Oneida Dust Collector Installation

[Kirk Poore]

Part 1: Hoisting Away

I built a new shop about 2 years ago, and moved in my collection of machines. But I didn't have money at the time for a permanent dust collection system, and instead made do with my roll around Delta. That did the job, but was in the way, and of course there was always the temptation to make "just one cut" without going to get the hose and turning on the collector. Still, since I do have a small business selling, I was able to build up cash to purchase a new system.

I'd designed my shop with a couple of unusual features which came into play. First, it has a clerestory to provide lots of headroom and light. This gives it a 16 foot ceiling in the center. Second, I had the contractor put an 8" deep trench from one wall to the middle of the shop. This was to hold a dust pipe and electrical lines. I really didn't want to deal with vertical pipes in the middle of the room, and I'd had a pretty good idea where my table saw and planer were going to go, given the shop size (22x26 exterior).

I'd decided to get a 5 hp Super Gorilla, and to mount it in the clerestory. The high mount would save space, since the both the cyclone and filter would be overhead and only the (relatively) small drum down on the floor. There was a longer run to go vertical, though, and the longest run would be about 45 feet. Of course, this was to the biggest chip producer, the 18" Oliver planer. I sketched out my ideas and sent them to Oneida, and the guy there said I could go with 3 or 5 hp. The latter was only a hundred bucks more, so I decided to be safe and go with it.


First up was assembly. My friend Eric, who was used to rigging large machines, came over to help:
assm_up1.jpg
My bandsaw was right below the installation location. It weighs 1200+ lbs, and it was impractical to move it out of the way. Well, on second thought, it might have been worth it, but it did provide a good stepping point at times.
hoist2.jpg
The chain hoist and finally a come-along provided the necessary lift.
hoist6.jpg
And, eventually, it was all in place. I think it took about four hours to get it assembled and up there.
installed_quarter.jpg
I gradually added various pipes. Not easy that high up.
new_pipe2.jpg
After the filter was in place, I started the main branches along the back wall.
growth2.jpg
The 10" drop makes the 35 gallon drum look pretty small. But I didn't want to go with the 55 gallon drum because I figured it would get too heavy when full.
growth5.jpg
Around the right corner. To put this pipe up, I was standing on my drill press table. No, it's not an ordinary DP table, or even an ordinary Powermatic 1200 table.
corner.jpg

This stuff was done over about a two week period. I went a little further, and got it working minimally, then had to stop then to complete a project--necessary, because the project would pay for about 2/3 of the DC.

Kirk

[Leo Graywacz]

I have the 2 1/2 HP Gorilla and it does me pretty well. I have mine up high to, not as high as you though. I think that might turn out to be a pain for you when it comes time to clean out the filter. It needs to be done every couple of weeks, sometimes sooner if you have a lot of flour dust production. Being up that high it may be challenging.

I also have the same situation as you. My planer is the farthest from the collector. Not as far as yours. Mine is about 25' away, so about 30' of ducting. I do my woodworking for my livelyhood and I had mine up and running in about 2 days.




I have recently taken the filter out of the equation by venting it outside. Maximum suction and the noise level reduced by 70%.



Good luck with your gorilla, it is a very nice collector.

[Kirk Poore]

Part 2: Going Under

After setting the task aside for a couple of months, I finally got back to the hookup. The next major task was to connect the planer, TS, and shaper. These are in a cluster in the middle of the shop. I finished running the pipe on the east wall of the shop to the middle of the wall, then put in a wye to give me a branch straight down (the other end is capped off for now). This drop led past my jointer and down into the trench:
east_wall.jpg
At this point I transitioned to PVC. My trench leaks some during heavy, prolonged rain, and I haven't been able to find the inlet yet. So I went with 6" pipe with glued on elbows at each end. I tested the setup by filling it with water, and there were no leaks overnight, so it should keep out any seepage.
under_floor_right.jpg
The trench itself is 8" square, so I have some room for machine cords. I have not run any permanent wires down it.

At the other end, the elbow pops out of the floor and connects to two wyes, giving me a 6" and two 4" connections. The former goes to the planer, while the latter go to the tablesaw (now) and shaper (soon). The 4" blast gates are well off the ground and easy to reach. This finished the east wall branch.
under_floor_left.jpg

The big producer on the west wall is my 14" RAS. I had a small dust collection box on the back of it, but it didn't catch all the dust during heavy cuts. I started making a much larger one, which will work during some angled cuts too. (That's the problem with Delta RAS's, they don't aim the dust at a narrow point like the Dewalt's do.) The box deflects dust into a rectangular hole in back of the frame.
RAS_box_top.jpg
Underneath, the bottom half of the box connects to a 6" hose.
RAS_box_bottom2.jpg
The hose connects to the adjacent drop. I still need to glue some foam or something to the back of the box--the sawdust hits so hard some of it bounces out instead of dropping down and in.
RAS_hookup.jpg
After hooking up the RAS, I ran the pipe farther down the wall to a 4" drop for the small bandsaw, OSS, and overarm router.
west_wall.jpg

I still had some more work before finishing, though.

Kirk

[Joseph Tarantino]

nice! you have some serious machines in there, don't you.

[richard poitras]

Kirk, looking good!
Did you purchase your ducting for Oneida and have them design it as well?

Thanks Richard

[Kirk Poore]

Part 3: Sweeping Up

I still have some machines to hook up. The biggest two are the 30" bandsaw and 8" jointer. Both are approaching a hundred years old, and of course have no dust ports. So I have to make something for each of them. The bandsaw, though, had another issue to address--I'd never put the belt guard on it, and the hose would be coming from that side of the saw. So, with some steel strap and angle iron, plus some 1/4"/20 bolts, I finally mounted it up. You can see the incomplete drop to the right:
BS_cover.jpg
The belt guard took all my remaining time, but it's pretty much there. I still have some little machines to hook up.

Here's a couple of pics as the shop stands now. Everything with the DC is neat and tidy. If only the rest of the shop was that way.

shop_left.jpg shop_right.jpg

Leo:
I'd have considered dumping the dust outside, but it's too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer for that, alas.

Joseph:
I'm a little north of 4 tons, so I'd have to say yes.


Kirk

[Thomas Canfield]

That is quite an installation. I think that you will want to change out to a 55 gal drum pretty quick, especially if you fill up the small can. It looks like you could access your drum with a hand truck to take out of the shop. You do have a lot of pipe between the cyclone and bin to also fill. You can pick up a 55 gal plastic barrel with quick latch top and use the hose flange off your smaller barrel, all for a lot less than shipping on the cardboard 55 gal barrel from Oneida. With the shorter installations, you can overfill the drum and have shavings carry over to the filter which is a major pain to clean. Some means of checking the level in the bin is handy.

I am in the process of installing my old 2 HP unit in my new shop, and it will be mounted up in the attic of my little shop with the dust hopper about 5' off the floor (air compressor goes under frame), and the filter will be horizontal up in the attic, and then figure out reusing the old ductwork. You have to work with the space and funds you have sometimes.

[Kirk Poore]

That is quite an installation. I think that you will want to change out to a 55 gal drum pretty quick, especially if you fill up the small can. It looks like you could access your drum with a hand truck to take out of the shop. You do have a lot of pipe between the cyclone and bin to also fill. You can pick up a 55 gal plastic barrel with quick latch top and use the hose flange off your smaller barrel, all for a lot less than shipping on the cardboard 55 gal barrel from Oneida. With the shorter installations, you can overfill the drum and have shavings carry over to the filter which is a major pain to clean. Some means of checking the level in the bin is handy.

I am in the process of installing my old 2 HP unit in my new shop, and it will be mounted up in the attic of my little shop with the dust hopper about 5' off the floor (air compressor goes under frame), and the filter will be horizontal up in the attic, and then figure out reusing the old ductwork. You have to work with the space and funds you have sometimes.

I'll see how it goes. Reusing the lid on a plastic barrel is a good idea. I did buy a detector to check for filling the bin. Once I get it in place, I'll start to figure out whether the bin is too small. I was using a 44 gallon trash can as a separator before, and it couldn't fill before too many chips started going into the old DC bag. So 35 gallons isn't going to be much of a step down.

Kirk

[Leo Graywacz]

I have a 55 gallon fiber barrel on mine. It can last for weeks or 20 minutes. Depends on what I'm doing. Lots of TS work, weeks. Making moldings or planing wood, not too long. Depends on the wood too. Poplar makes nice big fluffy chips and fills the barrel quick. Oak will make smaller chips and compacts nice, makes for a heavy full barrel.

I bought the barrel cart that Oneida sells. A heavy metal disc and 4 small wheels. Needs a way to hold the barrel steady but overall makes it easy to move the barrel (inside on a floor) to bring it to where you dump chips.

[Phil Maddox]

That is a thing of beauty!!!

It would seem that placing it in that location would work to amplify the sound, has that been the case?

GReat shop!!

[Kirk Poore]

Kirk, looking good!
Did you purchase your ducting for Oneida and have them design it as well?

Thanks Richard

Richard: Sorry, I missed your post. Yes, Oneida did the design and I bought about 80% of the ductwork from them. I had actually pencil-sketched the layout, but they refined it, figured out the pipe sizes, and gave me a piece count that pretty accurate. I did have one 6" and on 7" pipe left over, which isn't much. Overall, the service was very good.

Phil:
I have no way of knowing whether the sound was amplified by the location. I may try enclosing the cyclone or putting some sound deadening material on the walls up there, but I don't have any big expectations of an improvement.

Thanks for the comments on the shop...

Kirk

[Ed Hazel]

Really like your shop!

You may want to lower your filter I usually clean mine when I empty the bin.

What fill sensor did you get? I got the one from Oneida but it only lasted about a year.

[Kirk Poore]

Really like your shop!

You may want to lower your filter I usually clean mine when I empty the bin.

What fill sensor did you get? I got the one from Oneida but it only lasted about a year.

Ed, I got it from Robert Payne of McRabbet Woodworks, who is a member here I think. The price was good, and most of the components look like they can be replaced individually if they fail. It's built around a garage door sensor, and those are usually pretty reliable.

Kirk

[glenn bradley]

Great job and what a job it was. Thanks for posting all those pics.

[Franklin Smith]

I am so Jealous!! I have had my brand new 3 hp Grizzly cyclone hung on the wall for over 6 months now and cannot get the wire raped piping (6”) to fit together for anything!! I have tried brute force; crimpers; duct work cutters; Nothing lets this stuff go together. Ya, if I want to spend another $1000, I can get “special” piping from Grizzly or other places, but I have about 200 feet of good pipe that just will not go together.
With a SawStop TS, a Grizzly 12” band saw, a Woodmaster 18” planner/molder/sander, a Grizzly 8” planner, two 12” RAS’s, and lots of misc sanding devices, MY SHOP IS A DUST MESS!!
If I don’t figure out how to get this stuff cobbled up soon, I will have a new dust collector for sale…..soon….cheap!!
Frank