Advice on dust collection

[Michael Yadfar]

I'm looking to get a dust collector but I don't know what I need/want. I don't have anything big, we are talking about a table saw, 6" jointer, 15" planer, miter saw, and bandsaw. I have a shop vac but I heard those are no good for dust collection. As far as requirements, what kind if HP and stuff should I be looking for?

[Peter Kelly]

What's your budget? Are you planning on running pipe to everything or just short runs with hose? How big is your shop?

[Michael Yadfar]

What's your budget? Are you planning on running pipe to everything or just short runs with hose? How big is your shop?

I never accounted for dust collection in my budget so it's pretty much as low as I can go without getting junk. I would love to have a whole system, but I'm just looking for short runs with hoses. My shop is VERY small, about 8'x16'.

[Jim Andrew]

Sounds like you need to buy a Harbor Freight dust collector, wait for a sale, and some 4" hose. If you don't like just the hose, you could run a piece of 4" s and d pipe to a handy location where you could use a short hose.

[Peter Kelly]

I'd recommend a cyclone separator from Gary MacIntyre as well.
http://www.cycloneseparator.com/5006/index.html
http://www.ebay.com/usr/eastcaroga?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
$189 plus shipping.

[Michael Yadfar]

Aside from actual recommendations, which I do appreciate btw, what are the specifics I'm looking for? Such as air suction capacity and HP? Btw Peter Kelly, that one you recommended is definitely in my price range, I'll give that a look. Somewhere around $200 is where I'm looking to stay around

[Peter Kelly]

That'd be $200 for the cyclone only (plus shipping). There's also the cost of an impeller and motor so another $150 if you go the HF route and happen to get one on sale.

There's also Powermatic 075 dust collector for sale on CL in Eddystone PA. Asking $125 but you could probably pick it up for $100.

[Randy Bonella]

Not knowing what actual equipment you have you need to size your dust extraction for your worst offender which in your case sounds like the 15" planer. Jointer and table saw will generate quite a bit but not in the volume the planer will. First I'll say I'm no expert but at a minimum you will need at least 1.5hp and better off with 2hp. because of the planer I'd also suggest a 2 stage system in line with what stated above. If you have time and not much money you can build a Thien separator. Lots of info on this site about that . Search for Thien or Phil Thien. Thats the route I went with a 1.5 hp Jet 1100 but modified significantly from original to maximize are flow as much as possible. Also as noted you can analyze the numbers to death and in the end it will line up to how much money and time you have. My shop is 16x21 and because of machine placement I did pipe 6" S&D along one wall again to maximize what I could draw.

Lots of info on dust collection so do a bunch of digging and you may find info you want. And the shop vac for sure won't keep up with your equipment. Not designed for that purpose.

Good luck and happy hunting. You can save a ton of money via craigslist. Just may take a bit longer.

here are a couple of pix of my setup. Most definitely not pretty but functional. started with a JET 1100 with 5um canister and then heavily modified it. Thought I had posted on it before but can't find it so here it is again.

First pic is what the original equipment looked like. Second pic is what it looks like now with the impeller housing mounted to the wall and rotated. The connection from impeller to filter is now about 4" long instead of about 30" and I built the Thien separator for the 2nd stage. massive benefit to keeping the filter from getting all clogged up. 6" S&D along the wall with Homemade 6" blast gates. All the dust you see is from my SCMS which is currently not contacted to the system. It is next on the list to tame dust wise. For me I had purchased the DC 18 years ago or so long before I know what I know now. Back then I had the money and would have purchased a cyclone system but now I don't have the money so cobbled together what I could with what I had and made what I could to get the most bang for the buck.

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[Rick Fisher]

The tools you mentioned are all pretty easy to collect from. If you get into sanding machines, the dust collector works harder..

[Paul Incognito]

Currently my shop is divided into 2 sections, dust collection wise.
1 section has a 10" cabinet saw, a miter saw and a 6" jointer. Dust is collected by a 2hp Grizzly ducted through 4" s&d pipe. It works as well as my ductwork will let it (I still need a better hood for the miter saw).
The other section has a 24" planer, a 20" jointer, a 12" sliding table saw, band saw and a shaper. Dust collection for this is also a 2hp unit, ducted through 5" snap lock pipe. It works acceptably for everything but the planer. Well, the shaper and band saw don't work real well, but that's machine design, not the collector's fault. The planer will work well for a bit and then start blowing the chips out of the machine. Probably not enough cfm/velocity and it gets overwhelmed.
So going by your list of tools I'd say 1-1/2 to 2 hp would be sufficient and I need 3-5 lol.
Hope this helps,
PI

[Dale Murray]

I'd recommend a cyclone separator from Gary MacIntyre as well.
http://www.cycloneseparator.com/5006/index.html
http://www.ebay.com/usr/eastcaroga?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
$189 plus shipping.

Do you have personal experience with these units?
I have a Jet 1100 DC I have yet to plumb and could see myself adding a cyclone to it if reasonable.

[Michael Yadfar]

I assume the purpose of the cyclone is that it's a lot more efficient than the bag collection type system?

[Randy Bonella]

I assume the purpose of the cyclone is that it's a lot more efficient than the bag collection type system?

yes, and in the end probably about the same cost but with better performance.

[Peter Kelly]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?133177-GLOAT-Dust-collector-upgrade

Same unit. Has been discussed extensively on this board, just do a search of "Ebay Cyclone".