy trailer and haul rocks. It will last for a few loads but eventually the whole thing breaks down. They haul rocks with heavy trucks for a reason. The heavy truck is designed for the task. The workshop dust collection systems are designed for sucking up workshop dust. A house vac is designed for picking up small amounts of dust and dirt in a house. The two things are not the same and should not be used interchangeably. 

Either use your router without dust collection and clean up the mess, or use the correct dust collection and you still have to clean up a mess, just a smaller mess. You cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Whether you use a dust collector or not you should always use a good dust mask on your face. Fine dust is not good to breath and some people are allergic to wood particles especially the exotic hardwoods from Africa and South America. 

Invest in yourself first and get good hearing protection, a good dust mask and proper eye safety first before worrying about dust collection.


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

As others have pointed out it may work but you'll end up spending more on bags than it's worth. Check craigslist you should be able to pick up a good used one for under $25 bucks. Once you hqave it you can use it for other things like the car and shop floor.


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