Plastic Dust Collector Bags

[Ron Dudelston]

A moment of silence for my dearly departed Delta dust collector.  Today, after months of emitting an ear piercing squeal for the motor the unit breathed its last.  It gave me 15 years of service so no complaints.  Today I ordered a new Shop Fox and like most newer collectors this one uses plastic bags to collect the shavings.  Here’s my question for you experts.  Are the bags a single use or can they be reused?  My Delta had a cloth collection bag so I’m in new territory here.  I’m hoping I can repurpose the cloth bag off my Delta on this unit.

[lew]

My Delta has a plastic bag. Not sure of the mil thickness but it seems about the same as a heavy plastic drop cloth. Been using the same one since I got the collector (used). It has a few painter tape "X"'s over some punctures but other than that it works fine. I don't have to empty it often as the Fein separator takes care of everything except the finest of dust.

[Masonsailor]

I use the 6 mil Husky Contractor trash bags from HD. Cheap and easy. I don’t see the point in reusing the bags. The idea of a dust collection system is to prevent you from breathing in dust. Emptying the bag out causes a cloud of dust to breathe. I think the bags are probably 50 cents a piece. 
Paul

[Masonsailor]

I just checked. They are 78 cents a bag. 
Paul

[kmealy]

In early 2021, I converted my Jet cloth bag setup to a retro-fit Wynn pleated filter.  It came with two plastic bags for the bottom.   The pleated filter became a more efficient final filter vs. two cloth bags.  It is my understanding that the "efficiency" includes both a finer filter size (remember, it's the fine dust that is unhealthy for you) and less resistance, so lower CFM loss.  My table saw and planer go thru a Thien separator, but my miter saw, due to configuration, does not.   I've filled up the 30 gal garbage can about every 2 months, but have about 2" of sawdust in the bottom of the plastic bag.  I would say about half of that comes directly from the miter saw.  But.... to answer your question, I don't see a reason why you can't reuse the plastic one as long as you don't rip it.

 

 

 

[Ron Dudelston]

Update:  I bought a Shop Fox 1 hp collector.  It was about the same size as my old Delta and the footprint isn’t huge.  Space is at a premium in my shop.  I did get lucky.  The cloth collection bag from the Delta will fit the Shop Fox.  I get a little more dust but it is way easier to put on and remove.