OK- So it looks like a good deal of my fitting needs will be taken care of. Now what about hose? I think it's $20+ for a 4' section at Rockler. $14 or so at HF. What's the difference? Is there a better source?
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A high quality hose makes all the difference. The high quality hose will be lined on the inside providing a much, much smoother opening and vastly reducing air turbulence which reduces suction. Also the heavier flex hose the less loss of suction due to the natural compression of the flex hose. IMHO this is not a place to skimp, particularly if you are moving the hose from one machine to another and will be 10ft or greater.
Larry, I don't have any S&D in my system as I run 6" stuff and S&D was as much as metal, however it is my understanding from folks at woodnet that the LV gates make excellent compression with S&D. It is my understanding that to use it with heavier PVC one must apply a wide rubber band or some such item to create a snug fit. The interior opening of S&D is slightly smaller than PVC so it works great with the LV gates. They are really super great gates. In addition to not getting jammed up, they open 100% thus not reducing air flow. Plastic gates typically only open about 80% of the hole which is quite a damper, particularly on 4" pipe.Comment
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I picked up a few 10' runs from rockler back when they were having their sale for $14 shipped. They are good quality with metal wire ribs, but they are heavy stiff. If you have things permanently plumbed, that may be a good thing, but I'm semi mobile right now and have been using the hose with quick connectors. That stiffness and weight often cause the hose to pull off the tool, especially my planer (which gets awful messy mid-cut). The HF hose I saw about a year ago was kind of flimsy and looked low quality, but given my experience above, that might have been OK.
Anyone have any recommendations on a lighter more flexible hose?
MichaelComment
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For hard pipe, the 4 inch thin wall PVC sold at the big box stores is the cheapest option. For gates, the best idea is to make your own out of plywood scraps. Flex pipe I mail ordered.
JimComment
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Can you tell me what exactly you mean by that? Schedule 40 or something smaller? I wasn't able to find anything in 4" with thin walls (thinner than 40) and without holes. There's 3" thin solid, and 4" thin with perforations. The plumbing stores didn't know what I was talking about.4 inch thin wall PVC sold at the big box stores
Does this "thin wall" also accept 4" flex hose? And what do you use for fittings?Comment
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You should be able to find the same stuff at HD as the one with holes, but without holes. It's sewer and drain pipe. Go back to HD and look in the same area as you found the 4" with holes. I'll bet one of those stacks is 4" without.
About half my shop is plumbed with it. The other half is black PVC - too expensive and not necessary for the kinds of loads we put on it.
JRJRComment
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What JR said. My home centers have both perforated and solid. It is sold for outside drains - not within the house because it is too fragile. Strong enough for DC, however.
The flexible hose will go into the female side of the couplings on the rigid pipe. It is a tight fit but that is what you want. A little tape will help seal it.
Connections to homemade gates can be done multiple ways. You can cut a short piece of the rigid pipe, take a bit out of it and glue it back together to make a slightly smaller piece of pipe. The smaller pipe goes into the gate and is used to attach. I use this if I am connecting flex pipe to the gate. If I am connecting rigid pipe to the gate (my preference), I like to get a coupler and cut it in half and use half on the top of the gate and half on the bottom. This is cheap and works very well. The coupling is strong and relatively easily screwed to the gate.
An adjustable hole cutter for a drill press is real handy if you are making gates. It allows you to cut holes which fit couplings or pipes of odd sizes.
I do not remember where I got my flexible pipe but I think it was from several different places. Penn State industries is a good place to get it but I would also looks at Woodworkers Supply and any other catalogs I have handy if I need for some more.
JimComment
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I'll try HD. Lowes definitely didn't have it, and the guy I asked said they only have 3" without the holes.You should be able to find the same stuff at HD as the one with holes, but without holes.
I have lots of flexible 4" and 2.5", so I'm set there, but hoping to upgrade to hard pipe. Actually was hoping to go to 5", but I can only find flex in that size.Comment
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All of the Lowes and HD near me carry this. I believe the Lowes version is green or blue. The wall is only like 1/8" thick, which sets it off from the Sch40(?) pipe.
I set up a DC network for my dad a while back. I used a short section of flex hose to connect the DC to the network. Each drop was mounted horizontally using a Wye, a short section of pipe and an ABS blast gate. The blast gate was mounted to the short section of pipe using latex caulk and gutter screws, and then the pipe was mounted into the Wye. We mounted it on the wall at around 4' using J-hooks found in the plumbing section. There was one bend in the system which was created using two 45 degree elbows and a short section of pipe. The total length was something like 10' on the short leg and 15-20' on the long leg with the aforementioned bend between the two. The DC was connected to the short leg. Some of the equipment is permanently connected via 4" flex, others use quick disconnects to the ABS gates. It probably could have been improved slightly by using the Aluminum gates, since they offer a little less restriction.
I wish I had thought to snap some pictures while I was building it. I think the entire setup cost something like $100 or $120. With 6 or eight drops.
In each case, we tried to run the 4" pipe as close to the equipment as we could before reducing it. Note that air will accelerate through a short restriction, but will eventually succumb to the resistance and slow down in a prolonged restriction. This is why I run 4" flex all the way up to my BT3 -- the only restriction is about 2-3" long from the shroud through the 2.5"->4" adapter into the 4" flex.
Given his extremely underpowered system, it does an amazing job. He said he immediately noticed a dramatic improvement. Now I just need to get him to upgrade his DC so it can make FULL use of the network.Last edited by jbalders; 01-17-2008, 03:13 PM.Jeff
BOFH excuse #360: Your parity check is overdrawn and you're out of cache.
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I never did find S&D pipe, but I found a smokin' deal on some used 5" spiral metal tube and fittings. Now to lay it all out!Comment
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You can go online to McMaster Carr. They're a industrial supply house and will have everything you need.Comment
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