Must get tiring to keep reading dumb questions from us amateurs, but here they are:
(note 1 my main interest is protecting my health, reducing sweeping/cleanup is secondary)
(note 2 I have limited options to connect every machine, so compromises are necessary, I just want to do the best I can given my limitations)
1. how important is dust collection for a lathe? Seems that the chips generated are pretty large and might not be that dangerous. Obviously I am assuming I won't be sanding on the lathe.
2. I know minimizing flex is important. I am trying to get a line to a shaper fence hood. Bringing the ducting down from the ceiling and splitting it with a wye gets it pretty low which would cause the flex to have to bend back upwards somewhat. Avoiding the wye to start the flex higher from the ground, means the flex to my table saw cabinet port becomes longer (6 feet versus 4 feet) to feed the saw from a different wye.
Just a observation. I have seen some photos of pretty high end machines (some photos supplied by the manufacturers) where there is a mile of flex weaving in tight S curves laying on the floor. Wouldn't this just about push their static pressure losses through the roof? Why show such photos?
James