# Recommendations for small system



## Bullseyeguy (Apr 28, 2017)

Sorry - reposted from introduction page.

Hello all,

New to the forum, and of course I come asking a "newbie" question. Getting ready to move into a house with a 3 car garage, which will house tools, toys, and maybe even occasionally my wife's car. I want to set it up with a decent dust collection system. Although I have plenty of time, I want to take a crash course to learn about the do's and dont's (like I just learned from your forum about using PVC pipe....which I was previously considering before reading that). 
I am expecting to buy and install a stationary system, but I am open to other ideas. Maybe for a hobbyist such as myself, a mobile dust collector would be better.... I don't know. So, what are the basic ideas that I need to adhere to (i.e. what type of pipe is best, how much vertical should I not exceed, etc.). What would be a good machine to buy, and what should I expect from it. 
While I tend to pore over details in my mental engineering, I hope to make something that tends to be turn-key and simple to use. I don't have a budget yet, and I expect that you guys will enlighten me so I can know what to expect. (Usually this means about 200 to 300 percent over what I originally thought.) 

Well, sorry to be so "wordy". Let me know what you think.


Thanks in advance!


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

I think your decision hinges on if you plan to have a designated full-time shop (stationary system) or have a part-time shop (rolling shop vac). 
I also work from a 3 car garage. I keep all my shop in a space of a one car garage. This is sufficient for me 80% of the time but when I tackle a large project, I take over all 3 bays.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I'll repost my response here*

Quoting myself...?
*After 50 years of sawdust making...* 
I use 2 mobile Jet 1100s DC units with very short flex hose attached. This minimizes the loss due to the flex hose. I leave different length 4" flex hoses attached to the machines I use most often and move the DC over to them as needed. My machines include a 6" jointer and several 12" tables saws hooked to one DC. The other DC shares between a 24" dual drum and a 12"drum sander and a 15" planer. All other tools are hooked to 16 gal. Rigid shop vacs all around the shop sorta tucked into corners or under tables. These include 14" bandsaws, a 12" RAS, and several router tables. For small random orbit or belt sanders. I connect them to the dust ports with a lightweight flex hose 1 1/4" used for dry wall sanding. It works great!

Overhead, I use a Jest AFS 1000 air filter to get the airborne dust which is much finer. I don't wear a mask as a rule but have on occasion. This system works well for me with one exception, the table saw. Older contractor saws and some motorized saws like I have do NOT have a blade shroud designed to collect the dust like the newer saws, Bosch 4000-09 and others. If your table saw has a dust shroud, count your blessings. If not, enclose the bottom and seal off the openings enough to allow cooling air, but to increase the airflow velocity. I have done this with some success.


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## Brian(J) (Feb 22, 2016)

Toolman50 said:


> I think your decision hinges on if you plan to have a designated full-time shop (stationary system) or have a part-time shop (rolling shop vac).
> I also work from a 3 car garage. I keep all my shop in a space of a one car garage. This is sufficient for me 80% of the time but when I tackle a large project, I take over all 3 bays.


My system is the same as Toolman's. I have two cars parked in my garage at this moment and a full shop in bay 3. For larger projects I leave one car out. I have a delta 50-760 ($200, Craig's List) that never moves, but it's on wheels should the need arise. It's all the DC I need. I also have a shop vac that lives in a cabinet next to my Mill-Drill that I use when milling wood. The cabinet keeps it quiet, and if I need it someplace else it's easy to move. I have a couple vac hose set-ups I don't like to take apart so I have extra hoses semi-permanent those locations that I roll the shop vac to.

Don't know where in CO you are but Denver CL shows 3 or 4 dust collectors for around $200. All of my machines came from CL at a 50% discount from new.


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## Bullseyeguy (Apr 28, 2017)

Thanks guys. All of that is good information. I'll probably end up with a portable system, saving me alot of time and money. Appreciate all of your help.


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## substratum (Apr 11, 2017)

If you've got a really dusty project, and have concerns about dust spreading to the nooks and crannies of the other two garage bays, consider cordoning off your third bay with a temporary wall using tarps or heavy mil plastic, 2x4s, and a couple of "third hand" devices.


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