Most of us have portable power tools—palm sanders, belt sanders, biscuit joiners, and the like—that generate dust. The trouble is that all these tools have different dust collection ports and some aren’t even set up to fit dust collection. They have dust-collection bags or canisters, which work poorly, if at all.

I hook up these tools to my dust-collection system with an easy-to-make adapter. I drill (and saw and pare if necessary) a recess in one side of the adapter to fit the port on the tool and drill the other side to fit the rubber end of a standard 1-1⁄2-in. dust collection hose that I hook up, with a standard fitting, to the 4-in. hose on my dust-collection system. Duct tape wrapped around the joint helps seal any gaps if the fit isn’t perfect.

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Veritas Precision Square

This precision square is incredibly versatile, from checking squareness to dialing in machine setups.

Buy at Lee Valley

Ridgid R4331 Planer

Priced nearly $300 less than the DeWalt 735X, the Ridgid R4331 is an excellent value. Its three-knife cutterhead left wonderfully clean surfaces on plainsawn white oak and white pine. It did not perform nearly as well on curly maple as the 735X.

Buy at Amazon

Shop Fox W1826

The thick, felted bag on this Shop Fox is a plus and a minus. On one hand, it makes the unit much less expensive than collectors with canister filters, and also lighter and easier to hang on the wall. Without a separate plastic bag to catch chips, however, they stay in the felt bag, and the shortish zipper on the bottom makes it tough to shake them out. Otherwise, the W1826 is an excellent value.

Buy at Amazon