Advice Please...on a Dust Control unit.

[Phillip H Smith]

I guess I gotta "Suck it Up" (pun intended!) and feed the vortex with a real dust control system. My 5HP ShopVac doesn't seem to do the job.

I have a small shop(approx. 15' X 18') in my basement that includes, a 10" Roybi table saw, 10" Delta band saw, 12" Craftsman drill press, 13" Rigid thickness planer, a Bosch router table (enclosed), plus my Rikon midi-lathe and an 8" Delta grinder. Most of my tools (including a RO sander) currently are used with my current ShopVac...that is, most have a 2.5" dust port. I do a mix of flat work and, increasingly, turning.

So here's some of my thinking: 1) I'd like to get a DC unit that handles down to 1 micron, or so; 2) I'll probably be using it with one tool at a time, so no real ducting is anticipated; 3) but I want a unit that may be able to "grow" with my needs; 4) I understand that most DCs have a 4" input, and their performance is degraded if you use them with 2.5" ports.

I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone may have on this subject. I'm looking for your input based on "real world" use. I don't want to go "cheap"...and then again, I don't want to overspend either.

You folks have been very helpful and informative in the past...and I thank you in advance for your help on this program to transfer some of my $$s to someone else!

[Curt Fuller]

Just got this email flyer today.....

http://www.woodcraft.com/corpnewslet...fcode=75IN07NL

Other than that I don't know anything about them.

[Marc Martindale]

I've been real happy with my JDS Dustforce

[Neal Addy]

I asked a lot of questions and did a lot of research on dust collectors and finally went stark raving mad. A number of folks I knew recommended the Delta 50-760 so I went with it. I like it. You can find it on Amazon for <$300 (depending on when you look).

[Jim Bell]

Buy a cyclone.

[Paul Heely]

I'll second the vote to look at a cyclone.

My Oneida unit is due to be delivered tomorrow. The 3HP super gorilla was my choice after doing a lot of reading. I'll report back once I have it installed and running how I like it.

[William Bachtel]

Noise is an issue also. Sometimes the bigger the unit the more noise, if you are turning and the unit is near ya, a small unit is less noise. Delta is my choice.

[Brodie Brickey]

You can always move the dust collection outside to avoid the noise and run the pipe through the wall. Put a box around it outside to protect from the weather. For a lot of detailed and frankly too detailed information on dust collection check out Bill Pentz's website: http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyc...oneReviews.cfm

A lot of people swear by it, and you can even create your own cyclone from plans he has.

[Brodie Brickey]

Wednesday night's chat on WoodCentral is about dust collection systems. This may be of some help also.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Guess I went against the grain. I got the HF 2 hp dust collector and bought the Wynn .5 micron cartridge filter for the top. It works great for $184. I see they went up a little now on sale for $199.

[Phillip H Smith]

I really appreciate the input and advice. There are so many choices, it could tend to make one seriously confused.

I do like the idea of a cyclone, but I'm somewhat limited in space - especially ceiling height. So I may opt for a shorter unit and hook up a separate cyclone unit.

Oneida Air is right here where I live...but they are $pendy! Though I could maybe drive down the street and save $$s on shipping.

I liked Brodie's idea of keeping the noise down by putting the unit outside...but...I live in Upstate NY. Long Beach has 200+ sunny days...we have 200+ inches of snow, so having a unit outside isn't practical, from many aspects.

I'll do some research and make some comparisons. So far it looks like the name brands (Delta, JDS, Jet) are very similar in both specs and price.

I don't want to sound cheap...but..MAN...it does bother me to spend $$s on something to suck dust. Besides, it weakens my argument, with my comptroller, for getting a bigger lathe

[Rick Huelsbeck]

This is the same unit I have, from what you have listed we have very similar shops. I bought mine used, so it was cheaper than on ebay but it is the exact machine. The bags are 5 micron though. I don't see any dust in the air when I use it and it's also fairly quite for a fan blowing 600 CFM of air. I actually have mine ducted, but it is a portable unit that rolls around the shop quite nicely. But then if you really want the 1 micron there are places on the internet that make them that will fit this unit. Hey for 99.95 plus shipping it's not a bad deal

[Brodie Brickey]

I really appreciate the input and advice.
I liked Brodie's idea of keeping the noise down by putting the unit outside...but...I live in Upstate NY. Long Beach has 200+ sunny days...we have 200+ inches of snow, so having a unit outside isn't practical, from many aspects.

Phil,

You build an enclosure around it like some do for a water heater with a little roof on it. The cold shouldn't affect it overly as long as it seals well, but I understand about the issue of NY winters.

[Steven Wilson]

Jet DC1100C, fairly short flex hose, and move around when needed. To be effective you'll need to look at modifying the hood on some of your machines. Woodworking in the basement brings other problems (like sending dust through your house) so take a look at keeping your work area totaly separate from your heating and cooling system(no ducts in the shop), and seal wall openings (seal outlets, maybe use a different door, etc). You should also consider an air cleaner for collecting loose dust after the fact (won't help your breathing but will help clean up), look into building downdraft cabinets (feeding your DC) for hand sanding, routing, and other tasks where DC at source is problematic, and finally be fastidious in collecting from your hand held power tools (use the shop vac with a HEPA filter for this).

You will need to consider your environment when selecting tools. To keep the dust load in your basement (and the rest of the house) down consider the dust collection capabilities of the tools you purchase. I switched from Dewalt / Porter Cable sanders to Festool because of the much better DC capabilites of Festool products. I also switched from a PM66 tablesaw, PM60 jointer, Dewalt Planer to a MiniMax combo machine in part due to safety and increased capability but also because of the superior DC capabilites the MM combo unit offered. I was getting frequent sinus infections and improving the DC capabilites of my tools as well as obtaining a decent DC unit has allowed me to continue woodworking; it does catch up with you.

[Reed Gray]

I had a small 1hp unit that was on wheels, that I would take to which ever machine I was using. I got tired of tripping over the collector, and extention cord, not to mention the inconvenience of having to move it each time I wanted to use it. It didn't have a cyclone, and more than once I had to stop it and remove rags, sand paper, wads of shavings, or straighten the impellers from a chunk of wood that went through. My recomendations are a cyclone, a metal impeller (fan blade), and a 1 micron pleated paper filter. If you do put the machine outside in a box/building, the 1 micron filter will allow you to vent the air directly back into the shop without refiltering. This will keep the cool air inside in summer, and the warm air inside in the winter. A remote (lone ranger fm band, not infared) is really handy, and I have 2, one on the wall in my turning area, and another that floats out in the shop. Oneida makes the best system out there. It won't hurt to talk to them before you buy another system.
robo hippy