Ken Ganshirt
03-30-2008, 1:34 PM
I posted a couple of messages with graphs and comments in the original Dylos particle counter thread. During the testing I had come to the conclusion that my dust collector was actually working as a pretty good air cleaner.
I have the Dylos 0.5/5 micron particle counter.
The dust collector is a little 1HP King with a 1 micron top bag and poly bottom bag. I have added closed-cell weather-stripping around the top and bottom of the bag tree so I have a pretty good seal for both bags. I noted during the testing that I could leave the dust collector running with the flex hose laying open on the floor for a couple of hours after machine operations and it would pull the fine particle count down into the low double digits .. typically 20 to 30 on the metre display.
I've been struggling for the past few years trying to figure out what to do about improving my dust collection in the shop. I have known for a long time that my 1HP DC - bought when I started woodworking a few years ago and knew little about woodworking and nothing about dust control - is not the answer. So, what to do? ... Well, for me the question is what to do that gets me the most effective dust control for the least cost?
I've done all the reading on Bill Pentz's site and a variety of other sources, including multiple woodworking forums. I've achieved a pretty good understanding of what I need to accomplish it. Until I got the Dylos particle counter I never had any way of determining how bad my current setup might be nor any way to tell if any changes I made were going to be effective or a waste of money.
While I was muddling around trying to figure out what do to I decided the best interim solution was a good respirator so I got a Trend Airshield a couple of years ago. It works well. So my goal became somewhat modified. While I'm machining and wearing the Airshield I really don't much care how much dust gets in the air.
So the goal became, after I shut the machines off how quickly can I get the fine dust content back down to a level that allows me to take off the respirator and work without it?
I thought my testing with my little dust collector had given me the answer .. get a single stage dust collector with 1 micron bag and better airflow to capture more of the fine dust at the source and cycle the shop air through faster after the machines are turned off so the fine dust count comes down quicker than with my little 1HP DC.
All of my research over the past couple of years indicated that the Delta 1½HP was at the top of the list for single stage dust collectors. So when it came on sale here a couple of weeks ago I bought one.
I've done a little measuring since I got it assembled and I must admit to some puzzlement at the results. Unlike my King 1HP with the 1 micron bag, which seems to be a great air cleaner, the Delta seems to be a major dust pump.
As an example, I was doing some turning yesterday. I'm using dry lumber so even with a sharp gouge there's some dust created. I'm a novice turner so I tend to rely on my scrapers a lot, which create a little more dust. I've got a piece of flex hose near the lath to suck off the dust and any shavings that get near it. That Delta 1½HP unit sure grabs the dust away from the lathe area nicely but it seems to just blow it right back into the air.
Doing this sort of operation with the 1HP collector running seemed to keep the fine particle count down below 500 on the metre display. With the Delta hooked up and running while I did the same thing, the fine particle count got up above 4500 on the metre display fairly quickly and stayed up there. Stopping the operation and leaving the Delta run for an hour made no difference. Turning off the Delta, turning on the King and leaving it run for an hour made a big difference .. pulled the fine particle count down to under 500 in an hour or so. Leaving it run for a little over 3 hours had the fine particle count down to 8 (yep, that's right, EIGHT).
So, what's going on here????
The only thing I can think of is that the 1 micron bag on the 1HP King has a pretty good cake built up in it and the Delta 1½HP has a fresh clean bag so the bag on the King is filtering the fine particles and the Delta is just recirculating them.
Does that make sense?
...ken...
I have the Dylos 0.5/5 micron particle counter.
The dust collector is a little 1HP King with a 1 micron top bag and poly bottom bag. I have added closed-cell weather-stripping around the top and bottom of the bag tree so I have a pretty good seal for both bags. I noted during the testing that I could leave the dust collector running with the flex hose laying open on the floor for a couple of hours after machine operations and it would pull the fine particle count down into the low double digits .. typically 20 to 30 on the metre display.
I've been struggling for the past few years trying to figure out what to do about improving my dust collection in the shop. I have known for a long time that my 1HP DC - bought when I started woodworking a few years ago and knew little about woodworking and nothing about dust control - is not the answer. So, what to do? ... Well, for me the question is what to do that gets me the most effective dust control for the least cost?
I've done all the reading on Bill Pentz's site and a variety of other sources, including multiple woodworking forums. I've achieved a pretty good understanding of what I need to accomplish it. Until I got the Dylos particle counter I never had any way of determining how bad my current setup might be nor any way to tell if any changes I made were going to be effective or a waste of money.
While I was muddling around trying to figure out what do to I decided the best interim solution was a good respirator so I got a Trend Airshield a couple of years ago. It works well. So my goal became somewhat modified. While I'm machining and wearing the Airshield I really don't much care how much dust gets in the air.
So the goal became, after I shut the machines off how quickly can I get the fine dust content back down to a level that allows me to take off the respirator and work without it?
I thought my testing with my little dust collector had given me the answer .. get a single stage dust collector with 1 micron bag and better airflow to capture more of the fine dust at the source and cycle the shop air through faster after the machines are turned off so the fine dust count comes down quicker than with my little 1HP DC.
All of my research over the past couple of years indicated that the Delta 1½HP was at the top of the list for single stage dust collectors. So when it came on sale here a couple of weeks ago I bought one.
I've done a little measuring since I got it assembled and I must admit to some puzzlement at the results. Unlike my King 1HP with the 1 micron bag, which seems to be a great air cleaner, the Delta seems to be a major dust pump.
As an example, I was doing some turning yesterday. I'm using dry lumber so even with a sharp gouge there's some dust created. I'm a novice turner so I tend to rely on my scrapers a lot, which create a little more dust. I've got a piece of flex hose near the lath to suck off the dust and any shavings that get near it. That Delta 1½HP unit sure grabs the dust away from the lathe area nicely but it seems to just blow it right back into the air.
Doing this sort of operation with the 1HP collector running seemed to keep the fine particle count down below 500 on the metre display. With the Delta hooked up and running while I did the same thing, the fine particle count got up above 4500 on the metre display fairly quickly and stayed up there. Stopping the operation and leaving the Delta run for an hour made no difference. Turning off the Delta, turning on the King and leaving it run for an hour made a big difference .. pulled the fine particle count down to under 500 in an hour or so. Leaving it run for a little over 3 hours had the fine particle count down to 8 (yep, that's right, EIGHT).
So, what's going on here????
The only thing I can think of is that the 1 micron bag on the 1HP King has a pretty good cake built up in it and the Delta 1½HP has a fresh clean bag so the bag on the King is filtering the fine particles and the Delta is just recirculating them.
Does that make sense?
...ken...