Which metal pipe for Cyclone and where to buy?

[Charles Davis]

Used to run a pretty weak delta portable DC system... had a small amount of PVC ducting. I just upgraded to a 2HP cyclone and wondering what's the best route for choosing metal ducting/fittings (spiral pipe, snap-loc HVAC, etc..) and where to get decent prices. I'm guess in that my local lowes/HD has this material at a reasonable price... I guess I'll be looking for spiral pipe and a metal crimper (and duct tape to seal up connections... or do joining with rivets do a better job?

I wonder... sould it be better to outfit myself with pipe and materials from psiwoodworking or some other company?

Basically where would you go to purhcase the necessary materials and what type of metalwoorking would you use to join the pipe... I guess I'll be running as much 6" pipe from the DC and the very ends of the branching bring it down 4"...

Thanks
Charles

[Robert Chapman]

I used crimped pipe secured with 2 or 3 sheet metal screws and caulked with a clear silicon caulk. works for me.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Charles, I bought most of my pipe from Onieda, which was good stuff. Of course I didn't order everything I needed, and decided to just get a few things from Home Depot to finish up. There is a huge difference in the quality. Buy the good stuff from Onieda, or one of the other manufacturers. The fittings are also far better from Onieda.

I used self tapping screws and that alumanized smooth duct tape. It works fantastic, and looks really good as well.

The only real metal working you need to do if you use the prefab wyes and elbows (Onieda again), is some cutting. Make sure to get few more of the male couplers then you think you need, and it is fairly easy.

Personally, I wouldn't drop all the way to 4". If you need a 4" connection, just make an adapter to fit your 5" drop. Most 4" tools will benefit from being adapted to 5" as well. If you do 4", you"ve limited your growth.

[Thomas Pender]

Spiral pipe is expensive and I do not understand its benefits. Others may. I used regular 6", 7" ductwork piping that comes flat and that you snap or fold together and seal it with a good clear caulk. (Assembly is not always easy, but you will get the knack.) (You can cut it with tin snips and comes in all kinds of lengths.) Also, aluminium adhesive ductape is also important - there are some joints that this works best on. Having a crimper is good and buy good sheet metal screws and do not be afraid to start some of them with a shap drill.

I bought ductwork from Oneida a little after my Gorilla and have been satisfied with it. They sell wonderful wyes - that can be 7" coming in and 6" and 5" coming out or even 7, 5, 5. (They also sell great reducers, you name it.) When I was looking for the stuff I also found that some local sheet metal shops make great stuff, but they only sell in the trade - so if you have a friend in the HVAC business he can get you the stuff cheaper and good quality. Fit is tougher than you might think - the box places sell ductwork, but the stuff is out of tolerance (IMO) and doesn't marry up to good stuff. (The reducers, wyes, pipe, and blastgates from Oneida all worked with one another and as did the ductwork stuff I got later from a HVAC friend and used to help another friend do his setup.)

Also, from the drop to the wood working machine you may want to use flexible hose and clamps (buy a little more - better safe than sorry). (I like to see the chips and dust move - makes me feel I am getting what I paid for.) The stuff I got from Oneida was first rate - I mean tough and elastic as could be. I have also bought good stuff from Grizzly.

BTW - ductwork is a learning experience. I found the advice from Oneida (on the webpage) to be reliable - I especially appreciated the advice to run the pipe a few feet out from the cyclone in a straight line before turning or reducing it - it really makes it suck better. Grizzly also gives out great info.

[Jeff Duncan]

I ran all metal in my shop but I had to, no PVC option for me. I use self tapping metal screws for duct and then hvac tape over. Silicone and rivets could work but it's gonna be a pain when you decide to move a machine:eek:
good luck,
JeffD

[Charles Davis]

Thanks for all the helpful replies... Checked out Oneida's site and like what I see... now I need to plan the layout... The Grizzly cyclone that I've ordered has a 7" intake so I presume I should try to use 7" as far as possible before reducing to 4" at the machines.... maybe a 7" main run with 6" branches followed by 6-4 reducers... with just a short piece of 4" pipe to accommodate the blast gates that I already have... and then flex hose to the machines...

Hopefully an immediate elbow off the collector won't diminish pressure that much... it's the only arrangement that really works with my small shop.

I know this stuff is a science... hopefully I luck out!

Thanks guys,
Charles

[Thomas Pender]

If there is any way to convert some of the 4" to 5" (on the machines) I would. Other than that, try and run the largest size as close to the machine as you can. If you run the 7" several feet out and than reduce using a 7,6,6 wye with 6" pipe to near the tool and then reduce it before or after the blast gate from 6 to 5 than 4. (They also sell 7,5,5 wyes.)

[Stephen Palmieri]

Used to run a pretty weak delta portable DC system... had a small amount of PVC ducting. I just upgraded to a 2HP cyclone and wondering what's the best route for choosing metal ducting/fittings (spiral pipe, snap-loc HVAC, etc..) and where to get decent prices. I'm guess in that my local lowes/HD has this material at a reasonable price... I guess I'll be looking for spiral pipe and a metal crimper (and duct tape to seal up connections... or do joining with rivets do a better job?

I wonder... sould it be better to outfit myself with pipe and materials from psiwoodworking or some other company?

Basically where would you go to purhcase the necessary materials and what type of metalwoorking would you use to join the pipe... I guess I'll be running as much 6" pipe from the DC and the very ends of the branching bring it down 4"...

Thanks
Charles

I just went through this myself. I ended up getting 26 gauge snap-lock from a local HVAC supplier. I did look at Home Depot and in my area, they carry 26 gauge but in 5' they only carry 30 gauge which I felt was to thin. You really have to shop around and price things out. The company I purchased the snap-lock from wanted almost $50 for an 8x8x6 wye and I was able to find them elsewhere for $28 and the crimp was on the correct end. I ended up spending a lot less then I would have if I bought from the online suppliers. Oneida for example also wants $50 for an 8x8x6 wye . I understand it may be heavy gauge and have the joint sealed but in the interest of keeping the cost down I can seal the joint myself and I didn't feel the heavy gauge was necessary.

Since I had never worked with sheet metal I was a little apprehensive but now that I'm almost done, I find I actually enjoy working with it. The only tools I used were my jigsaw with a metal cutting blade (very quick for cutting the pipe), a crimping tool, a drill and a pop rivet gun. So far I've got the duct in place but still need to go back and seal all the joints.

[Dave Bender]

The metal from Oneida was comparable cost wise to local sources so I went with Oneida. Since you have a 2HP machine there's no need to go with the heavy duty fittings. Snap lock, adjustable elboes, some wye's and blastgates and you're all set. For attachment I used rivets and silicone caulk. It's dead easy to change if you need to (aluminum rivets are very easy to drill out). I used air tools from HP to make life easier (riveter, air drill, shears).

As for sizing a 7" main on the Grizzly sounds like my Oneida 2HP Commercial. You'll want to run a small straight section of 7" then two adjustable 7" elboes to get the run up to the ceiling, followed by a small section of 7" into a 7x6x6 wye to get your branches going (I'm assuming 2 branches for three use a 7x6x6 followed by a 6x6x6). From there you can run 6" all the way to the blast gates or run 6" along the ceiling and make 5" drops, terminating in 5" blast gates and 5" flex. Convert to 4" at the machine. Since I run a Euro combo and need hookup flexability I went with Nordfab fittings (a bit pricy) on the machines, flex hose, and at the blast gate.