piping for dust collection

[Brian Keith]

Getting ready to purchase what I need to run the piping. My shop is small only 10x18 and I only need pipe for three machines. Question is should it be pvc or metal? Ill be running flex to the actual machine.Thanks

[Heather Thompson]

I would suggest metal, but many may say different, I tend to error on the side of saftey.

Heather

3HP Onieda Commercial system

[Jim O'Dell]

Which ever way you go, run the pipe as close to the machine as possible, and the shortest piece of flex that you can get away with. Flex has much more restistance than any of the pipes do. Jim.

[Alan Schaffter]

Little difference in cost of metal vs pvc pipe, not much difference in specs for flow resistenc. Big difference, especially for 6", in the cost of fittings- metal els and wyes are way more expensive. Use S&D (sewer and drain) also called "solid perf" in ASTM 2729 or 3035 not the more expensive sched 40 pvc whose fittings can be really expensive. PVC is easier to seal also.

[Denny Rice]

Getting ready to purchase what I need to run the piping. My shop is small only 10x18 and I only need pipe for three machines. Question is should it be pvc or metal? Ill be running flex to the actual machine.Thanks


Brian its amazing how divided the woodshop community is on this one subject. Its also amazing how little info there is on the web on this subject, PVC or metal. I have a shop with piping to 5 machines (table saw, planner, jointer, cut-off saw station, and radial arm saw) this does not include 2 extra ports that I have in the shop to plug 2" hose into (like a central vac) for small sander,ect. and my floor sweep. When I set this up I spent endless days and nights looking for info on this subject. I went with metal, even though PVC is cheaper. I have read articles professional woodworkers have written that have used a PVC based system for yrs with no problems and I could NOT find one artile where a PVC system had caught on fire. I did read where woodworkers with PCV systems did get a small "shock" from their system(even if was properly grounded). Two of the best things I ever did when setting up my central vac system is move the actual dust collector out of the shop ( it shares the room with the car) and the purchase of a new Jet AFS-1000B air filtration system. This hooks directly to 110V and hangs from my ceiling. Your dust collection system wil do a good job of geeting the larger stuff out of your shop, but you will still be amazed how much of the "little stuff" it will miss and this is the stuff that will make a man sick by finding a way into your lungs. The Jet was the best 225.00 I ever spent. With my dust collector in another room the 60.00 I spent for a remote system to control the power to the dust collector was a must. It even works through walls.

[Larry Parsons]

Brian,

I have used 6" S&D PVC pipe for about 2 yrs with great results and no shocks. I use no wires, inside or outside the pipe, to attempt to drain any static charge. There has been expert testimony that PVC dust collection piping has never caused a fire or explosion. Installation is a breeze with slip fit followed with minimal caulking at joints. This installation also makes it relatively easy to disassemble by scraping the caulking away from the joints. You don't say what the air volume of your collector is - mine is about 1500 cfm cartridge filter unit serving contractor saw, jointer, router table, planer, radial arm, bandsaw, sanding table and spindle sander - generally one at a time. The 1500 cfm and 6" pipe provides excellent collection even for the contractor saw which is noted as difficult. Even tho you only have 3 machines now, you may want to plan for the future expansion to other machines. Unless you have to have the flex, you should direct connect the piping to the machine for minimal loss as pointed out by others.

Larry

[JayStPeter]

The plus of PVC is that it is cheaper overall. True, the straight runs are similar in cost. But, all the fittings are significantly less expensive.
The downside of PVC is that it is heavy.

[Sean Troy]

Brian,

I have used 6" S&D PVC pipe for about 2 yrs with great results and no shocks. I use no wires, inside or outside the pipe, to attempt to drain any static charge. There has been expert testimony that PVC dust collection piping has never caused a fire or explosion. Installation is a breeze with slip fit followed with minimal caulking at joints. This installation also makes it relatively easy to disassemble by scraping the caulking away from the joints. You don't say what the air volume of your collector is - mine is about 1500 cfm cartridge filter unit serving contractor saw, jointer, router table, planer, radial arm, bandsaw, sanding table and spindle sander - generally one at a time. The 1500 cfm and 6" pipe provides excellent collection even for the contractor saw which is noted as difficult. Even tho you only have 3 machines now, you may want to plan for the future expansion to other machines. Unless you have to have the flex, you should direct connect the piping to the machine for minimal loss as pointed out by others.

Larry

What type of connections to your machines are you using? Hose, pipe ?

[Matt Meiser]

I chose PVC. I have noticed static. The only time I've been shocked is when I had a drum sander and I suspect that had something to do with the Delta drum sander's blow-molded lid as much as the hose and pipe it was connected to since I haven't seen an issue with any other tool.

For connections, I've used a few methods. Ive found that 6" snaplock pipe fits inside 6" S&D pvc and most 6" hose fits over 6" snaplock so I made my transistion using a short section of snaplock. Since then someone said that Lee Valley hose fits over PVC which would be a little easier.

For all permanent connections, I used good clear hose, mostly from Ken Craft Company in Toledo, OH because they are local. I used some Oneida hose before I found Ken Craft and it is top quality as well. I would expect nothing less from Lee Valley either.

For my portable machines I use some cheap, but really flexible hose that came with my first dust collector from Penn State Industries. I'm sure that air flow wise it is the worst hose made, but it is easy to use and stays out of the way. My DC came with a 50' piece which I cut in half. The first 1/2 is about worn out after 6-7 years and I need to throw it out and start using the second half. It stretches enough that I can fit a short piece of 4" PVC in the ends. One end has a 4" coupler over that the connects to 1 of 2 4" general purpose ports in my shop. The other end I use a combination of the 4" pipe, a 4" coupler, and a 4" black abs "quick connect" to mate it to my various machines.

[Steven Wilson]

There has been expert testimony that PVC dust collection piping has never caused a fire or explosion.
Larry, do you have a source for that statement of yours?

Anyhow, I chose metal because

1) Metal passes code, PVC does not. Check your fire regs.

2) Metal is available in 1" increments, PVC isn't. My DC inlet is 7", my mains are 6" and my drops/termination are 5". You don't have that flexability with PVC.

3) Metal is roughly the same cost as PVC, especially if you're running a DC < 7.5HP. For most of our systems we don't need the very heavy metal fittings such as sold by Air Handling Systems. The lighter guage fittings (i.e. adjustable long radius elboes from Oneida) work very well. For example, a 6" , 90Deg, long radius PVC elboe from McMaster - Carr costs $28. A 6", long radius, adjustable metal elboe from Oneida is $15. I figured out the cost of doing it both ways in my shop and the price difference was a wash.

4) Metal being lighter is easier to hang.

5) All of the fittings you'll ever need for dust collection are available in metal. The same can't be said of PVC. PVC based installations are always a compromise.

[Sean Troy]

Larry, do you have a source for that statement of yours?

Anyhow, I chose metal because

1) Metal passes code, PVC does not. Check your fire regs.

2) Metal is available in 1" increments, PVC isn't. My DC inlet is 7", my mains are 6" and my drops/termination are 5". You don't have that flexability with PVC.

3) Metal is roughly the same cost as PVC, especially if you're running a DC < 7.5HP. For most of our systems we don't need the very heavy metal fittings such as sold by Air Handling Systems. The lighter guage fittings (i.e. adjustable long radius elboes from Oneida) work very well. For example, a 6" , 90Deg, long radius PVC elboe from McMaster - Carr costs $28. A 6", long radius, adjustable metal elboe from Oneida is $15. I figured out the cost of doing it both ways in my shop and the price difference was a wash.

4) Metal being lighter is easier to hang.

5) All of the fittings you'll ever need for dust collection are available in metal. The same can't be said of PVC. PVC based installations are always a compromise.

In my area, S&D PVC pipe is less than half the cost of metal pipe. I'll stick with PVC

[Tom Fortier]

When you all talk about metal piping, are you just talking about stove piping?? or something else?

[Jim Becker]

My personal choice is metal for a number of reasons, one of them being its availability in 1" incremental sizes so that the duct can be optimized for the job. 26 guage snap-lock from Oneida and the 'borg with fittings from Oneida is what I used with pop rivets where necessary and foil tape for sealing. That said, many folks do use PVC. It's easy to work with and "relatively" inexpensive...although the fittings can sometimes raise the price considerably relative to the supply situation where you live. 6" is also sometimes hard to find. Irrigation suppliers and some plumbing supply houses have or can get it.

[Jeff Raymond]

Metal.

Ground it.

[Mike Seals]

Mine is PVC, mainly bcause it was far cheaper in my area than the metal pipe. I went with 4" because that's what I could get at the time. I'm hooked up to several machines, the closest is an older 15" planer I call the beast because it can tear some wood up. As the tools get further away from the DC, they tend to generate less large peices and more dust. I'm in a 26 X 60 four car garage dedicated as a shop so dust that gets away means lots of clean up time.

The DC is a older 1HP Craftsman and it does a decent job, but alas, there is always somehing to clean up. I'm designing a new system and I'll use 6" pipe and a cyclone, I'll have to free up some space in the shop to get it all in but I'm hoping to capture everything I can and I'll be using the older setup for smaller jobs.

I did not glue the pvc fittings, with the exceptions of the blast gates. I used white duct tape, this made additions and modifications real easy. You will change your setup from time to time until you get it just right. Also for some of the finer dust that gets away, I built a portable air filter system out of an old A/C blower motor, 1HP squirrel cage that can move some air. Built it about four feet tall and placed the fan in the top section. The bottom suction section has standard size A/C filters which catch a lot of fine particles. I mounted it on wheels so I could move it around. I don't have a down draft table yet, so when sanding and such, I use the blower output to blow all the dust out the door. Only down side is that's where the Corvette sits, so it get a tad dusty from time to time.

[Al Killian]

Mine is metal stove pipe. PVC was more costly and not avaivable localy, plus the cost of shipping fittings made the cost almost twice as much. I have a local place that makes the metal fittings which is less hassle.