Companion poll to % happy poll What is keeping you from 100% happiness with your DC

[ian maybury]

As above Van. The problem with 'satisfaction' or 'happiness' is as before that it's almost entirely relative, and based on expectations.

My wheezy old Robland 1KW bag filter felt great for about a week back in 1997, but I'd no idea what a high performing dust system could do. I didn't find out how much of a PIA a poorly performing system could be until I started doing some heavy planing and had the whole show bog down in wood chips and damaged workpieces. Also until my sinuses started acting up.

I still don't, in that getting the new system optimised involves getting stuck into R&D-ing set ups for all the different dust collection requirements/machines I have.

By the end of that it should be fairly clear whether or not my Pentz based system is a decent platform. (was a decent choice for development - one that doesn't contain inherent limitations that make achievement of acceptable performance impossible) Trouble is right now I don't even (beyond a fairly abstract targeting a high/safe/comfortable level of air quality) know what 'acceptable' means in many cases - my sense of that will evolve in parallel with the R&D.

That's at the technical level - I'm not all that heavily guided by financial limits. As in I've been prepared to put a lot of time in to studying and building a DIY system to get around the limitation that I didn't have a lot of free cash. Others prefer to and will happily plough lots of cash into buying commercially available equipment.

For some it's almost a disgrace to spend beyond a certain level on a dust system, doing so attracts a visceral response and even anger. Others are reluctant to put the time in to study the technology, or the time to build to save money, or both. Or cautious that they can't pull it off. Some become deaf in one ear, and hard of hearing in the other so far as the health risks are concerned. or are not much affected by dust. The prospect of spending beyond some limit likewise for some causes the same anger/fear as above.

In some cases the fear is irrational, in that they would if they committed find it was worth the effort, and that they can pull it off. Others might run into trouble.

Some of us (like me) prefer to put the time into planning up font, but hate to end up with all sorts of problems requiring resolution after building/installing. Others are happier to give it a go, and see high levels of debug as quite normal. The problem of course is that it's possible to make fairly irreversible errors - to end up with a system that contains limitations that block lots of options, and are expensive to resolve - is not a decent platform for ongoing development.

When we discuss these topics and the question of satisfaction comes up the one thing that's pretty clear is that we're not always comparing apples with apples....

ian

[Jay Rasmussen]

Other, not enough space.

[Larry Frank]

I fall in the category of not wanting to spend the time, effort and dollars to get the last 1% or so of the dust. I have a 1.5 hp Jet DC piped into my shop with 4" PVC. I only use one machine at at time so that it collects enough of the dust that I do not get a coating on things in my shop, dust hanging in the air. I use a Festool sander and HEPA dust collector for sanding. If I do find that I have dust in the air, I turn on the air cleaner and leave the shop for 15 minutes and it is all gone.

Could I make a better system with a larger DC and 6" pipe and better fittings? The answer is certainly but hardly worth the effort.

Maybe the better question is are you satisfied with your current dust collection system.

[Ryan Mooney]

Other space/layout. I could have sprang for a bigger ducted in DC but opted for a smaller/cheaper roll around so that I can adjust my layout. This has of course led to some relative deficiencies in the suction and moving hoses is kind of lame but overall it works quite well for me. For small tools I opted for the fe$tool setup and it does work really really well, not perfect but still really good (especially the ROS - impressive). Would a bigger system work "better"? Yeah probably, but finding a place to put it permanently... is more complicated.

On the other poll I marked 70-79% because I do collect the vast majority (some chips still escape the jointer/planer on occasion and the TS has a light dusting inside, I do need to hookup an overblade collection on the TS, and I'm not doing anything on the lathe at the moment), the dylos doesn't jump when I do most stuff (some TS work and hand sanding are the current major exceptions) and (most importantly) most of the time loml can walk into the garage without wheezing (exceptions - excessive hand sanding or finishing work sets her off easily).

[Michael W. Clark]

I put "lack of time". I get caught up trying to get projects done and see this like "tool maintenance". I'm glad when tools are all tuned up and ready to go, but sure hate stopping other projects to do so.

Everyone does "subjective" testing, not "objective". I.E. Do I like or do I not? Is it better than what I had? If "yes", then I tested it and it worked. Also, most people have a complete understanding of dust collection, fan performance, cyclone effciency, filter performance, and how all the above relate to each other. If you don't think so, just ask them.

[Larry Edgerton]

I am scheduled to win the lottery this month I believe, and then mine will be just how I like it.

On an island in the South Pacific.....

Larry

[Paul Cahill]

I answered "Other". My system works fine, but I have not addressed hand sanding plywood. For the time being I just use a respirator and go outside if I can. When I wrap up my current project, I will go through my workshop and address the various shortcomings I ran into, this being one of the them. I plan to put some from of drop to my workbench that I can swing up out of the way when I don't need it. I am hoping I can setup a raking light at the same time so I can sand and check my progress at the same time.

Paul

[Ryan Mooney]

I am scheduled to win the lottery this month I believe, and then mine will be just how I like it.

On an island in the South Pacific.....

Larry

So you checked "lack of money"

[Bernie May]

I have a 2.5 HP Oneida, an overhead dust cleaner, and a Dylos meter to tell me how everything is working. If you don't have dust meter, you really are missing out on knowing what is really going on in your shop. I am pretty happy with my setup and just need to work on the chop saw setup. I wish I had gone with the 5 HP and I wish mine were enclosed in a sound proof area (may get to that one of these days).

[Jeff Duncan]

I had to vote other as there was no "all of the above" button, which would have been my first choice! Well except for the "I am 100% happy" which is an odd one that seemed more like a trick question the psychiatrist would pose

JeffD

[Andrew Joiner]

I had to vote other. My reason is lack of motivation.

I'm happy with a broom ,open windows, and a fan. I do wear a good mask some times. This is way more protection than I ever had working for years in commercial shops.
I'm an all or nothing guy and a perfectionist. My concern is if I put in dust collection and it doesn't get all the dust, it'll drive me crazy.

It's funny cause I have WAY more money to spend on woodworking gear now as a hobbyist than I EVER had as a pro.

Threads on shop heat and dust collection have really helped me a lot.
I was going to insulate my shop but I rarely heat it and when I do it's spot heating with heat lamps.

I was looking at dust collection and then I saw here even Bill Pentz opens his windows and wears a dust mask in his shop!

So why insulate and get dust collection if I can just open windows more often?
I'm a "keep it simple" and frugal woodworker.

[Greg Portland]

Is it something else completely?

Here are some things that would make me happy r.e. dust collection:

Industry changes:
- All tool manufacturers need to make dust collection a high priority (i.e. design the tool with DC in mind). A required cfm & static pressure spec for fine dust collection should be published in the tool literature.
- Create an industry standard for port sizing and connectivity (2", 4", 6", 8", etc.). This includes the duct attachment mechanism (clamp-on, ?)

TBD with my personal setup:
- Complete automatic blast gate installation
- Install "dust bin full" light / monitoring system
- Get a stronger dust bin for my cyclone (metal trashcan makes a big bang on startup due to vacuum pressure).
- Come up with a better solution for my chop saw
- Build a better router table fence that has good DC