# New wood shop design questions for dust collection and power



## AstronomyDude (Apr 9, 2013)

I'm putting in a new 50' X 35' metal building for my RV and truck. This will leave me a 20' X 35' area for a wood shop "Man Cave" that I have been wanting for a while.

*Question 1* - I'm planning to put 2 boxes in the floor for 110 & 220 volt plugs 10' apart for a table saw and another machine in the middle of the floor. Should I also put in 4" or 6" PVC pipes for dust collection next to the floor power boxes? I don't like pipes hanging from overhead as it seems they would always be in the way…???

*Question 2 *- I'm planning a large cyclone central vacuum system for the shop with ducts to the various equipment. I'm thinking about putting the dust collector outside the wood shop (still in the metal building) for noise reasons. However, this will 'change out the air' in the shop when it is running. I live in the Hill Country of Texas where AC is needed thru the summer. Should I reconsider and put the dust collector in the wood shop to keep the cool air in? I only plan to run it when a machine is on…

Thanks for any feedback

Randy


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

My only objection to putting receptacles or ducts in the floor is you will be stuck with the layout.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Randy, the first consideration is your intended shop layout. You don't mention your experience with designing shops. If you are VERY comfortable with your plan, then the in floor electrical and dust collection might be okay. Personally, I put the electrical outlets in the ceiling and ran 6" PVC to the various tools as needed and this is my third shop. I drop both to the TS to the right of the table and find that to be out of the way. I have a 9' ceiling and only need to be careful when moving sheets of plywood to the TS.

Put the DC outside the shop in its own small enclosure and have that ducted back into the shop. You will lose a little noise abatement, but will gain on the AC. I have and love in floor radiant heat, but maybe you don't need it. HTH


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I agree with DC outside and duct air back in. One BIG condition though is to run the returning air through a HEPA filter. Otherwise there is a danger of breathing the very dust particles you are paying to get rid of.

Cyclones, *all* cyclones, ability to separate and capture fine dust is dependant on air volume, and hence velocity, through the cone. Different machines are going to have different air flows and that means the cyclone will have different collection efficiency for every machine it is connected to.


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## MR_Cole (Jun 1, 2012)

all cyclones have the inlet at the top of the machine. This means that putting it trough the floor will cause two unnecessary bends and a 6-8' rise to the machine.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Cole, don't you have to get the duct up to the cyclone inlet whether it's located inside or outside?

For what it's worth, I designed one that had the inlet and outlet both at the bottom and had an inverted cone section inside so the unit was only half as high as standard machines. So it is possible.


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## AstronomyDude (Apr 9, 2013)

Thanks for the input. For other reasons, I'm giving up the in slab ducts.

Putting the DC outside and ducting the filtered air back into the shop is what I will do.

Thanks for the help!


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