Dust collection

[Linda Miller]

I just bought a thickness planer and realised that I need a dust collector to use it properly. It's not in the budget and so really want to get one at a reasonable price. Is there a CFM minimum that I should consider? Any brand better than another? My local CL has a Jet 3/4hp dust collector. 650 cfm, 120v 4" Dia. hose listed for $125 obo. This sounds small, but maybe it is ok??? Any thoughts or advice?

[Jamie Buxton]

How much DC you need depends on the size of the planer. I'm guessing that this is a 12" lunchbox, right?

[Linda Miller]

How much DC you need depends on the size of the planer. I'm guessing that this is a 12" lunchbox, right?
Yes. It is a Dewalt 733.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Harbor Freight has a 2HP collector that can be had on-sale (with 20% off coupon?) for $139. A very good deal.

[johnny means]

IME planers are a little more forgiving than other machines when it comes to dust collection. They usually direct chips towards a chute, instead of requiring you to catch everything with good suction. I ran my 20" J/P for a long time with nothing but a 1 HP Delta. Of course, I had to use the bare minimum of hose, but it never clogged up unless I was taking really deep cuts in 15"+ boards at a high feed rate. That little 3/4 machine should be able to keep the chips flawing away from your cutter.

[Jamie Buxton]

When I had a lunchbox planer, I had a 1 1/2 hp bag-type collector from Delta. It would suck up all the shavings from the planer, so something like it should do for you. Sometimes planer manufacturers will suggest a cfm rating for an appropriate DC. (IRRC, the Delta was rated at 600 cfm, so I'm a little skeptical of that Jet 3/4 hp collector being rated at 650 cfm. Oh well, cfm ratings seem to be a little ficticious anyhow.)

[frank shic]

the planer and the jointer when face jointing definitely need good dust collection - i learned this the hard way when the hose accidentally fell off!

[Jim Sebring]

Unless you like the idea of dumping the DC bag about every ten seconds, you might want to use an intermediary big chip collector between the planer and the DC. I use a metal garbage can with a vortex-type top. Most of the sizeable chips get caught in the can with only the dust particles going on to the DC bag. Dump the garbage can when it's about 1/2 full or the DC will start to suck the big particles out of it into its bag.

[Linda Miller]

Thanks for all your good input.

[Joseph Tarantino]

the HF unit may be a little noisy, but it is definately superior to the jet you mentioned. check out this site for info on separators that will really help maximize the effectiveness of your DC:

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

[Linda Miller]

Thanks. I will check it out.

[Michael MacDonald]

minimum spend I could recommend would be to get the $100 1 HP HF blower (the red one) plus a $35 garbage can lid for separation... when I got the DW735, I couldn't use it until I got the separator because my mini dust collector would get clogged right away. once I put a Thien baffle in front of it, worked fine... I just upgraded recently to the 2 HP HF collector, and now it works even better... but the 1 HP model is cheaper and much smaller if space is an issue.

[Joe Leigh]

To answer the OP question directly, YES, a 650CFM dust collector will easily handle anything a 12" lunchbox planer can throw at it.

[Ole Anderson]

Will the 2 hp HF require a 220 volt circuit? I presume so. Could be a deal breaker, depending.

I use a 1 hp Penn State 2 bagger for my Delta 580, If I let the bag fill up, I can clog the hose, otherwise has worked well for me for years.

[Linda Miller]

I am going to try to get to HF this week to check it out--got the 20% off coupon from the paper this week too and that will help.

[Alan Lightstone]

The HF DC is 110V.

[todd bourassa]

Linda, where you located? I have a HF DC with cyclone seperator lid, upgraded filter bag, and shop fox remote start I will sell. I am in Western Wi, just east of St. Paul Mn, if your in this area.

[David Hostetler]

Linda, where you located? I have a HF DC with cyclone seperator lid, upgraded filter bag, and shop fox remote start I will sell. I am in Western Wi, just east of St. Paul Mn, if your in this area.

I hope that isn't the recalled Shop Fox remote...

[todd bourassa]

Nope its not!

[Jeremy Greiner]

I have the Jet DC1100A .. and honestly I wish I researched more because I paid too much. The Harbor Freight dust collector is nearly identical (slightly stronger motor on the harbor freight one, but one could argue that the motor is of lesser quality I don't know) at 1/3rd the price. If I had to buy a new one, I'd buy the one from Harbor Freight and use the extra money to buy a cyclone seperator attachment on Ebay.

-jeremy

[Frank Guerin]

I just bought a thickness planer and realised that I need a dust collector to use it properly. It's not in the budget and so really want to get one at a reasonable price. Is there a CFM minimum that I should consider? Any brand better than another? My local CL has a Jet 3/4hp dust collector. 650 cfm, 120v 4" Dia. hose listed for $125 obo. This sounds small, but maybe it is ok??? Any thoughts or advice?

I don't have a dust colection system. Well I have a leaf blower and a broom but my old Delta (I believe 540) thickness planner keeps going and I have not had a problem with needing a dust collection for it.

When I hit the lotto I'm going to istall one that will capture a sneeze, exchange fress air for stale and make the world a greener palce.

[Ole Anderson]

The HF DC is 110V.

So how many amps does that HF 2 hp 110 volt DC pull? My most efficient motor draws 8 amps per hp at 115 volts, my new 2 hp Oneida with the Baldor motor draws 23 amps at 115 volts (yes I have it wired for 230 volts). Probably not as efficient as my "3 hp" Shop Vac which only draws 7 amps, he said sarcastically. If I read this thread correctly the maximum steady load you can draw on a dedicated 20 amp circuit is 16 amps. Whether you need 12 or 10 awg wire seems to be up for debate. I vote for 12 awg personally.

[Linda Miller]

I'm in northern Indiana, near South Bend.

[Todd Kinsfather]

So how many amps does that HF 2 hp 110 volt DC pull? My most efficient motor draws 8 amps per hp at 115 volts, my new 2 hp Oneida with the Baldor motor draws 23 amps at 115 volts (yes I have it wired for 230 volts). Probably not as efficient as my "3 hp" Shop Vac which only draws 7 amps, he said sarcastically. If I read this thread correctly the maximum steady load you can draw on a dedicated 20 amp circuit is 16 amps. Whether you need 12 or 10 awg wire seems to be up for debate. I vote for 12 awg personally.
you bring up a good point which is the HF is an exagerated spec unit with a motor out put more like a 1.5 hp and impeller size more comparable to other 1HP-1.5HP DC's on the market. It is an OK deal if gotten at it's rock bottom discounted price. The mistake often made is it isn't even close to the performance of the more recent 2HP models on the market. My alleged "2HP" HF ran easily off a 20 amp circuit that my older 2HP Grizzly will not even start on. I only ran my 2HP Jet 1200C on a 220v-20amp circuit but it's a monster in suction compared to my HF.
If you were comparing an older 1.5 HP Jet 1100 to the "2HP" HF the Jet may not give much better performance than a discounted HF and the HF would save you some money. If you are comparing the "2HP" HF to any other recent leading brand 2HP DC it is unlikely you are even in the same ballpark of performance. Do your research and choose wisely.

[Neil Brooks]

And Todd brings up good points.

The labels are cute.

A fan curve ... showing CFM at a given static pressure ... would tell me what I want to know.

But I won't hold my breath (or static pressure would result ;) )