# Needs tips for improving DC



## drp (Mar 6, 2020)

I am working in a garage shop and new to woodworking. My question is how to improve DC. My current setup is a ridgid 9 gal/4.5 hp wet/dry vac with dust stopper separator. I collect some dust in the pail but consistently have dust issues and a lot of cleanup. After looking into the specs on my vac it is listed at 76 cfm which probably explains some of it. I also have a 1950s Rockwell vac listed at 6 amps but no other markings. I am not sure if that would be an improvement or if I should make a change. Question is do I go to a more powerful vac or a smaller dust collector (550-660 cfm). 
This is what I have for equipment:

Laguna F2 table saw 4” port
13” planer 4” port
6” Jointer no dust port
Drill press no port
Router table - homemade - no port yet
Orbital sander with port 
Miter saw with small port

Since I am just getting started I am using the table saw and miter saw about 75% of the time but starting to use the others more. Any tips on how to improve things would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Bernie_72 (Aug 9, 2020)

To start you could hook up a better cyclone/separator to your existing shop vac, I have a small Oneida dust deputy hooked to my shop vac that collects absolutely everything but the extremely find dust in the bucket. My shop vac has a little over 130 CFM so perhaps that additional suction makes the cyclone work a bit better. I use this shop vac setup for all my hand held tools.

I think a good shop vac and separator/cyclone combination should be good for all the equipment you listed apart from the table saw, planer and jointer. Depending on how you hook up dust collection to your router table you may need a bigger dust collector for that as well.

I'd suggest looking into a 1HP to 2 HP inexpensive dust collector from Harbor Freight, Grizzly or Jet for your larger tools. You can get a 2HP unit from Harbor Freight for about $200. A 2HP unit from Grizzly will run closer to $400 or something like Jet may run you a bit more. You can start off with just a simple dust collector and eventually add on a separate separator/cyclone and filter down the road if you decide they're needed. I haven't used the Harbor Freight DC but several people on this site seem to like it.

For some of my smaller tools I have a $200 wall mounted Grizzly 1HP dust collector (537 CFM with 4" ducting) hooked to an Oneida dust deputy and a grizzly filter that does a very good job. For my larger tools (table saw, bandsaw, planer, jointer, spindle sander, drum sander) I use a 2HP Harvey dust collector (1110 CFM with 6" ducting).


----------



## drp (Mar 6, 2020)

Do you think that one of the smaller 1hp units with a separator would work well on the table saw and planer? I am trying to stay with a unit that will pull less than 15amps since it will not be on a dedicated circuit. I plan to run the collector to one machine at a time. Are you using the 4" dust deputy with the collector or running a reducer at the separator. Any info would be great.


----------



## Bernie_72 (Aug 9, 2020)

drp said:


> Do you think that one of the smaller 1hp units with a separator would work well on the table saw and planer? I am trying to stay with a unit that will pull less than 15amps since it will not be on a dedicated circuit. I plan to run the collector to one machine at a time. Are you using the 4" dust deputy with the collector or running a reducer at the separator. Any info would be great.


If you were going to create a duct system with blast gates to all of your machines a 1HP unit might not be enough, but I think running a 1HP dust collector using a 4" dust deputy with a direct run to one machine at a time should work pretty well.


----------



## drp (Mar 6, 2020)

Bernie_72 said:


> If you were going to create a duct system with blast gates to all of your machines a 1HP unit might not be enough, but I think running a 1HP dust collector using a 4" dust deputy with a direct run to one machine at a time should work pretty well.


Thank you for the input. I am not planning to run any duct work and plan to just go direct to each machine. I may run the dust collector without the dust deputy initially and then upgrade to that later. There is a lot more to all this than just attaching a vacuum . Thank you again.


----------



## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

fwiw a 4" duct requires 390 cfm for proper dc.


----------



## drp (Mar 6, 2020)

TimPa said:


> fwiw a 4" duct requires 390 cfm for proper dc.


For a DC rated at 660 cfm, what is the realistic expectation on cfm? I know they remove all the variables when they rate the unit.


----------



## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

I would expect that the cfm ratings are fairly accurate with respect to the specific setup used when the system was tested. it could easily provide for one of your machines (4" port) operating at a time, possibly two.

fwiw the majority of machines you listed do not respond well to dust collection, even with the best dc "boots" installed for the chip collection: table saw, miter saw, jointer...


----------



## Bernie_72 (Aug 9, 2020)

TimPa said:


> fwiw the majority of machines you listed do not respond well to dust collection, even with the best dc "boots" installed for the chip collection: table saw, miter saw, jointer...


I would agree with your statement for miter saws. The Festook Kapex is the only miter saw I've used that does a great job with dust collection. Every other saw including my new Makita needs some supplemental DIY engineering to get decent dust collection.

I have a cheap little 6" Rikon jointer that does extremely well with dust collection with just a single 4" port. Apart from some minor dust blow-out on the top when jointing edges I'd consider the dust collection to be very good. Perhaps dust collection on large jointers is more difficult and I'll have problems to deal with if I ever find a good used 8" or 12" jointer. 

Table saws can be a bit tricky but with some minor modification dust collection can be just about perfect for table saws. The only modification I had to make to my Grizzly table saw so far was to purchase a $10 magnetic sheet to cover the hole that the saw tilt mechanism opened up on the front side of the saw's cabinet. With that in place dust collection at the blade and in the cabinet is very good with just a single 4" port. Dust/chips do escape at the blade on certain cuts but with the right dust hood the majority of that can be collected. 

I think with a 500+ CFM 1HP dust collector hooked to a single machine that DRP will have decent dust collection. With a little DIY adjustments I think he could have very good dust collection. There are so many videos and posts on improving dust collection now that you can search on just about any make/model of wood working equipment and you'll find a good article or video with detailed explanations on how to improve dust collection for your specific equipment.

My wife was gracious enough to let me take 3 of my 4 car garage slots for my wood working shop with the single condition of her not having to come out and see her vehicle covered in dust. Since then I've been on a bit of a mission to improve dust collection and although I'm definitely not where I want to be at the moment, I have a plan for each tool I own to have good dust collection. In the end no setup will ever capture all the dust but that shouldn't stop us from doing the best we can.


----------



## drp (Mar 6, 2020)

I think my table saw will be ok with the adjustments you suggested. I do notice now with only the shop vac I do get a lot of dust coming out of that front area. I have not used my planer much yet, but plan to soon so I am not sure how it will do, but I am guessing it will be good. My jointer is an older 6" craftsman and has no dust port so I am going to have to get creative with that one. I have been looking online at a few different 1 hp dust collectors, but haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet. Thanks for the info everyone!


----------



## WishfulThinking (May 4, 2020)

I ran a 1hp DC with Super Dust Deputy and filter cartridge, direct to tools 1 at a time, for many years and it was more than enough to keep up with my planer, jointer, table saw, etc. I've upgraded to 1.5hp for my 4" network in my 1 car shop with drops and blast gates (only 1 gate open at a time) and it's again, very sufficient.

On a limited budget I felt I chose wisely spending less for a smaller motor, and putting more of that budget towards the cyclone add-on and HEPA cartridge filter. 

Please let us know how it turns/turned out for you.

Sent from my ELE-L04 using Tapatalk


----------

