Hose woes

[Rick Potter]

I am rearranging the shop a bit, and putting my Unisaw behind the Felder K700. There is a 6" drop next to them with a 6"blast gate. It has been used with a 6" hose to move back and forth for the saws.

I am making it into quite the little tree. The finished setup will have one blast gate for each saw plus a 4" gate for overhead guards, and finished off with a 4" gate for a floor sweep.

I have 5" metal gates which I planned to use for the two saws since they both have factory 5" outlets, so I ordered 10' of flexible 5" hose from Peachtree. It got here quickly, and it is very nice made in USA hose. Problem is it won't go over any combination of 5" fittings I can find. I bought 6 to 5 reducers, 5" elbows, 5" spiral pipe, with no luck. Won't fit the Unisaw outlet either. Only thing it would go on is the metric Felder fitting. Yes, I left it in the sun to relax and tried a hair dryer also.

I played with it for a couple days, called Peachtree, blah blah, ...no luck. They will take it back but cost to ship back is too much to fool with.

I finally went back to using two 6" blast gates with the old 6" hose I had. There is barely enough hose to fit, and the hose is so sturdy you can hardly bend it. That hose is heavy. My future grandson in law is a HVAC guy and he is going to try to find 6" hose that fits and is flexible.

The tree is made, and I am now committed to having two 6" gates reduced to 5" at the saws and two 4" gates, and hoping he can find a longer flexible 6" hose. I really need to be able to move the unisaw sideways a bit for maximum space utilization.

Thanks for letting me vent.

PS: In case you are wondering what is holding up this heavy drop/tree setup...I have a 6X6 post in two places in the shop. They are non bearing, and were installed for D/C and electrical drops, and machines are nested around them. The drop is attached firmly.

[mike stenson]

My 5" drops are the same. 6" S&D > 6" blast gates > 5" reducer. I found some pretty flexible 6" hose that's going to my cyclones drum. I think it was powertec.

[Clint Baxter]

I purchased 4", 5" & 6" hoses from Oneida. Good flexibility and no problems getting them on fittings.

Clint

[Jim Becker]

For the 120mm port on the Felder, a popular option for adapting is a Fernco rubber sewer adapter; 5" hose can be clamped on one side and the other slips right onto the 120mm port. I use that method with both my SCM/Minimax slider and my SCM/Minimax J/P. For the Unisaw's 4" port, you can usually use a normal sheet metal reducer, but may need to either crimp or use tape to flesh things out for a good fit. You can also opt for machine and hose adapters from the quick connect world. While they cost a few shekels, the machine adapters are sent to you with the very specific ID you measure so they slip onto the machine port (which is NEVER exactly 4") and then you have a mating hose adapter on the other side. One clamp and you are up and running. That's what I use in the rest of my shop other than on the two tools mentioned above that have 120mm ports. I used Blastgate Company for the quick connect components; they are great to work with and noticeably less expensive than Nordfab. Ship fast, too.

[Rick Potter]

Well, I just finished doing it all over AGAIN. As I said, I had given up and went back to hooking it up with the old really stiff 6" setup, as I needed to use the saws. Hated it, because I would really like to squeeze a shop vac in that corner for the over the blade shroud on the Felder (and make one for the Uni that would attach to my Beis. splitter).

Finally, bit the bullet and crimped the 5" ends of the necessary fittings, which allowed the new 5"" (actual 4 7/8 ID) to work. The only place I could attach the hose directly was the Felder with its metric 5" (120 MM) port. Strange since the hose is made in USA.

Redid the tree with 6 to 5" reducers crimped. This was my hang up in the first place since the crimps are on the intake side, but did it anyway because the hose is clear and I can see possible future clogs.

Now I have a much more flexible hose in that busy corner, and it has enough extra length to allow a shop vac for the overhead in the future. It also allows me to move the Uni sideways a couple feet for occasional use on large stuff. Advice is appreciated, and thanks.

PS: My DC outlet on the UNI is a factory NOS setup with a 5" outlet Jim. I think it may be a bit rare. My Uni is a 1993 with a sloped to one side bottom plate which has a 1" (?) tall full length slot at the bottom and a special factory fixture that ends in a 5" port. All Delta.

Observation: I bought elbows and reducers from Lowes and HD. The ones from Lowes were lighter gage than the ones from HD, definitely flimsier. Neither one was as solid as 10 year old ones from HD, I already had. The best ones naturally, are the ones I got with my spiral pipe, from the HVAC place when I first did the system. I hammered out all the crimps on those elbows and fittings by hand and put crimps on the correct end for suction, rather than blowing.

[Jim Becker]

Rick, 120mm is just under 5" which is approximately 125mm. So yes, a 5" ID hose should slip over the 120mm port or at least be close enough to "encourage" it. But again, using a Fernco rubber adapter makes for a "perfect" fit while allowing quick disconnect to clear a clog, such as when a longer, thin piece of material gets pulled down by the blade.

Yes, a 5" port on a North American machine would indeed be unusual!

[Bill Dufour]

A cherne plug is expensive in 5" or 6" size. You could use a smaller one and wood staves to expand the hose. Similar to a muffler pipe expander.
BilL D

[Earl McLain]

For the 120mm port on the Felder, a popular option for adapting is a Fernco rubber sewer adapter; 5" hose can be clamped on one side and the other slips right onto the 120mm port. I use that method with both my SCM/Minimax slider and my SCM/Minimax J/P. For the Unisaw's 4" port, you can usually use a normal sheet metal reducer, but may need to either crimp or use tape to flesh things out for a good fit. You can also opt for machine and hose adapters from the quick connect world. While they cost a few shekels, the machine adapters are sent to you with the very specific ID you measure so they slip onto the machine port (which is NEVER exactly 4") and then you have a mating hose adapter on the other side. One clamp and you are up and running. That's what I use in the rest of my shop other than on the two tools mentioned above that have 120mm ports. I used Blastgate Company for the quick connect components; they are great to work with and noticeably less expensive than Nordfab. Ship fast, too.

That is very good pricing on spiral, and a great assortment of fittings. I'm nearing a DC system rebuild, and was about to settle on 30 ga. galvanized--going to have to reconsider. And, at 3 1/2 hours each way, i'll at least be able to consider renting a trailer for pick-up depending on shipping costs. Thanks Jim!!

[Earl McLain]

Blastgate Company has very good pricing on spiral, and a great assortment of fittings. I'm nearing a DC system rebuild, and was about to settle on 30 ga. galvanized--going to have to reconsider. And, at 3 1/2 hours each way, i'll at least be able to consider renting a trailer for pick-up depending on shipping costs. Hadn't heard of them before. Thanks Jim!!

[Jim Becker]

That is very good pricing on spiral, and a great assortment of fittings. I'm nearing a DC system rebuild, and was about to settle on 30 ga. galvanized--going to have to reconsider. And, at 3 1/2 hours each way, i'll at least be able to consider renting a trailer for pick-up depending on shipping costs. Thanks Jim!!

Yes, their spiral offerings are nice and they are great to do business with, too. Since they also do quick connect, you can still use that in conjunction with the spiral for terminations and other places where a clamp has an advantage...like the machine and hose adapters I mentioned. Even though I chose the more expensive quick connect overall, a hybrid approach can bring better economy for the stuff that makes up the majority of the duct network while giving flexibility where one can benefit over time.