One wall dust collection system

[Michael Weber]

Couple of pics of my one wall dust collection system. Shop is 1/2 a double car garage. The DC is the small Jet 650 cfm model. Got it and all the pipe, gates, fittings and floor sweep at an auction several months ago. Just got the pipe up this Saturday. I know that most recommend attaching a small DC to one tool at a time, which is what I had been doing, but I hated re-connecting the flex hose between tools. The 4 in pipe and fittings along the wall is only a 14 foot horizontal run. 3 outlets along the wall and another after the elbow at the end. There is a floor sweep downstream of the final outlet and is isolated with its own gate. The outlets on the wall face out at a 45 degree angle although you can't tell in the pictures. The TS and RT are ducted in. The first and last outlet will serve less frequently used tools. I can't tell any difference in performance between this and attaching the long flex hose I was using between tools. Guess one reason might be because there is less flex hose involved now. TS had flex hose connected to the outlet and bent to go between the TS legs and I replaced that with solid pipe and fittings. Anyway it seems to me (and YMMV) that as long as ducting is kept reasonably short there is no reason a small DC can't satisfactorily used in a ducted situation.

[Jim Becker]

That's kinda the same thing I did for my first shop, which was in a one-car garage...same DC, even, although the canisters were not available back then.

[Roy Wall]

Nice and efficient Michael - looks good!

[keith ouellette]

I agree also. With short lengths of smooth walled duct and keeping flex hose to a minimum a small unit will work very well.

[Steven Wilson]

That layout is very familiar as it looks like what I had in my shop when I first built it. About the same time I would need to see the Doctor every 6 weeks to take a course of anitbiotics to clear up infected sinuses. After a year of that I discovered proper dust collection and my sinuses are fine.

[John Seiffer]

After a year of that I discovered proper dust collection and my sinuses are fine.

Steve,
Was it the layout that was causing the problem or something else. Please elaborate and help save our sinuses.
Thanks.

[Michael Weber]

That layout is very familiar as it looks like what I had in my shop when I first built it. About the same time I would need to see the Doctor every 6 weeks to take a course of anitbiotics to clear up infected sinuses. After a year of that I discovered proper dust collection and my sinuses are fine.

Steve, I understand that this does not meet any safety standards for air quality. Sorry I didn't make that clear. I just want to to keep my shop/garage clean and it's easier to operate the gates than switch the DC around between tools (something I didn't always do for a "cut or two".)

[Steven Wilson]

John, the layout is fine, picture is pretty, it will actually collect chips and help reduce the mess. However, a Jet DC650 (bag or canister model) does not have a large enough impellor and motor to generate enough CFM to actually remove much dust. Been there, done that, got the medical bills. But, everyone seems to want to go through the same mistake ridden learning process. I've only seen one instance where a DC 650C was used as a dust collector and that it did a good job - 2 ft of flex to a dust hood over a mini-lathe with some box fans used to push air towards the dust hood. Quite impressive really and it works very well (a friend of mine's basement turning shop). The Jet DC 650 really can't support more than 5-6' of 4" flex hose. When you have 10-12' of pipe, plus DC hose you'll notice that chips will fall out of suspension, let alone collect dust. But hey, the photos are nice.

[Art Mann]

If the filter is good, it has to be removing some of the fine dust. I'm sure it is better than nothing at all.

[Don Abele]

You know, every time someone posts a thread about their DC setup I just shake my head because I know that no matter how great a setup they have, someone is going to come back and tell them that they are going to die from it.

Until tonight I have just bit my lip and moved on. Come on guys, this is ridiculous. This guy posts about his new and improved DC and has to suffer through the, "well the photos are nice, but you are going to suffer and die" comments. Steven, this is not specific to you...just the final straw.

It is a FACT that excessive exposure to wood dust can lead to adverse health conditions. It should also be noted that this FACT is based SOLELY on exposures based on personnel working in the industry - NOT on weekend woodworkers. If someone wants to point me to a peer-reviewed study of hobbyist exposure I will eat my hat and post a retraction. But EVERY OFFICIAL study I have read, is based on a 40 hour work week with a time weighted average (TWA) computation of exposure. This is NOT us (at least most of us here). This also does not take into consideration those individuals who have or develop a sensitivity to wood dust or who have a preexisting respiratory condition (Asthma, COPD, Emphasyma). That is a totally unpredictable situation and should be handled completely different.

There are many instances where individuals, who are hobbyists, have contracted lung disease or suffered from respiratory aliments. But, there is no definitive proof that these were CAUSED by the LIMITED exposure of wood dust. Could that weekend exposure have contributed - absolutely! But being a non-woodworker in Los Angeles is more detrimental on your lungs than being a hobbyist woodworker in Maine.

Michael - kudos to you for upgrading your DC to an easier and more efficient system. You know, because you've been here on SMC a while, that it's not the best system, but that it works to keep your exposure levels down. Not everyone needs a $5000 system in their shop to be able to enjoy woodworking. Even a "cheap" harbor freight DC works!

I'm standing by for the flaming, because I know it's coming. Moderators, sorry, I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.

As always, I wish everyone -

Be well,

Doc

[Jack Porter]

Don, I feel your pain...
before I proceed...go pats!

Part of the problem is that there is just not enough data.

I am going to start a new thread asking for recommedations from people that have the ability to measure dust\particles in their shop. I think our goal should be to determine what systems have the most significant effect of reducing airborne particulate matter.

We obviously are not doctors or in the business of producing a medical case study (as far as I know). However, if we can at least track the most effective dust collection systems, we all will benefit.

There are plenty of web sites that give direction on dust collection, however, if we can start logging a study of actual shops, I think it will be very beneficial.
A similar study may already have been conducted, however, I think we would all like to see results from actual shops.