Thoughts on Shop Fox Cyclone?

[Jeremy Williams]

Looking for any owners of the Shop Fox cyclones and soliciting feedback/reviews.

I'm considering the 3HP model for my two-car garage shop, but the data on the 'net is a bit limited in the way of reviews.

[Jeremy Williams]

http://www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk/images/Silent-crickets-6.jpg

Sure is quiet out here.

[glenn bradley]

Shop Fox is not readily available in my area. I would assume they work as well as their Grizzly equivalents. I have the 2HP G0440 and it works great for my 20 x 30 shop. I almost bought the 3HP and am sure I would not have regretted it. Another person bought the 3HP for a similar sized shop and stated it as overkill but . . . argh, argh, argh.

The increased size of the 3HP just squeezed it out of my preferred location and I would have had to do a total shop re-org to rotate around the spot where the 3HP would fit. After a year I am still loving the 2HP with no regret.

[Philip Rodriquez]

Shopfox is the retail version of Griz. Therefore, I would assume it is pretty darn good.

However, Griz just dropped $100.00 on their 3 HP unit and they offer free shipping. To me, I'd go with that one.

By the way, their unit tied for best overall with Oneida's 3 hp unit.

[Tom Welch]

I bougnt the Grizzly 3 HP unit This summer. It has an amazing suction/air flow. I was going to buy the 2 hp unit, but I am going to start building my stand alone shop around 30 x 40. So I wanted a unit that I could use on the new shop. So I instead bought the 3 hp Grizz. I installed Thein Baffles and 2 filters from Wynn Environmental (along with clear plastic bags). And I love it. I plummed my garage with 6" S & D PVC and it has plenty of power, It can handle two machines at the same time with no problems. I would go with the grizzly,the unit shipped to me in Fla. in just about 3 days. I could not believe how fast Grizzly shipped, compared to amazon (I have bought a lot of equipment from them). After I set up my machine, I went to HF to look at their machine, there is no comparrison, as the grizzly is thicker sheet metal, beefer construction. And the powercoat paint looks a lot better. Hope this helps. (by the way I am not a Grizz head, as I have a Jet TS, Original Saw Mfg radial arm saw, Safety Speed Cut panel saw, etc..... But the 2 Grizz machines I have I really like.

[Jeremy Williams]

Excellent feedback. I am going to make a move on the Shop Fox W1809. A local dealer (The Woodworking Source (http://www.thewoodworkingsource.com)) sells them and I'd like to send the business his way (especially in these days) as he's been good to me in the past ... and knowing this unit is likely the Grizz-in-white I think I'll be safe. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

My next challenge is the duct work ...

[Tom Welch]

Good choice Jeremy. I wish I had a local dealer in the Pensacola area that stocked machines, I would give them my business too. Also keeps the money in the local economy.

[eugene thomas]

i bought the 1809 month ago and works great/. was looking at the oneida 3 hp system but coast was so much more.

[Jeremy Williams]

It's been done! :D The first step is done .. cyclone installed. Next is the duct work ... OUCH!~ Any suggestions?

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1772/shop-cyclone.png

[Curt Harms]

If you do a search on "dust collection" you'll have hours (if not days) of reading;). Probably the most controversial--metal or PVC. In a home shop, there has never been a documented "dust explosion" AFAIK. High capacity industrial systems are another matter and plastic may well be verboten in industrial applications. I have a 2 h.p. single stage D.C. not a cyclone but used 6" PVC pipe and fittings from a local hardware store. The price was a good bit less than metal but this was in 1998 or thereabouts. I'm much better equipped to work with PVC than metal. It can be problematic to find a local supplier for 6" pipe and fittings. I used a sewer and drain grade(2729?) not schedule 40. Schedule 40 is thicker than required and of course more expensive. I also made my own blast gates.

When I laid out my ductwork I tried to minimize the total length, no sharp 90 degree turns (2 45 degree elbows with about a 12" straight piece between them), a straight run of a few feet leading to the inlet if possible. Minimize the use of flex hose as much as possible. I have 4" connections on most machines but have 6" hose as close as I could manage to the dust source then reduce to 4". I was able to find a PVC reducer that fit over the 6" flexible hose and slips over 4" PVC pipe. A short section of 4" PVC on each machine and I have a quick detatch very low cost connector setup. Good luck with your new toyls:D.

[mreza Salav]

So how do you find your shopfox cyclone? anything you like/dislike about it?
I see it comes with a stand. Does it also include the bag-holder?
And to keep the height below 8 feet, can one change the drum to 35 instead of 55 gallon?

[eugene thomas]

mine came with bag gripper and the dust barrel has clamp holding top section to bottom section of dust barrel. think can just remove upper section. I like it. only thing that sucks is have to be in line of sight with contol box to get remote to work so i ended up not using remote.

[mreza Salav]

Thanks. How does the separation work? do you have to clean the filter a lot? and is the suction good compared to other similar cyclones (if you have any comparison base of course)?

[Sherzod Niazov]

Thanks. How does the separation work? do you have to clean the filter a lot? and is the suction good compared to other similar cyclones (if you have any comparison base of course)?

The separation is great - very little goes into the filter canister. In my case, half a teaspoon per 55gal drum of dust. I've only had it for 3 months, went through maybe 2-3 canisters and the filter shows no signs of clogging. When I tried cleaning it, nothing even comes out. Huge improvement over my previous bag-style DC. One of the best investments I've ever made.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks. How does the separation work? do you have to clean the filter a lot? and is the suction good compared to other similar cyclones (if you have any comparison base of course)?

Probably much like the Griz models and this has just been my experience with the G0440. I have been running the 2HP Griz since the end of 2008. I run it some about every day and hard every couple of weeks. I have taken about a half a coffee cup worth of fines out of the bin below the filter. That is the total amount I have gotten since I started using the machine. The first time I thought it might be time to "empty" it, I ran the brushes up and down a few times and managed to get about a teaspoon of dust. Now, the bin at the base of the cone? That's another story ;-)

[Carl Hunsinger]

In looking at the Shop Fox cyclone pictures, I notice that the filter looks very similar to the one on the Grizzly G0440. Can anybody tell me if they are similar enough that the dust bin on the bottom of the Shop Fox filter will fit the Grizzly unit, to allow me to get rid of the plastic bags? That would be awesome.

Carl

[glenn bradley]

to allow me to get rid of the plastic bags? That would be awesome.

Carl

Just curious Carl; what's the problem with the plastic bag?

[Carl Hunsinger]

Just curious Carl; what's the problem with the plastic bag?

I haven't got too far yet with this unit to know for sure, but from what I see during the assembly process, it looks like the weak link in the design. The following comes from an Amazon review of the G0440, and matches my initial impressions:

"...The worst, however, is the plastic collection bag at the end of the pleated filter. First, it is too large for the flange where it attaches, so you have to pleat this plastic bag. Then you have to fasten it with a metal strap, which eventually rips the bag. Then you have to order another bag from grizzly, only to repeat this same lame sequence of failed procedures..."

I can see that the bag might prove to be fragile in everyday usage.

Other concerns I see in these reviews are difficulty in cleaning the filter with the brush. For those who use the G0440, how well does this really work?

Carl

[glenn bradley]

The brush is one of the best systems I've seen. I really don't see how anyone could have trouble with it. It is really idiot-proof; pull one handle, pull the other. The bag is not problem for me. I have only removed it once (or twice ???). That was only out of curiosity. I have maybe gotten one whole cup of fines out of it in over a year. If folks are getting a lot of material in that area, they should check their system for assembly leaks or over-filling of the main bin.

The post filter bag is over-sized which I thought was kinda dumb but, putting a flap in it certainly has not caused the bag to rip. There is a soft foam gasket that the band seats into so, no leaks. I am not sure how you would rip the bag with the band unless maybe you stabbed it with the loose end of the band(?). Mine is in a very awkward location due to room constraints and is still very workable.

At least with the bag you can see what you have (or have not) collected without having to take it off. If you can make the Shop Fox can fit, you may want to cut a slot in it and add a plastic window but, as I said, it takes a lot of collection to gather much material in the post filter area. However, good maintenance beats having to clean the filter, any day ;-)

[eugene thomas]

I have the 1809, i get some dust in my filter can but use pannel sander so that might be the reason. never get anything else in it but really fine dust.

[Jeremy Williams]

Well, it's been just over 10 years since my original post and I'm glad to say that the Shop Fox W1809 cyclone is still going strong. I am at the point now where I think the canister needs to be replaced, but otherwise it's chugging along about as good as the day I got it.

[Patrick Kane]

haha that cannister probably needed to be replaced 4-5 years ago! Wait until you do replace it and how the machine performs afterwards. I recently switched over my 3hp Griz cyclone filter to a wynn one with double the surface area, and the machine performs exceedingly well. As strong as i remember it pulling on day one.

[Jeremy Williams]

haha that cannister probably needed to be replaced 4-5 years ago! .

You are absolutely telling the truth. I have taken it out and sprayed it out from the inside which I know is not ideal but give me a bit more life. I am now negatively impacted by the filter and plan to swap it out. I’m actually thinking about going back to bags rather than a canister. Need to do a little bit more research before making that decision.

[Mike Kees]

Jeremy if you go back to bags where would you get them from ? I looked in to this when I was going through the process of purchasing my collector. I talked to American filter fabric at the time. It would seem that the singed felt bags would last longer than pleated filters,I am not sure that they would filter quite as good though. The Wynn canister filters are the other choice for me. Time for more research.

[Patrick Kane]

Im no expert on bags, but if you have the space, they are supposed to be much easier to clean/longer life. Its just that the same surface area in bag form would take up half my shop.

I swapped my 3hp grizzly cyclone filter for a wynn, and love it so far. I used to be able to smell wood dust when i ran the cyclone, now i dont smell a thing unless i start to make a mess. That is aside from the actual CFM performance is much better.

[Mike Kees]

Patrick a couple questions. When you switched to the Wynn filter did you build a new transition for it ? How many more square feet of filter area did you end up with ?