Bottling up the dust

Using a grinder in a finished room always runs the risk of creating a mess. On a recent job, we had to use a grinder to knock down some high spots on a masonry hearth in a living room without ruining the new paint job with a giant dust cloud. As shown in the drawing, we took an angled slice off the side and bottom of a 5-gal. water bottle and cut a circular access hole in the bottle’s opposite shoulder. The grinder fits inside the modified bottle. The operator’s arm and the grinder’s power cord run through the access hole, which is lined with duct tape to reduce sharp edges. As it’s generated, the dust is sucked out the bottle top through a 3-in.-dia. hose to the shop vacuum. This worked far better than holding the hose next to the grinder. The bottle cost $6 from our drinking-water supplier.