Dust collection setups !!

[jblnut]

I’m looking to install a dust collection system in my shop and have a few desires for it …

I’d like it to not only be able to gather and separate material like a traditional dust collector but also to be used as a general exhaust system to clear welding smoke and other particles that may be floating around.

I’m not sure if it’s possible but I’d like to try. The dust collection side is more simple but I’m tossing around pvc vs metal plumbing and a cyclonic separator or a trash can old like I use now.

I’m thinking I may use the cyclonic separator and have the fan discharge out an exhaust pipe to the outdoor world instead of into the bags. Lots of heat loss there but the fine dust and potential smoke would be outside them.

What have yall done for dust collection systems ?

 

[cgrutt]

I had an Oneida Air cyclone with metal ductwork in a small home shop that worked great. I'd caution against using it for anything that may cause a spark due to fire hazard. Also look into static mitigation if you use PVC.

 

[jblnut]

I'd caution against using it for anything that may cause a spark due to fire hazard. Also look into static mitigation if you use PVC.

I should add that I don’t plan to stick a suction hose right by the work surface when doing hot sparky things. More of a large oven fan sort of deal where the suction point is above the sparky area. It may not even be possible or safe but it’s be great to be able to dual purpose the system if possible.

Static mitigation ? I can see static being an issue with PVC ……

 

[Notgrownup]

I made a simple 4 filter box fan set up with upgraded filters . Cheap and works , I am thinking of a better dust coll system. I currently have a small dust deputy hooked up to a shop vac. The reviews on the HF system is decent and can be upgraded as well. I don’t know that I would use a dust collection system for air filtration though. I believe it should be separate.

 

[imagineer]

I use a homemade cyclonic separator and it's definitely a benefit. Sorry, no pictures.

I made it by making pie cuts in a 55 gallon steel drum, creating a cone that reduces from the drum diameter to a 6" opening in about 30". For the collector itself, I repurposed a 10" impeller drum top style collector and set it on top of the cyclone. Below the cyclone I have a 30 gallon plastic drum with a plywood disk that seals to the discharge end of the cyclone. Rather than use a filter, or collection bag, I have the discharge from the impeller shooting through the back wall of my shop to the outside. Only the small wood dust particles and fines end up getting blown outside (which is the intention). After using it over several years, there's not much appreciable buildup of dust on the exterior wall of the pole barn. Yes, in the winter, it pulls warmed air out of the shop, but so far in limited winter use, it's not been a problem.

Up until recently, I only used it with my table saw, and rolled the saw to the collector and used a 10' length of 6" plastic corrugated drain tile to connect the saw to the inlet on the cyclone. Whereas it did remove most small fines and some of the sawdust , It wasn't efficient at all and leaked.

The system is pretty much broken down now and when I find some spare time, I plan to install a 6" metal duct (HVAC stuff) along the back wall of the shop to to have collection drops at the radial arm and chop saws as well as the media blast cabinet and an inlet at the shop floor to sweep into. I'll be making blast gates too. I also am going to try and repurpose a 5hp motor from a compressor to replace the somewhat undersized 2hp motor spinning the 10" impeller.

One reason I opted for having the discharge be ejected outside, I wanted to use the dust collector to pull vehicle exhaust fumes when working on cars and motorcycles. I just set the 6" corrugated drain hose close to the exhaust pipe.

Bottom line, would I recommend building your own system from scratch...not a chance. There's a huge amount of engineering that has gone into the designs of the commercially available systems to make them very efficient. I doubt my home brew solution is even half as efficient, but I'm cheap and enjoy a challenge.

 

[jblnut]

I made a simple 4 filter box fan set up with upgraded filters . Cheap and works.

I built a fan filter out of four filters taped into a cube with a box fan on top. It also works great but doesn't get everything in a timely manner.

I don’t know that I would use a dust collection system for air filtration though. I believe it should be separate.

I was thinking the same thing until I was in a heavy equipment shop a few days back and saw their exhaust removal systems. They used a fan just like dust collectors have and it got me to pondering if the system couldn't be used for both ....

I use a homemade cyclonic separator and it's definitely a benefit. Sorry, no pictures.

I made it by making pie cuts in a 55 gallon steel drum, creating a cone that reduces from the drum diameter to a 6" opening in about 30". For the collector itself, I repurposed a 10" impeller drum top style collector and set it on top of the cyclone. Below the cyclone I have a 30 gallon plastic drum with a plywood disk that seals to the discharge end of the cyclone. Rather than use a filter, or collection bag, I have the discharge from the impeller shooting through the back wall of my shop to the outside. Only the small wood dust particles and fines end up getting blown outside (which is the intention). After using it over several years, there's not much appreciable buildup of dust on the exterior wall of the pole barn. Yes, in the winter, it pulls warmed air out of the shop, but so far in limited winter use, it's not been a problem.

Up until recently, I only used it with my table saw, and rolled the saw to the collector and used a 10' length of 6" plastic corrugated drain tile to connect the saw to the inlet on the cyclone. Whereas it did remove most small fines and some of the sawdust , It wasn't efficient at all and leaked.

The system is pretty much broken down now and when I find some spare time, I plan to install a 6" metal duct (HVAC stuff) along the back wall of the shop to to have collection drops at the radial arm and chop saws as well as the media blast cabinet and an inlet at the shop floor to sweep into. I'll be making blast gates too. I also am going to try and repurpose a 5hp motor from a compressor to replace the somewhat undersized 2hp motor spinning the 10" impeller.

One reason I opted for having the discharge be ejected outside, I wanted to use the dust collector to pull vehicle exhaust fumes when working on cars and motorcycles. I just set the 6" corrugated drain hose close to the exhaust pipe.

Bottom line, would I recommend building your own system from scratch...not a chance. There's a huge amount of engineering that has gone into the designs of the commercially available systems to make them very efficient. I doubt my home brew solution is even half as efficient, but I'm cheap and enjoy a challenge.

You've done almost exactly what I'd like to do. Thanks for the feedback !!!!

 

[TurnipTruck]

I am still in the experimental/construction stage with my wood dust collector system, so changes may yet be made, but it is still a vast improvement over the lung clogging mess I suffered for far too long. I even bought a Dylos particulate meter after a health scare so I can see if I have to wear a respirator each day or not. I also have a single speed air cleaner on the ceiling.


The weld side of the shop has a leftover 6” remote bathroom fan in the attic ducted to the outside with a connection through the ceiling for a fume hose. I just haven’t found (or fabricated) an articulating arm yet due to cost.


For engine exhaust, I have three antique rubber exhaust hoses that get jammed under the door.

 

[Notgrownup]

Yeah I know my box fan set up is very basic and I am looking at a newer system with more CFM’s

 

[cgrutt]

Static mitigation ? I can see static being an issue with PVC ……

Google it. I can tell you from personal experience it's a real hazard. Nearly got knocked off my feet vacuuming concrete dust with a 2" pvc extension. Fast moving small particles (e.g. wood dust) moving within PVC pipe can and will build significant static charge.

How dangerous or how to mitigate it will likely open up a can of worms on an Internet forum so I'm not going there here.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I’m also trying to figure out dust and weld smoke issues while not losing my climate controlled and dehumidified air. I was using an old Craftsman shop vac with a Rigid hepa filter and bag kit. It worked ok, but the bags filled up fast when using the router. Recently I added a Cen Tec cyclone and hose kit which works great. Their system cost me about $90 and seems to get the really fine dust along with all the bigger stuff before the vacuum. I upgraded to the new Hercules Hepa vac last week. It might be too powerful for the Cen Tec system as it ***** down the bucket lid about 1/4” farther than the old vac did, but I can easily turn it down if it becomes a problem. This system does a great job with my ROS, bosch hand planer, track saw, and general clean up. Combined with a dust box around the miter saw it’s ok there. With the router or table saw the vac doesn’t cut it. If I end up with a Dewalt 735 planer and or a jointer in the future those require a real dust collector.

Ultimately I want a real 220v dust collector with a hepa filter, cost of entry is $2500-3000. I need to do more wood working to justify the cost. For now I’m wearing a P100 respirator if I have any concerns the shop vac isn’t getting the job done.

For weld fumes I’m figuring an 8” round fan with a hose going out the door is ok to start. I had the idea of building a fume hood type welding setup with powered exhaust and make up air from two different windows, but I don’t weld enough for all that.

Assembled Quick Click Dust Separator with 5 Gallon Locking Collection Bucket and Quick Click Power Tool Adapter Set with Hose

These two optional kits combines the Quick Click translucent separator mounted on a five gallon heavy duty pail with threaded lid fully assembled and ready for use. Included is either the 10 foot (90270) or 16 foot (90269) standard Quick Click hose with five piece adapter set for mating your...

centecsystems.com

 

[jblnut]

I am still in the experimental/construction stage with my wood dust collector system, so changes may yet be made, but it is still a vast improvement over the lung clogging mess I suffered for far too long. I even bought a Dylos particulate meter after a health scare so I can see if I have to wear a respirator each day or not. I also have a single speed air cleaner on the ceiling.

Is the metal electrical conduit above the table saw under vacuum as well ?

The weld side of the shop has a leftover 6” remote bathroom fan in the attic ducted to the outside with a connection through the ceiling for a fume hose. I just haven’t found (or fabricated) an articulating arm yet due to cost.

I’ve seen those but never up close. I found a smaller “modular” version on the ol’ Amazon that looks like it uses 1-1/2” PVC pipe with a simple bolt and quick handle through a pair of fancy 90’s. Now my mind is dreaming of a 4” version of that above the welding table. I really don’t think it’d be that hard to replicate with a street elbow and a regular elbow at the joints. Pop a hole through them both, stick a piece of all thread through to tighten to hold its shape and Bobs your Uncle.

It’s called the Mullet ThirdHand. Looks like a slick idea.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF76W9QF?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[BroncoAZ]

I saw some interesting ideas for fume booms. I’ll probably start with something like this. I have a 12” fan like that that a buddy gave me, so I’ll try dropping from 12” to 6”.

 

[MongoTA]

It’s called the Mullet ThirdHand. Looks like a slick idea.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF76W9QF?tag=atomicindus08-20

That ThirdHand looks nifty. I contemplated something like that but never pulled the trigger.

I've kept my wood and metal collectors as separate systems. Wood is a typical point-of-use setup with gated branches from various tool stations going to a cyclone can for gross particle removal, then the air goes into the vacuum with dual dust bag. It works well.

Overall "shop air filter" for the space as a whole is a Delta 50-875 type of air filter, located up on the ceiling. It'll filter out any airborn bits from either wod or metal work. It clears the air nicely.

If I'm welding a lot, I'll pull this out. Not the best, but it works. I put the fan itself on my welding table and run the exhaust end of the hose to a window. I had thought if rigging it up as a more permanent installation, with the 12" hose hanging down from the ceiling over my welding area, to be positionally adjusted by some sort of third-hand type of setup, but my work space is being reconfigured so I never moved forward with that idea.

EDIT: Ah, BroncoAZ's post beat me to it.

 

[acer66]

I saw some interesting ideas for fume booms. I’ll probably start with something like this. I have a 12” fan like that that a buddy gave me, so I’ll try dropping from 12” to 6”.

Might try that but I think the op is asking for a woodworking setup.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Might try that but I think the op is asking for a woodworking setup.

The OP was referring to one system for both. I think using one system for both is a significant fire hazard.

 

[tarmy]

Gotta post in this fancy new area…

 

[acer66]

The OP was referring to one system for both. I think using one system for both is a significant fire hazard.

Thank you, I missed that and I agree doing one system for both does not sound like the best idea.

 

[jblnut]

Using one blower/fan for both systems with a combined exhaust is what I’m really after. I was thinking along the lines that @imagineer posted in that the exhaust would blow outside and not into a collection bag of any kind. I could easily have a tee of sorts where one side has a cyclonic separator for any particles I want to catch and the other side is for dust/smoke extraction only.

Having the smoke/dust going into the cyclone and potentially having something in there I don’t want isn’t something I’m trying to do.

Lots of good ideas and pictures in here so far !! Thank you !!

 

[cgrutt]

With cyclone system the exhaust is separate from collection bin. There is a small bin attached to end of filter to catch any residual but not much gets that far. One thing to consider having powerful fan discharge to exterior is how sealed your shop is. If there is no gaps to replace air sucked out of shop there is potential for depleting your 02.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Is the metal electrical conduit above the table saw under vacuum as well ?

It is just a way to support the hood and piping from the ceiling with stuff I had laying around, and a chase for the low volt control wires to the VFD. I didn’t want to rely on the supplied bracketing swaying from a single point on the overhead truss.

 

[jar944]

I find a silage fork works better than a snow shovel

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I went with outside the shop exhaust fans and chip storage for the wood shop. The storage bin and fan motors are under the shop and stay dry. I just have two 8" holes in the floor with covers when not in use and short steel ducts to the collection bin. A short piece of 8" flex hose hooks up to individual tools but some of them use a reducer for smaller hoses. Works for me. I really don't notice any fine dust migrating to the rest of the shop. I move everything to the side when I'm not wood working as the Grandkids use the space for play area in the winter. I only run the exhaust fans when a machine is running. On the other side of the shop welding fumes have a squirrel cage high up to exhaust them outside. Ed.

 

[kyrbz]

Using one blower/fan for both systems with a combined exhaust is what I’m really after. I was thinking along the lines that @imagineer posted in that the exhaust would blow outside and not into a collection bag of any kind. I could easily have a tee of sorts where one side has a cyclonic separator for any particles I want to catch and the other side is for dust/smoke extraction only.

Having the smoke/dust going into the cyclone and potentially having something in there I don’t want isn’t something I’m trying to do.

Lots of good ideas and pictures in here so far !! Thank you !!

Back when I built my welding/spray booth, I bought a 3.5hp dust collector motor from Penn State Industries. I'm sure with some planning one could use blast gates and y's to route the flow to either a dust collection system or vent outdoors. I would recommend not using t's as they greatly reduce cfm. Use y's instead and try to have big radius turns to maximize cfm and minimize clogs. When I was doing the duct work for my Oneida cyclone I went down the rabbit hole of pvc vs. metal duct. The research that made the biggest impression on me was a university did extensive testing on the topic. In the test they did, they could not get combustion to occur in the duct work. 99.9% of dust collection fires start in the collection container caused by a spark getting sucked into the container and smoldering until it becomes a fire. I believe they refer to these as mineral fires. A typical example would be hitting a nail with a blade and the resulting spark getting sucked into the system. Another test the university research tested was trying to get static electricity to ignite a fire. They could not make it happen, which led me to believe that static electricity and pvc starting fires wasn't really a thing. The one tool I use that worries me in this regard is my bandsaw. I'll occasionally see a spark from the blade rubbing the bearings. Just to be safe I always dump my collection barrel after a bandsaw session. The pic of my pvc ductwork shows it goes to two different floors. The floor the dust collector is on, the drops are from the ceiling, others go to the floor above. The tools on the floor above have much stronger collection due to particles don't have to be lifted up but are pulled down. If it were an option, I would have the blower motor or dust collector outside. It makes the work environment much nicer not having to listen to the roar of a blower motor all day.






The Penn State blower I have hooked up to a filter wall in an area enclosed by welding curtains that I use for welding and spraying. I also do some sanding in the booth, especially my Sand-Rite flap sander for wood because no shroud seems to work good at catching dust or gets in the way of what I'm sanding. When I'm sanding in the booth, I take the filters out of the wall and let the blower send the fine sanding sawdust outside.


Been using pvc duct for 30 years. When I originally priced out metal duct, pvc was about 1/3 the price. I think I spent more money on pvc, blast gates, connectors, and hoses than I did the Oneida cyclone. As I mentioned though, If I'm the least bit worried about something I've been doing, I empty my barrel at the end of the day. I use electrician bundlers tape on the connections. It reduces leaks and easily comes off clean and can be reused if you need to get in the duct or make a change.


The black flexible dust above the compressor is a heat resistant duct running from the Penn State blower for my spray/welding booth to outdoors

 

[cgrutt]

Static isn't just about fire hazard it can also cause shocks or interfere with sensitive electronics on CNC machines and other tools that may use electronic controls. Monitoring and controlling humidification may be as effective as grounding for static charge generated within pvc ductwork.

 

[Beerhippie]

....

Static mitigation ? I can see static being an issue with PVC ……

I first became aware of the potential hazards of static in our millroom (for milling grain) when one of our employees was knocked off a ladder by a discharge while cleaning with a shop vac. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt--just scared out of her wits.

I've since installed a dust collection system in the millroom and purchased an explosion-proof vacuum (NOT CHEAP!). I run heavy gauge, bare copper wire in all runs of PVC pipe in the system, which is grounded to equipment ground at both ends.

While you're Googling, Google "dust explosion". Our augers that deliver the grain from our mid-large silos are open-center flex augers--any small dust explosion in the millroom could easily propagate through the augers and into the bottom of a silo and then... no more brewery, no more neighborhood. Dust explosions almost always start as static discharges.

.... If there is no gaps to replace air sucked out of shop there is potential for depleting your 02.

More likely to collapse the entire shop from vacuum than to deplete the O2 to any dangerous level. You have to **** out the air to **** out the O2. You'd have to reduce the air pressure to the equivalent of that above 10,000 ft elevation (about 10 psi, 2/3 that of sea level) to pose any risk of losing consciousness (at least, that's where pilots on non-pressurized aircraft start using supplementary O2). Is your shop pressure-rated for ascending to 10,000 ft elevation?

 

[cgrutt]

I first became aware of the potential hazards of static in our millroom (for milling grain) when one of our employees was knocked off a ladder by a discharge while cleaning with a shop vac. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt--just scared out of her wits.

I've since installed a dust collection system in the millroom and purchased an explosion-proof vacuum (NOT CHEAP!). I run heavy gauge, bare copper wire in all runs of PVC pipe in the system, which is grounded to equipment ground at both ends.

While you're Googling, Google "dust explosion". Our augers that deliver the grain from our mid-large silos are open-center flex augers--any small dust explosion in the millroom could easily propagate through the augers and into the bottom of a silo and then... no more brewery, no more neighborhood. Dust explosions almost always start as static discharges.

More likely to collapse the entire shop from vacuum than to deplete the O2 to any dangerous level. You have to **** out the air to **** out the O2. You'd have to reduce the air pressure to the equivalent of that above 10,000 ft elevation (about 10 psi, 2/3 that of sea level) to pose any risk of losing consciousness (at least, that's where pilots on non-pressurized aircraft start using supplementary O2). Is your shop pressure-rated for ascending to 10,000 ft elevation?

IDK I installed the system I had 20 years ago and recall reading warnings for risk of asphyxiation if dust collector vent was installed in another room or to exterior without a source of make up air. They were talking about breathable air I took a shortcut and said 02. They weren't talking about collapsing the building they were specifically talking about breathable air and risk of asphyxiation. For all I know they could have been concerned about drawing CO into workspace from flue-gas IDK. Just passing along some random info that's in back of my head do what you want with it or nothing at all. Maybe it will help somebody think through their configuration some day.

 

[Beerhippie]

IDK I installed the system I had 20 years ago and recall reading warnings for risk of asphyxiation if dust collector vent was installed in another room or to exterior without a source of make up air. They were talking about breathable air I took a shortcut and said 02. They weren't talking about collapsing the building they were specifically talking about breathable air and risk of asphyxiation. For all I know they could have been concerned about drawing CO into workspace from flue-gas IDK. Just passing along some random info that's in back of my head do what you want with it or nothing at all. Maybe it will help somebody think through their configuration some day.

If you have a vented combustion-powered device--gas water heater, furnace, etc--in the room then, yes, it's definitely a serious hazard. It's not that it might draw combustion gasses back into the room, it's that it will.

But as for reducing the air pressure in the room to dangerous levels... nope. Walls and/or doors are going to implode far before that and I doubt there's a shop dust collection system sold capable of that kind of static pressure (some negative-pressure lab systems definitely are and require make-up air).

 

[johnre]

I've got a 1200 CFM single-stage collector hooked up to a fixed 5" spiral ductwork system, off of that main I then run four each 4" drops off to various pieces of equipment, each individually equipped with a blast gate. I don't have a cyclonic separator, but I should have one since I put in a jointer - the chips from that are big enough to plug the 90 degree elbows or 45 degree wye drops in the 5" parts of the system, and it's a pain to get at the stoppages and clear them, usually involving poking at it with my borescope and if necessary adding compressed air back of the stoppage to push an opening through.

For small stuff like the scroll saw, drill press, rotary shaft, assembly bench, etc. I use a Festool CT-15 HEPA vacuum system. No point in bringing out the big system for stuff like this.

Like some of the others here, I am very concerned about sparks and fires in the dust collector, ductwork, fittings, and dust collection bag. All of the plastic fittings and hoses have ground wires running through them, and for the last flexible connection to the tool, I ground to the frame of the tool with a wire run through the flex hose. I also observe a strict "no metal filings" policy for this system - the Festool is used instead, where yes the dust can still ignite, but the much smaller collection bag means there's a lot less combustibles stored there.

 

[Beerhippie]

Google "spark bong for dust collection".

Pretty sure it's not OSHA approved, nor will it make your fire inspector happy if used in a full-shop situation, but... I don't want to have to replace my shop vac just 'cause it caught fire.

 

[KenC]

Mine is all disassembled now but was used mostly to collect planer, jointer and table saw leavings. I used a 2hp Grizzly unit with a premium, (finer dust catch) upper bag and normal lower. But I also had one of the cheap trash can lids that held most of the big stuff. Easier to empty than the bag. Probably emptied it 4-6 times before needing to do the bag.

Still have all the machines and will set it up again when my current pickup project is completed and driveable. Not enough room for welding, grinding, mechanical work and painting along with the woodshop.

I found it easier to install an exhaust fan rather than rerouting the blower hose to the outside as a general dust removal tool

 

[jar944]

I finally decided a shovel was no longer effective.
My plan is a 8" main with 6" drops to the individual machines.

G0441

 

[Bessy]

I took some time to read through your thread and it's prompted me to rethink the future of my setup. While I'm not quite to the point of being able to begin assembly of my system in a more permanent orientation, I'm again considering removing my existing DC from it's cart, reorienting the motor/shroud 90 degrees to vertical, and then directly connecting it into the separate cyclone separator that Busy Bee sells before mounting both units to the wall.

My logic (which the sales person was unable to either support or refute during one of my last visits) is that I should theoretically end up with greater static pressure by eliminating the between 3 and 10 total feet of flex tube that would otherwise be needed to connect my existing DC on a cart to the top of the cyclone. Instead, what I've got envisioned in my head is directly connecting the 5" intake of my existing DC to the 5" inlet at the top of the cyclone, and mounting the dust bag and filter to a bracket on the wall next to it. The now vertically oriented motor would be connected direct to the cyclone with a short section of smooth 5" dia. pipe rather than a long flex hose which would be required if both units remained on the floor on their respective bases.

I haven't worked out the space requirements because I haven't bought the cyclone yet, but looking at some of the photos posted in your thread already tells me that at least the motor/baffle orientation shouldn't matter, so that's the first hurdle avoided. Then to add a pleated filter and do away with the cloth bag next...

 

[MikeK]

I was going to reply to this thread with a description of my DC system, but then remembered there were earlier discussions about shop DC systems before this forum was created:

Would this dust collector modification work?

I just bought a used 1995 Jet DC-1200 dust collector. Even though it's 27 years old it looks to be in pretty good condition. It is prewired from the factory for 230v and is rated at 2hp. It draws 30 amps at 120v or 15 amps at 230v. It has a 6" input and about a 5" output. I'm ordering a flow...

www.garagejournal.com

have you ever seen smooth wall flex hose for dust collection?

the only kind i have seen is the kind that has ribs running through the inside which creates friction and lessens performance. I have heard of smooth wall flex hose in 6" diam but havent found it. Anyone seen this unicorn hose and know where to get it?

www.garagejournal.com

Maybe a Moderator can move these threads to this forum.

 

[16Victor]

The World's Most Cheapass Cyclone.

So this happened.



Unfortunately my Shop Vac had just crapped out. All I had was a 33-gal drum with a vac head unit and no filter. It captured the heavy glass but spat shards out the exhaust...not good. Looking under the vac head unit, I saw the inlet was a simple 90° fitting pointed...somewhere.

A little re-orienting, a hose adapter I had laying around, some duct-tape ducting, and presto. Amazed at how well it worked.



A temporary solution for sure...but as a wise friend said, "there's nothing more permanent than a temporary solution." Until I devise a Thien baffle for it...

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

So I have what Bill Pentz would call a chip collector - not a true dust collector. It's a Dayton fan with bag sitting on top of a home made Thien dust separator in a steel garbage can. It does a great job keeping all of the chips away from the fan and it keeps a lot of the dust away also.



It's 3 parts - the fan and it's base plate, the separator/baffle and the garbage can with inline inlet.



If I were going to build another I would make it a top hat design and have it sit on top of a standard garbage can.
I connect this to my Grizzly lunchbox planer and table saw with 4" flexible hoses with plastic coupling ends. I have the ability to connect it to my bandsaw but mostly I use my Fein vacuum with a Clearvue Mini-Cyclone in front of it.

I bought the Clear Vue Mini-Cyclone because I like to support the underdog. Clearvue was already on the market with a mini-cyclone when Oneida saw what they were doing and sued them into submission. I just determined that Clearvue has closed due to retirement of it's principals.
If I ever get a full blown shop together I will try to go with a full blown cyclone system but for now what I have works.

Cheers

Jim

 

[BroncoAZ]

I did a bunch of woodworking today and will be doing it more consistently in the future. I need to revisit dust collection. I was using the HF dust extractor vac shown in post #10, still working well within its capabilities. I was using a cabinet hole multi head drill doing 6 holes at once, 51 holes per piece so lots of chips and fine dust. I fired up the HF dust collector that came with my table saw last spring. It works and has nots of air volume, but that fabric bag isn filtering much. I saw this Vevor unit that looks like a clone of the Jet for half the price. They advertise it as filling to less than 1 micron, but who knows how good it might be. I haven’t gone looking on YouTube for reviews yet.

VEVOR Dust Collector, 763 CFM 1 Micron Cyclone Dust Collector, 1.5HP Dusts Collection System with 12.5-Gallon Dust Collector Bag & Base Stand, Smart Cyclone Separation, Dusts Separator for Woodworking | VEVOR US

Shop VEVOR Dust Collector, 763 CFM 1 Micron Cyclone Dust Collector, 1.5HP Dusts Collection System with 12.5-Gallon Dust Collector Bag & Base Stand, Smart Cyclone Separation, Dusts Separator for Woodworking at lowest price, 2-day delivery, 30-day returns. Shop now at VEVOR.

www.vevor.com

 

[Lumpy102]

I took some time to read through your thread and it's prompted me to rethink the future of my setup. While I'm not quite to the point of being able to begin assembly of my system in a more permanent orientation, I'm again considering removing my existing DC from it's cart, reorienting the motor/shroud 90 degrees to vertical, and then directly connecting it into the separate cyclone separator that Busy Bee sells before mounting both units to the wall.

My logic (which the sales person was unable to either support or refute during one of my last visits) is that I should theoretically end up with greater static pressure by eliminating the between 3 and 10 total feet of flex tube that would otherwise be needed to connect my existing DC on a cart to the top of the cyclone. Instead, what I've got envisioned in my head is directly connecting the 5" intake of my existing DC to the 5" inlet at the top of the cyclone, and mounting the dust bag and filter to a bracket on the wall next to it. The now vertically oriented motor would be connected direct to the cyclone with a short section of smooth 5" dia. pipe rather than a long flex hose which would be required if both units remained on the floor on their respective bases.

I haven't worked out the space requirements because I haven't bought the cyclone yet, but looking at some of the photos posted in your thread already tells me that at least the motor/baffle orientation shouldn't matter, so that's the first hurdle avoided. Then to add a pleated filter and do away with the cloth bag next...

I'm a little late to this part of the conversation, however, this sounds like what you're talking about doing and its working well enough for my shop application.

 

[Bessy]

I'm a little late to this part of the conversation, however, this sounds like what you're talking about doing and its working well enough for my shop application.

This is exactly what I'm envisioning, thank you!

It's not in the budget this month with Christmas coming up, but I'd like to do something close to this, but more or less fully wall mounted.

 

[Lumpy102]

This is exactly what I'm envisioning, thank you!

It's not in the budget this month with Christmas coming up, but I'd like to do something close to this, but more or less fully wall mounted.

I've made a linkage to raise the cyclone and lid up off the gray can, a hose hanger, and added an I-Vac remote. Can send more pictures when you get into the build if you like

 

[BroncoAZ]

I did a bunch of woodworking today and will be doing it more consistently in the future. I need to revisit dust collection. I was using the HF dust extractor vac shown in post #10, still working well within its capabilities. I was using a cabinet hole multi head drill doing 6 holes at once, 51 holes per piece so lots of chips and fine dust. I fired up the HF dust collector that came with my table saw last spring. It works and has nots of air volume, but that fabric bag isn filtering much. I saw this Vevor unit that looks like a clone of the Jet for half the price. They advertise it as filling to less than 1 micron, but who knows how good it might be. I haven’t gone looking on YouTube for reviews yet.

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I opted not to buy the Vevor unit. I’m going to try Frankensteining my HF unit like many show on YouTub with a separate cyclone and hepa filter.