Dust Collection System - Narrowing Down Options

[John Akerblom]

Hey everybody,

I have a relatively small, two car garage workshop running a DP, Lathe, Table Saw, Bandaw, and a lot of hand tools. I work with a lot of exotic woods, carbon fiber, epoxy, and other super-toxic materials. I am planning on getting a cyclone-style Dust Collection system that vents outside (I live in Southern California so temperature is not a problem).

Generally speaking, I prefer overkill, and don't really wanna use one of the portable systems that usually vents some fine dust even through their fancy cartridges. Also, although I'm not running any machines with huge demands, I need strong airflow to catch really fine dust (especially the toxic stuff).

I included a picture of my workshop setup. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I'm still trying to figure out which brand I need, how many HP I need, etc.
I tried to figure out my needs at my longest run, but my results didn't make any sense, so I'm reaching out.

Important Factors:

1. Intake Port and Exhaust Port can be adjusted/rotated (necessary). I want to be able to exhaust at about a 90 degree angle to the intake, and don't want to install a system only to find that it is not configured how I need it.
2. Powerful enough to catch really fine dust from most operations.
3. Volume. The quieter the better.
a. In this same vein, I am planning on exhausting outside, and want to come up with a way to keep the noise transferred outside as low as possible (I have neighbors with small kids). I was thinking about running an exhaust pipe lined with some sound-dampening material along the inside of my garage and then having a joint take it outside.
4. Size. - Without the filters, it seems like I will be able to fit most systems in the corner of my garage, though it will be a tight fit. I'll rig up a mobile base for my DP and Bandsaw so I can pull them out to open space if necessary.

Also, I plan on using 6" S & D ducting with gradual bends (or 2 45degree bends) at each dropdown. Most of the dropdowns, including the longest run to the tablesaw will be split into two 4" ports.

Dust Collector Setup PDF-page-001.jpg

[Jebediah Eckert]

I started the process myself and have talked to Oneida. They are very helpful on the phone. If you send them that picture they will figure what size they recommend for free and you can take it from there. You can pay like $250 and they will design the whole system, if you buy it from them they credit he $250 back. If you order the unit up front they will then design it for free, same end result both ways.

[Jim Becker]

I'm also an Oneida fan and it's been good for my shop dust collection needs. They are one of the few manufacturers that can also design to handle both your big tools and your smaller tools if you want to collect from them. (small tools have different collection characteristics than larger tools)

[Jim Dwight]

I guess it depends some on how toxic and how much it affects you. I don't think that Bill Pentz's ideas are necessary for all of us but it might be for you if the material is truly something you have to avoid. Bill is allergic or something and needs to keep his exposure near zero.

The opposite way to look at it (or another way to look at it) is that our environment is inherently dusty and our bodies are built to deal with it, at least to a point. So if your shop is no more dusty than the outside environment, it's probably clean enough.

You will end up with different sized systems depending on what your goal is. But if you truly want near zero exposure, visiting Bill's website is somewhat advisable. I say somewhat because he pushes the clearvue cyclone pretty hard and says other systems are junk. I don't think that is true at all and it calls into question his other "data". But I still think he has useful information. Just take it with a grain of salt.

My only exposure to Oneida is my little dust deputy cyclone on my shop vacuum. It works GREAT! If I put a DC in my current little shop it will probably be the HF "2hp" motor/fan pulling through an Oneida super dust deputy and exhausting outside. I think this is the best bang for the buck. But I am confident it will not meet Pentz's airflow standards.

[William Batdorf]

Hi John,
I'm new to SMC but thought I'd share this with you...there is a YouTube channel called "The Down to Earth Woodworker" and he posts a 4-part video series about his quest for a small shop dust collection system. In a very comprehensive manner he goes through his selection process, installation, and performance testing. All-in-all the four videos total about 1-1/2 hours of good content. I would encourage you to seek them out. I found them to be well done and pretty useful.

[Ole Anderson]

Why S&D pipe? You are limiting yourself to 4" and 6" pipe when for some situations 5" and 7" is the right size. Ah, but when I look at your layout with fairly short runs, 6" will probably work fine. Another Oneida fan here, go with the 3 hp SDG and you will have plenty of overkill on your smaller layout, and if you ever move to a bigger shop, you can relocate it.

[Jim Andrew]

If I were starting over, would not consider any dust collector less than 3hp, and with the biggest impeller a 3hp motor can turn. The cyclone is great because it will collect almost all of the chips and dust, and if your neighbors are close by, you do not want to be blowing dust into their yard.

[Dick Mahany]

I am an Oneida fan and had a 3 car shop/garage in the SF Bay area. I used a 240V - 3HP V-system that fit under my overhead garage door track. Plumbed with 6" thinwall PVC sewer drain and worked perfectly. Measured with Dwyer instrumentation for velocity and CFM flow and was excellent All of my tools ( Bandsaw, Unisaw, Jointer/Planer combo, drum sander, spindle sander, router table, and more) had to be on mobile bases as the shop also housed several vehicles. This system worked wonderfully. I'm sure there are many other options, but here's an option to consider......https://picasaweb.google.com/dmshops...ustCollection#

[Terry Hatfield]

I am an Oneida fan and had a 3 car shop/garage in the SF Bay area. I used a 240V - 3HP V-system that fit under my overhead garage door track. Plumbed with 6" thinwall PVC sewer drain and worked perfectly. All of my tools had to be on mobile bases as the shop also housed several vehicles. This system worked wonderfully. I'm sure there are many other options, but here's an option to consider......https://picasaweb.google.com/dmshops...ustCollection#

Love your shop, Dick. Your system looks great. I enjoyed your photos.

[mike mcilroy]

I have a similar size shop and have the Grizzly 3HP cyclone. I know from the responses and older posts that Oneida is great too. I just wanted to say for the table saw, if you go with the 3HP, that I enlarge the 4" port to 6" and also made an over blade port 4" drop reduced to 3" and 3HP handles both well, so your overkill theory does give some more capabilities.

[Robert Engel]

I think you have a pretty good handle on things.

When I vented outside it made a huge diff and I only have a 1 1/2HP unit.
A probably should have a 3HP blower. For your setup, a 2HP unit would work but bigger is always better.
Oneida has a design service and they will credit the fee on a purchase.

There really isn't that much noise its like a much louder dryer vent noise.
I think if you located the vent pipe close to the ground and made a baffle it would be quite acceptable but you'll have to play with it.

If you're dealing with toxic dust I strongly recommend a respirator even with DC.

[Andrew Ulsher]

I am an Oneida fan and had a 3 car shop/garage in the SF Bay area. I used a 240V - 3HP V-system that fit under my overhead garage door track. Plumbed with 6" thinwall PVC sewer drain and worked perfectly. Measured with Dwyer instrumentation for velocity and CFM flow and was excellent All of my tools ( Bandsaw, Unisaw, Jointer/Planer combo, drum sander, spindle sander, router table, and more) had to be on mobile bases as the shop also housed several vehicles. This system worked wonderfully. I'm sure there are many other options, but here's an option to consider......https://picasaweb.google.com/dmshops...ustCollection#

What was your airflow like on your worse run? How does it handle the drum sander? Any issues with a clogged filter?

[Dick Mahany]

What was your airflow like on your worse run? How does it handle the drum sander? Any issues with a clogged filter?

I used a home made sling tube manometer to measure static pressure and a Dwyer 8904 anemometer for velocity measurements. This system would suck up a 12' Stanley tape measure at the end of the longest run (as I found out by accident). SP ranged from 7.2" to 5.6" WC at the longest run (the system baseline measured 11.3" with all gates closed and filter installed). Velocity ranged from 7064 to 6164 FPM at the longest run. My drum sander was modified for a 6" exhaust and the HEPA filter went from <1" (essentially clean) to over 3"WC after about 3 hours of sanding cutting boards. Oneida warns not to let the filters get over 5"WC back pressure, so the drum sander was by far the most taxing tool on the system. I put an inline minihelic in front of the HEPA filter to keep an eye on it to avoid clogging.