D.C. total cost

[Michael Gibbons]

Is there an approximate figure to do a complete dc system let's say in a 24x24 garage hooking up 5 machines? $1000, $2000, $3000? How much for the pipe? :confused:

Mike

[Tim Morton]

Thats a pretty open ended question, without really laying out your expectations it would be hard to put a dollar amount down. I think you should plan on spending around $600 or more on a complete ducting system consisting of 6" metal pipes with drops of various sizes and materials. it might come out to more than that depending on your tools and desires. It would seem that the Gorilla DC is the hot DC at this time, and because you started your numbers at $1000 it would seem like one that should be on your short list. Grizzly makes one too, but it is not shipping yet and the wait list is not known. most people here would suggest cyclone( gorilla) and 6" metal pipe...this is the top end and will get you the MOST dust collected. One of the advantage's of going with the Gorilla is you get ALOT od customer support including a free ductwork plan.You will see several threads on this DC currently active as well as some comparing it to grizzly's offering.

[Tom Seaman]

I believe Oneida estimates about $125 per machine for their ductwork, but I don't have the literature in front of me to confirm. Of course, there are many variables that could increase that estimate, and it also assumes you are hooking it up yourself.

[Tom Jones III]

I spent $95 on a junk 650 cfm import DC. $15 on PVC. Probably $15 more on PVC fittings. Maybe $30 for blast gates and floor sweep, $30 on flex hose. Say around $180 for the total setup. This is DC to planer, jointer, TS, BS, 2 floor sweeps in a 20'x20' garage.

The DC doesn't collect every scrap of dust out of the planer. DC out of the BS is predictably bad, but I think it would be poor with a gorilla. I'll probably upgrade someday to a 1200 cfm DC but the current system collects sawdust. The current system does little for health concerns, and I may upgrade someday for that reason.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Michael, I spent about $500 on ducting including blast gates, but I think that's an irrelevant figure since your cost will depend on how many tools you plan to connect, their location within the shop and their distance to the collector. I went with 6" metal ducting to everything except the tablesaw and jointer because that duct is on the floor and I kept kicking the metal and dented it. I replaced the original metal with 6" PVC, but I couldn't find 6" S&D locally so I had to go with schedule 40 which made that short run higher than the cost of metal.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

It really depends on what you are looking to do. If you are looking for a permanant system with a cyclone, then you are probably looking at around 1500-2000. If you are looking for a Bag style DC, then you can probably get by on as little as $500-600. The HF (Harbor Freight) DC goes on sale for $150 a lot. If you really watch you can get it for $120. I got mine for $120 with the intention of adding a Wynn cartrige filter. Stock they really do little for your health.

I will upgrade my system sometime in the future. For now it fits my needs nicely, but I will want a bigger and better system sometime.

[Bob Powers]

My ten year old Oneida 1.5 HP cyclone totalled out to about $1700 when I bought it.

[Frank Pellow]

My complete Oneida 2 hp Commercial system with 4 curent drops and material for one future drop came in at just about $3000 Canadian including tax. That works out to about $2400 US (or maybe less because your taxes are lower).

My shop is just under 500 sq ft and I installed the system earier this year.

[mike malone]

mike
i just bought some metal fitting to set up my gorilla ..when it gets here.
I bought the following:
all are 6" and heavy 22gauge.
30' 6" spiro pipe (3 x 10')
6 couplings
7/6; 8/6; 6/4 reducers
T-wyes (2)
pants 6/6/6 (1)
3 long 90 deg
1 long 45 deg
3 end caps;
this should get me hooked up to a 20" planer; PM72 saw and PM26shaper.
still needed are 6" blast gates and 6" flex hose.
the total was $226. incl CA tax
They made it to order while I waited. A local metal shop close by quoted $1026...go figure.
hope this helps
mike

[Bob Borzelleri]

Is there an approximate figure to do a complete dc system let's say in a 24x24 garage hooking up 5 machines? $1000, $2000, $3000? How much for the pipe? :confused:

Mike
I'm clearly in the minority here as I have ordered a Grizzly 2 hp machine. Total cost for the cyclone is $823 delivered. I have a 24 X 24 shop with raised floor so I will go with beneath floor ducting. Will use 6" spiral pipe for the entire run to each floor connection and connect with the largest practical pipe/hose size from the floor to the machines. I will also use quality connectors at junctions so the total cost will be a bit higher than going with lower quality pieces.

So far I am still debating whether to use a single floor connector for more than one machine rather than individual runs for every machine. Might be a wash what with the "Y" connector above the floor.

Table saw, band saw, sanding station, SCMS, planer, jointer, Drill press, scroll saw, floor sweep and router table are on tap for connection and I will probably add an extra floor outlet or two for expansion. The word I got from Oneida was to plan $150 per machine, but I think that quote is influenced by the prices they charge for their ducting. At that rate, I would be looking at $1,800 for ducting. My target is to come in at less than half the Oneida figure.

My overall target cost (cyclone and ducting) is currently $1,600. Whether or not I make that mark will depend on how successful I will be in finding local wholesale (or near) suppliers.

If you are going to use a 220 volt machine and don't have an extra circuit available, you might have to incur additional cost in running that line. I prewired several 220 lines so there will be no additional cost there.


...Bob

[Jim McCarty]

Mike, where did you get your material? I'm in Anaheim Hills and wouldn't mind driving a little to save $. Thanks, Jim
mike
i just bought some metal fitting to set up my gorilla ..when it gets here.
I bought the following:
all are 6" and heavy 22gauge.
30' 6" spiro pipe (3 x 10')
6 couplings
7/6; 8/6; 6/4 reducers
T-wyes (2)
pants 6/6/6 (1)
3 long 90 deg
1 long 45 deg
3 end caps;
this should get me hooked up to a 20" planer; PM72 saw and PM26shaper.
still needed are 6" blast gates and 6" flex hose.
the total was $226. incl CA tax
They made it to order while I waited. A local metal shop close by quoted $1026...go figure.
hope this helps
mike

[JayStPeter]

I have 5 drops with 2 gates on each. Total system is around 50'. First 5' is 7' metal, most of the rest is S&D PVC. Blast gates are home made. Cost me around $700.
My 2HP commercial Onedia was expensive. If I was doing it now, Dust Gorilla, no question.

Jay

[Steve Cox]

$900 for my Woodsucker II. Blast gates are made from scrap so $0 there. After that it's whatever tools you are hooking up and what fittings you need (fittings are the most expensive part). I'm using 6" PVC and am at around $500 for all ducting.

[JayStPeter]

I have 5 drops with 2 gates on each. Total system is around 50-60' plus drops. First 5' is 7' metal, most of the rest is 6" S&D PVC. Blast gates are home made. Cost me around $700.
My 2HP commercial Onedia was expensive. If I was doing it now, Dust Gorilla, no question.

Jay

[Andy London]

I just finished installing the Gorilla, 36' - 7", 22' - 6", 15' - 5", 5 Y's, 12 elbows, 12 Lee Valley blast gates and 300 feet of metal tape cost me about six hundred Canadian, $525. USD plus the cost of the cyclone $845.00 USD, $145. shipping and I bought their remote $100.00 (bought an extra control), so I would guess I came in just under or around $1,500. USD, my shop is roughly 48 X 20. I could have probably got away with less pipe but I used 7" Y's and ran a lot of branches off the main.

Andy

[lou sansone]

my 3 hp commerical unit by onieda with all the pipe and hose and blast gates = 3000 usd

lou

[Mike Kelly]

I have 8 drops with my 1 1/2 HP Oneida and spent a little over $3,000 if I remember correctly. I do have a few left over pieces.

[Allan Johanson]

I think many folks overbuy their ducting. If you have a strong DC and don't need to do everything you can to squeeze out every last cfm, you can save a bundle by going to an HVAC supplier or a big box store and use those short radius HVAC elbows and a crappy tin wye. Use metal foil tape to seal all joints for the elbows and on the inside of the wye if required to help smooth the path for the airflow. Some wyes have little metal tabs on the inside that could snag sawdust. Just put the foil tape over them.

I've tested airflow loss with cheap HVAC parts and if you have a strong DC or a short run, I wouldn't (and didn't) bother with the expensive fittings many folks buy. If you want more airflow, buy the more expensive fittings.

Pipe thickness is another issue. With my 5HP Bill Pentz cyclone I'm using 28ga snaplock pipe from a big box store and 28ga spiral in some places. But I'm using the short 30" sections of 28ga snaplock so maybe that's why mine hasn't collapsed - more frequent seams? But I can't see one reason for a person to buy spiral pipe any stronger than 28ga, unless you are going to stand on it. That stuff is so strong. Buying heavier is a waste of money IMHO. For snaplock going to 26ga would be safer, but that 28ga spiral pipe is super strong.

Just one person's opinion who is always amazed at what folks spend on their ducting. :eek:

Cheers,

Allan

[Terry Hatfield]

Perhaps I'm being to general here but most of the PVC duct systems I've been involved with total out about $300 for 6" if you build your own gates. We did well over 100 feet of pipe and many, many fittings in Dennis Peacock's shop for $350 and mine was about the same. Both shops have working areas of approx. 1200 sq.ft. Considering the average cost of a cyclone that should put the total system in for $1500 or less.

I know there are many who are scared of the PVC but I've had mine in my shop for years and I really like it. My cyclone will produce 7000+ fpm of duct speed and I have had no static issues what so ever. I have made no effort at all to "ground" the system. I did make most machine connections with flex that has the wire inside. I would imagine that that makes a decent bleed wire by itself and it's always humid here. I'm sure both of those factors play some role in my lack of static.

I feel certain if you check around for the best deal that you can do the PVC for considerably less than regular metal DC ducts. Probably about the same as a HVAC snaplock system but the PVC will be a more efficient because of the smooth interior, less seams (10' pieces of pipe vs 5') and the better transitions from the ebows and wyes to the pipe. Using 2 - 45's in place of 1 90 does a good job of smoothing the radius and improving flow vs the short PVC 90's. I seal the connections with bathroom adhesive caulk. I've changed mine around quite a bit and all I have to do is cut the caulk with a utility knife and seperate the fittings. I could not be happier.

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Just my .02,

Terry

[Allan Johanson]

Hi Terry,

If PVC came in 7" and 5" diameters, I'd have used PVC instead of metal. You have a nice installation that's always a pleasure to look at. When my shop grows up it wants to be like yours. :D

Cheers,

Allan

[lou sansone]

nice looking shop terry.

lou

[Terry Hatfield]

Alan and Lou,

Thanks!!!

t

[craig lapiana]

just starting out and here is what i did:

i got a HF machine for $150 (free shipping)
wynn filter kit for HF $120 (excellent friendly people)
30 gallon trashcan seperator $15 (using only on the planer direct line to DC)
50' of 4" pipe from amazon $35
6 y-connectors from amazon $25 (less drag the t-s)
6 blast gates, micro switches and relay $80 (auto turn on DC with ea gate)

$425 total

i have not got it dirty yet :) but plan to in the next month. being a new shop the idea was to use the cheap pipe overhead until i figure out the details of my shop layout. once i am comfortable with where each machine is located i plan on either building a raised floor and putting 4" PVC under it or putting 6" pvc above. have not decided yet but leaning towards putting the pipe in the floor depending on the performace i get out of my exsisting pipe.

craig