Dust Collector Upgrade!

[Botch]

Well, color me stupid!

For the last 28 years I've been using a Delta dust collector.

It's a smallish system, but does have a rudimentary cyclone separator under the lid, with a cloth bag for the fine dust; 120v, ~1 hp, 580 cfm, 4" fittings.  It has always worked fine for my bandsaw, tablesaw, and even my 10.5" jointer/planer; but, whenever I turned it on, I could see a large "poof" of fine dust being thrown off when the cloth bag inflated, especially if a sunbeam was streaming into the shop.  

I've started noticing more and more dust collectors with cylindrical, pleated dust filters, with up to 1-micron filtration, and I've been brainstorming how to attach/plumb one to my old Delta (which is paid for and will outlast me).  Those filters alone are ~$250 on up, and would take up even more floor space in my tiny shop.

Me:  "My shop is so tiny..."  Crowd:  "How tiny is it?"   Me:  "When I realize I left my pencil on the other side of the shop, I reach over and grab it!"  (thank you, I'll be here all week)

Today I watched a EweTube video, something like "The Ten Levels of Dust Collection" or something like that, and he mentioned an inflatable bag line that filters down to 1 micron.  Say Wha??  I followed his provided link, did some looking around, and saw cloth bags with filtration levels at 1-, 2-, 15-, and 30-microns.  I had no idea!  He linked this one, Powertech, which filters to 1 micron, has a clear vinyl window to monitor dust level, a zipper at the bottom for convenient emptying, and (the best part) a price of $22.99!  It is rated for up to 560 cfm, close enough for guv'mint work.  It'll be here in three days.  This solves my problem perfectly, takes no additional floor space, and less than 1/10 the cost of what I was expecting.  w00t!  

[Von]

Be interested to hear your impressions when it arrives.

[legenddc]

Same! I have one of those old Jet double bag collectors. It's better than nothing but you won't catch me using it without a respirator. Would be nice to capture finer particles so the air levels can return to normal quicker.

[Mark J]

Sounds like it's going to be a good solution.  You should definitely do some follow-up reports. 

[drzaius]

A one micron filter will only let the invisible, most dangerous dust back into the air, so remember to wear a respirator during cutting and for a good while after.

[gee-dub]

Yep. the science is the science.  1 micron is small but not small enough to be harmless.  As always with dust collection, do the best you can.  A 1 micron filter will leave a nice layer of super small particles all over everything but certainly kicks butt on a 5 micron bag. 

Just slip on a respirator while in that air space and you will probably do fine.  Getting "healthy" quality air returned into the work area is a challenge for any small shop.  I think we all notice the trend of people striving for ever better dust collection solutions.

I use a P-100 nuisance filter like the Miller or an old AO Safety that I like.  Where folks tend to run into trouble is in not changing filter elements when dirty, not washing washable filters, or not disposing of disposable ones.  We use a lot of "wear parts" in the shop.  Abrasives, blades, filters; toss them when their life is over.  You will get better results and live happier