Small, vac-powered DC system

[LarryG]

I have the HF 2HP DC unit for my big tools, and a Shop-Vac for handheld tools and general cleanup. I'm getting tired of listening to the vac while running a sander or plate joiner, and am equally tired of dragging the tub all over the shop when I'm tidying up at the end of each work session. Also tired of having the fool thing in my way every time I turn around.

So I'm thinking of using the vac to power a small "central" vacuum system with drops and blast gates scattered around the shop, to which I can attach the vac's hose depending on where I'm working. The vac itself would go into an adjacent storage area, just on the other side of one wall of my machine room.

Several vendors offer starter kits, most of which contain pretty much everything I'd need. The cheapest I've found is from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...t=1,42401&ap=1

Has anyone used one of these kits, or scratch built the equivalent? I'm wondering how well it worked out, how long the runs can be and still get satisfactory suction, etc. (My vac is a 6.5HP, 18gal model, and the longest run would be less than 20 feet.)

Understand that this is only intended to serve my small, handheld tools as well as the floor wand and such. It's not going to be hooked to any of my stationary tools.

[Jim-Iowa]

I too will be waiting for opinions, have also been eyballing this set-up. I do like the use of clear tubing so you can see where and if it plugs. as long as not glued it would be easy to take apart at joints if it did.

[Tom Miller]

Just a thought -- have you considered using your DC for the small stuff, too?

I use my DC with my ROS, and for general cleanup, and have one of those floor pickups that I sweep into. My DC lines are 4", but for the smaller tools, I reduce down to a 2-1/2" (or smaller) hose. This cuts down the cfms, but I think it's still a lot more than you'd get with a vac. I use a 2-1/2" hose for cleaning around the workbench, miter saw, etc., too.

Sorry for evading your question. [:I]

Regards,
Tom

[LCHIEN]

quote:Originally posted by Tom Miller

Just a thought -- have you considered using your DC for the small stuff, too?

I use my DC with my ROS, and for general cleanup, and have one of those floor pickups that I sweep into. My DC lines are 4", but for the smaller tools, I reduce down to a 2-1/2" (or smaller) hose. This cuts down the cfms, but I think it's still a lot more than you'd get with a vac. I use a 2-1/2" hose for cleaning around the workbench, miter saw, etc., too.

Sorry for evading your question. [:I]

Regards,
Tom

Tom's suggestion makes sense. The lower CFM's will lower the power used by the DC, but shouldn't hurt it any. You could just have a branch with a blast gate that goes down to 2.5" or whatever for the small tools.

That'd free up your shop vac.

[monte]

Good idea using the dust collector for small tools and cleanup. Actually the floor sweep does a real good job too.

[LarryG]

Ackk, I should have mentioned that using my big DC for what I want to do is not practical -- no way, no how. My shop doesn't have enough headroom to get a 4" trunk line to where I need it to be, and the area where the 2" tubing would run isn't big enough for anything larger. In simple terms, all the stationary tools the DC serves are at one end of the 10 x 19 main room and all the small stuff that this vac-based system would serve is at the other end.

A floor sweep would help some, but I also use the vac hose to suck all the stray sawdust off the various tools and work surfaces in the shop.

[Jim-Iowa]

Larry under the circumstances $62.00 is not much money.
It would take very little time dragging the Vac around and connecting to individual machines for aggravation to offset the cost.
This may not be the ideal set-up(since Blastgates and everything are included its a turnkey setup), but I can think of no alternative that would be more cost efficent. If a guy ran a trashcan separator ahead of vac it might be even better?

Hmm, Think I just talked myself into going for it?

[Tom Miller]

quote:Originally posted by LarryG

Ackk, I should have mentioned that using my big DC for what I want to do is not practical -- no way, no how.

I thought you probably ruled that out already, but decided to mention it just in case.

Any negative comments I've heard about these systems seems to be due to high expectations (folks thinking they're getting a real DC system). So since your expectations are in line, I think this would work fine. If central vac systems can work for a whole house....

I think you have to watch for leaks more than with a high cfm DC, though. The blast gates could be a source of leaks if not designed right. Also, they may do better installed in one direction than the other, whether or not the instructions point it out.

Regards,
Tom

[Whaler]

My shop is is a butchered up mess consisting of 3 rooms, well kinda rooms. There is no way to run duct work for my DC so it is moved from tool to tool in the area where my BT, RAS, Planer, Router table and Jointer reside. I have a 12 gal Ridgid shop vac in the room with my BS but seldom use it except for after the fact cleaning, it's way to noisy.

My main room houses the lathe, DP, OSS and belt disc sander. I got tired of draging in and tripping over the DC hose so I added a Ridgid WD40501 vac for this room. It is surprisingly quiet and does the job.