Help with picking dust collector

[Jay Radke]

I know this is a topic that is always posted but it seems that everyone's situation is unique. If I had a dedicated shop I would probably have an easier time picking a system to use. My shop is in our three car garage. Its a two car door with the third slot as a tandem behind one of the other slots. We park both cars in the garage pretty much year round and dont plan on changing that. Its the tandem part which is where the floor space is for my shop. Nearly everything is mobile and is parked in the back along the walls so that I can get to my bench and other tools when required for work around the house. That area is also where yard equipment is also stored; lawn mower (2), snowblower and assorted other yard tools. So when it comes time to work, everything gets moved around and I can swing out into the full 3 car garage when working. Clearly cars need to come out when making dust. With all the moving that goes on I have always figured that having a mobile dust collection would be the best. That way I can park it out of the way when not in use and bring it out when I need it. I also generally only use one tool at a time.

Here is the list of tools that I have.

TS: Sears zip code
Jointer: Rigid 6 inch
Planer: DW735
Bandsaw: currently is a small bench top that my dad had for pen making, would like to upgrade in the future to something like the SUV14
Router table: MKE 5256

I have been thinking about the Laugna mobile either the 2 or 3 HP versions. I have seen some nice designs on here for putting in some convertible drops for garage shops that can be moved out of the way when the shop is not in action but the cars are in place. So I might be able to swing some drops.

I would love to hear others thoughts on this situation. I can post some photos later tonight of the area if that would help.

Thanks,
Jay

[Ron Sayers]

Jay,

I am interested to see what you are going to decide on. I am in a similar situation, but in a two car garage. I am trying to decide whether to go with the Laguna(or Oneida ) mobile or whether to put a 3hp dust gorilla on the wall and run a few drops. I spoke with an Oneida sales guy and he told me that I would save the most space by going with the 3hp DG on the wall and using the drops. He also said that I would get better airflow with the wall mount. He told me that they have to make certain design compromises in their mobile unit to keep it from being too tippy. I'm sure all of the mobile makers are constrained by the same physics.

One of the problems that I am having with the fixed design is that I don't consistently use my tools in the same places. I use different arrangements depending on the needs of the project.

Currently I am thinking about putting a ceiling drop somewhere near the middle of each quadrant, a drop along the two walls, near where I store my tools, and a floor sweep somewhere. FWIW, ClearVue has a nice photo gallery on their website that shows how other people have done their projects, including several garage shops.

[Paul Wunder]

May I suggest a stationary cyclone such as the Grizzly g0440 at $1144 (2hp) or the grizzly g0441 $1450(3hp). These two unit will take up about the same footprint as a mobile unit, provide higher "real" output and better cyclonic action and separation than a truncated unit. both are highly rated and can support a 6" run to the area where the woodworking will take place and then be connected to short flex ducts as needed. No shlepping the collector around and no need to maintain wide aisles to move the collector all about. I own a ClearVue but the Grizzlies were on my short list for quality and value.

[Paul McGaha]

May I suggest a stationary cyclone such as the Grizzly g0440 at $1144 (2hp) or the grizzly g0441 $1450(3hp). These two unit will take up about the same footprint as a mobile unit, provide higher "real" output and better cyclonic action and separation than a truncated unit. both are highly rated and can support a 6" run to the area where the woodworking will take place and then be connected to short flex ducts as needed. No shlepping the collector around and no need to maintain wide aisles to move the collector all about. I own a ClearVue but the Grizzlies were on my short list for quality and value.

I agree with Paul. I think a stationary unit will take up less room and give you better performance in the long run than a portable. It's great to not have to be moving flex hose around every time you want to run one of the machines.

As for which manufacturer I have an Oneida and I'm happy with it. There seems to be several good ones out there. Clearview, JDS, Penn State just to name a few. The people at Oneida are very helpful.

I think I'd do at least a 3 HP and maybe a 5 HP. Not that much of a price difference between the machines as compared to the total cost for everything.

Only downside to a stationary system is the cost. The duct work, fittings, blast gates, flex duct, a few accessories for the cyclone, will add up to be about the same cost as the collector itself. A $1,500 cyclone becomes half of a $3,000 dust collection system. To me it's worth it. Just have to open and close blast gates depending on which machine I want to collect from.

Good luck with it.

PHM

[Ole Anderson]

I can recommend the Oneida too. I have the 2 hp SuperDust Gorilla and it does well in my basement shop. With my layout I likely have longer duct runs than you will have. If I were doing it again I would go with the 3 hp for another $200, but with limited runs and properly sized ducts (6" better yet 7" main run) 2 hp should work fine. IMHO 5 hp is serious overkill unless you plan on running two machines and blast gates at the same time. You need about 700-800 cfm for a single larger machine like a TS with top and bottom collection and the 5 hp shows the fan curve starting at 1200 cfm. The 3 hp will give you about 3" more of available static pressure in the operating range compared to the 2 hp. Unless you plan on a an awful lot of ductwork, or are using spiral pipe from an Internet supplier, you ought to be able to halve the $1500 duct/hose/fitting estimate by shopping locally HVAC suppliers, ductwork shops and the BORGS, just stay with 26 gauge snaplock or better.

[Carl Beckett]

If you really want portable, and want a way to just get started, take a look at a Thein baffle and a shop vac.

[Rod Sheridan]

I can't think of any shop vacuum that has enough airflow to use as a dust collector, except for use with hand held tools, which is what I use my Festool vac for.

Regards, Rod.

[Paul Wunder]

A follow on to my prior comments:

Ductwork cost is a consideration in a cyclone purchase and can add up quickly. In your situation, one or two main runs to your "work area" with a few elbows and takeoffs along the walls will certainly suffice for your style of working. From the takeoffs, you can run flex to your machine in use using quick disconnects. This is in keeping with your need to put your equipment away each day. This will certainly keep your duct work cost in the minimal range of a few hundred dollars. While I mentioned the Grizzlies, you may want to consider the ClearVue. It is powerful, can be installed by one person, and has extreme flexibility in installation. In my basement shop, my longest run is almost 50 feet with 6" PVC duct with a final connection to my tools with a flex duct of 6-8 feet without any apparent loss of sucking power. I am quite pleased with my Clearvue. If your approach will be similar, I would recommend a stationary cyclone of 3 HP or greater. That will meet your current needs and support future growth.