Dust collector & air filter noise?

[john hanes]

Hi all,

I am a pretty new woodworker. I have been using my shop vac hooked up to various tools as a dust collector. Of course the shop vac is NOISY! What can you tell me about the noise level of the various options for dust collection and air cleaners?

I have been looking at the dual bag types, the two stage cyclone types, as well as the ceiling mounted air filters.

Can you run these inside a 2-car garage size shop without going deaf? Are they quieter than a shop vac? If it is situated outside, is it too noisy for close neighbors?

Thanks all in advance

[Tom LaRussa]

I have been looking at the dual bag types, the two stage cyclone types, as well as the ceiling mounted air filters.

Can you run these inside a 2-car garage size shop without going deaf? Are they quieter than a shop vac? If it is situated outside, is it too noisy for close neighbors?

Hi John,

My only experience is with a two-bag type system -- Delta 1.5 HP -- converted to one bag plus canister filter.

I really don't like noise, so I only turn on the system when I'm going to use one of the tools hooked up to it, but I can say that it is much quieter than my bandsaw, my planer, my jointer, or my table saw. In fact, the bandsaw is louder when switched on but not cutting than the DC system. It's also much quieter than any shop vac I've experienced.

HTH,

Tom

[Jim Becker]

Single and two stage dust collectors will undoubtedly be less "noisy" than most shop vacs, at least from the "scream" standpoint. They are also designed for the task...vacs are not. Dust collectors work on different principles than vacs; the former is based on moving air at low pressure--lots of air--which in turn moves the material. Vacs work at high pressures but cannot move much air. The relative sound level of these machines varies with the type and how and where they are installed. Putting them in a sound-deadened closet is a different situation than having them out on the shop floor. The do not preclude the need to wear hearing protection, however, when you are in the same room given that any sustained noise can be damaging when it's over a certain level.

Ceiling mounted air filters are NOT dust collectors. They can help clear fines suspended in the air from your shop, but that collection happens after you have already breathed the stuff in. Their value is more for reducing settling of fines that do escape into the air.

[Tyler Howell]

Hi John,

Keep reading. There is more info on these pages than one can digest in a sitting.

For Noise, PPE (personal protective equipment) is a must. I want to save my hearing for a grandbabies laugh and some sweet guitar music. All ear protection is not created equal. Shop, read the specs. After a 30 year career around planes and engines, I still have hearing above the average old fart.

Most will agree and DC grenerates more airborne particles than No DC at all. A DC and air filter should be used together. I'm a little pinched up in this area, I use a good dust mask and ear protectors even with the DC and filter running. The neighbors are well entertained when I cut the grass too.

[john hanes]

This is what I was hoping for; I am sick of the loud whine of the Shop Vac. I think that I'll look into getting a dual bag dust collector as well as an air cleaner.

This is a great board!

[Chris Padilla]

http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

John,

There is some serious reading and thinking to do at the above site but you'll come out well-informed. I built one of these cyclones from Bill here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=9933

Muttle your way through that thread...its gets better with lots of pics by moi.

[Tom LaRussa]

...its gets better with lots of pics by moi.
Yeah, that was back when you still posted pics! :eek: ;)

[Chris Padilla]

LOL...okay, okay...I need to post some more of the garage gut. I figured everyone was bored by that but I am making progress...slow...but progress. :)

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I have a woodsucker and it is definitely still loud. Its lower pitch than a shop vac, more like a roar than a scream. I have pretty sever high frequency hearing loss from a lifetime of power tools, guns and airplanes screaming in my ears. In the old days we didn't think anything about going without hearing protection. I cannot overemphasize the need to wear hearing protection at all times. Hearing loss just creeps up on you before you know it and once its gone its gone forever.

[Charlie Plesums]

Having bought a dual bag dust collector, it is my last choice if I were doing it again.

The initial vendor bags were very open so that the air volume was high, but most of the finer dust went airborne at that corner of the shop.

The new vendor bags to filter the finer dust worked for about 20 minutes, but then clogged so much that the air flow was too low.

The custom bag to both filter fine dust and allow rated air flow was huge (3 feet in diameter, 6 feet high above the dust collector) but works fairly well. It is used with a solid bag at the bottom to collect dust.

The next step may be a cartridge filter replacing the top bag. The pleats provide a large area, and many come with a handle to knock the dust out of them. People who have them seem to like them.

With all these steps, I will probably have spent more than I would have on a cyclone, which is the gold standard in chip and dust collection. But read-up - not all cyclones are created equal.

Most of the heat in your shop is in the walls and tools, not the air, but if you move 500-1000 cubic feet out of the shop in a minute, you also have to move the same volume back in. If your DC is outside the shop figure out where the make-up air is coming from. How will you heat/cool that air if you just open a window? If there a furnace or hot water heater in the shop, be sure the make-up air isn't pulled "down" the chimney, and the "smoke" (Carbon monoxide and other ugly things) isnt pulled into the shop. Lots of people put their dust collection in another room, but concern about the make-up air (and the neighbors) makes me leave it in my shop.