A few dust collection questions

The vacuum you got is barely adequate but at he price its better than nothing.
These types of machine are dependant on moving large volumes of air to the turbine and any restriction to this air flow will reduce the efficiency.
so:
1.Try to find 5” pipe and use that as the main. ( you wont have to change it when you upgrade.)
2.Make sure all the joints are sealed with furnace tape or better.
PVC will work too but is generally more expensive.
3.Make any reductions to youe piping at the tool end rather than the main or blower end.
4.The use of a separator before the vacuum is a good idea as it helps remove a lot or airborne stuff that will come back to the room through the filter bag. It also prevent stuff from hitting your turbine fan.
5.Lastly, get a better bag that the stock one that is probably on the machine now.

Bob

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

Design of an efficient dust collection system is dependant not only on air volume but air speed as well. It also depends on how many machines are likely to be going at once. You really need to sit down and design the system. You may find the Jet not up to the task.

Here is a good sight that will answer all your questions and then some. http://www.airhand.com/designing.asp

Oh…and congrats on banishing the scrapbooking supplies.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Last fall I revamped my DC system. I had been using 4” PVC, but switched over to metal. You can see what I did on this Blog. I just changed the title of it, for clarity.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

You’ll also find that opinions on dust collection are numerous. The airhand site is good. Basic rules of thumb:

- make your runs as short and straight as possible.
- DC’s work on air volume, not air velocity so don’t use 2 1/2
- 5” mains may not work with a 1HP DC. It’s just asking too much…you’ll have to test it and see.
- don’t bottleneck yourself.
- in a small shop, 1 hose that gets moved from machine to machine, though a hassle, will provide much more efficient dust collection than a long run with Wye’s and blast gates.

Other than that…that HVAC piping is fine. I’d get the aluminum tape and tape all connections and then tape the length where the pipe comes together.

Watch out for the hostile debate on static buildup and dust explosions. You’ll get all kinds of advice there, mostly from people that don’t know how to spell physics, let alone understand it. Basically, if you can find a way to ground an insulator, you should qualify for the Nobel Prize…

Let us know how you progress.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Just to add to what Mot said , there are a lot of gurus out there in the DC Field.
Many of them do not own a proper woodshop and some don’t even do woodworking to any extent.
They seem to be the most vocal and most adamant about everything.

Re: the 5” pipes.
The average 1 hp DC just dosen’t cut it when you start running mains etc. (400-600 CFM/MIN)

The stactic pressure is quite low due to the pressure built up in the dust bag itself.
DAMHIKT
But, that is what the original poster (Allen) wanted answers to.

I suggested 5” mains as he can upgrade his system without having to tear out all the duct work later and,
it is easier to find 5/4 reducers than 4/3’s.

p.s. – see the 5” main coming out the top of the cyclone.
For what it’s worth, these things are not real good dust collecters but fairly good at chip collection.
We should all be thinking about how to reduce the fine dust in our shops as priority 1.

Cheers

Bob

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

Stay Away from 2.5” until your right near your smaller machines.
Install blast gates for each piece of equipment.
Keep your run as short as possible and use 4” pipe as far as you can.
Avoid using “T” connections and use “Y” conections instead.
Use a separator closer to equipment that produces heavy dust rather than right near the blower.
And one last thing – Shake the vent bag to loosen the dust to improve air flow before you turn it on everytime.

I agree…use the larger 4” and only reduce at the machine if necessary. Also, with a planer connected, having a homemade seperator is a must, otherwise you will plug up the 4” line. Don, had a blog on one and I think I pointed to a link that I made mine from, too. I have a Delta and use the clear 4” hose with 4” to 3” PVC reducers.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Bob makes a really good point. We should steer away from the conventional naming of these as dust collectors. They are not. They are chip collectors. Chip separators and hepa filters are really the only way you’ll reduce the fine dust off the tool. But alas, no matter how good your collection is, you have to take the dust off the top of the blade, reduce sanding dust off the bench and lathe, keep the fine stuff from blowing out the back of your planer and…and…and…and…filter the overhead air for all the stuff you aren’t catching….and…and…and…

Working in a small shop, I’ve come to realize a few things:

1. You can’t control fine dust. You can grab alot of it, but you can’t get it all.
2. Don’t skimp on trying to control it. You have to do the best you can.

And the final food for thought and probably my last statement on this matter:

Dust Collection is like raking leaves in the wind. You fight the good fight, but you can’t win.

I will be adding a cyclone to my shop in the very near future. I’m considering the Clearvue cyclones, but I’m looking at the Oneida ones as well.

Cheers!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I don’t know how this could work out for you but a guy out in B.C. put his blower in the garage and plumbed the pipes down to his basement shop. I’ll dig his story up if you are interested.
Both Clearvue and Oneida have a good following out there so you don’t have much to worry about either way.

I’ll probably make another one as I enjoy the challenge and have some experience with sheet metal.

On your other point… I agree shops are dusty. ;-)

Bob

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

OK here it is. The everything you wanted to know but forgot to ask site.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DC4Dummies.cfm#BuildItDangit

Your can put a ton of math into figuring out a dust colledtion system, but that sucks, pun intended. I’m no math wizzard so here’s my 2 cents based on experience. I have a jet dust collection also (650 cfm 1 1/2 hp model) I use regular 4” PVC drain pipe and it works fine but I’m reaching the limits of it’s capable of with 5 machines attached to it. I do run a ground wire to each machine ( thru the pipe) which I’ve read with descenting opinions this is necessary when using plastic pipe. I figure better safe than sorry, wire is cheap, dust explosions and fires aren’t. I had the piping run at ceiling height at first but seems to work better now at waist height. Yes the garbage can llid/cyclone is definitely worth $30, it catches 90% of the large particles. Makes it much easier when creating large amts of dust like surface planing. General rules of thumb: shorter runs give better suction, short radius 90 degree turns in the line impair good air flow, comeoff the main line with 45 degree elbows. Use a blast gate at each machine and your reducers at or as close to the machine as possible. A $30 remote switch is handy. Two or even 3 smaller units at that price are better than a $1000 cyclone. Congradulations on your own “personal space” for your shop, you’re gonna love it.

-- DocK, WV

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