First dust collector purchase

[Brent Simons]

Building a new house with an attached garage and friends say I should think about dust collection. I know nothing about this and have started to research but I am getting confused. Where should I look? Have looked at Grizzly, Oneida, Penn?? I would be grateful for any help.

Thanks

[Don Baer]

Brent,
Before you do anything check out Bill Pentz's web page. Be prepared for a long session but it will be worth it. In my opinion Bill is the ultimate authority on Dust collection for small shops. Here is a link to his page.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DC4Dummies.cfm

[Darl Bundren]

Brent, I have a Clearvue Cyclone that I like immensely. It is kind of noisy at this point (no enclosure as of yet) but performs very well.

[Gary Sutherland]

If it's possible, add space to your garage plan so that the dust collector and an air compressor can be in an enclosed 'room'' with piping into the shop. (And air return if you plan to heat or cool the garage.) The access door could be to the outside if that works better. Both machines are noisy beasts.

gary

[tod evans]

brent, welcome to smc! you`ve already got some very good advice....for the garage shop my vote goes to the clearvue......02 tod

[Russ Massery]

If your going the cyclone route. I would recommend a Clearvue. I've owned a Onieda and a Penn State before this. No comparison in air flow and seperation.

[Mike Goetzke]

Depends on your space and budget. I started out with a Ryobi BT3X00 and used a large Craftsman shop vac. This worked well because the TS was about the only non-benchtop or hand held power tool I had and the Ryobi was designed with an enclosed blade housing to make dust collection very efficient w/ a shop vac. Over the years I added several other larger tools...drill press, surface planer, jointer, SCMS, drum sander (and I replaced my Ryobi TS w/ a Craftsman 22124)...

Many of these tools are more than a challenge for a shop vac so I picked up a Harbor Freight DC added a cartridge filter put it in the corner of my garage, ran duct work to the ceiling-around the walls w/ drops to my tools. This has met my needs well for over a year now and I really don't have space for a cyclone. You may even want to start with something like the HF 2HP DC and wheel it around (it's on a platform w/ casters) from tool to tool at first to get a feel for your needs.

Good Luck!

[Brent Simons]

Brent,
Before you do anything check out Bill Pentz's web page. Be prepared for a long session but it will be worth it. In my opinion Bill is the ultimate authority on Dust collection for small shops. Here is a link to his page.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DC4Dummies.cfm

Wow lots of info that Bill has on his website. I have taken time to read everything but have to admit I still feel confused and a bit stupid. All the dust collectors look like they would work for me. How important are the awards that the magazine give out? I noticed that Grizzly and Oneida have awards but don't see a lot of things for Penn State or Clearvue. I think I need 5 horsepower. More horsepower the better would this be right? I am going to call all the manufacturers. What questions should I ask

[Vaughn McMillan]

...I noticed that Grizzly and Oneida have awards but don't see a lot of things for Penn State or Clearvue. ...
I don't have any specific DC suggestions for you, but keep in mind that such "awards" are rarely completely unbiased, and I wouldn't put too much significance on them. Not implying there's anything wrong with the Grizzly and Oneida cyclones (and in fact I know there are many happy users of bother systems), but I'd base this kind of decision on real-world reviews by users such as what you'll find here and on other forums.

Bottom line is that any of the cyclones should be better than nothing (which is what I currently have).

[Don Baer]

Brett,
The Clearvieu is the only one designed based on Bill Pentz's research. Many on here have built the Bill Pentz designed on there own, Julio Navaro and Stu Ablett in Tokyo to name a few. I don't have a cyclone YET since my shop is just starting contruction but I'll either build my own or buy the Clearvue when the time is right. I wanted you to read the article first to help you come to your own conclusions. I have corresponded quite a bit with Bill and we are independenly researching the problem with Fine dust. IMHO the Pentz design is the only design that will do a good job at removing a good deal of the fine dust. How much is part of what the study that Bill and I are conducting and will hopefully determine. I only became aquanted with Bill recently but I do trust his research. That said when I do set up my new shop the DC will not be in my work area. I don't plan on relying on the DC to safeguard my health. I will have the exaust from the DC outside of the work area and use makeup are from the outside to assure the fine dust is under control. There are many sources of fine dust gererated in the shop and the DC is not necessarily hooked up to them.

[David Giles]

Three years ago, I started WW and bought a Jet 1200 dust collector. Here's what I should have done.

1. Exhaust the air outdoors if at all possible. No need to worry about collection efficiencies or cartridge plugging. Address inlet air recirculation issues, potential dangers with furnaces and water heaters and use radiant heaters in the winter.

2. Same as #1. Really. Bill Pentz says so. 80% of DC information revolves around not doing #1. Vent the small particulate dust instead of collecting it.

3. Locate the DC outside if you have a small shop. They are noisy.

4. Use 6" ductwork mains. Pressure drop kills air flow.

5. Go big. Install a 3-5Hp cyclone. There is a world of difference between big 110V dust collector and a small 220V cyclone. Clearvue looks nice.

Think of dust collection as one more basic shop utility like electricity. Overkill it from the start and never worry about it again.

I've implemented #1-3 and need to do #4 and 5. Have spent way too much time and money messing with this area of WW.

[Al Willits]

I read most of bill's website and he definelty has put some time into DC.

Unfornately doing all he suggests is a bit difficult for some of us, I'd love to put a DC vented outside and use make up air, but with the average temp here in Minn in the 40's, it makes it extremely expensive.
To expensive for most hobbyist's I think.

I did find many things to do to improve the DC of my garage/shop, I have a 2 micron bag now on my JDS, and it appears that really isn't good enough for the small stuff, which seems to be the worst.
Going with a better canister should help, also running the exhaust blower in the garage for much longer than I thought will help.

I've pretty much figured a dust mask is gonna be required for most of us with portable DC systems, just wondering if the full blow mask like auto painters wear or the 3m white masks will be enough?

Good site to go to, wish I'd see it when I first started, I wouldn't have bought the 30' of flex hose I did and figured a way to use PVC...amoung other things..:)

Thanks for the posts.
Al