Dust Collector Choices

[John Anderson]

I know that many of the members have the HF 2hp dust collector with the Wynn Filter upgrade, and say it is a great DC. i have one of the cupons to get this DC for $140 and it is good until March 23 2011 so there is no rush.

So, once you $150 on the dc (with tax) plus the $175 for the Wynn filter (with shipping) plus the time you have to spend modifying the two to fit together, arent you better off just buying just buying a good dust collector to begin with? (im not a fan of HF except for throwaway items like rags, glue brushes, and latex gloves) You have spent around $325 plus whatever the cost of materials to mod the filter system and you have something that looks like this:

it is the Grizly G0548Z 2HP Canister DC and it is $375. i dont mind spending an extra $50 for a more quality machine especially since it would be an excuse for me to drive 2-1/2 hrs North to the Grizly Showroom in Muncy Pa.

Which would you guys go for if you were in the market?

[bywc]

I voted for the grizzly just because of the quality of a tool made a specific way compared to beginning with something with less quality and modifying it to try and compare to the factory default.

[TBaiga]

sorry to sit on the fence, but in my mind, dust collection is a serious personal choice. balancing the capital outlay versus health protection equation is not something that can easily answered in a poll. by day i'm an organic chemist and my 20+ years of experience tells me to minimize exposure as best i can. i think the key things to keep in mind are: 1. how are you generating dust, one machine at a time or more, 2. size of your shop, it's occupancy, 3. proximity to your living space/family, 4. to where will you be venting (shop or outside), 5. DC requirements for your tools, 6. piping schematic you'll be using, etc. all these variables factor into the DC design requirements, as well as your budget.

then there are the trade-offs, if you are willing to jump up in price for a grizzly canister DC, then what about stepping up to a grizzly cyclone, or a clearvue, etc. these are all pretty personal choices, none that are entirely wrong or right.

i think you should do what's comfortable to you and remember that dust collection equipment, like your shop tools should continue to evolve and improve.

[jimmykx250]

Safety first I do agree. The reason you are considering this purchase says enough in itself. I can only speak for myself and I can say that I am extreemly happy with the HF unit with the winn filter. 153 for the dc and 117 for the canister filter (shipped) so that comes to 270 total. In my opinion a dc is really only a motor with an impeller it's pretty basic. Most motors on these air cleaners are basically identical so what are you really paying for? The filter is where it counts and I didnt skimp there so i feel ok about it. By the way the filter came with 3 mini turnbuckles and a thick foam strip at the base so all i did was literally bolt it on-10 min tops and the seal is good. As Paul instructed me put a little dust around the seal and run the unit you will know real quick if the seal is bad. Dont get me wrong I did my homework on this as well and without the positive feedback I recived from everyone i spoke to about it I may have passed it up just because it is a HF. I personally dont shop there at all so what does that say. The one thing you will get for the extra bucks is customer service which I have heard nothing but good about grizzly so how much does peace of mind mean to you? The price difference isnt really that big anyway so go with what your comfortable with. And one last thing i was very impressed at how well the HF unit was packed in the box-nothing missing and it was nested in a very nice styrofoam form.

[DALSAW]

My votes for the Grizzly. Just because of Grizzly's warrenty and customer service. I don't know that HF would be as good as Grizzly, if something were to happen to the dust collector.

[John Anderson]

you guys keep talking about safety... both filters are 1 micron arent they? is there really a huge diff between the 1mic Wynn and the 1mic Griz? And TomB i could buy both of the 2 hp DC'd for less $ than the lowest price Grizzly cyclone and i'm not quite ready to step that high up to just yet.

[Keggers]

I have three Grizzly dust collectors in my shop similar to the one you are thinking about buying. They do a wonderful job for me. I run them several hours a day and have done so for about three years. No problems with them. I also have a huge Grizzly GO573 floor model and a Grizzly G0572 ceiling collector. The only problem I've had is with the floor unit. The switch quit working and Grizzly sent one out to me pronto. It was a quick fix. I like Grizzly equipment.

[ssrt3]

My vote is for the Grizzly better service if it breaks I have one in my shop and it hasn't yet, also have a jet it works just as well.

[TBaiga]

1 micron is generally the smallest filter pore, so that's what the marketing uses for the spec sheet. but let's not confuse filter size with particlate capture efficiency on the initial pass as well as the retention efficiency of the DC to retain the material collected.

how useful is a 1 micron system that's only 50% efficient at capturing and retaining all those particles? maybe half of you say good enough while the other half say not that great. which is why i said it's a personal choice.

as for cyclone costs, yup they are pricey...some run as much as a kapex and a ct36 combo. although excellent protection can be had for less than a set of Lie-Nielsen planes.

[oldgrowth]

My first DC came from Penn State and I ran the heck out of it and it never complained once, great company. I recently swapped it out to a JDS cyclone, highly recommended if you ever want to upgrade in the future, another great company. Grizzly seems like the better choice, when it comes to fit and finish, they are pretty nice.

Here is a link to the Penn State equivalent

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC2000BCF.html

Cheers,

Charlie

[brtech]

The Wynn is a .5 micron filter, of known quality. The Grizz is 1 micron of unknown quality. It's hard to figure out what the relative quality of the blowers are. The filter matters more. A lot of us have the HF, and at least so far, other than lousy instructions, it's a good unit.

[Beechwood Chip]

I've heard that Harbor Freight sells their 2HP DC with metal and plastic impellers. Make sure you are getting a metal impeller. Also, a separator before the impeller will improve the lifespan of the impeller and filter. I like the Thien separator.

[wilburpan]

One advantage that the Grizzly has that isn't noted in a spec sheet is that the connection between the blower and the filter/bag is a metal chute, whereas the same connection on the HF DC is a section of flex hose. The rigidity of the metal chute will make the Grizzly DC a little more efficient.

[Gerry]

All the comments here are accurate. Both systems work reasonably well, and I agree that the less dust you breath, the better off you are. My set-up is a recent HF DC with a Wynn Nano (0.5 Micron)Filter AND a separate unit Thein Baffle chip separator. So far, I've emptied the chip separator 3 times, and have yet to either empty or change out the plastic collector bag on the DC. IMO, the results are excellent. Cost? $140 for the DC, $20 for the 30 gallon trash can, $165 for the filter with freight, so $325 for a 2 stage dust collector. As an added bonus, with the chip separator, there is little if any contact between the chips and the impeller. Not bad.

[Beechwood Chip]

My set-up is a recent HF DC with a Wynn Nano (0.5 Micron)Filter AND a separate unit Thein Baffle chip separator.

This sounds exactly like the setup I want.

What do you have under the Thien to collect the chips and dust. On the other side of the blower I can just use a contractor bag, but before the blower I guess I'd need something rigid, so it won't collapse under the suction. I'm trying to think of some way to rig it up so that it will be easy to empty. Do you have the blower on top of the Thien? How is the blower connected to the Thien?

[Gerry]

This sounds exactly like the setup I want.

What do you have under the Thien to collect the chips and dust. On the other side of the blower I can just use a contractor bag, but before the blower I guess I'd need something rigid, so it won't collapse under the suction. I'm trying to think of some way to rig it up so that it will be easy to empty. Do you have the blower on top of the Thien? How is the blower connected to the Thien?

The thein baffle is installed inside a 30 Gallon Steel trash can. I built a cover out of MDF with a groove that fits snugly over the can, and used some foam weatherstripping to seal it to the can as best as possible.

My set-up is the primary dust pipe coming from the machine(s) into the the chip separator, and the Thein Baffle does it's thing there. The center fitting of the cover is connected to the DC unit (air flow Source)with a flex pipe, and then to the DC. Not elegant, but it works quite well. There is quite a bit of information available on Phil Thein's forum, http://www.cgallery....jpthien/cy.htm.

[brtech]

There are several versions of the Wynn 35A. The basic filter is fine, and probably a lot better than the Griz, but we really don't know, because there is no spec on the griz filter. Wynn says this about the 3 choices:

The Spunbond is the technically "correct" filter to use on wood dust, because it will handle fibers. Over the years, however, we have proven that the 80/20 blend "paper" filter works very well. The paper filter is about the same efficiency, and is a bit less expensive, but you can't wash it. The Spun Bond media is rated at 380 psi burst strength, wet or dry; whereas the 80/20 blend paper is 45 psi dry, and only 25 wet. The newer Nano filter is extremely efficient, and based on field trials, seems to clean as well as the 80/20 blend. We expect them to last as long, or longer than the 80/20 blend.

All are easily cleaned from the outside with compressed air (leave the filter and bag in place), or they can be vacuumed from the inside with a shopvac.

Our recommendation? The Spun Bond is the best overall filter...it's basically a lifetime filter. For the hobbyist, however, the 80/20 blend is such an improvement over bags, it's really hard to pass up. The Nano filter delivers the ultimate in efficiency, and should be used whenever an extra level of confidence is needed.

You can build the Thein baffle INSIDE the HF ring, with all the chips heading into the bag.

http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?topic=145.0

The metal duct on the Griz is probably better than the flex on the HF. A better solution for both is to replace them with two 45s and straight sections. This has been done by several posters. Some have also turned the HF blower around so it had a straight shot into the ring, but there have been concerns raised on how the bearings will take being turned like that.

[knotscott]

Some people think they're the same machine, but they are not in this case. The Griz has a larger impeller and a true 2hp motor, so should move more air....once upon a time the HF was tested as closer to 1.5hp. That's worth $50 to me.