Hi,
I'm in the market for a dust collection system for my garage/workshop. I have done some comparative shopping, and I have narrowed it down to either Delta or Jet. I'm leaning more towards Jet's, but I just don't know. If you have either of these brands, please reply back and let me know what you think about it. I just don't trust the reviews on Amazon!
Thanks
I have a Jet low-end DC, a Sears shop vac, a filter on a box fan, and a shop-built sanding table (based on a squirrel cage furnace fan). However, none of these captures the ultra-fine dust that is a long-term health hazard. I'm pinching pennies to put together a system to get rid of this very fine dust. Here is a starting point.
Because my mother developed lung problems in her 60's, I'm looking to capture the itsy-bitsy dust particles.
-- Mark
The best ones are either Penn State or Grizzly. I've got the Penn State and I'm happy with it, but I'd have no problems with Grizzly either. Make sure you get a metal propeller. There's nothing special about Jet or Delta. I'd get the most power for the buck with 5 or less micron bags.
Funny you should mention that. I submitted several, and the negative review never showed up, the positive one did. Imagine that!
Greg G.
There's also Woodsucker - a very competitive cyclone. For those who won't go the price or space of a cyclone, the Jet Canister system is very nice. Its head and shoulders above a bag style for effectiveness and ease of use.
Bob
I build the kits that are based on Bill Pentz's cyclone design. There are several reasons why I consider this to be the best unit available for overall performance. (details at
A few pointers when looking at cyclones. An efficient, effective cyclone doesn't need a large bag-over-a-barrel dust bin and bag after the blower. Yesterday, I got an email from one builder of the cyclone kit I produce. When he got his unit going, he put some fine MDF sawdust from his table saw into the inlet while observing the unfiltered outlet from the blower. The cyclone gobbled up the dust, but there was NO visible dust coming out of the blower.
A properly designed and configured cyclone is not a trivial matter, and when the design is not based on very sound physics and aerodynamics, it generally will not deliver top-notch performance. And don't forget, that many of the published "specifications" on dust collectors and cyclones do not represent anything remotely resembling actual operation in a real shop environment.
A well designed cyclone with proper filters and well-designed collection ducts does not leave dust all over your shop. If there's dust all over the shop, the collector isn't really collecting, is it?
Clarke
Mark Jerde wrote:
There are plenty of bad tool reviews on Amazon. Some of them even criticize Amazon.
Dick Durbin "Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Wash and Kalamazoo...."
Yes, I've seen disapproving reviews, but the disappearance of my own makes me wonder...
Greg G.
I've had a Penn State dust collector for about a month now. It really doesn't do as much as I expected. It is great on my router table, but does very little for the contractors saw, miter saw, or sanding. Had I realized this, I don't think I would have bought one; as a shop vac wasn't too bad on the router table either.
If anyone has advice on how to make it more effective, I am all ears (eyes, whatever...).
Don't stop now. Enclose the base of the contractor saw and add a dust port. My Delta has a piece that goes in the bottom and has the dust port. I made a baffle for the open back. It collects 98% of the dust. For a miter saw you'd have to make or buy a funnel in back of the saw. I've not done that yet.
I little time spent on this will make performance much better. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
The comparison between a metal fan and a fiberglass fan is that if you happen to suck up a nail, staple or other metal object, when it hits the fan it can throw sparks into your collected dust and smolder into a fire, long after you shut down the shop.
Your DC is designed to collect dust from a 2" or 4" port on your tools. The 2" port is for a shop vac because the tool either has a lot of the dust trapped (inside the wheel cage of a BS or under the table of a router table) and what little dust that gets away can be collected easily by the SV.
The larger machines that have the 4" collection ports are placed there as an after market product to match up with the existing standard of the
4" dust collection hose. Think! A 4" collection hose has a 12.56 Square inch area across any part of the hose or a 12.56 cubic inch per lineal inch of the hose. Now to fit this 4" hose into a square port, the smallest size would be 16 square inches or 16 cubic inches of box per lineal inch of dust port. This means you have lost 1/4 of your suction just by placing a 4" hose on the port.A redesign of the port would effectively remove more dust by using the full power of the DC and not allow the dust ports to exceeded that of the hose which brings in the suction per lineal inch.
-- Woody
Check out my Web Page at:
I have the JET 708639/DC-1100A 1-1/2HP Dust Collector. Bought it on Amazon. (why wouldn't you trust the reviews any more or less than here?). I bought 1 micron bags, I believe from Penn State Industries. I removed the 4" tee so I have a 6" input. Works great, as I'm just a 1 man shop. Much quieter than my shop vac, and really picks up those planer chips. I built a separator, but I need to look at some other plans, as mine separates only the biggest pieces.
The only quibble, and this isn't a model specific quibble, is disposing of the dust. It fills up 3 30-gallon bags easily!
I should note also that I converted it to 220v.
I've never had a review blocked on Amazon, positive or negative.
I have an older Delta DC - built in Taiwan. It has been reliable, works fine, and is fairly quiet. I build a pre-collector that sits on the DC base and rolls around with it. It usually gets rolled outside when I'm making dust - so that I don't have to breath the fine stuff that makes it's way through the bag. I have a blast gate mounted in the door for easy hookup. I'm not worried about make-up air. The clean-up I have to do is markedly less and the sawdust makes a good mulch for acid loving plants. Just don't mix it IN the soil 'cause the breakdown process can deplete the soil of nitrogen needed by the plants. Blueberries love it. Also makes a fine fire starter for the fireplace.
The cheap unit (AP300?) they sell now is pretty crappy, the AP400 is as low as I would go.
I know someone with a Shop Fox 1 1/2 HP model - it seems like a good deal. FWIW
Greg G.
Can you email me pictures of your enclosure? I have been giving it some thought but can't come up with anything that will be air tight, yet allow the saw to be adjusted. I was thinking about duct taping a heavy plastic tarp around the motor to allow it to move without leaking; yet allowing the cooling fan to work.
Thanks.
Sure, give me a few days to get out there. It is simply a piece of 1/4" plywood across the back with a couple of cutouts for the belt and motor bracket. It does not come up to the top and it seems as though does not have to. The way I made it, the motor cannot tilt. Takes but 30 seconds to remove it though. Maybe someday I'll make it for the motor to tilt, but I rarely use it that way.
Under the saw is the Delta accessory. It is just a piece of molded plastic, rectangular, that angles down to the center dust port. You can easily make one if you have a different brand. I'd use 1/4" plywood and buy a 4" port or adapt one that is commercially available. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
Maybe the bad ones take longer...
Greg G.
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