Michael Koons
10-07-2012, 10:14 AM
I have upgraded a few tools in my shop lately and it's put me in a bit of a dust collection conundrum. My old 1 HP canister is obviously inadequate for some of my tools. Right now I'm wheeling it around my shop and it's becoming a pain in the neck.
I installed 4" PVC pipes for dust collection 10 years ago to my tool stations. I now know this was wrong and my current setup is not how I'd do it today. I will be moving from this house and shop in a few years and I don't want to change this set up since it will be temporary.
My question is... Can I upgrade my DC to a 3HP canister, attach it to my current system and have it work well enough? I know if I were to do it all over, I'd buy a cyclone and put a duct system in that was ideal, but I can't do that at this point. My 4" runs to the big tools (jointer, TS, planer) are all very short. The longer runs are to the router table, band saw and other small machines.
Basically, I want to throw HP at the problem to overcome my bad duct design. I'm not in a position to buy a cyclone today or in the near future due to time, space and budgetary restrictions.
PS - This group helped me with my TS decision recently and I went with the MM SC4 Elite. It arrives on Friday and I will post pictures, my decision making process and my experiences when it arrives.
I installed 4" PVC pipes for dust collection 10 years ago to my tool stations. I now know this was wrong and my current setup is not how I'd do it today. I will be moving from this house and shop in a few years and I don't want to change this set up since it will be temporary.
My question is... Can I upgrade my DC to a 3HP canister, attach it to my current system and have it work well enough? I know if I were to do it all over, I'd buy a cyclone and put a duct system in that was ideal, but I can't do that at this point. My 4" runs to the big tools (jointer, TS, planer) are all very short. The longer runs are to the router table, band saw and other small machines.
Basically, I want to throw HP at the problem to overcome my bad duct design. I'm not in a position to buy a cyclone today or in the near future due to time, space and budgetary restrictions.
PS - This group helped me with my TS decision recently and I went with the MM SC4 Elite. It arrives on Friday and I will post pictures, my decision making process and my experiences when it arrives.