Fellas, looking for a little straight talk on dust collection piping. I know that solid smooth bore piping with a minimum diameter of 6" is preferred but how much would I really be giving up by going with the 6" flex hose wire stuff? I'd need to run about a 7' main branch from my 2hp DC to my jointer/planer/bandsaw. I'd then have 6" horizontal drops down to the machines with 4' lengths of 4" pipe connecting to the actual machine dust ports.
6" PVC solid pipe will be a pain to hunt down around here, whereas my local LV stocks the smooth bore spiral stuff.
Here are a few pictures of the machine room half of my shop. Ignore the 18BX it's just taking a nap. The DC will be tucked away in the corner once I've had a chance to take down all the wooden racking.
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