Mini gloat on HF 2 HP Dust Collector

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

I have been wanting to add a dust collector to my shop for a while now and today I decided to make a trip to HF at lunch to browse. I found a floor model of their popular 2 HP DC. This is the one that is sometimes $250, other times $180 and once in a while $140. I didn't get the cloth bags that usually are included but I don't mind because I would have bought 1 micron bags anyway. I bought it for $80!

Perhaps I will even take the money I saved and build it up with a chip separator and such like I have seen on several other threads on this fine forum.

Now I just need a vacation day or two to coincide with a couple of days vacation for SWMBO so I can stay home and she can go visit her family in Vermont and I can devote a couple of days to this new project......

[David Hostetler]

Good score!

Now go to Wynn Environmental's site and pick up a 35A cartridge filter kit, which comes with a couple of the clear plastic lower bags, throw together a Thien separator in a cheap drum and you are ready to go...

[Ian Parish]

Hi all,



Perhaps I will even take the money I saved and build it up with a chip separator and such like I have seen on several other threads on this fine forum.


Hey Buddy.

I put a Thein Baffle in mine and it works GREAT! I can show you how easy it is if ya want to come over. Or just search for it and you will see it's a round piece of wood with a slot around the edge placed in the right spot to help with separation.

Ian

[Ben Martin]

Save yourself the floor space and add the thien baffle to the DC itself, not a seperate can. This is how mine is set up and it works very well!

[Mark Elmer]

Thanks to both of you. I am expanding my shop and haven't got to the DC yet. But very soon I will.

[Curt Harms]

Save yourself the floor space and add the thien baffle to the DC itself, not a seperate can. This is how mine is set up and it works very well!

That's what I did. It depends on how concerned you are with stuff hitting the impeller. Without the Thien baffle, a pre-separator is desirable because once the chips reach the DC too many of them will wind up in the bag/filter. With the Thien baffle the vast majority of chips will stay in the bag and won't make their way to the bag/filter. Here's a link to my post http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=111775&highlight=Thien+baffle

[Randy Briggs]

I added the Thein baffle inside my HF and also did the "stove pipe" mod where you replace the flex pipe from the blower to bag assembly with, uh...well stove pipe. Seal everything tight with aluminum HVAC tape and I think it helps with air flow. Others have scientifically quantified the increase as: "a lot".

Wynn filter is on the horizon as well.

[David Hostetler]

Did you get it up and going yet?

[Bud Millis]

pictures???

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

UPS brought my Wynn 35A filter yesterday. Total with shipping $165.79. I will be cutting out a baffel to go inside the unit and likely will make some modification to eliminate or cut back on the flex hose from the fan unit to the housing to bring up the air flow as much as I can.

I'll also likely modify it so I can use 6" collection hose / ducting to my tools.

Once I get there I'll post some pictures because as I understand it if you don't show the pictures "It didn't happen". :p

[Mark Ashmeade]

Congrats on the deal! As you say, the missing parts weren't all that spectacular to begin with.

I'm going to buck the trend here. I built a prestage with the Thien baffle in a trashcan, which keeps pretty much everything out of the DC itself. After 7 months of using it, and emptying the trashcan 4 times, there's not enough dust in the bag to sit all the way across and form a layer. There's maybe a 3 inch pile in one corner.

Strangely, I built a scaled down version in a 5 gallon paint bucket for my shopvac, and it is comparatively poor. It only gets about 50%, where the big one is in the upper 90s. Design problem, methinks!

[james glenn]

I'm going to buck the trend here. I built a prestage with the Thien baffle in a trashcan, which keeps pretty much everything out of the DC itself. After 7 months of using it, and emptying the trashcan 4 times, there's not enough dust in the bag to sit all the way across and form a layer. There's maybe a 3 inch pile in one corner.

Mark

Would you be able to forward me some pictures of what you did. I have been schetching something similar to what you described it seems, and well, any extra input would be a big help.

[David Hostetler]

FWIW, I built mine as a pre-separator, I ran 5" flex hose from Grizzly between the DC and the separator, then 5" duct out of the separator to the 5x4x4 wye to feed 2 separate 4" trunks, one down wall, the other overhead, and it works GREAT...

http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/44202/2179303780103915817S500x500Q85.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2179303780103915817kVSmnL)

I originally set the separator up for a single 4" duct... I wasn't thrilled with that...

http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/33081/2965627130103915817S500x500Q85.jpg (http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2965627130103915817HAdAJL)

I have been using it this way for about a year and a half now, 8 emptys of the drum, and I still have less than 2 cups of material in the lower bag of my DC...

Oh, the reason for the stand is to reduce the number of bends the hose has to make to get to from the separator to the DC. It also frees up floor space for my 8 gallon air compressor...

[Bud Millis]

I'm setting mine up and based it on one that I found at Lumberjocks - http://lumberjocks.com/projects/29578 pretty much did it the same way. I stuck 20' of 4" pipe on and then 12' of 2.5" pipe on. All I can say is this Harbor Freight DC SUCKS. No I mean it REALLY SUCKS. The amount of suction is great at 32'. I'm going to duct in some metal 6" pipe and attach it to that.

[Matthew Sherman]

Has anyone seen one of the $139 coupons lately for this? I have been looking, but haven't seen it in any of the HF ads. It is on sale for $189 currently and could use a 20% coupon.

[Mike Hicks]

Has anyone seen one of the $139 coupons lately for this? I have been looking, but haven't seen it in any of the HF ads. It is on sale for $189 currently and could use a 20% coupon.

Check out the magazine stand and the woodworking magazines. I believe I found my coupon in Wood magazine if not mistaken. This was last year.

[Bud Millis]

Has anyone seen one of the $139 coupons lately for this? I have been looking, but haven't seen it in any of the HF ads. It is on sale for $189 currently and could use a 20% coupon.


Look in the last 2 Wood rags for the year. They have had them in there.

[Jay Maiers]

Has anyone seen one of the $139 coupons lately for this? I have been looking, but haven't seen it in any of the HF ads. It is on sale for $189 currently and could use a 20% coupon.
I just bought the latest issue of Wood so that I could get this coupon. It's in there, about 2/3 of the way back. The $139 and the 20% coupon are both there.

[Bob Riefer]

A few issues ago of This Old House magazine has the $139 coupon marked with expiration date of 01/14/11.

[raul segura]

This on is the 2hp HP.
I did reuse the drum but narrowed it to fit the trash can this allowed me to use the center disc as a new ramp. Ive since replaced the frame with welded conduit pipe.(don't breath the stuff when welding !) and replaced the metal cart. I think your better of building a 2x4 frame in place of the flimsy cart frame and re use the wheels. Mine runs two lines out, one about 12 ft and the other about 20 ft. with 4 inch SW pip. Works well, but my chop saw requires 6inch line.
Is this motor strong enough to us 6 inch lines Id figure to much ??? Im told the motor is just about a 1hp in real terms and the impeller is just over 10 inches diameter.
I'm happy with my set up ether way. This is just another way to set one up.