mini-dust collector question

[Jim Rokusek]

I have a desire for a full DC system, but frankly I have no room. I read Bill Penz's site - WOW. I have lots to learn, but am still limited by space and I need to do SOMETHING. I know I should filter down to 1 micron for safety, but my question boils down to this: Is a small, portable dust collector (chip collector) any better than a shop-vac? I know I'd need to move it from machine to machine and I'm OK with that, but will it truly give me better results than what I already own?

It appears that Grizzly sells a 3 micron, 13 gallon bag for the portable dust collectors. Again, would this be any better than a shop-vac when connected to a planer or a cabinet table saw?

Jim

[Marcus Carr]

I am very interested in the answer to this also. I currently have no dust collection and am trying to figure out a solution.

Marcus

[Joe Trotter]

I have read allot of good reviews on the oneida dust deputy. It attaches to a shop vac. While it may not be a DC per say, it appears to be adequate for one machine at a time. I wish I knew more about it before plunking down the money.

[Art Mulder]

I have a desire for a full DC system, but frankly I have no room. I read Bill Penz's site - WOW. I have lots to learn, but am still limited by space and I need to do SOMETHING. I know I should filter down to 1 micron for safety, but my question boils down to this: Is a small, portable dust collector (chip collector) any better than a shop-vac? I know I'd need to move it from machine to machine and I'm OK with that, but will it truly give me better results than what I already own?

It appears that Grizzly sells a 3 micron, 13 gallon bag for the portable dust collectors. Again, would this be any better than a shop-vac when connected to a planer or a cabinet table saw?

Jim

Clearvue (http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/) has a mini cyclone that hooks up to a shop vac. I have no personal experience with it, but they posted a review of it on their website, including a test from Johns Hopkins University, which is pretty convincing!

Didn't someone here buy it?

[Tim Quigley]

The wife bought me the Clearvue shop vac mini cyclone for Christmas. It does an awesome job of dumping the dust and chips that it grabs into the bucket under the cyclone (and thus not into the shop vac and the shop vac filter). Becasue of this, the shop vac filter remains clear and airflowstays as high as possible. However, with only a 2 1/2 inch hose and the small motor on the vac, the main issue is the dust and chips the system fails to pull in. A shop vac just doesn't have the CFMs to grab the bulk of dust from my table saw or router table for example. It can't even clear the bottom of my cabinet saw.

So, don't get me wrong, I love my mini clearvue for smaller tasks, cleaning up, etc. But, I still plan to get a full size cyclone as soon as possible. It's the only way I see to get the CFMs needed to capture the dust into the system without the filter clogging issues that cause a drop in CFM in non-cyclone systems.

Tim

[Charles McKinley]

I think you would be much better srerved by the Jet dust collector with the canister filter or one of the coppies. I believe that Bill says the 1200 moves an acceptable amount of air for machines. The really high qualiy bags will cost a lot as and add on and I don't believe they perform as consistantly as the filter.

A shop vac just doesn't move enough air. These small cyclones were designed to be used with sanders and circular saws like the festool.

Just my 2 cents.

[Jim Rokusek]

I was afraid of this. I truly don't have any more "parking space" for machines in my garage. I was hoping to just "get by" for the time being with something smaller. I just bought a $1200 cabinet saw and my wife isn't up for anything else than can be easily noticed right now :D

Thanks for the info. Think I'll stick with the shop vac for the time-being.

Jim

[Phil Thien]

Well, all of my machines have 2.25" or smaller ports. Those don't work so great with dust collectors. The small diameter provides too much resistence for the low static pressure of dust collectors, so a shop-vac actually works better.

I made my own cyclone lid for a small, clear trash can I purchased at Wal-Mart. I use that in combination with a 12-gallon Shop-Vac that has the Clean Stream (HEPA) filter. While it certainly isn't perfect, I'm pretty happy with the results and I don't think I could improve without upgrading my tools (need 4"+ dust ports) as well as my collection.

[Wayne Gauthier]

Would it be possible to put a dust collector outside, shelter it, and just run the piping inside to your machines???

Wayne

[Joe Trotter]

I made my own cyclone lid for a small, clear trash can I purchased at Wal-Mart. I use that in combination with a 12-gallon Shop-Vac that has the Clean Stream (HEPA) filter.

Phil,
Could you post pictures of your setup?

Thanks, Joe

[Frank Hagan]

Would it be possible to put a dust collector outside, shelter it, and just run the piping inside to your machines???

Wayne

I read somewhere that for commercial wood shops, that is a code requirement. For me, in a temperate climate, I think that's the best solution. I'm thinking that a cyclone and, instead of a 1 micron cartridge filter, a 10 micron filter bag from a "standard" dust collector that is mounted outside would do the trick. With the small amount of dust that makes it past the cyclone, you might not even need a filter bag out there.

You do have to make sure you can supply enough make up air for the air that is being blown outside, especially if you have any gas burning appliances in your shop, like a water heater. If you blow air out, and it has no other way to come in, it will come in "backwards" through your water heater vent system. This can lead to carbon monoxide in flue gasses being drawn in and cold, stiff woodworkers.

[John Shuk]

I have the Oneida Dust Deputy. I am very happy with it thus far. It is working out very well for me. I plan on hooking it up to the jigsaw I'm planning on getting so I'll get to see how well it works on that.
John