# New Shop Dust Collection Question ... or two



## chicago (Jul 5, 2012)

Well, we have finally moved back to sunny New Mexico from dreary, cold Chicago. We are now in the process of finding the right contractor to build our new garage/workshop and cannot wait for it to be built.

I have moved my Craftsman shop vac from tool to tool as needed for years and want to bring all of that to an end by installing a decent dust collection system (DCS) that is capable of attaching to my bandsaw, jointer and planer. I have no doubt that I will still find some use for my shop vac, but my intent is to have the DCS gather the bulk of the saw dust.

After working in a basement for ten years, I am not sure how all of my power tools will be organized in the new shop. Our furniture (and my tools) are currently in storage and will be delivered once the new building is constructed. That said, all of my tools are 'portable' in that they are all wheeled so each can be re-positioned until a good work flow is worked out.

As to my question, I would like some recommendation's on DCS's. I work alone, so only one tool that is attached to the DCS will be running at any given time.

All comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


----------



## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

A couple of things you need to consider.

#1. All dust collector manufactuers LIE on their CFM ratings. They rate their machines with no restrictions whatsoever to inflate the ratings.
#2. Keep your ducting smooth walled, as large as possible, as straight as possible, and as short as possible.
#3. Pleated filters provide much more surface area, and less restriction than felt bags, they are worth every penny.
#4. Filtration to 1 micron and below is a must. The 5, 20 and 30 or so micron bags I have seen on so many collectors are not only a joke, but they spew fine dust into the air you are breathing, bad news...

As a minimum, I would go with a 2HP dust collector, with a good, effective low restriction separator, and a pleated filter.

My personal setup is a Harbor Freight 2HP collector, fitted with a Wynn 35A filter (.5 micron filtration) and pulling through a Thien style separator. 

To reduce the restrictions induced by corrugated hose, and elbows, I am wanting to convert mine to something like the rig THIS GUY BUILT. 









Image source: http://lumberjocks.com/assets/pictures/projects/127340-438x.jpg?1268832796

However, to eliminate the 2 bends associated with getting the lines into the separator, and through I am planning a Thien Top Hat separator to go on top of the collector can.









_Image Source: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/be/99/bcbe9960c943db46a998ac7e6646c77d.jpg_

Of course if you have the budget, space, and power supply to do it why not go with a full out Cyclone?


----------



## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Many machines on the market can collect the chips/debris/dust.

When I wanted to upgrade my original dust collector, my considerations were :
a) No cloth bag. They work, but are a pain to clean. My latest Jet dust collector has a cannister filter at the top and clear plastic bag on the bottom.
b) Not too loud. My Jet uses a 1 1/2 HP TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) motor. This does not make a lot of noise.
c) Highest HP I could find for a 120V circuit. At the time I did not have spare capacity in the breaker box to add a 240V circuit. 
d) Highest airflow I could find. Sadly the numbers are not so meaningful. The stated number is measured at the inlet to the blower with no fitting or duct. Hence it is a number which is useless, since as soon as we connect duct, we introduce pressure drop and then reduces the flow.

At the time Jet was the only offering with a top cannister. Now Grizzly and Penn State have cannister offerings. 

I found the drawback of the cannister was that the folds collected the chips/debris/dust very well, but did not easily let go. The internal paddle knocked off some, but not the stuff in the fold. Cleaning the cannister was as much of a pain as the bag I replaced.

I finally installed a Thien separator within the machine. I started out to make my own cone, what Jet sell as the "Vortex" cone. I found a Thien separator was so much easier.

My thread.
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/making-dust-collector-cone-separator-44695/

I just cleaned my cannister yesterday. It only had the fines. The internal paddle now does a decent job of knocking out the fine dust. 

Some folks are very sensitive to the very fine dust particles thrown out by dust collectors. These folks purchase cyclone machines with a HEPA filter on the exit. A lot more expensive. They work well but they seem to have lower rated air flow.

This is the equivalent of my model. I would purchase this again.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/20...2-Micron-Canister-Kit-Model-DC-1100VX-CK.aspx

A dust collector is likely to have a "Y" fitting at the blower. Mine was 2 @ 6in ports. I removed mine and made a wooden "donut" to fit my 4in duct to the larger size of the blower.

Whatever machine you select, I recommend straight duct as much as possible and as few fittings as possible.

The flex hose has a lot higher pressure drop than straight pipe.

Last year I had a bit of a crusade to eliminate fittings, reduce flex hose. I ended up with a lot higher suction at the machine.


----------



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

The other option you could explore is to have a shelter built off the side or back of your new shop, and locate the bulk of the collector outside your shop. Now noise and filtration become much less important.


----------



## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

ryan50hrl said:


> The other option you could explore is to have a shelter built off the side or back of your new shop, and locate the bulk of the collector outside your shop. Now noise and filtration become much less important.


True to a certain extent, however if you heat / cool your shop space, you are moving that conditioned air at however many CFM out of your workspace and that needs to be made up, usually with hot / cold air...


----------



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

That's true as well.


----------



## chicago (Jul 5, 2012)

@dbhost

Thank you very, very much for all the DCS info. The CFM rating info was significant because I was not sure where to start in that regard. I was aware of the friction due to the flex hose (and the increase of static electricity that goes along with that!) and the resulting loss of vacuum pressure. I had never heard of a Thein style separator. I have his website bookmarked. Thanks for that as well.

Because this is a new shop I want to have my own breaker box installed primarily because several of my machines run on 220v. I have always done my own wiring so I can locate the 220v receptacles where I need them.

I cannot thank you enough for all of your comments and suggestions.


----------



## chicago (Jul 5, 2012)

@Dave Paine

Thanks for all of the great info you provided me.

I found the unit I believe you have but in a 220v version. Since I must have 220v I will be able to use the 2HP version, if I decide to go that route. I am learning about the Thein separator as well.

As to noise, someone mentioned putting the whole shooting match outside the shop. I like that idea very much and may do just that.

Woodworking may be just woodworking, but man, you have to be half to three-quarter’s engineer to build it the way you want. I like that part of our craft as well.

I will have to re-read your fine post and the additional thread you linked me to. I am so glad I had the foresight to post my DCS question because this is info I need before the shop gets built not after. Someone is looking out for me.

Thanks again!!


----------



## chicago (Jul 5, 2012)

ryan50hrl said:


> The other option you could explore is to have a shelter built off the side or back of your new shop, and locate the bulk of the collector outside your shop. Now noise and filtration become much less important.


Man'o, man! I love your suggestion. A lot!!!

I failed to mention a few things about this new shop that are important to me. 

First, the garage doors will face to the South. We are in the Southern part of New Mexico which means summer's are hot and as is typical of the desert, it also cools off quickly as well. I read once that the temperature in this area fluctuates 50 or more degrees on any given summer day. We live out of the city proper and are surrounded by desert and not thermal mass. Because of this, we do experience temperature swings which are easy to live with. The heat can get to you - if you let it, but over all, it suits us. 

Now, back to the garage doors ... These will be opened in the cooler months (during the day) which will allow the sun to heat the concrete garage floor and warm the place up. I plan no heating or cooling whatsoever (I may put in a small wood stove, but that will come later as we discover how the temp in the shop goes). The cold seldom bothers me (I worked in a cold dark basement in Chicago for ten years and survived. Lol!). The heat is another matter, but I believe that insulated 6-inch walls and a 12-inch roof should work just fine. At least I hope so. We also have a one-car garage that is next to our car port, but we call this building our tool shed because that is truly what it is used for. This sits on the West side of the planned shop/garage so this will block the sun from hitting the shop during the hotter months helping keep the shop cool during the summer.

Secondly, putting the vac unit outdoors will result in more usable space. At the moment, the dimensions are 28' x 24'. The garage doors will be on the 28' side. We have never parked our cars in a garage and have only used our large car port. That said, our cars may never enter this new garage/shop, but if we plan carefully enough, we may be able to have our cake and eat it too, if necessary.

Thanks for you awesome suggestion. I appreciate your post.


----------

