I swore by my old belt sander for years, but a job in Tacoma last month made me switch.
I was working on a big maple refinish and my old machine just couldn't keep the dust down, even with a shop vac hooked up. The homeowner's kid has bad allergies, and seeing him sneeze from the other room hit me different. How do you guys handle dust control on sensitive jobs?
Honestly, a shop vac alone isn't really enough for fine dust like that. You need a proper dust extractor with a HEPA filter to actually trap the tiny particles. That's the only way to protect someone with serious allergies.