Upgrading Dust collector

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

I got a Jet-650 dust collector and I am thinking about either upgrading it or buying a bigger dust collector.

The Jet dust collector is the old blue model with the standard dust collection bags. I only have a small shop in my basement with just a few woodworking tools. They are: Sears craftsman 10" tablesaw, Sears 15 " woodlathe, Chicago Tools woodlathe, Sears 6 1/8 " jointer, Ryobi radial arm saw, Delta 12" drillpress, Sears grinder, Woodtek 4x36 benchtop sander, Jet 13" planer moulder, sears shaper. Since it is a one man shop, I only run one tool at a time. So, should I upgrade just the dust bags or should I buy a bigger dust collector?

Thanks,


Bob

[Todd Burch]

Bob, I'm no expert on DC, but it doesn't appear that you have any machines that would require more CFM. If you have the 30 micron bags, I would for sure upgrade the bags.

I need an additional DC myself right now... one with bags instead of a cartridge, so that the wide belt sander gets better aspiration after the first 5 minutes.

Todd.

[John Preston]

Hello,

I had a 650 cfm DC with the felt bags. I never even put on the canvas bags, so can't really tell you the difference it will make. My felt bags let out very little dust though. I bought them from Highland Hardware.

The reason I upgraded my DC was that I got tired of filling up the lower bag. I had a 42 gallon barrel first stage cyclone thingie to get the big stuff out, and to keep my bags empty and passing air. The barrel worked great to keep the lower bag empty, but took too much out of the suction pressure to work well for anything but the jointer and planer, and was a pain to move around.

If you don't mind wheeling the thing around, hooking it up, and emptying the dust bags (I don't know how much jointer or planer work you do- that's what fills them up in a hurry) then I would upgrade the bags, and keep the DC. It will work better. If you want to hardpipe the system, you're going to need a bigger DC.

It all comes down to money, space, and effort. If you're almost satisfied now, spend a little money and effort to get some felt bags. If you're not even close to satisfied, then buy a bigger machine because that will make a much larger difference.

Good luck.