Dust Collection Advice

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

I know this topic has been asked ad nauseum, but your advice would be much appreciated. I'm working out of a very small shop. It's 1/4 of a one-car garage to be precise. My only power tool is my Jet 1642-2.

Given that I have extremely limited space, I was wondering if something like this would be sufficient: http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-HP-Wall-Hanging-Dust-Collector/G0710

Does anyone have experience with this particular model?

Other than this dust collector, is there something else I should be looking at for dust extraction?

Thank you,

Noah

[Dan Hintz]

More than adequate, though unless you're dumping the air to the outside world, I would consider upgrading the bag to a decent filter (from Wynn Environmental). I surround my work area with plastic sheeting hung from the rafters with the DC exhaust outside of the plastic "bubble" (I exhaust back into the same room). Any dust not immediately picked up by the DC eventually finds its way there. By sucking inside the bubble and exhausting outside of it, you're creating a negative pressure area inside the bubble that makes sure only clean air comes in and any dirty air has to go through the DC/filter first.

[Tony Maninha]

Make sure you get a 0.5 Micron bag and an Air Filtration System. I have a 1500 CFM.

[Jim Burr]

Based on what I just heard from my pulmonologist...I kicked my Jet scrubber to "real high" and ordered a Trend Pro...life just got shorter

[Noah Barfield]

Based on what I just heard from my pulmonologist...I kicked my Jet scrubber to "real high" and ordered a Trend Pro...life just got shorter

Jim, how so? What did you hear from your pulmonologist? As someone who was hospitalized twice for pneumonia last year, I want to take as good care of my lungs as I can.

[Noah Barfield]

I spoke with Phil over at Trend Airshield today. One of the questions that I asked was that if I order an Airshield, will I need a separate dust extraction system? He stated that an Airshield on its own should be sufficient. Given that I've just spent a huge chunk of change on a lathe and a set of tools, I don't want to over spend / be redundant. At the same time, taking care of my health and lungs is very important to me. Any thoughts / recommendations?

Noah

[Jon Nuckles]

Noah, With space at a premium in your shop and the lathe as your only power tool, I'd opt for the Airshield and a broom and shovel. 99% of the mess you create at the lathe can be scooped and dumped, and large wet shavings don't mix well with dust collectors anyway. A dust collector allows you to do a good job cleaning up the small stuff afterwards, but won't do much to protect your lungs. From what I've read, the Airshield or the 3M helmet is the way to go. This is just my two cents, speaking as someone who has a big dust collector but wishes he had the helmet.

p.s. If you had a tablesaw, jointer, planer ,etc., my advice would be different.

[Dan Hintz]

Will you wear your shield from practically the moment you walk into your shop until the moment you walk out? If you plan on taking the shield off while doing other things, even if you're not turning, then I suggest an auxiliary method of removing dust. Just because nothings spinning doesn't mean the dust immediately settles to the floor.

[Jon Nuckles]

Dan, I agree that the dust will remain in the air for quite a while and you'd need to keep the shield on during that time for it to provide complete protection. On the other hand, a dust collector isn't really going to help much when you're turning. Maybe a dust hood will help while sanding, but no reasonable dust collector setup I've heard of does a good job while you're turning. An air cleaner will speed up removal of the dust in the air, but even that takes more time than you'd want to breathe it (I think a recent Fine Woodworking issue had an article that attempted to quantify that). Whether you only wear the shield while turning and sanding or keep it on if you stay in the shop to do other things after you turn off the lathe, I think it provides more protection than dust collection would. Of course, this would not be the case with other power tools where good dust collection at the source is possible.

[Reed Gray]

Positive pressure dust masks just keep the dust out of your lungs. They do nothing to get the dust out of your shop. If you turn only wet wood, there will still be dust after it dries. With your dust collector, you can get most of it at the lathe, especially if you have a hood that covers most of what you are turning as opposed to just the end of the hose. You can easily make some sort of box to go behind the lathe to vent the dust into. If the weather isn't bad, and you have a window, it is fairly easy to put a cheap box fan in the window and blow most of it out. You will still find the need to take a leaf blower to the shop once in a while as you will find dust build up no matter how careful you are. Dust collector, check. Dust mask, check. Air scrubber, eventually. It helps to keep stuff out of the house.

robo hippy

[Dave Ogren]

Another thumbs up vote for Reed's advice. Start out with a 20" box fan or really go big time and use two of them. In an old post it said that Malcomb Tibbets uses a box fan. Also Vince Welch at Wood N Wonders has an excellent cost effective dust mast that really works well.
Good Luck,
Dave

[Chris Colman]

Noah,

You might look into this system from Penn State: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC660P.html

It has a 1 micron bag and a little more CFM than the Grizzly. You can probably mount it on a wall like the Grizzly, if you need the floor space.

I use this with a large intake hood behind my lathe and it takes good care of the small particulates, especially during sanding.
(intake hood http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DBGULP.html)

[Thom Sturgill]

I had a similar system from Sears. If you are going to use a single bag system, put a trash can separator in front of it! Search for Phil Thein for good examples. Curlies and impellers are not a good match. If you are going to use it only while sanding, I would still wear a helmet or mask as it will NOT get all the dust. For about the same money you can get a two bag unit from Harbor Freight.
208196 (http://www.harborfreight.com/2-hp-industrial-5-micron-dust-collector-97869.html).

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Jim. A Trend is not going to do it alone. After a discussion with my doctor after 3 bouts with bronchial infection one of which led to walking pneumonia. She said if I don't do something it could also lead to emphysema. So I use a DC, Airstream helmet, and a air cleaner. May be overkill but I have cut the dust in my shop by 2/3's. Haven't had a bronchial infection now for 3 yrs. My DC is a HF unit with a Wynn filtration canister at .5 micron.