1 micron bags or canister and fittings
Hi all,
I just got the HF dust collector since I had a coupon for $139. It's in the last two issues of Wood magazine and couldn't pass it up.
Because the bags are 5 micron I don't want to start using it until I have something better. I've looked at the canisters and like the Grizzly because of the paddles but man those prices!
I am just a hobbyist and won't spend entire weekends in the shop but do more occasional work. Do I really need a canister or can I get by with a 1 micron bag? If so which would you recommend?
If I end up spending more time in the shop I might consider removing the top bag and venting the unit to the outside.
My woodshop is the half part of a two and a half car garage. I plan on having the dc unit sit in the corner and use one 4" hose to go to the tool I will be using. I know this might be cumbersome but I have to start somewhere and figure out how I want the final design.
The only 4" outlets I have are on my table saw and planer. The router table and band saw have a 2 1/2" outlet. The jointer has nothing so I need something for that.
Is there a fitting that hooks up to an old craftsman 6" jointer or should I just build one myself?
I've compared prices for hoses, ABS blast gates and fittings at Woodcraft and HF and the latter is much cheaper. Are those decent or should I just go to Woodcraft and spend a bit more?
IMO the Thien baffle should be required with cannister filters.
I have a Thien baffle in a PSI "2 h.p." dust collector. They make the canister filters viable IMO. Without the baffle I was getting lots of chips & dust in the canister filter. I have the Wynn spun bond filter. I slapped it and blew it out from the outside but there was still a pretty good build-up in the filter folds. So far with the Thien baffle the amount of chips in the filter is negligible. Some build the Thien filter into or on top of a garbage can and have the airflow pass thru the Thien baffle before entering the D.C. blower. The advantage to this arrangement is the chips and any possible metal do not contact the blower paddles. I don't know if there is a performance penalty or how much with the pre-separator configuration. I haven't seen anyone using the Thien baffle then venting outside but it'd be interesting to hear how that works. I have a basement shop in a townhouse development so venting outside is not an option. Plus, I just couldn't bring myself to blow conditioned air outside.