Dust Collector A Lot of Work

[Rick Markham]

Jim's gates are how I have my homemade ones designed. IMHO that's the best design since it prevents any clogging from happening, you just have to make sure you have room for them. I actually have nearly all of the parts for mine, but time has become a priority for me, so I'm giving the Clearvue 6" gates a shot. Mine are going to be used to close off of the branches from the central trunk, and to "shorten" the central trunk. I'm also installing the 5HP clearvue, my arrangement is significantly less complex than yours. The terminations of my ducts will have individual blast gates for each 4" (I'm trying the boxes from clearvue with the 4" gates in them too.) I am looking forward to seeing how your arrangement turns out!

[Alan Schaffter]

Jim's gates are how I have my homemade ones designed. IMHO that's the best design since it prevents any clogging from happening, you just have to make sure you have room for them. I actually have nearly all of the parts for mine, but time has become a priority for me, so I'm giving the Clearvue 6" gates a shot. Mine are going to be used to close off of the branches from the central trunk, and to "shorten" the central trunk. I'm also installing the 5HP clearvue, my arrangement is significantly less complex than yours. The terminations of my ducts will have individual blast gates for each 4" (I'm trying the boxes from clearvue with the 4" gates in them too.) I am looking forward to seeing how your arrangement turns out!

Despite what many may think (and despite what it says somewhere on Bill Pentz's site) you don't need to put blast gates where branches meet the central trunk! Doing so doesn't "shorten" the central trunk at all. As long as the machine blast gate is closed at the other end of a particular branch there will be no air moving in the branch and therefore the branch doesn't exist to the system! Doing so doesn't do much to prevent dust from settling in the branch either- if the branch is horizontal no dust will enter the branch. If it is vertical you'll still have a few inches for dust to settle in if it falls out of the dust stream due to turbulence at the wye and/or low velocity, but that is not likely in a 5hp ClearVue system.

Blast gates high in the branch won't hurt the system, but they are absolutely NOT needed.

[Todd Brewer]

I got these slide gates installed today. Only 8 more machines to go.

That's an impressive system! Are you able to flip an 8' board (more or less) from end to end without hitting your ducts? I hate overhead "anything" and down drops because I know I will whack one (or more) when I go to flip a board from end to end. I had an 8" deep by 10" wide trench to my table saw installed when I poured my slab. My table saw has no overhead ducts at all. All other tools are along walls (this may not work for others). I realize installing a system after the fact involves compromises but have you considered consolidating your down-drops to give you more room to maneuver? Please don't take offense just looks like you could consolidate some down drops and give yourself more room to maneuver.

[Rick Markham]

Good to know Alan! Thanks, you just saved me some work!