# help with dust collection system !



## charlo489 (Oct 14, 2015)

Hello ! I bought a used steel city cabinet saw last week and it's now in my basement. I basically have the worst possible location for woodworking : unfinished room in basement with no windows and next to the electric furnace. The table saw is the only tool in my little shop, as I sand and use my chop saw outside.

With that said, I've read all of Bill Pentz website and am quite scared about plugging the saw now. Is there any way I could use that saw safely in the basement ? I don't do a lot ofwoodworking, maybe a little project here and there every 2 months

I do have a window 40' away and was thinking of using a fan and some 6" pvc to direct the sawdust outside by the window and when I'm not using my setup, I would simply disconnect the pipe from the window frame and close the window. There would be a baffle that sits in the window frame so no air would be getting back in the collector will be running. Would that be ok ? I guess using a separator instead of a full cyclone might be good since I'll be venting outside ?


The other solution would be to use a system like the oneida with very fine filters but Pentz says that all filters actually let the invisible dust go through so I'm not sold on these systems yet. 

What sould I do ?


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## ducbsa (Jul 6, 2014)

The fan in the window doesn't flow enough air to do what you want. A shop vac hooked to the cabinet would do some good. The dust on top of the table is harder to collect, as mentioned in other threads. Using the blade guard helps to control the dust on top. Frequent sweeping is good, too. Can you move away from the furnace? I use a window fan with a filter taped to it to hold down the dust floating in the air, same function, but cheaper, as this: http://www.rockler.com/jet-1000cfm-air-filtration-system


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## TinmanCarving (Jul 6, 2015)

I will say this...I was in a similar situation in having the need for dust collection in a shop without much natural airflow. Like you, I read all of the Pentz data and was crippled with fear because I refuse to spend $1200+ dollars on his cyclone. Because of that fear I found myself doing nothing.

After suffering through a couple of sinus infections from cutting red cedar for a couple of days at a time I threw in the towel and built myself a system centered around a Super Dust Deputy. 

Is it perfect? Not according to Pentz. Is it better? Much Much better.

I still will never buy a Pentz.

Take what you want from that.

Rob


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

*I wear a dust mask anytime I am doing anything that makes chips, sawdust, etc*. A box fan with a furnace filter attached by a bungee cord works good in place of a $400 air filter. I have a Shop Vac that I use for DC but doesn't have enough to pull in chips off the lathe. It's OK for the DP and router. The top of the TS is another thing- you can make a collection system that hangs over the top. My SV takes a lot from through the back of the TS but I will have to take off the cover and vacuum it out periodically.


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## Carl10 (Feb 3, 2017)

Since you are only worried about one tool (the TS) a used DC from CL $100-200 and a super dust deputy would make a huge difference for a small price. However the TS is one of the hardest to capture dust. Not familiar with the steel city cabinet saw, but most saws have a lot of holes the wreak havoc on dust collection. Look to seal those up and definitely look for (or make a blade guard with a DC hose attachment. A lot of your dust will come off the blade and the guard will help capture that from the top.

I will counter against the use of a box fan and a furnace filter. Those fans are 'open' design not like a furnace 'squirrel' cage design. Open means the greasy bearings on the motor are open to collect all the dust the filter misses. If you try and build a box and seal the filters and fan you still need a high filtration filter to avoid dust getting past the filter. Now you are straining the fan which was never designed to force air through a filter (yet alone dirty filter), they were designed to simply move air. Both situations are fire hazards!

Hope this helps. Let us know what you do.

Carl


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

Wear a dust mask, and don't worry about the electric furnace just make sure there was no return vents in the basement, or you will end up with a lovely coating of what ever wood you are making sawdust out of all over the house LOL

While the box fan with a filter strapped to it isn't the best thing to use, it would help, and they all have shaded pole motors dirt doesn't effect them very much, and as you increase the static pressure because of the filter, the motor will be pulling less because it is moving less air

I have used a box fan in my shop for years, not for filtering just for air movement and it is full of saw dust and still running


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

charlo489 said:


> Hello ! I bought a used steel city cabinet saw last week and it's now in my basement. I basically have the worst possible location for woodworking : unfinished room in basement with no windows and next to the electric furnace. The table saw is the only tool in my little shop, as I sand and use my chop saw outside.
> 
> With that said, I've read all of Bill Pentz website and am quite scared about plugging the saw now. Is there any way I could use that saw safely in the basement ? I don't do a lot ofwoodworking, maybe a little project here and there every 2 months
> 
> ...


There are other views about the dangers of dust. For an informative and interesting article:
https://woodgears.ca/dust/dylos.html


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## charlo489 (Oct 14, 2015)

Well after some reconsiderations, I was thinking of placing the table saw in a different room in the basement, and place it right below a window and use this 2 hp blower fan with a cyclone and vent outside. Since I'll have like 6' feet of ducting, I believe I'll have close to 1000 cfm. Here's the blower I'm talking about

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC250SEMB.html


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

charlo489 said:


> Well after some reconsiderations, I was thinking of placing the table saw in a different room in the basement, and place it right below a window and use this 2 hp blower fan with a cyclone and vent outside. Since I'll have like 6' feet of ducting, I believe I'll have close to 1000 cfm. Here's the blower I'm talking about
> 
> https://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC250SEMB.html



Harbor Freight sells one with their coupon for $169 

https://www.harborfreight.com/2-hp-industrial-5-micron-dust-collector-97869.html

But don't believe any of CFM ratings of DC makers, they pencil whip them, but it would still work fine, just make sure you cover any holes on the saw where the DC could draw air, that will improve the DCs performance


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## Carl10 (Feb 3, 2017)

That PSI blower is a very good unit. As Catpower stated the CFM numbers are basically free air blower only numbers. The PSI blower only could come close to its stated 1350 CFM with its 12" impeller, however the HF unit only has a 10" impeller and there is no physical way that unit can produce anywhere near 1550CFM blower only. Here is an old review that includes the HF (central machinery) DC look at the chart on page 67 (under performs every 1.5HP DC tested) http://www.portercable.com/uploads/PCD/Documents/News/182DustCollectors.pdf

That said, do you need 2HP for 1 machine and 6' of duct? It would definitely help with trying to clear a TS. If you don't plan to add any tools to this DC system you could get by with a smaller unit. Regardless of the size of DC a blade guard/hood will be needed if you are concerned about the TS dust. Another happy median is to get a 1.5HP unit (most all have 11-12" impellers) off CL and put on a SDD. With little duct length and exhausting outside you will get the most out of the DC.

Catpower: you are correct about if the box fan has a shaded pole motor being OK for a makeshift filter, however looking at my box fan it is not a shaded pole motor and is wide open to collect dust, so I would still be cautious of that use.

Hope that helps. Let us know what you do.

Carl


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