Small Shop Dust Collection: Inside Chandler’s 12 × 20 Woodworking Shop

My weekly sessions of using a leaf blower to clean my shop turned into daily sessions, and I knew I needed a more permanent solution.

See Chandler install the dust collection network, work through the layout of his 12 × 20 shop, and use the finished system to build a custom walnut-and-maple checkerboard.

Small-shop dust collection is not only about suction. It is also about space. The system has to reach the tools without taking over the limited floor area you are trying to keep usable.

For Chandler, that meant solving two problems at once:

The fine dust was a different problem.

So the goal was not just to add another collector. It was to build a system that was already connected, easy to use, and better suited to the way Chandler actually worked.

Before

After

The heart of Chandler’s setup is the POWERTEC DC1081 1 HP Dust Collector, rated at up to 800 CFM with a 4-inch intake. From there, the system branches out through 2-1/2-inch rigid pipe, flexible hose, fittings, blast gates, and quick-connect adapters.

The basic flow is simple:

That layout allowed Chandler to connect nine major tools to one central collector. The hardest part was not connecting the pieces. It was deciding where all of the piping should go.

In a 12 × 20 shop, a few badly placed hoses can make the whole space harder to move around. Chandler planned the network around that.

He worked on the installation during nights and weekends, usually an hour or two at a time.

Running the Piping

Much of Chandler’s main network uses 2-1/2-inch clear rigid PVC pipe. The rigid sections let him create fixed routes through the shop instead of relying entirely on long runs of flexible hose. Because the pipe can be cut to length, he could adjust each section to the actual layout of the shop. The clear material also makes it easier to see what is moving through the network and spot a blockage if one develops.

The POWERTEC 70342 Open Style Hangers help keep sections of pipe and hose secured along the walls and out of Chandler’s walkways. Flexible hose is then used where movement or a final tool connection makes more sense. The result is a mix of fixed and flexible connections built around the shop rather than forcing the shop to fit the dust collection system.

A Blast Gate at Every Tool

Each major branch of Chandler’s network has a blast gate. When he wants to use a machine, he opens the gate for that tool and closes the others. That small change made a much bigger difference than he expected.

Closing the branches that are not being used helps direct the system’s available airflow toward the active tool.

Chandler took the convenience one step further by plugging the collector into a remote-controlled outlet, so he can switch the whole system on or off from anywhere in the shop. As he puts it, it removed the last bit of friction from actually using dust collection, and the collector runs quietly enough that he sometimes forgets it's on. 

Not every machine in a shop uses the same dust-port size. That can become one of the biggest headaches when connecting several tools to one system.

For smaller tools such as Chandler’s sander and track saw, the POWERTEC 70376 Power Tool Vacuum Hose Kit gives him a quick-connect setup that can move between different power tools. The kit uses a 10-foot hose and several quick-connect fittings for smaller dust ports.

Chandler even created his own solution for one machine. Later in the checkerboard build, he 3D printed a custom adapter for his planer so it could work with the same quick-connect setup.

Chandler’s system tackles dust in two different places.

These two systems are not doing the same job. The air filtration unit uses a 5-micron outer filter and a 1-micron inner filter, with three airflow settings of 300, 350, and 400 CFM.

For Chandler, the difference became noticeable in a place away from the machines themselves.

Now he can leave the air filtration system running quietly in the background.

That is the simplest way to think about the two systems: the dust collector captures at the tool, and the air filtration filters what remains in the room.

Installing the network was only the first test. The real question was how it would perform during an actual project. Chandler’s checkerboard build involved planing, cutting, routing, sanding, and general cleanup, exactly the kind of workflow the centralized setup was meant to support.

One of the biggest surprises came from his router table. The router table sits at the end of the longest run of piping and tubing in the shop, and Chandler considers it one of his worst dust-producing tools behind the thickness planer.

During the build, Chandler routed a large recessed pocket for the checkerboard’s hidden piece storage, creating a lot of waste. This time, much of that material was being collected as he worked instead of spreading across the shop.

By the end of the project, the amount of material in the collector made the difference obvious.

For Chandler, the biggest benefit was not a number on the dust collector. It was time. He balances woodworking with a full-time job, family life, and a side business. When he gets a few hours in the shop, he wants to spend that time building.

That is what the centralized system changed.

Before the upgrade, dust collection could mean moving hoses, setting up another machine, or deciding whether one small cut was worth the trouble. Now the system is already there. Open the right blast gate, turn on the collector, and get to work. That is probably the strongest measure of whether Chandler’s setup worked.

A real shop upgrade is rarely perfect on the first try. Chandler already knows one part of the system he would change if he were starting again.

Give the Planer a More Direct Route

His thickness planer creates the largest amount of dust and chips in the shop.

His goal would be simple:

That is one of the best lessons from the whole project. When planning a network, do not only look at where the tools are located. Also think about which tools create the most material and which ones would benefit most from a short, simple route.

Chandler’s setup is one example, not a one-size-fits-all blueprint. But his experience gives other woodworkers a few useful things to think about before buying pipe and fittings.

For Chandler, the best system was not the most complicated one. It was the one that fit the way he actually works.

Products Used in Chandler’s Setup

The main collector DC1081 1 HP Dust Collector Its role: The main collector powering the centralized network. • 1 HP motor • Rated airflow up to 800 CFM • 4-inch intake • 1-micron filtration bag • Mobile base with casters View DC1081

Air quality AF4001 Air Filtration System Its role: Circulates and filters fine airborne dust remaining in the workshop. • 5-micron outer filter • 1-micron inner filter • 300 / 350 / 400 CFM airflow settings • RF remote control • 1 / 2 / 4-hour timer settings View AF4001

Build the Network

Connect the Tools

Cleanup

Small Shop Dust Collection FAQs

About Chandler

Chandler Meierarend is the maker behind Chandler Makes, a woodworking studio focused on heirloom-style furniture and home accessories built from premium natural materials. He blends traditional woodworking techniques with modern digital tools to turn one-off ideas into pieces made to last for generations.

Woodworking was not his first craft. Raised in a small Missouri town and trained in audio engineering, Chandler spent years working in A/V and video production before renovating his first house in 2017, which sparked a love of building things by hand. He started out making handboard and fingerboard obstacles in 2018, launched Chandler Makes in 2020, and turned it into an LLC in 2024, growing from small skate obstacles to custom furniture and home pieces for customers around the world.