Is there a need for a dust collection forum?

[Greg Crawford]

In the Workshops forum, it looks like close to 50% of the posts are about dust collection. Nothing in DC is really standardized, and when a person wants to build a system, it's hard to find a single source of good information. I know that some of the companies like Oneida and Penn State will help design a system, but those are beyond the budget of lots of folks. They are also centered around their systems and specs, which again, aren't standardized throughout the industry. Does anyone else think that a DC forum would be a good idea? I don't know what it takes to add another forum, so it may not be practical. I do know that a source like that sure would have saved me a lot of time and trouble.

[Jason Beam]

The workshops forum was created as a result of the DC and electrical questions that kept dominating general woodworking. I think splitting it further may be a little too fragmented. We have a LOT of forums here already... i don't think a specific topic like DC is quite needed - just my $.02

[Sam Layton]

I agree with Jason, I think there are to many forums already.

Sam

[Rod Sheridan]

Greg, I think that further splitting of the forums will lead to too many specialised categories.

I also find that dust collection is actually very standardised as the calculation process is the same for each system.

- develop a list of tools and air flow requirements

- lay out the shop

- calculate static pressure requirements, select pipe sizes

- look at fan curves to select dust collector

It doesn't matter who makes the collector, what kind of pipe you use etc, you just have to take the above into account when you design your system.

The reputable manufacturers will give you a fan curve for the machine with filters installed, that meets industry engineering standards.

If the manufacturer won't or can't, that tells you something about the accuracy of their claimed specifications.

Regards, Rod.

[Tom Hargrove]

I think this is the dust collection forum, with some space devoted to electrical issues.

A minority of the postings relate to things other than electrical and dust collection.

[Rob Russell]

When I proposed this new forum, it was originally as an Electrical-only forum. DC was added to it and thus "Workshops" was born. The point was to reduce the overall post traffic in the General forum. Before Workshops, it was common to have new posts rolling down 3 pages within a day because of the overall thread count. I think we're at a happy balance of number of forums vs. being too specialized. The Mods and Admins do watch this, though, and if there is a group of topics that should get pulled out and segregated into a new forum, we'll look at that.

[Chris Padilla]

Yeah, what Rob said.

[David Hostetler]

I would think that dust collection, and electrical, not to mention layout, safety, organization are all bit parts of the workshop. They just make sense to be here... Of course what do I know?

[Bob Slater]

I like it the way it is. This is my favorite section of SC.

[Eric Larsen]

I like it the way it is. This is my favorite section of SC.

Especially when Creekers post pictures of their workshops. I love those posts.

Would the mods consider a sticky of workshop photos? I could look at some Creeker's workshops all day. I get more good ideas from Workshops than even the Finished Projects forum. Anything that helps me work safer or more efficiently is a true boon.