As OSHA and EPA get tougher on regulations and penalties it is a fairly safe bet there is no such thing as over cautious when it comes to dust containment. All the power tool manufacturers are getting on board with more solutions to work with traditional tools as well as building in more dust collection features on new units. Here are just a few of the highlights we saw from the recent STAFDA trade show.
Makita Dust Collection
There were a few interesting new dust collection items in the Makita booth. The common focus this year was on drilling in concrete. The first item we got a look at was the attachment handle which is compatible with most standard chuck and SDS-Plus drills. Once attached the spring loaded nozzle extends out to the drilling site and stays right at the point of contact as the drill moves in.
The other drill attachment is for the larger SDS-Max drills and works like a collapsible bendy straw to stay as close to the work site as possible. Hopefully these plastic pieces will be fairly inexpensive to replace as we could see them taking a lot of abuse.
DeWalt Dust Collection
We were pretty impressed with some of the innovation coming out on the DeWalt side, were they are really working to improve upon existing designs. For their grinding shroud the front piece easily slides to the left exposing the cup wheel allowing grinding right up to the wall without worrying about losing that edge piece. The cutoff dust collection shroud is not new either however they now can be opened up allowing for cutting right into the corners.
They also have a solution for SDS-Plus and SDS-Max drilling however the DeWalt version does not attach to the tool but instead the work surface and is held in place with suction. This is not a new concept but their approach does look very refined. It will also include a suction wand for hole clean out which is a very important step.
For the full size demo breakers they have this interesting system that looks to be the first we have seen to attach directly to the chisel itself. We will have to test this one out ourselves before we are fully convinced on how well this is going to hold up to the job site abuse we see these breakers take everyday. Guys don’t exactly store these tools in memory foams at the end of a hard day.
We also found the new Makita and DeWalt dust collection vacuum D27904 ($530, Amazon) to be very similar in design and function. Both feature HEPA filtration, power tool actuation on/off and automatic filter cleaning which runs a few times each minute.
Dustless Technologies
These guys have been the leaders in dust collection and HEPA certified product for some time, in fact many of the products branded by many of these power tool companies are actually made by Dustless. They had a few new products at the show including an 8” version of their BitBuddie and a new shroud for reciprocating saws.
Probably our favorite new dust collection item we saw at the show was the Dustless HepaPack Vacuum ($500, Ohio Power Tool) but that is probably just because it would make a great Ghostbusters pack for next Halloween. The HepaPack is suprisingly pretty light however it does need emptied often as it only has a 2.5 gallon container for holding debris. Not for everyone but the portability and ease of use will make this a real nice solution for some.
