Sharing My $9 Hack to Dustless Sanding

Dustless sanding is key for a furniture flipper and this $9 hack works! For years I’ve either waited for a good weather day to sand outside or did it inside anyway then suffered the mess. I could get a SurfPrep but have you seen the price? Hundreds of dollars for a dustless sanding system just isn’t in the budget.

Size On Size Ports

I searched high and low for an adapter to marry my $1 garage sale palm sander to my portable Armor All Detail Vacuum. The problem: both units had the same size port, 1 1/8th inch outside diameter. Size on size adapters aren’t made for 2 small ports.

Solutions That Didn’t Work

I actually used duct tape once, bit didn’t hold up to finish the job. Thinking outside the box, perhaps a short piece of PVC pipe might work either inside or outside, it would have to be a tight fit though. Another no, doesn’t work. A nice fellow at Home Depot took me to these rubber boots in the plumbing department. Those in stock were in the 3 and 4 inch range, doing me no good but the concept was spot on, flexible tubing and 2 end clamps.

A google search for rubber boots, I found several sizes. I needed one to fit over the 1 1/8th inch outside diameter ports. The closest boot is 1″ inside diameter but it’s rubber! For $9 it was worth a try to see if it would stretch over the vacuum hose end and the palm sander port. It did!

Another function for a Plumbing Boot and It Works!

A few months racking my brain to make cheap dustless sanding, I have a hack that works. The 3/4″ Flexible Connector for 3/4″ PVC or 1″ Copper (1″ Approximate ID) rubber boot is snug around the ports and doesn’t fall off during use. I can sand (with ear plugs) all day without dust flying everywhere, making a huge mess. Yay! I feel special.