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Thread: Dust collection questions.

  1. #1

    Dust collection questions.

    How effective are the dust collection systems? Are any really very effective for a lathe?


    I am new to turning. I turn in a pretty large two car garage and dust gets all over the place even very far away- 25 feet. I guess much of it is produced when I power sound without oiling the pieces as some people do. I am not worried about the shavings which I sweep up and I wear a dust mask.

    I have an old one horsepower PSI system with a filter bag and a pre-filter thing into a garbage can. I had initially used just the 4 inch hose as an intake and then switched to a big gulp hood but did not seem to have enough suction for it so now use a smaller hood next to the turning. But still dust everywhere. I can see when I power sand, the dust going into the air and not being sucked up.

    Would a two horsepower canister system with a big gulp hood near the turning suck in much more of the dust? If people thing this would work, what brand would they recommend? What else do you recommend if this will not work or is there really no great solution? Are the canister systems much better than the filter bags?

    Also, should I leave an external door open when turning for more airflow? I do not have the lather near the garage door or the other external door so I cannot just blow everything out.

    Thanks for the help, David

  2. #2
    I use a large shop vac with a 2 or 2.5" hose (can't remember offhand). When positioned close to the workpiece, it's very effective at sucking up the dust. I'm not sure if the advantage comes from the distance from the end of the hose (a few inches) or the higher air speed from the smaller hose, but it really works well.

    I don't think most dust collectors have the power to effectively catch dust from large hoods or long distances from the mouth of the hose.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    I think the DC is more important for sanding than turning but that's me. Getting an air filtration system is a good investment.
    Don

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    I can't make any recommendations other that what I have in my shop since besides a time with a shop vac that is my total experience. I installed a 5 hp ClearVue cyclone and ran 6" ducts through the shop. The one at the lathe comes down the wall into ClearVue's box with two 4" blast gates. One has the flex hose positionable at the lathe as I need it. The other goes to a shop vac hose to let me easily clean up shavings around the lathe.

    Besides using the cleanup hose, I find a dust collector pretty much worthless for sucking up chips and shaving as you make them.

    However, I find it extremely valuable for sucking up sanding dust as I make it, in particular when sanding spindles. I have watched fine dust move towards the smaller gulp hood (on a 4" flex hose) and get sucked in from over a foot away. It will also suck up small kittens, bottles of CA glue, and any sandpaper you don't hold tightly.

    I see no value in keeping an external door open for more airflow unless some big fans were positioned to move air through the shop, past the lathe, and outside.

    I don't know about the bag systems these days but I've read horrible things about them in the past, specifically how they collect the chips and coarse sawdust just fine but pass the very fine and damaging dust right back to your lungs. I use a Dylos laser particulate air quality monitor to keep up with the state of the shop air I breathe.

    Some people, including my friend Paul, recommend setting up the lathe directly in front of a large wall fan that exhausts outside into the yard. He cut a big hole in his garage wall for the fan. It will pick up all the chips, shavings, and sanding dust. It will also blow all the warm or cool air out of the shop if you condition your space.

    BTW, I quit power sanding for larger turnings years ago except on very rare occasions. Instead, I learned to sharpen my tools and develop the control to make cleaner cuts and then use curved hand-held scrapers as needed on tool marks that remain after shear scraping. Nearly all the sanding I do now is by hand with the lathe off (and with the grain, as I was taught in shop class in 1962.) On the occasions where hand sanding is too tedious I use the compact Grex pneumatic random orbital sander with 2" disks running at a very low speed. I still wear a dust mask with all sanding. I know several people who didn't who are now doing something other than woodturning and doing it with more trouble breathing.

    JKJ

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    I'm with John and others on this. The dust collector is great, for me, when I sand. This is especially true because I sand in reverse and it throws the dust right into the chute. When turning I don't bother, the shavings are far too heavy and would clog the metal screen that protects the impeller. I don't use it to clean up the shavings either. I sweep them up and shovel them into a garbage can. I then use the DC or shop vac to grab the smaller stuff that remains. I pretty much wear a dust mask all the time in the shop now, even with DC. My tools aren't high-end enough that collection at the source is good enough for that. I too share a garage with my shop, and I haven't found a way to eliminate the dust coating. I just live with it. It's man glitter after all. Wear it with pride.
    USMC '97-'01

  6. #6
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    I to use a DC and Always use it for sanding anything! Also very important is a good air filtration unit like a jet or many others as it is the very very small particles we don`t see that can do the most harm in the long term.
    I may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

  7. #7
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    I've been happy with my 2hp HF DC, once I installed the Wynn canister filter. It catches to .5 micron vs. the 5 micron with the standard bag filter.

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Brouillette View Post
    I've been happy with my 2hp HF DC, once I installed the Wynn canister filter. It catches to .5 micron vs. the 5 micron with the standard bag filter.
    +1 on the HF 2 hp D.C. With the Wynn Environmental canister filter ( I got the nano version) and a good cyclone system to collect the bigger stuff, it pulls Most all the sanding dust through a 4 " hose with a small (4" x 10") collector fitting. Even with that, I'm still installing an ambient filter and wear a Trend AirSield pro when sanding.
    The 2 hp D.C. At HF is the best piece of equipment they sell. IMHO the majority of HFtools are less Han stellar performers, but this one is a gem with the upgraded filters.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
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    Some thoughts:
    1. I am wondering what the specs are for the PSI filters. On the HF 2 HP DC, they only filter down to 5 micron. If the PSI filters are similar, it is possible that a fair portion of the dust is coming through the filters.
    2. If David is turning kiln dried hardwood glue-ups, they'll produce more fine dust that may be "aimed" away from the suction point. This dust generation would be magnified if David was doing a bunch of scraping (especially if with dull or less than razor sharp tools).
    3. My Big gulp hood is a bit too large - I have better dust collection with a smaller one.
    4. I do most of my sanding in reverse. My light is above and it helps me see the stream of dust and adjust my sanding position where most of the dust is able to go in to the suction hood.

  10. #10
    Another vote on lathe dust collection being fairly effective. I use one of those clear plastic dust hoods (4" port) on my 2HP cyclone dust collection system. I use it not just for sanding but also while turning dry wood in order to collect the dust/fine particles that get thrown off. And the more shavings it happens to suck up the better! My shop is in the basement so I try hard to keep the dust minimized.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    I also have good results with dust collection at the lathe. It does take a large dust collector to be effective. I have a 5hp Clearvue with a 6" duct going to the top of my lathe. I built a wooden enclosure that covers the bottom, back, left side behind the headstock, and half of the top surface. It effectively becomes a giant big gulp collector. Sanding dust goes straight towards the DC. Chips are too heavy to get sucked up. I have to clean them up by hand.

    Steve

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