Dust Collector Recommendations Needed

I am considering buying a duct collector for my garage workshop, and am looking for recommendations.

My requirements:

- Around $200 or less

- Portable (on wheels)

- Regular 120V operation

- Fairly quiet

- Able to accomodate the shavings from my 12" Delta planer

- Easy to get the bags on and off

I'll only be using it with one tool at a time (mostly with my planer).

What do you recommend, and why?

Thanks,

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband
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More. Very few if any of the cheapies have the air velocity to handle a planer.

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Reply to
dpb

You can forget about quiet; unless you put it outside, you won't find quiet. For under $200 you can get a Harbor Freight or something used. Used would certainly be the best choice, but HF ought to be okay for planer shavings; just don't put dust into it.

Reply to
Toller

I have a typical Shop Vac I use in my garage which works great for small projects. The only thing I don't like about it is when I use it with my planer (as you want to do) I need to empty it every few minutes.

Yes it is

Yes it is

Yes it is

Not at all

Yes it will, but that overall capacity is too small for a lot of chips

No bags

Dave FL

Reply to
Dave

"HerHusband" told us

I am sorry, but I just can't get the Red Green imagery out of my mind. A duct collector, I don't think he made one of those. But if the show was still on, I bet he would.

This is NOT a spelling flame. Just a curmudgeon humor storm within an ageing brain.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

If the $200 limit is firm, a good shopvac might do the job for your planer, and you can put a cleanstream filter on it for dust collection from handheld power tools.

If you can increase your budget a bit, the Delta 50-760 can be had for around $300. While it's not as good as a cyclone, it's got a decent bag and moves a reasonable amount of air. Just keep the hose length short and use 5" or 6" hose rather than 4". Unfortunately most planers have

4" ports, which limits the amount of air that can be moved.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

I have the Delta Something-Something (maybe AP) 400. It was under $150 at a WW show. Not exactly quiet, but quieter than a shopvac. It does fine for me on one machine at a time-- TS, RAS, jointer, planer and bandsaw.

Dave

Reply to
DLB

Considering the noise of the planer itself, any vacuum (delta, shopvac, etc.) noises will not be too noticed.

Dave FL

Reply to
Dave

That sounds reasonable however my "quiet" Jet 1100 CFM dust collector magnifies my 15" Delta stationary planer when I turn both on. Neither is real loud but turn the dust collector on with the planer and the "Planer" gets a lot louder.

Reply to
Leon

Unless you are going to only do "a" board or two at a time a small $200 collector will be more trouble than it is worth IMHO. You will probably find yourself emptying the bag ever 2 or 3 boards. That tends to be a hassle with the cheaper smaller units. You need to be thinking about double in price than where you are now.

Reply to
Leon

There is a lot of good information and highly satisfied customers of the Harbor Freight "2 hp" dust collector which is regularly on sale for around $160 plus shipping (unless you live close to a store and then it is plus tax). So many people here cringe at the words "Harbor Freight" but that is just too bad for them. My brother has the HF unit and if I did not already have a different one (that cost the prior owner much more than the HF unit and does much less) I would buy one in a heart beat. The downside is it has 30 micron bags at the $150 price point. It that doesn't work for you they (and others) do sell a filter cartridge retrofit kit - but the combination ain't gonna be within the $200 budget. In my opinion their 30 micron bags are not any worse than anyone elses bag system and the way to go is the filter cartridge. Google on Harbor Freight dust collector and you will find lots of info.

Dave Hall

Reply to
Dave Hall

Grizzly DCs are a good value. Get one with a little more power than you think you need. Your planer will be louder than any DC, get ear protection. Remote control is very convenient, I wish I got one years ago.

Reply to
Phisherman

The $200 limit won't get you too far. Typically, low-noise appliances cost 30% more.

Reply to
Phisherman

Interesting. I looked it up on their web site. I'm not usually a big HF fan, but it does seem like a better dust collector than the other 1HP collectors I've seen in my price range (Delta, Grizzley, Jet, etc.).

I think there's a HF store in town. If not, I know a big one over in the next city. Might be worth a look.

I don't have ANY kind of dust collection now, so I figure anything has got to be an improvement. But having an upgrade path to better filtration is certainly a plus.

As for the noise levels, I'm using a shop vac (albeit a "quiet" model), so I assume most any dust collector will be quieter. I generally wear ear muffs when planing anyway, so noise isn't a huge issue. It was just something I was hoping for.

I tried looking for used dust collectors locally, but the few I saw cost about the same as new. Might as well buy new.

Anyway, thanks for the Harbor Freight recommendation. I'll have to make a run to the local store when I get the chance and see what they have.

Take care,

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

For $200...

Decent shop-vac Cyclone separator - 4" variety Piece of 4" DC hose and a 4" to 2.5" hose reducer - attach to exhaust side separator 30 gal metal garbage can Good pair of ear protectors

I use this setup myself with my planer and it does pretty well.

Ron

Reply to
Ron

I use the 2 hp HF model, have it ouside with a cyclone separator on a

30 gallon metal can. I like it outside because of the noise, also Its messy and dusty emptying the can and the bag, and outside, I don't need an expensive micro fine bag. If I were to install it inside, I would build a closet for it with a furnace filter door. 4" thinwall pvc pipe and fittings are cheap. Gates at woodcraft are about $5.00 ea. I like the 4" black vinyl flexible hose to each machine, I got 50' of it from amazon for I think $16.00
Reply to
chrisring

HerHusband wrote: | I am considering buying a duct collector for my garage workshop, | and am looking for recommendations. | | My requirements: | | - Around $200 or less | - Portable (on wheels) | - Regular 120V operation | - Fairly quiet | - Able to accomodate the shavings from my 12" Delta planer | - Easy to get the bags on and off | | I'll only be using it with one tool at a time (mostly with my | planer). | | What do you recommend, and why?

I've been happy with the HF 2 HP dust collector used with a pair of cyclone separator lids on 55 gal drums. You can take a look at a photo of my setup at

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've been using this setup for more than five years now, and have emptied the barrels more times than I can count, I _still_ haven't accumulated any dust/debris in the collector bag.

I bought the DC on sale for $150, the drums were free, and the lids came from Lee Valley.

At

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I have a page showing how you can make your own separator lids - I show building for use with a ShopVac, but it shouldn't be difficult to scale up to 4/5/6-inch hose sizes.

BTW, it's a lot easier to empty drums.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

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Reply to
Morris Dovey

Morris,

It seems a lot of people are happy with the HF dust collector. Sounds like a nice option in my price range.

Hmm... That may be a short term, low budget approach to collecting my planer shavings. I've got a nice shop vac, so adding a trash can separator may be all I need for now. Worst case, I could still use it if I buy a dust collector.

Something to think about. Thanks!

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

Just make sure to by the one w/ 4" ports and run a 4" pipe between it and the planer. And a 2.5" reducer on the other side to connect directly to the shop vac hose.

Ron

Reply to
Ron

Good luck with that. A shopvac doesn't have the cfm to handle a planer, and adding a trash can separator will cut what it has significantly.

Reply to
Toller

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