Dust Collector

[born2saw]

Hi all,

I have a 1 HP Crafstman DC (13 or 14 years old). I think it is about 600 CFM. It has worked well, but I am now getting ready to build a real workshop in my basement room (approx. 14' x 34'). I was wanting to run a 4" pipe with several blast gates for the various equipment I own (BT3000, Delta portable 12" planer, miter saw, very old Crafstman bench to 4" jointer/planer). I am planning to replace my jointer/planer with something a little more usefull & will be getting a drill press. I may eventually get a band saw & have even thought about playing with a lathe some day.

All that gets me to my question. Should I replace my old dust collector with something like the HF? I do not believe Wynn makes a filter that will easily fit on my dust collector, & frankly, it throws out a fair amount of fine dust when running. Can I get another and run both in parallel? Should I try to adapt a Wynn filter & bag to mine & see if that helps?

I know I am rambling here, but I value your input as I will need to keep dust down to a minimum in this shop (near furnace and next to a finnished room).

Thanks in advance for your input!

[Tom Miller]

I don't think that DC will be able to keep up with a plumbed DC system, and the equipment you list in a shop that size. Since your shop is in a (presumably) shared living space, you don't want to skimp. I think the HF DC with a canister, or a larger-impeller 2HP DC is in order.

Regards,
Tom

[born2saw]

Thanks Tom, I did not think the old one would do very well. The HF DC seems like a good deal for the price & adding a Wynn filter may be the way I go. Or should I spend the money on a Jet or similar including the canister filter?

Bruce

[Garasaki]

Although I've used neither, popular opinion is that the HFDC and the Jet are fairly similar models.

I thought I might note, that people would typically recommend you used 6" pipe for your main DC runs.

[SARGE..g-47]

I wouldn't over-look Penn State. After you get whatever you get tricked out with 1 micron bags in stead of the useless 30 microns most come with.. trash can lid and barrel for cyclone action.. you will be close to what you can get their Cyclone cannister for straight up! $595 ...

There standard ones already come with the 1 micron bags. They have great pricing and extremely good system design and build. I agree with Tom that what you were considering won't pull a plumbed system. I will add that what will is not going to be a cheap set-up but it doesn't have to be super mega-bucks either.

You might have a look at Penn State.. or did I mention that? :>)

Regards...

[born2saw]

I looked at Penn State & now I have what may be a stupid question...but here goes.

Why are 220V dust collectors (1500 CFM) so much cheaper than 110V? I was planning on putting in a dedicated 60 amp sub-panel in the basement (in addition to the 2 15 amp circuits that are already wired) maybe I should count on including provisions for a couple of 220V outlets.

If anyone knows, please explain to this dumb biologist the advantages of 220V.

[bthere]

The real, main advantage of 220V-240V is that it pulls half the current of an equivalent 110V-240V system (e=iR). This means that a 3HP motor at about 2200 watts would draw about 20A at 110V and about 10A at 220V. The infrastructure in a 110V system (wire, breakers, etc.) are tough at that sort of amperage. In a 220V system, this is very manageable for 10A.

The motor will also tend to run a bit cooler at half the current. Cooler usually means you stay in its efficiency range better and the motor lasts longer.

All things equal, if I have a chance to run a motor at 220V instead of 110V, I'll do it.

[ragswl4]

Hf Dc

HF DC: Here is what I have and cost.

1. HF DC-$169 - 20% off =$135+Tax
2. (2) 1 micron bags-$80 including shipping.
3. Plumbed from the 6" to 4" wye at the DC with two 4" lines.
a. 1 line goes to TS
b. 2nd line goes to a wye fitting and branches to planer and BS
c. All lines controlled by manual blast gates, so only one maching at a time is on line to the DC.
4. Plumbing, including hoses, blast gates, wye connector cost $70.
5. Total cost under $300.

The only dust that escapes into the shop is from the top of the BT3100 TS. No dust at all from the planer or BS. I also remove the hose from the TS and use at my router table, no dust. The HF DC has exceeded my expectations and I am very satified with the purchase. I will eventually plumb this with 6" pipe with 4" hose drops to each machine when new shop is built.

Once I left two blast gates open when using the BS and still no sawdust in the shop.

Only downside, if there is one, is that I went with bags, top and bottom instead of a filter on top and plastic bag on the bottom. I may regret that over time but for now this setup works great.

[LarryG]

The HF DC has exceeded my expectations and I am very satified with the purchase. I will eventually plumb this with 6" pipe with 4" hose drops to each machine when new shop is built.

This is a bit OT at this point in the thread, but the HF 2HP has a kind of heads-I-win, tails-you-lose problem in that it's really not powerful enough for 6" ducting but 4" doesn't really give the desired results, either. I got some thoughtful feedback on this in this thread that I started about the DC plumbing job that I'll be starting within the next few days.

Short version is that 5" pipe would be ideal but is very difficult to find, especially at a reasonable price; and that while 4" is smaller than ideal, it's better from a performance standpoint than going TOO big with 6" pipe. (Or at least these are the conclusions that I am drawing from the discussion.) FWIW.

[ragswl4]

Comment was for Original Post

See the original post, don't think my comment was OT (off thread?) as the question asked in the post was about the HF DC. Thought my experience with the HF DC might be of some use, but then again if my post was OT, apologies to all.

[LarryG]

See the original post, don't think my comment was OT (off thread?)

No, no, rags, my bad ... I meant that MY reply to you was off-topic in that it was zeroing in on the somewhat offhand mention you made about installing 6" ducting sometime in future, rather than the broader questions posed by the OP. You've nothing to apologize for. Your reply indeed directly addressed the OP. Mine did not. Sorry for not being more clear!

[ragswl4]

Wish I could Read

Sorry, I believe I misread your post. Thanks for pointing out the 6" piping error, should have said 5".

[Ken Massingale]

No, no, rags, my bad ... I meant that MY reply to you was off-topic in that it was zeroing in on the somewhat offhand mention you made about installing 6" ducting sometime in future, rather than the broader questions posed by the OP. You've nothing to apologize for. Your reply indeed directly addressed the OP. Mine did not. Sorry for not being more clear!

Sorry, I believe I misread your post. Thanks for pointing out the 6" piping error, should have said 5".

Now Boys! Don't make me send both of you to your rooms!

[born2saw]

Yipes, I did not think this was so controversial

I am just trying to sort things out in the planning stages, but sometimes I think ignorance is bliss! I found Bill Pentzs' website http://billpentz.com/woodworking/Cyclone/Index.cfm and now I think I need a monster cyclone to handle the dust in my shop.

More seriously, I am leaning towards the HF & getting a Wynn filter. The HF is currently on sale for $169 and seems to go to that price pretty regularly. If I am lucky, maybe I can get a 20% off coupon when I am ready to buy. From what I have read, with that & 5" main line (about a 15' run with several branches with blast gates) I should get pretty good dust control. I also have a Delta air filter to help (could not get the $56 price at lowes, but they did come off the $120 price by 30% so I got the last one new in box) and usually wear a mask (actually a TB mask I liberated from the hospital).

Thank you all, I appreciate the comments and, of course, any future thoughts are much appreciated.

Bruce

[vaking]

Getting back to original question. I have a very small Jet DC with characterics similar to the old Craftsman (610 CFM). This DC is supposed to only be used as a movable unit that you roll next to the machine you are using now and use only a short run of hose. It does not work well with stationary plumbing and gates - not enough airflow. In my setup I built a small dust separator that and the DC and separator are installed on one cart and roll together. For the setup you are describing you definitely want a bigger DC. I don't know if your plans include a separator. In my experience separator is easier to clean than DC and it picks up 90% of volume, so DC cleanup is very infrequent. I have no experience with canister filters. May be canister filters are so easy to clean that separator is not worth the effort.