Underground Dust Control system

[Thomas Marr]

When building my shop, I ran two 6" pipes under the slab. These go to day light behind my shop. I was thinking of putting a 16" 5 HP blower at this location to suck/blow the chips into a "box" I would build. I don't really want to mount a cyclone in this location because I need to park my tractor here (under the shed roof) and space will start to get tight. Anyone have any plans/examples/ideas how I can make this work? BTW, I live in the country, so the left over dust isn't a problem.

[Rob Russell]

With that sort of power, I'd think you'd need some sort of really effective chip separator ... like a cyclone ... to keep from sending big chips through the blower. Dust is one thing, but you don't want chunks making it to the impellor.

[Thomas Marr]

Hmmm. Don't most of the non-cyclone style DC's bring the chips through the impellers? I assumed so but haven't looked closely.

[Rob Russell]

You are correct about the fact that the cheaper systems send everything through the impellor, but that doesn't make it good. Maybe it doesn't make that much of a difference, but I wouldn't want the big chunks hitting my blades. With twin 6" piping, I'm guessing you'll have some pretty decent sized machinery that could create some pretty good hunks of stuff (like a shaper).

You could probably come up with some sort of big box with a baffle that captures the chunky stuff. Think of a big plywood box with a piece of plywood that hangs down. Force the air down 1 side and up the other - I'd think that would trap the biggest stuff. Make the box something easy to empty.

Just my opinions! :)

[Joe Jensen]

This guy ran a blower outside the shop and built a box with baffles inside to collect most to the chips. In use it looks like it collects almost as much as a cyclone, but I suspect it places a fair amount of resistance in the airflow.

If you go to the family woodworking forum and search for Marty Walsh. He has a long long thread in the construction forum on his workshop build. A lot of info on his dust collection starts on page 113...joe