# Recovering from a dust collection related heart attack



## mbs (May 8, 2010)

Not really! Almost had one today when I went to my local Ewing PVC supply store to get some 6" drain pipe and fittings. The pipe was $25/10' and the 6-6-6 Y fitting was $54. A 45 elbow was $25. Isn't this just plastic? That Y fitting, which I didn't buy, cost as much as lobster. When I piped my shop a few years ago I think I found the Y fittings for about $8 each. At these prices the piping runs cost more than the dust collector.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I went with spiral wrap (6") metal pipe. It was $36 per 10 ft joint. The Y's were about $12 I think. This was just a few months ago. The y's were the kind used in heat and air applications. The piping was expensive though. You are correct. I think someone told me on here they spent $1500 to pipe their shop in the garage.


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## Tomj (Nov 18, 2011)

I paid about $50 bucks for 14 feet of sewer and drain pipe and around $9 to $15 for the wyes and elbows (6"). When I researched all the prices for pipe and fittings this was the best price I could find and I came to the conclusion that usually you do end up paying more for all the pipe but it made sense to me (everything just adds up with all the pipe and fittings you need for even a small shop like mine). If I did it with metal pipe forget about it, it would have cost 50% more than what I paid for the PVC and like I said I have a very small shop compared to other shops. I haven't chose to glue anything because I want to be able to use it all down the line if I move to another shop. I'm just going to wrap sealant tape around all the places that need it. $25 for 10 ft that's less than what I paid but the fitting prices you said that does seem expensive unless it's thick gauge metal. I bought all my fittings from an Ace hardware outlet and the pipe at a local plumbing supply store to save on shipping. If I bought that same pipe from where I bought the fittings the shipping would have been almost $200.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I did price PVC at the plumbing supply and it was pricey for 6" so I went with the spiral wrap from the same store bu tin their A/C dept. I also bought many fittings from ACE hardware.


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## jmos (Nov 30, 2011)

I recently bought a bunch of 6" thin walled sewer and drain pipe (ASTM-2729 I believe) at a local irrigation supply house for $18/10' and the 6×6x6 wye's were $20. I had to do quite a bit of looking to find it at all, let alone at a decent price, but it was a lot cheaper than any of the other PVC I found. There's another grade of drain pipe that was quite a bit more expensive.

Might be worth looking around a bit more. You might also want to check online, either McMaster Carr or Grainger had the fittings for a decent price.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I would think heavy-walled 6 inch PVC would be expensive. Is there a lighter ABS version (the black pipe)? Or maybe a store that sells central vac stuff…


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## jmos (Nov 30, 2011)

The 2729 spec is a thin walled drain pipe, much less expensive than schedule 40 pipe but harder to find. A 10' length can't weight much more then 10-15#, very light. Pentz recommends it; will not crush under vacuum, but cheaper and easier to work with than schedule 40.

Another thread recently was talking about a product called Triplewall; they bought some 4" at Home depot. It was inexpensive. Supposed to come in 6" also, but not carried at HD. Might also be worth looking for.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Pretty expensive but can you imagine trying to make it yourself .


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## Alexandre (May 26, 2012)

With a 3D printer… ^^^^^^^^


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

I'm guessing that was the heavier pipe??? The 2729 I bought for $16, and the fittings are much cheaper (don't remember the exact price). I did pick up a 6×6x4 wye 2 weeks ago for about $12. I don't know where you're located, but if the Carter's lumber (regional chain) has a store nearby, or a Menard's (sort of upper mid west) check them out. The price of the fittings is much more important, at least it was on my system.


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## mtenterprises (Jan 10, 2011)

Now thats why I still use a broom and dust pan and a shop vac.
MIKE


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## MoPower (Feb 6, 2009)

I used 6" snap lock metal ducting. The ducting was a little high ( $8.00 for 5'), but the fittings were very inexpensive averaged about $6.00 ea .


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## mbs (May 8, 2010)

This was the thin wall pipe. I have a bunch of it in my shop and I have made my own fittings. You can see some of them from my shop page.

I originally bought my stuff from hughes but they dont carry it anymore. Ewing irrigation has it and it's expensive If I had to do any more piping I would track down some of your contacts.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

I think that plastic is made from petroleum. Unless they are using recycled stuff. Shaw Industries is using recycled plastic for carpet.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

My blastgates, fittings and spiral ducting were well over $1600.00 for my shop, and then I paid the tin basher to install it all, so I know first hand it is not cheap.

I would recommend the spiral ducting, very strong and fairly light weight.


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## djg (Jun 24, 2012)

Putting in a dust collection system is not cheap. This is probably one of the reasons that we can justify purchasing a sander, jointer, or planer and not a new dust collector! Cyclone and everything I would say that mine is up to $3400, maybe more. I used 7" galvanized duct but had to make all of my own 7"- 6" wyes. Large wyes aren't easy to come by in my neck of the woods. The price of a custom made wye was going to be about $100 bucks a pop! Used the templates on this guys website: http://www.harderwoods.com/pipetemplate.phpf=dn&units=in&paper=letter&theta=45&rmd=7&rbd=0&rbt=0&offset=0&Submit=Submit
It's an excellent resource if you want to save a few bucks.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

the pipe might be expensive but its cheap compared to a double lung transplant


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## djg (Jun 24, 2012)

I agree, it's a small price to pay so you can enjoy woodworking for a lifetime.


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## djg (Jun 24, 2012)

The pipe template generator can be found at http://www.harderwoods.com/tools.html

The previous link was wrong! Sorry….


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

*That Y fitting, which I didn't buy, cost as much as lobster. *

Just bought "lobstah" last week, as my parents are visiting… $3.50/lb :^)

Maybe you can offer them a trade :^)


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