How satisfied are you with your CURRENT dust collection system?

[Kirk Poore]

I answered 50% because my Oneida is only 50% installed. It still does a better job than my roll around Delta did.

Kirk

[Mac McQuinn]

I'd be curious to know what percentage of people reporting a specific satisfaction figure have a Dylos meter or something similar to actually measure their dust collection system's performance with.
Mac

[Jeff Duncan]

I don't happen to have my Dylos meter handy, so I use a very old school though highly scientific test. It involves a tissue and my nose at the end of the day.....and I'll leave it at that

Seriously though, my guess would be very few....maybe 3 or 4....(people not percent), here have a Dylos meter handy? I'd also guess most rate their system similarly by how much dust is obviously floating in the air after working for a while, and by how much has settled out on their tables by the next day. I know full well the most harmful dust is so small it's barely perceptible....but you'll never, ever completely eliminate dust. As soon as I start to pull a board off my rack, before it even makes it to a machine, there's dust in the air. Actually just walking across the shop, (and I keep my floors fairly clean), generates dust. So using a Dylos meter isn't going to necessarily tell me how well my dust collection is working as there's so much dust generated in other ways. It'll just tell me what the concentration of dust in the air is, and that's not a bad thing, of course being that there's no real level or tipping point at which we go from safe to unsafe....not sure how much value there is in having one?

JeffD

[Chris Tsutsui]

I'm 50% satisfied.

I have the 2HP peak Harbor Freight DC with the flexible clear 4" hose, a Jet 1500 air filter with 3M outer filter, a Festool CT33 connected to a Dust Deputy, and I have a 300CFM ventilation fan sucking air from the ceiling outside (which I mostly use to cool the garage when heat builds up in there during summer) or to vent fumes outside.

The HF DC is where I need massive improvement for it gets easily clogged by my jointer/planer and it could definitely have more suction. Once i'm done with my current project I'll probably build the popular DIY 5HP cyclone.

I hate having to disconnect and reconnect flexible ducts.

What I did do is build a remote control with a $11 Ebay 40A 2pole 110V contactor and landscape lighting remote. This was a nice added convenience and I can't wait to use this same remote on a future cyclone.

[Gordon Eyre]

I checked 90% because of my cyclone system. It does a great job for most of my tools with the exception of my SCMS and my scroll saw. I especially like the job it does on my planer, router table and jointer. Even my table saw is decent and the hand sanders and drill press as well. I have blast gates and only use one tool at a time.

[David Kumm]

Jeff, before I got the Dylos I would have agreed with you. I now can see what is in the outside air, whether there is exhaust still in the garage- I've no sense of smell- and most importantly, how fast the air clears from any activity, be it walking around or sanding. Knowing how well the ambient works and how quickly the DC cleans the air keeps my hankerchiefs much - well we don't want to go there. Dave

[Ryan Mooney]

Jeff, before I got the Dylos I would have agreed with you. I now can see what is in the outside air, whether there is exhaust still in the garage- I've no sense of smell- and most importantly, how fast the air clears from any activity, be it walking around or sanding. Knowing how well the ambient works and how quickly the DC cleans the air keeps my hankerchiefs much - well we don't want to go there. Dave

Not only that but I took it into the house and learned that we need to wash the comforter. The dog jumped up on the bed and poooof big jump in particle count

I do believe that its useful to have measurable baselines, the dylos gives you a way to get those, otherwise you really are just guessing. I was surprised how high the particle count could go even when there was no visible dust (floor, shelves, nose or otherwise ) and while I already knew where I was most deficient, I can now quantify the effort vs gain to some extent.

[Steven Lee, NC]

I would have been at 50% before the thein tophat additions. Now I am in the 90+ % range. I'd prefer a more compact dust collector with a smaller footprint.

I have a HF dust collector with a thein tophat for the big power tools
jds air cleaner
festool ct 22 with the super dust deputy for hand power tools