Norfab vs Blastgate duct

[Aaron Inami]

This is a comparison between Norfab duct and the other company known as BlastGate / BlastGateCo / Blast Gate Company (allowing for search terms). I have not seen anyone do this on any website, so I decided I wanted to know for sure. I am using a quick-connect 6” - 6” - 6” Y-Branch as a comparison because it shows most of the manufacturing techniques.


In the pictures:

NF = Norfab

BL = BlastGate





General appearance:

Norfab appears to make their Y-Branch longer. Norfab comes in at 21-1/4” long where BastGate is 16-5/8”. Also, Norfab’s default branch angle is 30 degrees (but also offer 45 degree). BlastGate’s default angle is 45 degrees (but also offer 30 and 60 degree). The BlastGate may fit better if you have space constraints in your duct system. The lesser 30 degree angle will not introduce as much turbulence into the main duct as the 45 degree (splitting hairs?)

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Duct Ends:

On Norfab, the quick-connect ends are press-fitted over the main duct and then stamped. On Blastgate, the ends have flared lips that are crimped over each other. Both Norfab and Blastgate look to have same size ends which means you can use both in the same system.


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Norfab Interior Branch Connection:

On the Norfab, the front lip of the branch is inserted inside the main duct and the remaining lip is on the outside. The lip is tacked on and then the seams are welded all the way around on the outside. The welds are thin and clean. Inside, the split edge is smooth and I could not tell which piece of metal it was by feeling it. The front lip will allow dust to easily flow over into the main and not get caught in any edges (splitting hairs? Maybe).


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BlastGate Interior Branch Connection:

The BlastGate branch lip is completely on the outside (no inserted lip). The lip is tacked on and the seams are welded all the way around, but the weld is rough and I can definitely see some gaps/holes. The possible holes appear to be where the lip is tacked/stamped onto the main, so it probably isn’t an issue. There are cracks in the weld where the split is. Does this matter? It depends, but I can definitely see where some people may get pin-hole leaks from the Blastgate duct.


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Main Duct Seams:
It’s hard to tell, but it appears that the main duct seams on the Blastgate are cold-welded. I cannot see any flaws, so this will probably perform just fine. The Norfab duct is stamped and then the seam is welded all the way down


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Overall Finish:

I think the exterior of the Norfab duct is powder coated which gives it more of a grey color and smoother finish. This reduces the reflectivity of the metal and hides the flaws of the galvanized steel. The Blastgate is normal galvanized steel. If aesthetic of the duct is important to you, then the Norfab clearly wins here.


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Which is better? It comes down to personal preference and budget. I priced a full duct project and the Norfab solution was 1.7 times more expensive than the BlastGate solution. The Blastgate is definitely not a bad product and will likely work great in your dust collection system, but you could have a small chance of a pin-hole leak (easily fixed by taping over with aluminum duct tape or using clear silicon). With the Norfab, you’re almost guaranteed to have a perfectly sealed system, but you definitely pay significantly more for their attention to detail in the manufacturing process as well as aesthetics. For me, I think I'm going to go for the Norfab solution.

[Jim Becker]

Nice comparison. I've been using the Blastgate Company components in my temporary shop and will expand things once I have the new building up. A few of my machine and host adapters are from Grizzly and were employed in my old shop for overhead drops. All of these sytems are clamp together compatible with the exception of the slip connectors used to make up sections of straight pipe shorter than the standard 5 feet. You cannot mix and match those...use Nordfab slip fittings with Nordfab pipe and Blastgate Company slip fittings with Blastgate Company pipe. I suspect the same holds true for the Grizzly version.

The ability to mix and match means that one can choose a system but still be able to leverage something that might be more suitable for size or price from another system while putting things together. The size example for the wyes in the first photo is a good example. The standard wye for Nordfab shown takes up a lot more room than the similar Blastgate Company component shown relative to length and I believe that's true regardless of the wye angle you choose.

Again, thanks for posting the comparison and starting what is a useful conversation for the community.

[Aaron Inami]

I was thinking about this earlier and had to do some measurements. I believe the length of the branch has less to do with who manufactured it and more to do with the angle of the branch. See attached picture. The shallower angles require more surface area to tack onto the main pipe due to the geometry of the ducts. In the following picture, you can see that the ends are very similar in length between Norfab/Blastgate, but the 30 degree branch on top requires 3-5/8" more surface area length to merge than the 45 degree branch on bottom. That being said, the Blastgate is about 1" shorter given the space required for the merge.

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I could be wrong, though.

[Jim Becker]

The angle will contribute, but even with a 30º branch, that branch can be as short as still allows connection with the clamps. I did not find this to be an issue with the Blastgate Company product. Functionally, it's not really a factor. It appears that Nordfab's design certainly make for easier connections since all three of them are spaced with lots of room do to that deed. Honestly, the only time this might matter physically is in a "constrained space" situation in one's shop. There is likely a little bit of impact to the Nordfab price, too, since more raw material means slightly higher production cost to make the physically "bigger" component.

Personally, I'd be happy with either system including mixed components, especially if there was price parity. But cost always influences my decisions, too.

[Tom M King]

I'd be really surprised if it is really powder coating. It might well be, but in pictures they both look to be electrocoat galvanized after assembly. Could just be slightly different processes. I would think powdercoating would be a lot more expensive, and subject to flaking from any flexing.

[Aaron Inami]

It could be electrocoat galvanized. I'm not an expert in metal finish production.

As far as the length goes, I looked at the Norfab website for the branch detail. It seems that the Norab branch is going to be the same length whether it is a 30 degree branch or a 45 degree. The total length calculation for both of them are as follows:

"diameter of branching off duct" x 2 + 9

So the Blastgate 45 degree branch will be shorter than Norfab 45 degree branch. I suspect the Blastgate 30 degree branch will be longer like the Norfab because it requires a lot more surface area to tack onto the main pipe.

[Thomas Wilson]

There are some other dimensional differences. Blastgate’a standard center line radius for their elbows is 1.5 times the diameter of the pipe. Nordfab’s CLR is 1 times the diameter. Nordfab sells the larger radius elbows as well. I spent a lot of time figuring out x, y, z formulas for components for my system. Also the sleeve component used for adjusting the length are different enough that you cannot use sleeve from one company with duct from the other.

My space constraints and tolerances were tighter than most shops and tighter than what the online supplier’s usual practice. I worked with www.aircleaningspecialists.com (http://www.aircleaningspecialists.com) to figure out my order. I needed some custom fittings which they were able to quickly design and have fabricated by Nordfab. Custom parts were 10-15% more than the standard ones. I got some sleeves that are shorter than standard and a double lateral wye of a specific length.

[David Walser]

...I needed some custom fittings which they were able to quickly design and have fabricated by Nordfab. Custom parts were 10-15% more than the standard ones....

I had a similar experience with Blastgate. When I added ducting to my shop in 2020, I needed a non-standard fitting. Blastgate made the part for me and everything still shipped the next day! I was using Blastgate's spiral piping, but I have no reason to believe similar custom work wouldn't be available for their clamp-together customers.

Bottom-line: Both companies seem to make a quality product. There's not a wrong answer here.