Dust collector system set up- What would you do?

[marc rosen]

Hey Group, I just upgraded my DC to a 1&1/2 HP, 1200 CFM unit and I want to park it somewhere (and add ductwork) instead of moving it around like I did with my older Delta 3/4 HP two satge machine. My ideal set up would have it in my newly built addition's basement but this would require either drilling three 4&1/2 holes in the 10 inch floor joists (the outer is a double) or punch out the same size hole at waist level in the 12 inch concrete block wall (did a similar thing years ago for water lines and electrical to my duck pens). Seriously, the block wall looks like it will be easier to manipulate than drilling the joists. With the joists I would also need to displace existing electrical lines running along the outer one. Anyway, if anyone wants to offer advice, peptalk, or give me a hard time about this please feel free. Thanks in advance, Marc

[TBM]

I would not recommend drilling 4.5" holes in the joists for structural integrity reasons... I've seen them break just from plumbing holes.

[Chris Friesen]

Before drilling any holes, you may want to run the numbers to make sure that the machine has enough power to give you the desired airflow at the tool.

You may find Bill Pentz's static pressure calculator useful. See the "static calculator" link at:

[Olebiker]

Marc,

I have a 1 1/2 HP Penn State dust collector. It is a fine piece of machinery but it just isn't strong enough to work as a central system. DAMHIKT

Whatever you do, don't drill holes in the joists.

Dick Durbin

[Paul D]

First two thoughts .... neither of them what you want to hear

1. 4.5" hole in 10" joist .... not possible .... you would reduce the joist strength to approx 1/8 the load carrying capacity

1. 1200cfm .... no where near enough flow over any reasonable distance. Those 'small' units are made mobile for a reason. Take a drive to the nearest joinery shop or mill and have a look at the size of their units .... probably nearly as big as your workshop.

[Gerald Ross]

The OP isn't putting in a mill. I have only a 1 hp ducted to my table saw, stationary sander and router table with gates. It has pulled several truck loads of dust and chips out for me. I would like to upgrade to a 1 1/2 horse unit, but cannot justify it at this time.

I think through the wall is the way to go. If you use PVC drain pipe, use duct tape on the joints instead of PVC joint sealer, at least in some of the joints. You WILL have to take it apart at some time to clean it.

[Howard]

I have had good luck with a 1.5 hp DC on several tools. I have blast gates at all the tools and switch between tools. However I use 6 inch PVC. If you use the S&D type (ASTM 2729?) it is lighter wall and lower cost. The local Lowes stocks it with fittings, local HD doesn't have a clue. I just assembled and then tied it together at the joints with a pair of self tapping screws through each fitting into (but not through) the pipe. The blast gates are a full 6" and made from MDF. The reduction is made at the output side of the blast gate. I also added

6" flex hose and an air filter from Wynn Environmental. I made a noticable difference in actual flow. And when the filter needs to be cleaned you notice the drop in flow.

Gerald Ross wrote:

[Tim Taylor]

What would happen if it would be connected to 2 or 3 inch pipe? Wouldn't that make the suction better?

[Patriarch]

"Tim Taylor" wrote in news:WoKdnTNfc-7FLEHZnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

It would speed up the flow, to some limited degree, but the area cross section of the pipe would decrease radically. It 'works' for some applications, but not for moving a lot of air/dust/chips very far.

I have a 2.5" tube & wand that I attach to my 4" inlet on the DC system. It gets used mostly to shop vac the floor and driveway, and does it more quietly than my screaming shop vac would. It also connects pretty well to the router table. I end up shaking the chunks and chips out of the tubing before I put it away.

Play with the tubes and systems you have. PVC and duct tape are cheap. See if it does what you want it to do. The theoriticians have, however, run _their_ numbers.

For the OP: I run three 4" drops from a cyclone garbage can, which is plumbed back 50' to a Delta 1200 cfm collector with a 6' tall, 1 micron aftermarket bag. Works well for me.

I still need a broom for the handplane shavings.

Patriarch

[Pat Barber]

Depends on how "flexible" you can be with your shop layout.

Before I bought my current 3HP 50-762 which is capable of moving a LOT of air, I got by with a 50-850 1.5hp unit.

I changed my layout around my DC.

I placed my DC on the end of the shop and made one run 30' long with blast gates along the way. I attached the PVC pipe to the wall with plastic straps.

I used 4" S&D and it seemed to do just fine when running one machine at a time. It's a bit of a pain to shut things off and on, but it still works VERY well.

I only had 3 major machines hooked up to this run.

(a) table saw (b) planer (c) jointer

I used dedicated shop vacs for the bandsaw and the router table and the chop saw. I have since replace the vacs with my older 1.5hp unit and that works exactly as before with the bandsaw,router and drill press.

The chop saw runs off a big ass shop vac.

This setup requires change and that's why those mobile bases finally come in handy.

Once you get all this in place, woodworking becomes fun again.

marc rosen wrote:

[Tim Taylor]

That's why I was asking. I got 4" in mine, but I had been reading about the pressure/velocity thing and was really just wondering what would happen if I went to a 2 or 3 in piped in system. I guess I was just wondering out loud.