I blow the air into my C-R filter box so that the dust collects on the inside.  That way I am less likely to get a shower of dust when I bump it with a board or something.  Before I replaced the 4- 4x20x20 filters about a year ago after 2 years of use, I measured the airflow on both the intake and outflow.  There was plenty of dust on the filters but very little drop in air flow.  Of course with 4 filters, I estimate that there is over 4300 square inches (30 sqft) of filter media.  

--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.