Metal Dust collection question

[Rick Fisher]

Hello

I'm looking to order pipe and fittings for a new shop. I intend on going metal, and actually looked at Norfab but.. wow .. I add up all the parts and its so expensive.. on top of that, I cant help but believe I will forget a bunch of stuff.. so many parts to consider.

Looked at Blastgate Company. Its way more affordable .. is it the same spiral pipe available at a HVAC Wholesaler ?

Blastgate Company is in CT .. I am north of Seattle.

Kinda stumped on what to do ..

Norfab will cost thousands .. upon thousands..

Advice ?

[Larry Frank]

This is a question that many of us encounter. I looked at the options and looked at costs for 6" duct and looked at metal duct from Norfab, Blastgate and Penn State. I compared it to the Drain and waste PVC and went wit the PVC. I did make my own blast gates.

On thing that was really expensive was the shipping on metal duct parts.

[Larry Edgerton]

Check out "Air Handling Systems" Rick, they have different grades, and much cheaper than Nordfab.

Larry

[David Linnabary]

I hung around on craigslist till I found a batch of nordfab stuff taken out of a shop that closed, then purchased the additional items I needed to finish my design which was kinda pricey but I have not regretted it. I would have to say that the main advantages are the ease of installation and the flexibility to easily take down and reroute things at will. The system maintains nearly all of it's functional value, the components are every bit as functional and in as nice shape as the day you put them up.

Basically I could with confidences tear down my system one day then put it up in another shop the next and likely would need very little if anything additional.

By the way, just about the only tools I used the entire job to cut pipe was a portaband bandsaw and a round file to clean up the cuts. My first cut was a little rough, after that I got my technique down, they came out quite nice. Most of my runs, I put up by myself or with very little assistance. Eventually made an adjustable dead man.

No nordfab isn't for everyone, the cost is quite prohibitive but it's biggest advantage is its ability to easily adapt to changes in shop layout or an entire shop relocation.

David

[Martin Wasner]

Buy spiral pipe from a local hvac wholesaler. I don't understand the norfab stuff, but I'm cheap and don't mind spending the extra few seconds pulling the tape off a joint.

[Robert Engel]

The myths surrounding PVC have been thoroughly dispelled.

Think of the lumber you could buy with the savings.

[Tom Wassack]

Hello

I'm looking to order pipe and fittings for a new shop. I intend on going metal, and actually looked at Norfab but.. wow .. I add up all the parts and its so expensive.. on top of that, I cant help but believe I will forget a bunch of stuff.. so many parts to consider.

Looked at Blastgate Company. Its way more affordable .. is it the same spiral pipe available at a HVAC Wholesaler ?

Blastgate Company is in CT .. I am north of Seattle.

Kinda stumped on what to do ..

Norfab will cost thousands .. upon thousands..

Advice ?

Since you're in the Pacific NW, consider buying from Spiral Manufacturing http://www.spiralmfg.com in Minnesota. I've bought pipe, fittings (stock and custom), and blast gates from them and found prices (and shipping) quite reasonable.

Regards,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

[Jim Becker]

You should be fine sourcing spiral locally and just need to get your fittings from a dust collection specialty. That will safe you shipping cost on the straight pipe.

Nordfab and similar indeed are more expensive...the extra cost is for the flexibility and easy reconfiguration properties. That said, one thing I did was use some quick-clamp-disconnects on a few ports in my shop that are used for things like my router table and combo sander. Those tools are not permanently connected and being able to easily hook up is a great benefit.

[Ben Rivel]

Could also check out Oneida's ducting. I got all my ductwork from them. Was free shipping too if ordering over $300 which is easy to do.

[Martin Wasner]

Since you're in the Pacific NW, consider buying from Spiral Manufacturing http://www.spiralmfg.com in Minnesota. I've bought pipe, fittings (stock and custom), and blast gates from them and found prices (and shipping) quite reasonable.

Regards,
Tom Wassack
Asheboro, NC

I believe they are who supply McMaster-Carr. I've got an hvac buddy and have will called stuff directly from Spiral. I will probably do that again if I can ever get my new shop built. The nice thing about getting it direct is you can get longer lengths.

[Tom Wassack]

I believe they are who supply McMaster-Carr. I've got an hvac buddy and have will called stuff directly from Spiral. I will probably do that again if I can ever get my new shop built. The nice thing about getting it direct is you can get longer lengths.

You're right, you can get longer lengths and I needed a custom 3 inlet manifold and called them with the angles and sizes and they custom built it for less than $60 + shipping. They don't mind selling you 1 piece or dozens - which is unusual for a manufacturer!

Tom

[Mike Heidrick]

I asked this question on another forum too. Is spiral pipe all Female female? Kencraft has Wyes and other fittings with one end that is corrugated. Do you corrugate the end of the spiral pipe end connecting to the fitting? PVC is much easier LOL. PVC is not easy to have a 8" main trunk.

[Peter Kelly]

Looked at Blastgate Company. Its way more affordable .. is it the same spiral pipe available at a HVAC Wholesaler ?

Whether it's for HVAC or dust Spiral pipe itself is pretty much the same thing with somewhat varying wall thicknesses. It's the fittings on the other hand are very different. Due to space constraints in ceilings and walls, HVAC systems typically have relatively hard turns at intersections, instead of wyes there are "T"s, etc. As per the other recent thread on metal duct, Blastgate Co., they also sell 26ga snap lock, which is certainly cheaper than spiral. They just don't advertise it on their website.

I feel like it's best to order everything from the same place and not need to worry about variations in pipe ID / OD, etc. No regrets ordering everything from them.

[Peter Kelly]

I asked this question on another forum too. Is spiral pipe all Female female? Kencraft has Wyes and other fittings with one end that is corrugated. Do you corrugate the end of the spiral pipe end connecting to the fitting?

Connector rings are used to butt sections of spiral together. Actually far easier to work with than trying to wrestle with snap-lock crimps on 26ga overhead duct. If the end cuts are clean, it's much easier to get a nice straight run of duct.

[William C Rogers]

Why not snap lock? I went as cheap as possible using 30ga with plywood rings. 26ga is fine and no need for plywood rings. You will need to reverse the flow for the wyes by crimping and straightening, but that is minor. My second choice was PVC.