Woodworker's Dust Collection Systems

[HeyNow^]

Mods please move or delete at your leisure. I'm preparing to purchase a dust collection system for my multipurpose shop. Tables saw, band saw, planer etc. I have a good size shop (1200 sf) so I can move the collector around until I plumb metal ducts. I'm looking for your experiences with your particular dust collector ( notice I didn't say unit. Thank you in advance.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Oneida is the Gorilla (no pun intended) in the advanced shop market. I chose a tempest from Penn State Industries.Very happy with my choice, customer service, assistance and quality of products all very good. And yes I would do it again.

I keep looking at the adds and drooling over a bigger impeller, higher horsepower, but in reality I have never been underpowered in my modest shop.
14 inch impeller, 230v system

Use them (the manufacterer) as a resource in laying out the duct work and pay heed to the advice on 45 degree vs. 90 degree drops and size and quality of ducts. You will spend a ton on the quality ductwork but it will make or break the system.

Make sure you get a air filtration system with timer for the fine dust that will settle after you close up the shop for the night.

And pay zero attention to the post that will come in about #7 about their shop vac being just as good. It really isn't.

 

[99driver]

I've used a bunch of different systems. Any dust collection system is better than using nothing. I would break them into 3 categories. Shop Vac, Bag and Cyclone.

Shop vac systems are the bare minimum and don't actually do much in the way of dust collection. They are more "large chip" collection. You will still have dust on everything and in the air.

Bag Dust collection systems come in a bunch of different flavours. They start at the 1hp with a cloth filter and move up to 3hp with pleated paper canister filters. The big deal with dust collection is to move as much air as possible through the filter and have the filter at a small enough size to keep the dust in the bag and not the air.

The 1hp dust collectors are what I would call the bare minimum. They move a decent amount of air to collect most of the dust and chips from the machine but the bag will still release dust back into the shop. Moving into the canister filters becomes quite a bit better. The problem with the small micron canister filters is that they don't flow as many CFMs because of the filter but keep most of the dust where it is supposed to be. The 1hp bag and the 3hp HEPA canisters may have similar CFMs but that isn't the whole story.

Finally we get to the large HP Cyclone collectors. These are the top of the homeowner market. It is essentially two stage filtration. There is a cyclone, which removes 99.5% of the dust and chips, as the first stage and then a tradition filter stage after that. These systems flow large CFMs and have low micron filters. They are the best of both worlds but nothing is free. They have a large footprint and are 10 times the price of 1hp bag collectors.

You need to know that wood dust is very bad for you. Knowing that, you need to evaluate your space and budget and come up with what works for your shop.

Knowing all of this, my favourite dust collection is to push the table saw onto the driveway on a sunny day and not need to worry about everything I just wrote. Dust collection only really is a problem in an enclosed area.

 

[HeyNow^]

Thanks Turbo!

 

[JimD1]

I used a 1hp Delta DC in my previous shop. It came with 30micron bags which I used for awhile. Then I got shaker felt bags which were significantly better. Then I added a cartridge filter that was about 1 micron. I still have it but I don't have it hooked up. I had a lot of fine dust all over the shop. I am not sure how much was due to which filter. I didn't use the original bags long, however. The cartridge filter needed cleaned a lot.

I don't have my current shop close to as finished as my previous one. It is wired and has lights but only about 1/3 of the walls and insulation are up. I have hardwood storage along one wall and my CMS and RAS on a bench. I also have my Rigid shop vacuum on a cart with an Onieda dust deputy. 2 inch plastic pipe connect the shop vac to the cyclone. The shop vacuum has a hepa filter that doesn't need to be cleaned because nearly nothing gets past the cyclone. It moves enough air to get most of what my Ryobi BT3100 table saw discharges and does OK with my router table. It works well with my track saw and sander. I still have the little delta but I am thinking of selling it. I need the shop vacuum for the little tools and don't have space for multiple dust collection devices.

It is possible to have a DC that moves enough air to get nearly all the fine dust but it would be a big 220V cyclone system. I am definitely not going to set up that kind of system. If I hook up the little delta I will get a super dust deputy for it so I don't have to clean the filter so much. I may put it outside and not have a filter. My shop isn't heated or cooled so air loss doesn't make a difference. The cyclone will remove nearly everything so what would be sprayed out would not be noticeably dusty.

 

[jakemac]

The 2hp dust collector from harbor freight has worked well for me for 5 years. But I haven't used it often, so I can't say how it will do for heavy use.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Hey Now, here's what I've got except my tempest is the older model (red in color): https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TEMP1425S.html

And the duct work is here: https://www.pennstateind.com/store/premium-ductwork.html

I have a Delta and a Jet air filtration system on the ceiling. Really cuts the fine dust down and that is the most dangerous and annoying stuff.

Jet http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004R9LO/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Delta http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009LI48/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Look for sales, PSI has a lot of them, and occasional free shipping too. The air filtration prices are all over the place but very frequently on sale. They may even have them at Zoro so the 30% off sale may be of value there.
You may ask why I have a Jet and a Delta in a 1000 sq ft shop. Well I had the Jet and it worked great but in GJ fashion, I ran into a very cheap deal on a Delta (55% off) and could not resist.

 

[HeyNow^]

I appreciate everyone's input!

 

[trboxman]

I've had an Oneida 2hp cyclone system in my shop for more than a decade. I'd buy it again in a heart beat.

 

[pauls_workshop]

I got a Jet ceiling mount air filtration unit. For picking up and filtering the air for everything missed by a normal vacuum system for the very fine dust, this is real good. I recommend them. They are in the $300 range. Does not replace any vacuum system, but supplements it. - Paul