Dust Collector Dust Capacity

[glenn bradley]

I look at it differently as I age. Mine is 35 gallons and that is the most I want to lift. Weight, not frequency, is the decision maker for me now-a-days.

[Bob Falk]

thanks! bob

[Jim Becker]

I think it's one of those situations where - regardless of the size of the container - it fills up too fast and at exactly the wrong time.

Yea, that's some kind of natural law or something for sure!!!! The other day when I was milling a bunch of ash for a small commission, the bin went full right before I was to do the "last pass" of thicknessing and I had to stop working, disconnect the bin, drag it outside, get the tractor started, move the bin out to where I dump, dump, return to the shop after putting the tractor away, reinstall the bin and then do that last pass. Sheesh...

[James Gunning]

Jim,

Kind of inconvenient, but not nearly as inconvenient as digging out all the chips blown into the filter would be.

[Jim Dwight]

I'm using a shop vac pulling through a dust deputy so my capacity is 5 gallons. It doesn't move enough air to hook up to the planner and I don't use the jointer as much as I should. I sweep up after those tools. 5 gallons of dust isn't a lot, even without the planner shavings but it is also easy to dump. All the shop debris goes into a plastic trash can that goes less than 10 miles to the collection point periodically. I bagged it at first but they prefer that you don't so now I just throw it in the SUV and dump it. If I get going, I have two more trash cans I can use.

[Jim Becker]

Jim,

Kind of inconvenient, but not nearly as inconvenient as digging out all the chips blown into the filter would be.

True dat for sure! (DAMHIKT!!)

[John K Jordan]

Jim,
Kind of inconvenient, but not nearly as inconvenient as digging out all the chips blown into the filter would be.

And far more convenient than the old way: clear knee deep chips with broom and shovel, then STILL have to haul and dump. Then there is that pesky inconvenience of lugging around an oxygen tank for one's remaining days after breathing fine dust for years...

I think about that every time I have to drag that heavy bin to the roll-up door.

But I've solved the problem of filling up the bin with planer chips - I carry the planer outside instead of the bin then use the leaf blower to mulch the woods behind the shop. Of course, that labels me a fair-weather plank planer.

JKJ

[Dennis McCullen]

I just emptied my Brute trash can for the first time with a huge project nearing completion, a workbench. I built my own chip separator over a 30 gallon trash can. If you are a one man shop, you will probably have a mix of lighter (planer) shavings and heavier particles (sawdust). I used a dolly to easily transport the can from the shop to outside then hauled it to the compost heap on a garden cart. It was fairly heavy. I have just a small (Jet DC650) 1hp unit with only 2 branch lines. One is fixed to the miter saw hood and the other is a push-on friction fit that is usually hooked to the table saw. It can be moved to the jointer, planer, or 6x48 belt sander. Since I built an outfeed extension for the table saw, it has become inconvenient to crawl beneath there to move that to the planer or jointer or to simply close the blast gate when I want to use the miter saw. Time for me to re-think my plan also! I am wondering if another Y with a blast gate for the multi-purpose line would be leak-proof enough to just have available and move the table saw gate to the split at the Y rather than the terminal end under the saw.

[John K Jordan]

...Since I built an outfeed extension for the table saw, it has become inconvenient to crawl beneath there to move that to the planer or jointer or to simply close the blast gate when I want to use the miter saw. Time for me to re-think my plan also! I am wondering if another Y with a blast gate for the multi-purpose line would be leak-proof enough to just have available and move the table saw gate to the split at the Y rather than the terminal end under the saw.

Is the extension table made such that you could run a duct extension from the saw underneath and out to the edge of the table and put the connection and blast gate there where it could be reached easily?

I don't know how leaky other blast gates are - when I close the one I just used before moving to another machine I can hear all the gates in the room whistling. I don't think that small amount of leakage affects my situation significantly - might depend on the collector (I use a 5hp cyclone with 5 blast gates for now). Maybe try it both ways and look for a difference at the miter saw?

JKJ

[lee cox]

I have set up a 55 gal drum and hope to dump it often. The idea is to have room for jointer and planer shavings which are lighter but take up a lot of room. If I use my other tools then I plan to dump the 55 gal drum before filling it up with heavy fine dust. I did buy a dolly off craigslist which will remain strapped to the 55 gal drum ready to go.

Actually my set up has 2 55 gal drums and 2 cyclones. One drum is on the Super Dust Deputy and one drum is on the motor with the Cincinnati cyclone. After 2 cyclones I plan to blow to the outside behind my shop hopefully without any dust. I am just waiting on pipe and a remote start since it will not be located in my shop but just outside in the shed.