it seems the topic of dust collection pops up all the time on many different forums. i think maybe if we post all our ideas and what works for us on one forum it will make it much easier for new members to obtain the info their looking for. the idea being to make craftisian a place for all level of woodworkers. that being said ill get it going with what i have done and what works well or not so well for me. at the heart of any DC is the collector itself. this is a jet jcdc-2 2hp 1p 230v 938cfm. it does a good job but with the expansion ive done since getting it i would go with a 3hp now.
here is a look at the RAS collector, which works very well unless you cut more than several inches out then some dust will fly over the top. the drill press fence i just got on peteys recommendation and it collects very well. here is the back side of the router table. it pulls from the cabinet and also through the fence. works ok but could be better. here is the hook up for the edge sander. this works pretty good. this is what i currently have for the miter saw. collection is minimal getting maybe 50%. id like to make something that works better. ok for the spindle sander it works good getting most of the dust. now as most will tell you good luck collecting dust and chips from a lathe. the shroud does help with some of the fine dust though. now for the table saw this is an older model, about 35 yrs and is not designed well for dust collection. it is what it is. now this works very well. ive got the sander plugged into a boom arm that is hooked up to a fein dust collector that comes on as soon as i activate the sander. it can swing freely side to side and collect virtually all the dust. this is a jet afs-1000b air filtration system. outer filter is 5 microns inner is 1 micron. air flow is 556cfm low, 702cfm med., and 1044cfm on high. if the shop is cloudy with dust on high it will cleaar the air in about 15 minutes. ive been very happy with it.
ok now as for blast gates. the first is a self cleaning gate which works very well with no clogs. the second is a standard gate that i started with and still have some that ive been replacing. now the last one is made by woodpeckers and it's what im gonna change all mine too. clog free and virtually 100% free flow of air. plus the couplers attach much better to these that the rockler type.
hopefully you guys will show what you use and what works well or doesn't.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Iâve got an Oneida Supercell. Itâs a high static pressure, mid/high volume DC, specifically designed for small shops. The high static pressure makes it perfect for tools with dust ports 4â or less, including all the way down to small 1.5â or 1â hoses for random original sanders and CNC and the like. Anything bigger than 4â allows for too high a loss of static pressure and decreases flow. The other advantage of high static pressure is that the DC also functions like a shop vac for clean up with a long 2.5â hose, just like a shop vac. Itâll pick up chips and dust just fine, and (because of the high static pressure) works just fine with flex hose. The Supecell does just fine with my 13â thickness planer and 8â jointer, or with my sandersâŠand everything in between.
For those that might be unaware, flex hose scrubs a lot of static pressure off a system owing to the corrugated interior of the flex hose. Normally this is a major issue for traditional DCs, but not for the Supercell. Of course, smooth is better, but the system will work with up to 100â of 4â high pressure flex hose (according to their adverts). I will say that, because of the high pressure, light weight flex hose may collapse during use, so a more rigid version is supplied with the Supercell. Itâs a bit unwieldy, but not terrible. Additionally, because of the high pressure, you can use smaller radius 90° turns in your ducting without issueâŠ.something thatâs usually a concern with traditional DCs.
Iâve said a lot about high pressure, but itâs important to note that a high pressure system with low volume airflow (ie - a shop vac) doesnât work well in many shop settings. This is because the high pressure dissipates quickly past the end of the intake at the tool, and usually requires a small diameter hose to be effective, meaning the dust and chips not right in front of the dust port wonât get collected. With a high volume DC, the air further away from the dust port is also drafted in, which collects the floating dust wafting around, but a low pressure, high volume system may struggle to carry away chips as the chips weigh more and require higher static pressure to collect properlyâŠor at least a more closed-in collection area as found in cabinet saw. The Supercell provides much more volume of airflow than a shop vac, but not quite as much as a traditional large impeller DC, but with much higher pressure. This is why the Supercell has an upper limit of a 4â dust portâŠmuch more than that results in a loss of static pressure which reduces the flow. Clear as mud?
The Supercell comes in a couple different configurations, which really just relates to different sized dust bins. Although Oneida did just pre-release a new âTurboâ Supercell that increases airflow volume even more. There are 3 universal motors running under the cowl of both units, which means itâs not a terribly quiet device but itâs really not bad. Those motors do generate some heat, but I havenât noticed an issue, even during hot summer months.
While I wouldnât call it a quiet DC, the suction sound at the end of small diameter hose is more significant than the DC itselfâŠalthough I wouldnât mind having a remote cabinet for the Supercell in a future shop. It has a built in conical separator which keeps the dust out of the motors. Thereâs also an internal pleated filter. An integrated filter cleaner uses a whammy bar on the side of the machine to reverse the flow of air through the filter to keep it clean. It works well.
My system uses 4â S&D pipe, which is inexpensive (especially the adapters), easy to find, and just flexible enough to help with install. I seal my joints with aluminum duct tape. Of course, blast gates are a must. I use automated blast gates and tool switches from a company called GRIT automation. They use servos to drive regular run-of the-mill aluminum gates of any sizeâŠand LEDs to ID the condition of the gates. Phenomenal system. You can read more about GRIT here. Iâve had no issues with static electricity in my system. I do not ground my ducting as you canât ground PVC, but the tools are grounded. Any images below with wire wrapped around the ducting is just low voltage, insulated wire that provides power to GRIT. I wrapped it around the pipes to keep it tidyâŠ
I couldnât be happier with this system, for both my larger tools and my benchtop tools. It fits my shop perfectly, is easy to use and very effective. Itâs a bit more expensive than the cheap high volume DCs, but no more expensive than the high quality, high volume DCs. Iâve also been very impressed with Oneida as a company. Theyâre easy to talk to even in real life on a phone, and theyâre happy to talk to you about your needs and offer advice, without any pressure to buy.
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
 Right now I have a shop vac and and an old DC that I literally found waiting for trash pickup a few months ago. Neither works all that well and take up a lot of space. My next major shop purchase may be a Supercell. I may have to go with the mobile one because wall space is at a premium in my shop. Â
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
Nathan, the portable Supercell looks pretty good, but you can also mount the motor head up high on the wall and use a piece of flex (or rigid duct) to get the dust down to the drum, which might reduce the size a bitâŠ.but honestly itâs really pretty compact. Make sure you check out their new Turbo. Even better volume, but the original works damn well.Â
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
The filter lives inside that top yellow barrel, above the funnel. If you look at the junction of the yellow barrel (below the black motor cowl) and the yellow funnel youâll see a silver band clamp. That allows the entire top end to be lifted off the funnel, and the filter is exposed. Itâs a very compact design.Â
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Not often at all, unless Iâm milling boards. It does fill up pretty quick when Iâm planing and jointing with those bigger chips. They make a 33g and a 55g drum version (I think those are the sizes). Mine is 14g. I didnât want to deal with the larger drums without a burn pile. If I was outside of town I would have done the 55g drum and just dump it to burn (or whatever).Â
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
i had that same collector before the one i have now. yeah the bag that comes with it sure didn't work too well. i think we need to do a lot more forums like this so if a new person comes on they dont feel like it's a good ol boys club and go away.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
As Pottz said, in the interest of education for folks seeking enlightenment in the shop, Iâd be interested in seeing other small shop solutions, thein separators, etc. Post why youâve got, what you like or donât like, and all the âwhyâsâ.Â
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
The old Delta DC that I found last year had terrible bag filter (I doubt that it even had a micron rating) so I bought a canister filter on Amazon. Much cheaper than the Wynn but still has a MERV 15 rating. The prices seem to have have increased a little recently but are still cheaper than a comparable Wynn filter. This is the one that I bought to fit my smaller 1HP DC but they have a larger one that will work better for larger DCs. Another option is Donaldson filters that are also Merv 15 rated. Shipwright did a write up on another website a while back about using them to upgrade his HF DC .Â
The biggest problem I had getting this DC setup was sealing the clear collection bag on the bottom. The bag clamp allows enough air to leak out that it was spewing a little dust into the air. The solution was to use some of the narrow stretch wrap found with the moving and packing supplies at HD. A couple of tight wraps around the top of the bag and clamp sealed it up. It will be easy to just wrap again when I empty the bag. I keep the stretch wrap in the shop to help clamp awkward shaped glue ups.Â
Speaking of canister filters and dust collection in general. I stumbled upon this YouTube video that used a canister filter and an inline blower for a air cleaner. The the air cleaner is at 1:18 but there are some other tips in the video that might be helpful for some.Â
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
This might be the one stop place for answers on DC. The other place there was a new thread started once or twice a week on this topic. Now maybe all the questions will be answered here.
well thats my thought rather than searching the forum for answers from several threads if we all post in one place it might make it easier. i couldn't even count how many threads there were at the other place. plus the more information threads we have the more likely newbies will join.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
It wouldnât be a bad idea to somehow have a migration function for pushing threads together. Im sure that would be at the Admin level, but I agree that having multiple threads on the same technical topic is counter productive. Merge them together and make it a repository.Â
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
