Comments on Penn-State Cyclone DCs

[Tom Ruflin]

I'm looking at Penn State Cyclone dust collectors, the tempest S series 3.5 hp. Does anyone have any experience with any of the cyclones and or Penn State?

[JayStPeter]

Tom,

In a couple different recent magazine comparisons, the PSI models finished mid pack. The Oneida Dust Gorilla (oneida-air.com) and Grizzly cyclones seem to be the performance and value leaders. I have an Oneida and it is a top quality machine.

Jay

[Rye Crane]

Hi Tom,

Do yourself a real favor and read up on dust collection on Bill Pentz's website, it's in one of the threads on the Creek. His information led me to the Oneida 2HP with the 62" external filter. It has all the suction I will ever need and my shop is just a 2 car gararge 22X24 with the usual stuff in it. I have a 8" service that reduces down to 6" to the machines and then I reduce to fit whatever service the machine provides. In some cases I have opened up their connections for better performance.

The Penn State collectors look good but the HP rating isn't quite as important as the impeller construction and size. All the motors spin about the same speed, it's the ducting size, the intake, the filter, and design of the cyclone that counts most.

One of Bill's associates is building the clear-vue cyclone and you can purchase it in pieces or pretty complete. It's really cool, if I had one I'd probably just chew up wood so I could watch it spin around and around, but I'm pretty easily entertained. Once in a while I'll sneak a peak at the dryer, it's pretty slick.
Rye Crane

[Tom Ruflin]

Jay and Ray,

Thanks for the comments. I have been to Bill's site and am filling out my shop info for Oneida to see what they think. My issue is the cyclone needs to be in the garage and the filter in the basement. Not to mention the limited ducting options, like 8 90-degree elbows to get to the table saw. I'm not sure how much effiency I will lose having the filter seperated from the cyclone through 2 more 90-degree elbows. The Penn State looks easier to locate the filter away from the cyclone although I thought I read something about adapters for the Oneida to do that. I guess I'll find out shortly.