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View Full Version : Time to start (*cough*) thinking about dust collection



Nathan Conner
03-31-2008, 9:24 AM
These photos are from yesterday - less than an hour on the new planer, and I had run maybe 30 bf of alder through - those 5 boards on top - from 5/4 to 3/4. This was the result. I filled 11 garbage bags to overflowing with this stuff. Then took another 1/8th" off, and it was up to my ankles again.

It's seriously getting to be time to stop thinking about dust collection and just dive in. My first setup was a cheap portable DC unit and some PVC. It didn't do the trick, and I was left spending most of the time unclogging the lines. I got rid of it, and now, I'm relegated to wearing a mask, cleaning the shop after (and often during) every project to stay safe and sane.

So, it's time to bite the bullet and get out the wallet. No, I won't ask for advice, because I've seen loads, and done some homework on it. I just know it will be a good amount of work and money to get a fairly quiet, low-maintenance system installed and functional. I'll check out some of the better companies and start laying out a little addition to the shop - might as well move the compressor while I'm at it, right?

Anyhow. That's a LOT of planer shavings. I had no idea.

Don Bullock
03-31-2008, 9:32 AM
Nathan, that sight looks somewhat familiar. I had a much smaller pile the first time I fired up my planer and quickly came to the same conclusion.;) It's definitely a machine that makes a huge mess without a DC and a vacuum just won't keep up with it. Good luck in your search for the DC system that will fit your needs. I'll be watching for more posts on what you select and how well it works. Thanks to the bank accepting my offer on a house, I'm about a year away from being able to install my own permanent DC system in a new shop.:D

Chuck Saunders
03-31-2008, 9:43 AM
I think you are needing a scoop shovel and a broom.

JohnT Fitzgerald
03-31-2008, 9:51 AM
There are shavings in there? I was too busy checking out your planer, table saw, and drum sander ;)

seriously - a DC is a good idea. as soon as I manage to 'reclaim' my workshop area from all the other stuff that gets there, a DC is going to be a priority. Keep us posted on what you get and the installation.

Nathan Conner
03-31-2008, 10:01 AM
I was too busy checking out your planer, table saw, and drum sander ;)

I hate like the dickens to admit it, but that planer is just TOO BIG for my shop. It was funny. It didn't look that big in the showroom. But it's a monster, and though it snickered at me and then hogged through that Alder like it was tissue paper, and there's no snipe to speak of, it's sort of like driving a tractor trailer rig from the dining room to the kitchen to get more corn flakes. A bit of overkill. It was nice to run the 19" tops to these bedside tables (that's what's on order from SWMBO this week) through in one pass and have them done, but I know I have other methods of getting work done.

I got suckered by the "WOW" factor and the "I gotta have it" bug. My little DeWalt wasn't ever out-pacing my shop vac. This thing would blow the top off the shop vac and toss the pieces in the next county. So, yeah, I'll talk to the good folks at Oneida and see what they can whip up for me. As long as I'm into overkill, I might as well get a 75 HP, 5-story DC monster with 14" ducting and exchange the air in my little hobby shop in 2.4 seconds.

The great thing was, I "needed" SWMBO's help running these boards through - while I cleared the port of chips by hand. By the end of the run, she was begging me to install a DC system. :rolleyes:

Art Mulder
03-31-2008, 12:38 PM
...I had run maybe 30 bf of alder through - those 5 boards on top - from 5/4 to 3/4. This was the result. I filled 11 garbage bags to overflowing with this stuff. Then took another 1/8th" off, and it was up to my ankles again.

Eleven?! I think you need to find larger garbage bags. :p Looks like 2 or maybe 3 of the large "contractor" garbage bags that I hang on my 2HP DC unit.

Greg Funk
03-31-2008, 12:48 PM
Maybe next time you'll use that nice bandsaw to go from 5/4 to 3/4" boards. That should cut down on your shavings...

Ted Jay
03-31-2008, 1:05 PM
I hate like the dickens to admit it, but that planer is just TOO BIG for my shop. ...


Nathan,
Just give me the word and I'll come take it off your hands... I've got the keys to the truck in my hand..........!!!:rolleyes:

Ted

Jules Dominguez
03-31-2008, 9:42 PM
Did you consider re-sawing, or did you just want to give the new planer a workout and see what it can do?
I'd normally resaw first and then touch up with the planer to save wear on the planer blades, if I were taking that much wood off.

David Freed
04-17-2008, 7:23 PM
Good title. All that dust in the air is really hard on the lungs. I couldn't imagine running my planer without a dust collector.

Jerome Hanby
04-18-2008, 9:28 AM
I was wondering if there was a reason not to resaw. Not sure what I would do with 1/4 - 3/8" thick alder, but I'm so cheap that the emotional backlash from all those shavings would be terrible:D


Did you consider re-sawing, or did you just want to give the new planer a workout and see what it can do?
I'd normally resaw first and then touch up with the planer to save wear on the planer blades, if I were taking that much wood off.

Nathan Conner
04-18-2008, 11:29 AM
Was pretty simple - case-hardening. I have resawn a handful of pieces of this alder, and it resaws great, but I already have a bunch of 1/4 - 1/2" planks left over from other projects. After building a handful of birdhouses and some other things from the scraps, and being as I only paid about $.50 a board for each of these, AND I haven't let the planer stretch its legs, yet...I thought a good planing was in order.

But I have resawn some, and it does work pretty well. But it's fairly case-hardened (probably why I got it so cheap) so it's a royal pain to figure out what to do with a bunch of warped and twisty, too-thin boards. Maybe re-glue them in a bended form and make something interesting? Make "whackers" out of them? Intentionally-crappy-looking-siding? Cut and glue them into huge ugly blocks for turning? I don't know.

And, I have a new DC I picked up via CL - there's another thread going on that misadventure, so this may never be a problem again... (*fingers crossed*)