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Thread: Dust collection

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    New Jersey
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    Dust collection

    I have the Harbor Freight 2hp dust collector and it works very well . I use it for my table saw and my planer. It takes up a lot of room in my shop and seems to always be in the way. Can anyone suggest a smaller dust collector that would work well with my saw and planer? I have a shop vac but that doesn' t work too well on these machines.
    Thanks
    Dennis

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Orlando, FL
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    280
    There are a few smaller dust collectors, but their performance is quite marginal due to small motors and impellers. Rocklers' Dust Right for example. Most dust collectors up to about 2.5HP have close to the same footprint.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Even your current 2hp setup is effectively "marginal" for high quality dust collection, Dennis. Perhaps you can find a better placement and extend the duct work so that it doesn't interfere with your work space quite so much.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Savannah, Ga
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    I'm with Jim on that. I had the HF and upgraded to a Grizzly of the same HP and the difference between the 2 is crazy. I wouldn't go with anything smaller for a planer or a table saw. And as James said, they're all about the same footprint.

    Can you add a small lean to shed for the DC and run pipe? That's what I did and extremely happy with my choice.
    I'm a Joe of all trades. It's a first, it'll catch on.

  5. #5
    I would look for a corner you could put it, add a super dust deputy, and run sewer and drain pipe to the machines. You will need blast gates too but you can make better ones than most you can buy. If you arrange it vertically, you should be able to get it into about a 2x2 space.

    In my little shop, I get by with a shop vac (with dust deputy) and sweep up after the planner and jointer. I used to have a 1 hp DC but it wasn't all that effective and took up a fair bit of space. I used the stock bags and my DC spread the fine dust all over the shop. In my opinion, DCs are only useful if they either discharge outside or have fine filtration. I can sweep up without spreading fine dust around like a DC with 5 microns bags does. With a cartridge filter my DC was OK but the shop vac does 80 or 90% of what it did and I need it for little tools and don't want to give up the space for both.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    San Diego, Ca
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    1,647
    I reconfigured my HF 2 HP dust collector to a 2-stage because I do a lot of wood turning and long stringy shavings don't go through the impeller of the single stage DC very well. Also, like the OP, the roll-around stand took up some valuable space as did the hoses I had to climb over. So I added a Thien baffle on top of a trash can and mounted the DC on the wall directly above it. It vents outside. I'd guess that 99 percent of the shavings and 95% of the dust is collected. I used steel vent pipe running along the ceiling so now I don't need to step over the flex tubing on the floor. It now only takes up the space of a 32 gallon garbage can. This could also be done with a Super Dust Devil separator.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Sacramento, CA
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    Smaller?! If anything you should be trying to go BIGGER!
    If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!

  8. #8
    My favorite modified Harbor Freight setup is by Tyler G on youtube. You should be able to google it up. With a cartridge filter, it will be bigger than 2x2 but if you discharge outside, it shouldn't be.

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