Weird shop layout (need 6" quick connect fittings)


Beechwood Chip

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My basement shop has an odd shape, the ceiling is too low to run 6" duct overhead, and my dust collector is only 2HP.  I don't think it has the power to handle long runs with bends.  So, I'm thinking of just setting up a short, straight run along one wall, and moving my tools to the dust collector.

Here's my idea.  The table saw is permanently located next to the dust collector.  Then I have a straight 6" duct about 12 feet long.  Along that duct I have four stations.  Each station has a 120V outlet, a 220V outlet, and 6" dust collector port and 2.5" shop vac port, each with a blast gate and flex hose.  When I want to use a tool that's not hooked up, I disconnect a tool that I'm not using and roll it away.  Then I roll up the tool I want, connect power and one (or both) dust ports, and I'm good to go.  If a tool needs infeed and outfeed space, I can pull it out from the wall a few feet

With four stations (plus table saw) and 7 tools (planer, jointer, miter saw, router table, band saw, drill press, and OSS), I won't be constantly swapping.  For milling and cutting I've got the table saw, jointer, planer, miter saw, and band saw.  Then I swap out  the jointer and planer and I've got a table saw and four stations for five tools.

First question: is this a completely crazy idea?  Has anyone done this before?

Second question: anyone have a good source for 6" quick connect fittings? 

Thanks

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When you say, "roll away", how far are you rolling? Is it inconvenient?

If not for the DC situation, could you have the shop laid out in a better configuration?

If so, I'd suggest piping what you can, and using the retractable hose from Rockler to reach the tools that are far. They sell the hose, and the quick connectors for the hose. Very economical as well. I did this in my shop, for the jointer, planer and drum sander... No issues. Not a hassle to move the hose either.

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I have a similar layout except that I had the luxury of putting the DC in the corner of the shop and I have a 15" run along one wall and a 13" run on the other.  You can go a good 20" with a 2 HP DC - even farther for machines that create small particals like the drum sander.  If you have only one more tool than you have stations just pick the tools that are most convenient to swap out.  Also,  you don't need a 6" "main" if you are only using one machine at a time and have blast gates to close all the unused stations.  Effectively, you don't have a "main" with that system since the air has only one possible path the follow.  4" diameter will work fine for everything.  Take a look at my shop tour under "The Shop from Sept 8, I think.  I was not really taking pics to show the DC system but you can see some of it.  NOw that you are down to 4", quick connects and all other fittings are available at Rockler or Woodcraft - cheaper.

Good luck and post some pics.

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11 minutes ago, Llama said:

When you say, "roll away", how far are you rolling? Is it inconvenient?

If not for the DC situation, could you have the shop laid out in a better configuration?

If so, I'd suggest piping what you can, and using the retractable hose from Rockler to reach the tools that are far. 

That part of my shop is long and narrow, about 14' wide.  One side would be wired and ducted, and the other side would be parking, with a walkway down the middle.  Shouldn't be hard to shove a tool from one side to the other.

The basement is divided up by stairs and load bearing walls into lots of little areas.  Not much I can do.

7 minutes ago, Chet K. said:

Don't you think you can just reduce to four inches at each of your stations.  I think 4 inches off your main is pretty standard. 

 

3 minutes ago, Ronn W said:

I have a similar layout except that I had the luxury of putting the DC in the corner of the shop and I have a 15" run along one wall and a 13" run on the other.  You can go a good 20" with a 2 HP DC ...  4" diameter will work fine for everything.

That's a good point (all three of you).  Most of the tools have 4" dust ports, anyway.  I already have the Rockler 4" quick connect and about 20' of the 4" slinky hose.  If I reduce to 4" at each station, the whole thing is a snap.

I have my DC in a corner, but the short walls all have obstructions so I can't really use them.  The two long, usable walls are across from each other, and I don't have a good way to get a duct from one side to the other without going all the way around on a wild goose chase.  I could zig-zag around my furnace and hot water heater and add another 12 feet to the run, but I'd add four 90s. 

So, maybe run 6" down the wall, zig-zag around the utilities, reduce to 4", and have space to hook up all the tools.  I still like the quick connect "station" idea, so I can re-arrange or add more tools later without re-plumbing and re-wiring.

Thanks, everyone!

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I too have 2hp DC. It is a single stage collector and is in one corner of my 2 car garage shop. Unlike most, I run my 4" duct down at the junction of the floor and wall. The main run is 30 ft. long. I have no problems with sufficient suction, even if I use a 10 foot hose off the end of the main duct. My ducts are 4"ABS sewer pipe - the black stuff - and I uses standard drain fittings. I did use long radius elbows when possible. You should be OK with your system if you pay reasonable attention to duct layout.

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3 hours ago, C Shaffer said:

" is inches...I think this meant 3'.

 

Fixed.  I'm thinking about minimizing the flex.  This post gave me a great idea -  I'd like each rolling tool to have permanent rigid smooth duct from the dust port to a standard height, facing the wall.  Then, maybe 1' of flex to connect to the port on the wall at the same height and angle. If I want to move the tool away from the wall for infeed/outfeed, I can add smooth rigid extensions, like shop vacs have, using 4" PVC and couplers.

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Although 4" is suboptimal for many machines I reduce to 4" at the blast gate and use 4" hose to reach machines in a few cases.  A 6x6x4 wye, a 4" blast gate and some 4" hose and your nearly there.

Here's an example of where I wye off to the 'under the table' connection on the bandsaw.

duct examples (4).jpg

Here's where I wye off to the router table.

duct examples (3).jpg

And here is a stub from that same run where I quick-connect a hose for the drum sander when it is wheeled into position.

TS-Outfeed (37).jpg

I hope this helps.

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