Oneida DC...owners or advisors......

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am pretty uneducated about DC.

In the next few weeks I'm going to be ordering an Oneida Dust Gorilla. I'm looking at a 2.5 HP High Efficiency Super Dust Gorilla and a 3 HP Super Dust Gorilla.

Any one have any specific recommendations...or pros & cons?

My shop is 30 x 24. I'll be hooking it to a b/s, jointer, tablesaw, lunch box thickness planer and I'll probably put some kind of port near my lathe.

Thanks for some advice!

[Joe Mioux]

Ken pick one.

I have the orginal 2hp gorilla and love it. I can't imagine me ever needing to upgrade from the 2 hp model. It just sucks everything up.

btw, what is the difference between the 2 hp, the 2.5 hp and the 3 hp?

I assume the fan blade moves at a set rpm. If that is the case what does and extra hp or 1/2 hp mean when you are running one tool at a time? Even if I ran more than one tool, I am pretty confident that my 2 would suck everything up.

hth
Joe

[sascha gast]

I got my 3hp super dust gorilla about 2 months or so ago, maybe a tad more and all I can say this thing is worth every single dollar I spent on it.
this is my 3rd dust collector, first a small Jet, than a larger one with a wynn style cartridge and now the oneida.
I decided to intall it outside, so I built a shed. frankly it's a tall shed, I built it 9 feet tall and 7feet wide since I also keep my 60gallon compressor inside. I didn't bother using the filter and just vent outside, here in los angeles I am not worried about heat/cold escaping the shop and I always have the garage door open when I work. I used 8" spiral pipe from the local HVAC supply from the gorilla for about 10feet or so to get back into the shop, then some 7" and finally 6" for all my runs/drops to 3 areas in the shop. all in all, I have 4 outlets for all the machines. just amazing, I just have the little remote dangling from the ceiling, turn it on when I need it.
All I can say is WOW. but i am glad it's outside, it sure is loud. I can't speak for the energy efficient version, but either way, it's the way to go

[Jim Becker]

Either will do fine, Ken. If you have the ability to do the 3hp system, go ahead and do it. You do have a larger shop and any additional available performance isn't going to be lost when it comes to gathering the fines at the source.

[Carl Crout]

Either will do fine, Ken. If you have the ability to do the 3hp system, go ahead and do it. You do have a larger shop and any additional available performance isn't going to be lost when it comes to gathering the fines at the source.

Why buy the 3hp if you don't need it. All you would be doing is wasting electricity.

I have a 900 sq ft shop with the Oneida 2hp commercial. I have 3 runs with the longest at nearly 40 ft. Everything works fine.
I run 6" pvc.

[Rick Dohm]

I purchased the Oneida mobile Oneida unit, as everything I have has to be moved when not in use. While having to constantly move the hose from tool to tool is not convenient, it serves my purpose. Even that model sucks up everything in sight from push sticks to screw drivers to small mammals if it gets too close. I love mine.

Rick Dohm

[Joe Jensen]

I have the 2HP Super Gorilla. My shop is a standard suburban 3 car garage, about 30 by 22. I called Oneida to order a 3HP and sent them my tool layout. Then called back to tell me it would be a waste to order a 3HP. I only run one machine at a time. I have a 6" duct to a 12" Powermatic Model 100 planer that is short. I have 5" to a Bandsaw, 8" Jointer, 14" Dewalt RAS, SawStop, and 3HP Powermatic Shaper. If I had a 3HP instead of a 2HP, and the same ducts, my understanding is that I'd have a LITTLE more static pressure, but that wouldn't really be noticable. Keep in mind that duct size and tool ports need to be similarly sized. For example, the SawStop has a 4" port that goes to a shroud under the blade inside the machine. I can't find a good way to mod the SawStop for a 5" port at the shroud. I have a 5" steel duct to saw that necks down to 4" as it enters the saw. Say I ran a 7" duct to the saw and necked down to 4". It really woudn't help as the 4" port would limit airflow, and with the limited airflow, the 7" pipe CFM would be low enough that dust pooling in the duct might be an issue.

After having played with this a ton, here is my advice.
1) Bigger and more efficient ports at the tools are the biggest bang. I cut the 4" port off my Laguna BS and put a 5" port on. Made a huge difference. I changed the 4" port I had on the 8" jointer to a 5" one and it made a huge difference. Some tools can't really take a larger port. My shaper fence has a slightly smaller than 3" by 4" square opening behind the cutter. The acutal measurements yield about 10.5 sq inches of area . A 4" port has a little over 12 sq inches. If I put a 5" duct, or a 10" duct behind that 10.5 sq inch opening I would get about the same airflow. I actually fit a 5" port onto the back so I could connect with 5" ducting, but I doubt it helped over 4" port.
2) Once you figure out the maxium port size you can do, then send the tool layout to Oneida and tell them the tools and port sizes. Since none of your duct runs will be very long, I don't think you need to worry about running really large ducts. I was going to run 6" ducts to each end of the shop but the tools could only take 5" ports. Oneida said I'd risk dust pooling with long horizontal ducts that are larger than the ports. The had me do 5" ducts. In hindsight I think I'd do 6" for those runs, but I have no data to say for sure.
3) The 30 gallon container is small. I just planed a relatively small amount of stuff this morning and mostly filled a drum. Overfilling is bad as this forces the dust back into the filter. My shop won't accomodate the height of a 55 gallon drum, but if you can, I'd mount the collector so you can do a larger drum.
4) I did Oneida spiral pipe everywhere. With 6 machines connected I have less than 10 feet of flex pipe. I think well run steel duct is a must. It's a little more, but much nicer to work with and much lighter to hang.
5) the one tool I'm least happy with for dust collection is the RAS. I have a 5" duct which splits into a 4" and a 3". The 4" goes behind the blade and the 3" goes to a port on the blade guard. I am going to build a more elaborate shroud behind the blade to try that, but I suspect in the end I will run a larger pipe to the RAS and go with 5" behind the blade and 3" to the blade guard...joe

[Tom Quatsoe]

I would agree with Joe.

The Oneida salesperson talked me from a 3 hp into a 2 hp for a 3 car garage size shop. The biggest generator is a 16" jointer/planner combo machine. The key is 5 or 6 inch ports and metal pipe instead of flexible tubes.

Also, don't plan on using it for tools needing high static pressure DC like a router or random orbital sander. Get yourself a Festool or Fein for that task.

Tom

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe and Tom..........Thanks for the input. That was just what I was hoping to hear.

[Joe Jensen]

Ken, correction. I said I did Spiral pipe. I meant to say the cheaper snap lock pipe. It's similar to the Borg HVAC pipe but a heavier guage. It's pretty cheap and shipping is free when you order enough duct work. I ended up needing extra pieces and when I tried to find it in phoenix I ended up paying the same for fittings in the lighter guage as I did for heavy from Onieda...joe

[Dik Harrison]

I bought an Oneida system 9 years ago and it has worked great. I sent them a layout of my shop with tools (current and projected), ceiling height, etc., and they designed the system (for free) with appropriate duct sizes, elbows, Y's etc. I have a 2 HP motor and currently have ports for table saw, band saw, miter saw, radial arm saw, molder/planer, lathe, and belt sander. I am the only user, so the capacity for additional tools is virtually unlimited.

[Jim Becker]

Why buy the 3hp if you don't need it. All you would be doing is wasting electricity.

I have a 900 sq ft shop with the Oneida 2hp commercial. I have 3 runs with the longest at nearly 40 ft. Everything works fine.
I run 6" pvc.

I also have the 2hp Commercial with 7", 6" and 5" duct work as appropriate for the design and am not displeased. I would have had the 3hp system, however, if I had the height for it without sacrificing the 55 gallon bin for a smaller one. (They had a nice scratch and dent 3hp system available when I picked up my 2hp Commercial unit)

The electrical usage between the two units Ken asks about will hardly be noticeable, but the additional CFM could be quite useful for things like running two drops simultaneously, such as a TS with an overarm collection. And the way DC systems work, they only draw as much amperage as is needed for servicing the particular hood/duct combination that is currently open...again, no real difference in power usage.

[sascha gast]

lets just say that in the past, I have never gone wrong by going a little bigger than I needed.
I think I have yet to meet a woodworker that thinks any different

[Ross Van Dorpe]

I have the 3hp super dust gorilla in a shop thats about 20x24. More than enough power for all of my tools. I would talk to the people at oneida and send them a shop layout. Also it is important to have a straight run into the cyclone or you will get dust and chips in the filter. This is not stated in the instructions but is in the troubleshooting section. (It would be nice if they specified a length of straight pipe needed to have proper operation in the instruction book) I am very happy with the performance with all 6" ports.
Ross

[Joe Mioux]

lets just say that in the past, I have never gone wrong by going a little bigger than I needed.
I think I have yet to meet a woodworker that thinks any different

(emphasis mine)

Hand-tool craftsmen? Especially the people who buy garage sale chisels, planes, saws, etc and reburishes them in lieu of the fancy "Designer Brands" Bronze and Brass ones.

I can think of a few very promiment names here on SMC that would probably successfully argue that their handtools are just as efficient and in some cases even better than power tools.

Joe