Another Dust Collection Option

[Isaac]

15 hours ago, Mark J said:

Keep us posted on your experiment.  By the way, how much do you think you have into this?

Hmm its hard to say, because most of my cost has been for the various hoses, clamps, blast gates, etc. All of that stuff I'll need even if this blower idea fails. The blower I bought was $109 and $22 for the powertec brand filter bag. I think virtually everything else, like the big blue barrel I'll use even if I decide this blower isn't cutting it and I need to get something else. 

At $1367 this is the closest competition for a comparable blower/CFM rating and I think I'm beating that for cost.

https://www.amazon.com/SHOP-W1685-1-5-Horsepower-Dust-Collector/dp/B001R23SS6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1477411562&sr=8-4&keywords=dust+collector

One thing to keep in mind is I'm a weekend/evening warrior guy. The unit doesn't run that long and I typically fire it up, make a couple cuts and shut it down. I've been investing a lot of effort to improve my process to be more efficient. On my latest project I did a full sketch-up model for the first time, in order to better organize my thinking, dimensions, purchasing etc.  Having a better dust collection system goes along with that. Much like the projects, my process itself is very much a work in progress. 

[Chestnut]

Post a journal and get input. it's fun to follow along and you might get tips on something you never knew you needed advice on.

That shop fox look just like the HF DC that can be had for $180 ish with the 25% off.

[Isaac]

7 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Post a journal and get input. it's fun to follow along and you might get tips on something you never knew you needed advice on.

That shop fox look just like the HF DC that can be had for $180 ish with the 25% off.

Yeah but that is harbor freight...

Please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain at the well established company "CFM Pro" though...

[Chestnut]

Hey now it's widely accepted that their DC is one of the few gems. It might last a couple months instead of weeks .

Your setup is cool I'm not trying to subtract from that, just jealous cause i wish that i thought of it.

In all seriousness I personally couldn't pay more then $200 for a dc designed like the HF one or the ShopFox one It's not that the other are bad but it's just a stop gap between no DC and a good DC. I'd rather go cheap for the intermediate and not end up getting stuck in intermediate because i spent too much on a medicore DC.

[Isaac]

3 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Hey now it's widely accepted that their DC is one of the few gems. It might last a couple months instead of weeks .

Your setup is cool I'm not trying to subtract from that, just jealous cause i wish that i thought of it.

In all seriousness I personally couldn't pay more then $200 for a dc designed like the HF one or the ShopFox one It's not that the other are bad but it's just a stop gap between no DC and a good DC. I'd rather go cheap for the intermediate and not end up getting stuck in intermediate because i spent too much on a medicore DC.

Yeah I figure worst case, If I have to swap out the motor, Its not the end of the world, the rest of the stuff, like the hoses, barrel, etc will still be just fine.

[Beechwood Chip]

Matthais is experimenting with inexpensive home-made dust collectors on each machine.  No ducting!

[Isaac]

 

11 minutes ago, Beechwood Chip said:

Matthais is experimenting with inexpensive home-made dust collectors on each machine.  No ducting!

Woah, that is a whole different ball game right there. Seems like you'd be disassembling those boxes quite a bit to empty them though. I thought the advantage of a central system is one big barrel you empty infrequently and in the meantime, just a few ducts to each machine. Automatic blast gates is pretty hardcore, is that what a lot of people have?

[bleedinblue]

20 minutes ago, Beechwood Chip said:

Matthais is experimenting with inexpensive home-made dust collectors on each machine.  No ducting!

Yup, I saw that a few days ago.  These blow house blowers would be great for these, in smaller sizes than 1.5 hp that is.  

[Beechwood Chip]

I figure I'll run ducts where it's easy, and use individual fans and filters where it's not.

I also figure I'll put a 2.5" dust port with blast gate on each box.  Just plug a shop vac up to it, open the blast gate and  Bob's your uncle.

[Isaac]

Revisiting this old thread, just wanted to point out that I'm stilling running this set up. My only real complaint is that if my barrel is about 1/2 full or more and I'm producing a lot of lightweight shavings from planing or a similar activity, the shavings start bypassing the bucket and making it to the blower grill. I've not had it cause any apparent issues with the blower, but then I do have to remove the hose and remove the shavings. Not a big issue really.

I've run this blower for hours at a time without issue for several years now, though I am a hobbyist, so its not running 8 hours a day, everyday.

I did try upgrading the blower to the HF DC blower last year. For me, that was a total bust. The HF DC blower was bigger and louder, but I truly didn't see a meaningful uptick in performance. Neither option is going to suck the buttons off your dress shirt, but they both cleaned up my work space adequately.

The real kick in the pants was that the HF DC conked out after a couple months.

I imagine it was probably a fairly minor electrical part failure, but I couldn't track down what it was, and didn't have the inclination to rip it apart, so I just switched back and moved on.

The only thing I'm considering is if it would be worthwhile to get one of the larger sized Dust Deputy cyclones to improve the efficiency at the barrel. I wonder if it would make a noticeable improvement?

[Patrick]

6 hours ago, Isaac said:

Revisiting this old thread, just wanted to point out that I'm stilling running this set up. My only real complaint is that if my barrel is about 1/2 full or more and I'm producing a lot of lightweight shavings from planing or a similar activity, the shavings start bypassing the bucket and making it to the blower grill. I've not had it cause any apparent issues with the blower, but then I do have to remove the hose and remove the shavings. Not a big issue really.

I've run this blower for hours at a time without issue for several years now, though I am a hobbyist, so its not running 8 hours a day, everyday.

I did try upgrading the blower to the HF DC blower last year. For me, that was a total bust. The HF DC blower was bigger and louder, but I truly didn't see a meaningful uptick in performance. Neither option is going to suck the buttons off your dress shirt, but they both cleaned up my work space adequately.

The real kick in the pants was that the HF DC conked out after a couple months.

I imagine it was probably a fairly minor electrical part failure, but I couldn't track down what it was, and didn't have the inclination to rip it apart, so I just switched back and moved on.

The only thing I'm considering is if it would be worthwhile to get one of the larger sized Dust Deputy cyclones to improve the efficiency at the barrel. I wonder if it would make a noticeable improvement?

The dust deputy’s are great.  Keeps the filters cleaner.  Downside is you may experience some loss in the CFM but I’ll let others chime in on that topic.  I have a the smaller DD for my HEPA shop vac, which provides more than enough suction for its applications.  

I did try one of those black plastic trash can lid separators (I won’t use the word cyclone) for my HF unit and it did just a fair job.  I think the larger DD would have provided better results with less of a CFM loss.  

And I’d recommend that HF unit. I got a good 4 years out of mine before picking a larger used cyclone.  Otherwise, $375 will get you good results... HF unit $180, the  Powertec filter bag $25, DD cyclone $170.  

[drzaius]

A DD will cost you some CFM, but probably no more than even a mildly dirty filter. With a DD the filter stays so much cleaner for much longer. I would highly recommend it.

[Isaac]

I don't currently run a filter, I have a poors mans cyclone, with inlets into and out of a barrel lid.  The big stuff is deposited into the bucket and the remainder goes through the blower and is directly vented out a window. I've always wondered how much CFM I'm losing at that bucket lid, vs. having a smoother transitioning dust deputy. Perhaps it isn't enough to worry about. 

[drzaius]

FWW did a comparison test several years ago between a cyclone, the barrel lid, and a  Thein separator & the cyclone was clearly on top when it comes to dust separation, but I don't think they tested CFM losses. That would be interesting.

[G Ragatz]

I just recently ordered a "Super" Dust Deputy to create a cyclone first-stage for a Delta 1-HP DC.  The Delta has a 1-micron bag that seems to clog pretty quickly.  Hoping the DD will cut down on filter bag maintenance without reducing suction too much.  Will let you know when it's up and running.

[Chip Sawdust]

Interesting thread. I have the HF DC and a Wein Nano filter that seems to work OK for my weekend purposes. I've pondered a main runner and drops, rather than moving hoses from one place to another. I have 20A breakers with no problems. I also hooked up a cheap remote which has worked fine for over a year https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EJF2UJK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

so it's not such a pain to walk over to the DC switch and turn it on and off. There are other switches available, but this was $15 or so and works fine. 

I like the creative approach to your DC system, thumbs up for that! 

[DerekMPBS]

I recently bought a Dust Deputy with the 5 gallon buckets and lid, and hooked it up to a wall mount Shop Vac.  I used it to vacuum the sawdust up off my garage floor, of which there was a lot, and filled the bucket to half full.  There was virtually no dust in the vacuum when I opened it up.  I was impressed.

[JohnL57]

I trust you have your plastic all properly grounded...static build up is extremely dangerous!

[JohnG]

On 5/2/2022 at 9:27 PM, JohnL57 said:

I trust you have your plastic all properly grounded...static build up is extremely dangerous!

So the internet loves to profess, yet nobody ever provides anything to back up this claim. Can you provide any documented case of static electricity causing a fire in a woodshop?

[Coop]

My wife has entered my shop on occasion when I least expect it and scares the crap out of me. That causes static and burns me up! Does that count? 

[JohnG]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:22 PM, Coop said:

My wife has entered my shop on occasion when I least expect it and scares the crap out of me. That causes static and burns me up! Does that count? 

Might be the most harm caused by pvc dust collection ever recorded. 

[Coop]

I threatened to melt the chip on her MC if she ever did it with a machine running and that helped! 

[drzaius]

12 hours ago, JohnL57 said:

I trust you have your plastic all properly grounded...static build up is extremely dangerous!

Welcome John. But no, that's a bit of a myth. It can be painful, but there is insufficient energy to hurt someone. And it is never going to cause an explosion in a home shop environment. For there to be a danger of explosion, the dust concentration has to be high enough that you wouldn't be able to see your hand when you hold your arm out straight.

[Chet]

I have had the PVC on my dust collection system up for eight years and I got shocked one time right by my Dewalt 735 and I attribute it to the fan on the Dewalt blowing the chips out at an increased speed.  The shock, at most, was the same as you can get from new carpet. 

I got shocked from a 240 amp arc welder once... and only once, now that will get your attention.

[Botch]

Interesting post, and props to the OP for his unique solution, I like it!