I am setting up a new space for a hobby woodshop with the usual tools. My 10” cab saw, 12” J/P and router table are probably my biggest dust/chip producers. Right now, I am hooking them up individually as needed with flex hose to an older 2 hp Grizzly single stage DC 1029, and it’s a pain. While I’d love to jump into a nice 3 hp cyclone system with a hard-piped duct run – I don’t think I can justify the overall $2,500 dollar cost right now for the amount of time I get to spend in the shop (hopefully that will change in the distant future as I look at retiring).
I thought maybe could break the project into more manageable chunks by setting up the DC plumbing first and finding a way to squeeze every bit of potential out the Griz DC I have now. Later, I could just substitute the bigger cyclone as funding allows without having to drastically change my duct runs.
I know several of you owning the Griz1029 DC and it’s distant cousin from HF, have found ways to “super charge” these without much out-of-pocket expense. What I’m thinking of doing is parting out the Griz1029, by directly mounting the motor and impeller unit to the wall in a separate adjacent insulated closet – rotating it 90 degrees it to be fed from the top , rather than from the side, for a straighter shorter upstream pipe run. However, this would put the motor in an upside down orientation.
Then, I would try to eliminate the 4’ of flex hose to the bag ring by connecting it directly to the impeller unit. I’ve already upgraded to a Wynn 35A cartridge filter on top and plastic bags for the bottom. Inside the bag ring would be an infamous Thien baffle to provide whatever separation I could get. If this doesn’t provide the degree of separation I need or I still have filter clogging issues, then I go the next step and build a Thien-style pre-separator.
My questions are this:
· First off, anyone see any big problems with this approach?
· Can the Griz1029 move air fast enough through a 6” main if I am careful with my transitions and run length? I only want to hang duct once, but it has to work with both the 2 hp Griz, as well as a future small 3 hp cyclone like the Oneida V-3000.
· Can I change the orientation of the Griz motor to an upside-down hanging direction without bearing or operational issues? I know supporting the weight may be a problem, but with four adjacent walls to work with, it shouldn’t be an issue.
· Anybody have any other suggestions for low-cost ways to improve on the overall DC system that I haven’t thought of?
I’ve attached a drawing of the shop floor plan with the proposed duct runs dropped in, as well as a cartoon of the mods I am thinking of for the Grizzly 1029 DC. I’m thinking if I’m careful, I can do the piping for $1,000 – 1,200 getting it cleared by the CFO, then upgrading to a cyclone unit in the future when I have built up the requisite goodwill.
Thanks in advance for your valuable advice.
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