Dust Collector #2: The final solution - completed.

I’m curious why you didn’t consider a stand alone cyclone separator?
It’s possible that space is limited but in all honesty, they really work slick.
I made this one in a morning and elimnated the bag cleaning fiasco as nothing much gets by the cyclone.
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

HAVE FUN BREATHING GARY. WOW! I can’t afford such elaborate contraptions.
Looks Great!

Dave

-- Dave Leitem,Butler,Pa.,http://dlcarver.etsy.com

Gary, let me know how you like the canister filter… I purchased the 708639 which is the DC-1100A… it uses the standard canvas bag type filter at the top but I believe to upgrade at a later date all I would need to do is purchase the canister filter itself… the bell housing appears to be a common part between the DC-1100A and the DC-1100CK… I find it odd that the paddles inside only touch the center third of the pleated filter… it would seem to me that this would only benefit that center third leaving the upper and lower thirds clogged…

-- Looking for free wood working plans? Visit us at www.AwlFreePlans.com

Bob – I thought about it but don’t have the space in that little room without rebuilding it. There is a window
stopping me from making it any wider.

Mark D – Yes, all you would need would be that canister. Look at the 6th picture and you’ll see the drum
is from a DC-1100A.

I thought that same thing about the paddles when I first looked at it, but it’s like plucking a guitar
string, the whole pleat/fold vibrates.

I definitely get more suction vs the bag and the 2 mircon is better than the 5 for the bag.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary, how much does the DC room reduce noisein the shop? Is the Jet any quieter?

-- North Texas

Hi Gary

I sympathise with you on fitting the plastic dust bags. I just use some duct tape to hold the front in place, whilst I work the rest of the bag around the waist of the collector. An alternate solution is to grow a 3rd arm and hand.

Similar to Bob, I use a secondary collector to collect all the big bits, whilst the plastic bag collects all the fine dust, I only have to empty the plastic bags 2 times a year (and they are only about a third full), whilst the secondary collector is emptied of it litres (158 gallon) about 5 times a year for all the work I do.

For the plastic bag disposal, I just take the dust to the garbage disposal depot and throw the dust into the general garbage – and bring the bags home. With the chips I either mix them with my grass cuttings to make compost, or if I get too many then off to the recycling centre and dump the chips into the compost heap and the bags come home again for a second, third….....use (repairs are made with duct tape – until the duct tape =>> than the plastic bag).

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

TomK – It still makes the same amount of noise. All I really did was to exchange a bag for a filter.

Tony – You can see in the 7th picture (on the left side) the seperator I use for the big stuff.
When I start using my planer I can fill things up pretty quick. I’ll figure something out.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Looks great Gary. I think ‘ll do something like that with my Grizzly. I want to see if their canister fits my collector.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Great upgrade. I know the filters have to make a lot of difference from a bag. I still have everything on separate bags on each tool or nothing at all. I can only dream of the day I feel the suction of a dust collector pulling dust down and away into something besides the garage floor.

-- JJohn

Great upgrade Gary.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Karson – The canister will fit a drum a maximum of 20 3/16” and a minimum of about 19 1/2”.

If your Grizzly is any bigger or smaller you will need to make an adapter. Easy enough to make out of wood.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gray,

If you have a high micron top filter (the canister) and a low micron bottom filter (canvas bag) you will defeat the purpose of the high micron filter. The plastic bags are impermeable and that is on purpsoe.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

sIKE – That’s one of the reasons I have some head scratching to do.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Honestly, if you don’t need them to be clear, you can pickup the black contractor trash bag at the blue or orange box for a decent cost (you can’t see though the canvas either) and should be more than tough enough for the job. The thing that I am wanting to do is get the lid and a metal trash can to turn mine into pseudo two stage system. That is first then I am looking at either a canister filter upgrade or jumping up to a small cyclone.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

wow looking good Gary. Those dust collectors with the handles on top have always sorta confused me and its good to now know what they’re for. thanks for the post.

I’m just about to by the Jet DC with that same canister filter on it… what sort of HP DC unit do you have it hooked up to? How do you find the suction on the longer runs in your shop?

-- -- Kevin in Mentor, Ohio

It has a 2HP 220VAC motor. I use 4” PVC drain pipe mostly under the concrete slab. My farthest run
is to the tool that need it most, the planer. It’s about 60 feet away. No problem with suction. I usually
close all the other blast gates except for the table saw.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Thanks Gary …..
Great Pix of your DC system ..

I just got the STEEL CITY 1.5 HP with 1micron bag on top …for my small shop / garage it is perfect and i dont have a planer yet ….so i have yet to experience the DC problems that can be realized …....

But oh my what a mess you must have had …I hope your new system works great for you for a long time.

Thanks for the great chronology of your Dust Collection problemos and fix …

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

Great upgrade Gary. One question, do you find that the dust just sits on the inside ridge of the new middle section…since its not corkscrew shaped?

Maple – Not really sure. If it did I’m sure that a few bangs on the side you get it to drop since the surface is
sloped. I had dust sit on the corkscrewed one also, so I expect it on this also.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I have the Jet that these pieces come from. I noticed you have the $5.00 collection bag on the bottom from Jet. If you have a Lowes near you, take a look at their plastic bags. They carry construction grade (heavy 3 mil) bags in a box of 24 for about $12.00. That’s $.50 a bag not $5.00 per bag. They are 42 gallons and a little longer. So you just let a little more of the bag hang over the locking ring. The best part … Throw it away with what is in it. The name on the box is “CONTRACTOR’S CHOICE”.

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke".

Thanks odie, I’ll look into that. I happen to live 2 miles from a Lowes.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Great Blog – thanks for the insight into dust collection.

-- Bill - - Ad-Marketing Guy, Ramsey NJ