dust collectors

[Jack Burgess]

Sure Dean, the specifications are probably false.

I tested a couple of single stage collectors and found that they delivered less than half of their claimed airflow with nothing connected to them.

You need a system curve from the manufacturer which includes the filters, so that you can then decide if it matches your shop requirements.

You start by doing a shop layout, including the airflow requirements of your machines. Once you have that, the static pressure and flow required from the collector can be calculated taking into account your pipe lengths, diameters, elbows etc.

Once the requirements have been calculated you look at the system curves for the dust collector and determine if it can be used.

As another poster indicated, somewhere around 800 CFM is often what you need for a hobby shop.

The tablesaw is often the largest user, around 500 to 600 CFM for under blade and 200 to 300 CFM for over blade dust collection results in about 800 CFM for the saw.

Regards, Rod.

Rod, sounds like you have done lots of research. Could you advise on a setup currently using two separate HD floor vacs connected to vortex collector drum. each drum has 6' flex hose which is manually connected to the various tools. Three on each side of wall. Shop is only 7 x 15 (1/3 of garage). Enterance door on one end and garage door on other end. would cyclone system be better and how would I evacuate it. Cannot find a 1 micon bag. Also trying to get a flow-thru in shop and little info is available from manufs. Would appreciate any recommendations. PaPa Jack

[Jim Andrew]

Jack, shop vacs work for hand held tools like a random orbit sander, if you have a hose connected to the sander. Dust collectors are for machines, and they move a whole lot more air. You need filters that get the fines from the air to keep the air healthy, so the finer the filter, the better for you. For a small shop, you still need a fairly large dust collector, if you want to avoid breathing in dust. Bill Pentz advocates a pretty expensive system, but he has had problems with his health from the dust in his shop. Google Bill Pentz, he has a lot of info online.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hello Jack, are you using a vacuum cleaner to power the dust collection?

A vacuum can perform dust collection for something like a portable sander or router, however it won't have enough airflow for adequate dust collection from machinery.

regards, Rod.