Where would you start with a dust collection system when you are ready to move up from the shop vac?
I am a recreational woodworker and based on the price of the retail DC systems it would be the most expensive tool in my shop. Do you have a recommendation on an entry into DC that would not be too expensive?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Baby step (but fairly inexpensive):
I built a chip collector using a Toro Lawn blower/vacumm. $58 at Lowes. It does a magnificent job of sucking out the chips in my thickness planer. I have been using this for about four years.
Walter H. Klaus
Try Harbor Freight for a unit under $200. Some deem it inadequate but it works for my small shop. Moving up in quality look at Delta, Penn State's offerings too
I got one of these but I wish I had gotten a bigger version. It actually works pretty good but running it through a trash can cyclone it has lost a bit of volume.
A PennState or Grizzly DC on wheels with a 1 or 5 micron bag, at least a 1.5 HP. For what they do, it's a small price to protect your lungs. Add a remote if you can.
Delta 1 hp, 650 CFM for $150 OK?
I will be selling a Jet DC-1100, with a cannister filter and trash can pre-separator in September.
It works very well, but I've outgrown it and am replacing it with a 3HP cyclone.
I'm in Connecticut. email me directly, if interested.
I have one question to ask, "What would one trip to the doctor cost?" If you have insurance, a lot less than a DC. BUT, that would not be the last trip nor would your life ever be the same.
So, is a DC worth it? Dumb question, right?
If you are on a short budget, go for the HF model, add a felt bag from Highland Hardware and you will be in pretty good shape for about $250.00, if you catch the sales right.
What I did was try the shop vac and quickly realized that was not cutting it. Moved to a small Jet 650CMF for about a year then moved to the HF and the felt bags (anything that does not filter to 1 micron is a waste of money). To increase the amount of filter bag area, I put two filter bags on the top of the DC, (made a wooden frame to mount on top of the collector ring and mounted the two bags on top of the frame - the nice thing about HF is that the parts to do this were cheap - two collector rings, plus another bag from Highland Hardware).
I ran that for two or three years and then had a cyclone made, pulled the impeller off the HF, mounted it remotely and vented it outside the shop in to a small collection shed - that I built to resemble an outhouse, half moon and all). That has worked well, CFM is up because I do not have a filter bag to reduce the airflow. I would like to upgrade the impeller, but that is for the future. With seven drops, and blast gates leaking like they do, I still have fairly good vaccum - better than with a filter bag.
For what it is worth.
Deb
Not sure what you mean by "not too expensive". I bought this one
Keep an eye on craigslist. I bought a Jet dc1200 (I think that's the model?) It was an older unit that had never even had a plug attached to the cord. I paid $175.00. Now I need to spend another $400 building an outdoor enclosure for it and run the piping into the shop.
The DC system you start up with is probably not what you will end up with.
The layout of your tools(floor size) is the biggest decision in what you need.
You need to do a workup of what tool needs HOW MUCH DC and what tools need a smaller amount.
Some tools can "get by" with a large shop vac:
While other tools CAN NOT get by with a shop vac and require a great deal more DC power:
1.table saw 2.jointer 3.planer 4.drum sanderSoooo, you will probably start out with a combination of collectors.
Many folks start with a classic:
You will also need a couple of these:
One last piece of advice:
You CAN NOT run pipes all over a shop and expect a 1.5HP dust collector to work properly.
Read up on what others have done and note that bigger is better in dust collection.
By educating yourself as much as possible in the beginning, you can avoid a LOT of the mistakes that others have made.
Yep....it's an expensive hobby...
Un> Where would you start with a dust collection system when you are ready to
Before you buy anything, read through
Once you've been through both of those you'll be in a _much_ better position to decide what you need.
If you don't filter down to 1 micron then your risking your health and wasting your money. You can even make the health risk worse with bad filtering. I'd recommend you stop by the library and pick up a copy of Controlling Dust In The Workshop, by Rick Peters. It covers everything you need to know and the text is broken up with lots of photos.
A couple of budget dependent options I'd recommend.
Worst case, wear a respirator as much as possible. I often wear one even when there's good dust collection. A lot of dust still escapes when sanding or using certain tools. Over time you'll get allergies, cysts, tumors and emphysema. I've dealt with the first 2 already.
Define "not too expensive". Dust collectors basically start at less than $150 and go up to well over $1000.
With that, I got my first and current dust collator in the spring of 06 IIRC. I knew that I could spend tons of money on the set up if I were not careful and I did not want the purchase of one to require me to work harder to set it up.
I spent about $500 total for a set up that is simple and efficient. I have a Jet 1100 CFM collector with the large canister filter on top. To it I attached 2, 10' , 4" diameter clear hoses end to end. I have a hose hook attached near the ceiling near the collector to loop the hose over when working near the collector. If I need to go across the garage with the 20" hose I take the hose down from the hook. The end of the hose has a slip on quick connect end that is a friction fit to all my equipment. This arrangement works great and I am not committed to using any particular tool in any particular location.
My collector has the factory remote control which is a VERY HANDY feature.
Things like handheld sanders and routers, as well as biscuit cutters, often work better with a shop vac than a central dust collector.
Very helpful. Thank you for all the detail!
My Jet DC-1100 really sucks, in a good way. I left it portable since it has to live in a distant corner if I want to get the car and truck into the shop. It pulled the remote off the tablesaw from about a foot away... Impeller is pretty tough too, no marks after the remote was reduced from one to 17 smaller pieces.
Jack
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