cschimmel
Member
Anyone have a full dust collection system in a garage or small shop? How did you do it? Can you put a dust collector in the attic? Any advice or pictures would be awesome. thanks
I have a 2 hp dust collector from HF and I ran 4" hose thoughout the shop and am very happy. I upgraded the bag to a 1 micron and put a 30 gallon garbage can separator between the dust collector and the inlet. This catches 99% of everything. I also enlosed the collector in a little mini closet with insulation around it to keep th noise down because it is loud and the wife upstairs was not happy at first.
Oh with regards to static explosion (although I dont remember the study), that has been pretty much been disproved in small installations . The large comercial applications in plants that generate alot of explosive dust generate a dust level that reaches a stoicimetric level (ignitable) which is not likely with a shop that is still inhabitable. So although it wont hurt to use ground wire on plastic ductwork, it is not a the real threat once believed. That being said i think I will send this one to myth busters for a show idea.
Here's a link with photos and text describing a modest central dust collection piping system that I put into my ~14' x 17' woodshop early this year. WoodNet Forums: Dust Collection Upgrade ... Finished
My dust collector is a 1-1/2 hp Jet DC 1100-C that I bought eight years ago. Up until this year I had used the same collector but just dragged 4" flex tube across my shop floor from one tool to the next as I used the tools one at a time. That was a real 'drag.' So after a lot of online forum reading, I opted for overhead 6" dia pvc piping with blast gates at each stationary tool. The hyperlink describes how I went about it.
After about seven months of use, I wouldn't do anything different and my modest Jet DC-1100-C dust collector performance is noticeably better than it was before with dragging 4" flex hose across the shop to individual machines.
Tom
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One question? How did you make the transition from PVC to your machines I always have a hard time getting different material to connect to one another. I have dust collection fittings that say x size to PVC and it never fits.[/quote said:They are all custom fittings that I made specific to my needs. In all cases, I wanted to maintain the 6" pipe flow area right up to and into the machines as best I could. I enlarged the dust collection outlets on TS, BS, and combo sander and built a dust box for the RAS. The hyperlinked post (WoodNet Forums: Dust Collection Upgrade ... Finished ) shows photos of the tailored fittings that I built to transition from the 6" pvc to my enlarged dust outlets of my four stationary woodworking machines: TS, BS, RAS, and combo sander. All used some form of sheet metal HVAC duct fittings along with custom-cut wood frames or pvc pieces. The dust 'hood' above my midi-lathe is a 6" HVAC adjustable elbow ... used only when sanding and it works well in this capacity. In addition to those transitions, I also included one 6"-to-4" drop on all four walls that I use to hook up a 15 foot 4" dia flex hose for cleaning up the floor, tops of stationary machines, router table, lunch box planer, other hand power tools, workbench, etc. The last 2 photos in the hyperlink show this transition ... I used my lathe to turn the OD of the Fazlok quick disconnect fittings (got at Woodworker's Supply) to fit inside the 6"-to-4" pvc reducer fitting. Lastly, I got the 6" self-cleaning blast gates on special from Clear Vue Cyclone because they slip snugly right over the OD of the 6" S&D pvc so no flow obstruction and easy fit up to my piping + they were on sale at the time. They are just right for my use.
Tom
DUST COLLECTOR/ STAND (See Photos)
The Record Lathe is made to fit over the top grill on the Stand/box
A squirel cage blower below pulls the dust under the lathe through
four filters to blow clean air out the side. Shaving collect in the
Stand/box for later disposal.