There are a lot of solutions out there. This one appeals to my KISS proclivity.
Simple is good. I didn’t want to have to use wires all over the shop. I also plan on having a flask app running on it that I can remote trigger from my phone (future add on).
As of right now, the control box is finished. The software for the esp32 is done. I just need to design and print a box for the esp32 hardware. It’ll be a small box with the esp32 (with oled), a current sensor, and a 5V powersupply.
Here’s pictures of the control box in all it’s crammed-in-there glory.
Inside the box is a large heatsink stuck on the 40A SSR, a 12V powersupply, a 5V buck converter, a pi zero, and a 12V fan. The box will be mounted on the wall on small risers so air can be pulled in from behind the box and evacuated out the bottom of the box. This will hopefully reduce dust from getting in there a little.
The small on/off switch on the side of the box is for manually triggering the DC. It was an after thought. It doesn’t bypass the software, it just toggles an input pin on the zero that causes the SSR to turn on. Mental note for future case designs/build outs… put the strain relief on the incoming cables before wire-nutting them. Getting that zip tie on that cable around the heat sink was difficult.
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I trigger my “dust collection” shop vac with a remote made for exterior christmas lights. That little guy’s up there for the best $10 bucks I’ve spent. It’s a wireless trigger (using voodoo I assume?) and I just hang it on my belt loop if I want to turn it on and off frequently.
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I thought about those too. All of the ones I saw were rated at 10-15 amps. My dustcollector spikes to just under 20 Amps on start up. I have a dedicated 30A circuit for it to run on. The remote switch would probably hold up for a while, but every startup would be a potential fire hazard 
Fair enough, I was going to mention the load but perhaps there’s a slightly more robust version? There are also all those $$ ivac systems that probably are better suited to the task.
Let’s not forget the biggest reason for me rolling my own… I enjoy this stuff
The tinkering with the software is fun for me. It gives me something to do when it’s too early or late to actually run the machines in the shop.
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Absolutely. It isn’t even a question of which solution is best, or what is the cheapest. It is sharing a log of the project.
I am jealous. I think it looks like a lot of fun.