# Dust collection in a one man shop



## pop_i74 (Mar 10, 2012)

Is it really necessary to have any more than a 1 1/2 or 2 HP dust collection system in a one man shop, if I'll only be using one "dustmaker" at a time? My longest piping run will be less than 11'. Any suggestions for using the smaller power tools,orbital sander, circular saw,etc.? The biggest "dustmakers I have right now are a miter saw and a router. Planning on adding a table saw in the near future.


----------



## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

The small collectors work fine in my opinion.

I have the HF 2hp and it's great.

Small tools need high pressure, such as a shop vacuum, to create the needed flow through small hoses.

Someone posted a novel idea here on LJ to use a plastic trash can tied to the back of a miter saw with a dust collector hookup to the can.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/35896


----------



## BlankMan (Mar 21, 2009)

I have one of Oneida's original 1-1/2HP cyclones and it's just fine for my one man shop. I had one of Delta's first 1-1/2HP dust collectors that was supposed to do 1200CFM (cough-cough-choke-gag) and it didn't cut it. My longest run is 22' of 5" steel pipe, not HVAC pipe, to my table saw with a 5" connection to it and I never have to clean out the saw's cabinet. The cyclone was my fourth iteration in collecting dust, shop vac first with Craftsman piping, then a 1HP DC, then the Delta, and finally the Oneida. Totally satisfied now, won't be changing the Oneida out. Back when I started dust collecting it wasn't popular for the home shop hence the choices that one has now a days weren't there, thus starting out with the 1HP and they were not available locally.

As for things like orbital sanders, I have a shop vac mounted on the wall and the hose runs along the ceiling hanging on hooks. When I need it I just drop it down and connect it to the ROS or whatever and go. I also use it to vacuum up sawdust on the floor too, like when I use a router that doesn't have dust collection. 690's are my favorite.  And I know there is a collector I can get for it I just don't bother.

Check out my blogs, there's a project there for a dust hood I built for my chop saw, that also wasn't my first attempt but it turned out to be my last. Does a good job collecting dust from a machine that isn't easy to do that for.


----------



## HamS (Nov 10, 2011)

I have a 2 HP Jet dust collector and somewhere around 2- ft of pipeing altogether. I have a table saw, a jointer, a thickness planer and a chop saw hooked up plus I use it with a reducer and vacumn hose and wand. It sucks everyhthing up and has never clogged. I do not have an efficient way to capture my router chips yet, but they suck up pretty well with the vacumn hose. I have mental plans to build a separator becasue the bag is a pain to change, and I really want to house it in a semi sound / dust proof box so keep it from spewing so many fines into the air, but there are so many projects and so little time.


----------



## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

The Pentz sight is packed full of knowledge, but it almost comes across as "Only the system I endorse is any good, all others will give your kids cancer".

He refers again and again to commercial systems.

My boss has tens of thousands of dollars into our main wood shops system…. and my 2 HP single stage with 4" flex hoses branches running ~10 feet each, seems to suck just as hard if not harder.

I just got my one man shop up and running with a 2 HP single stage canister DC and an air filter unit.

I worked six hours this past Saturday going back and forth between the SCMS, TS, Jointer and Planer and at the end of the session, the shop was amazingly clean and the air seemed clear as well.


----------



## fussy (Jan 18, 2010)

The HF 2 hp dc is all you should need. Instead of running pipe around for two or three tools, group them so that you can use a single 10' piece of 4" hose. Just go tool to tool. I do and it take only a minute. Do look at the Wynn filter to replace the top bag. It increases cfm enormously, is cheap, and a drop-on fit for the HF dc. Here: http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm

Also go here to see how to build a Thien baffle to keep the filter clean. Start here http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?topic=29.0 and read forward to get the idea. Also, D. B. Host, a regular here, is an acknowledged expert in this area and may be persuaded to chime in.

Steve


----------

