Barry Irby
In the discussion Bill posted below about the danger of potassium dichromate, Jesse Cloud Quoted a product review from FWW about "who would want a HEPA filter On a shop vac?" I have a post questioning the dust on my DC PVC pipes.

I am running my Festool sander connected to a Rigid shop vac with a drywall dust bag in it and the regular filter. I don't see anything escaping the shop vac. Is it possible the dust is too fine for me to see until it is attracted out of the air by the electrostatic charge on the DC pipes?

(I am trying to convince myself I don't NEED a Festool dust extractor.) What makes this even harder is there is a perfect little cubbyhole in my tiny shop for this $700 dust extractor that is going to save my lungs from a certain death.

So, for those of you that have a shop vac with a HEPA filter, can you tell the difference? Is there a down side, such as having to clean or replace that clearly worthless filter? Is there another brand you would recommend?