Is dust collection it's own sub hobby now?

[Tom Dixon]

For me, dust collection has been a project to complete. An aspect of the construction of my dream shop. The one I plan to spend my retirement years in creating beautiful wood things. Up until I moved where I live now, dust collection was a 2HP G0548 with a couple 10' hoses and a rigid shop vac. Once I started planning building my dream shop, (after a 4 year hiatus without any shop), dust collection became an integral part of the overall plan. It took over 2, almost 3 years, to go from empty new shop building to having a well planned and executed DC system installed to meet my machine workflow pattern. Over the last 8 months I built an external insulated shed to house the cyclone, installed the cyclone and then installed all the spiral ducting. Now that I have all the major stuff done it is an absolute pleasure to work in an almost dust free shop. I can't imagine needing to spend any more time making a hobby out of tweaking my setup. Unless I add a machine beyond my existing plan, my focus will be elsewhere. However, I did spend a pile of money to "do it right the first time" because I saved specifically for what I had planned and waited until I was ready to execute in full and even that took 8 months to complete from start to finish.

I think a lot of the "dust collection hobbyists" just can't afford to do it all at once and feel they need to, so it is always an ongoing project to improve what they have and therefore becomes a quest to obtain a better system than what can initially be acquired. If you are constantly tweaking on the cheap it becomes a way of life. I made do with a $500 "gud nuff" DC for a lot of years before I finally pulled the trigger to get it all. Man was it worth the wait.

[Mike Rambour]

for me, it was a pandora's box, once opened it was hard to stop. I have never had a DC in my shop, just a shop vac for the last 40 years. I got a new table saw to replace my Unisaw, there was nothing wrong with my Unisaw except it had a 52" fence and I decided that I no longer needed that since I purchased a track saw for sheet goods, so I got the 36" saw and decent casters (the Unisaw had no casters, very stationary). The Unisaw had no dust collection port, it just dumped the sawdust on the floor, the SawStop came with a dust port and i started looking into a DC. I quickly went from a Harbor Fright one to Oneida to Clear Vue and the price went up each time I thought about it. I went from around $500 to $3,500 once the ducting was done and the price was still climbing as I was adding things when I finally put the brakes on.

I ended up finding a used Oneida 3HP Dust Gorilla and ducted it with cheap Home Depot ducting, quite happy for 4 days, it really sucked (in a good way) and then the cheap ducting collapsed, so now I am putting in proper ducting. Dust Collection is a part of the hobby but for me at least it was super easy to go "just a little better" over and over again until it was stupid expensive.

The good part about the used unit i bought, i am using the old filter that came with it for Bondo work on the car and saving the new filters for woodwork as soon as I paint the car.

[Frank Pratt]

I'm enjoying this thread, which is really more about the psychology of a hobby than it is about dust collection. It's nice to have a hobby with so many interesting diversions to it. To bad it's so damned expensive

[jeff norris 2011]

Woodworkers in general seem to be a clever lot. Certainly there is a sampling of us who would rather talk numbers than real-world results. Others find "good enough" to be measured in 8ths while others use 128ths. Some of us like to build shops and are constantly rearranging and improving them but, never make anything more involved than a cutting board. It's all good.

I recall a thread, I think it was here . . . A store owner had a customer that came in regularly and bought all sorts of machines, supplies, accessories, etc. etc. Finally the store owner asked the guy what sort of furniture he made. The guy seemed a little embarrassed as he explained that he hadn't made anything yet. The store owner never saw him again.

I for one, am fine with any take on the craft you want to use your time and money on. Knock yourself out and have some fun.

I hope my first post did not come off as criticism of any one. Not my intent. Being tinkerer is a great hobby.

[Jim Andrew]

Most of my career, did not have any dust collection. When I retired, decided to read up on table saws, and find the best one for my use. Got rid of my old table saw and jointer, and bought bigger better. Decided I needed a DC system, came back to the forum to read up on all the choices to make. This forum has cost me a lot of money, but I also have a much nicer shop.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I made the jump early last year to upgrade my original Delta 1.5 HP with 30-micron top bag. I was tired of sneezing out a nose full of dust after running the DC, no matter which tool it was hooked up to. Often my airways would stay dusty well into the night even after a hot shower. No bueno.

First I hung a Jet air cleaner overhead, and that would clear the air after the leaky white bag blasted all the sub-30-micron dust into the shop. The dust didn’t last with the Jet running on high, but it would fill the air before getting cleared. Something still had to change. 30 microns is big when it’s in the air you breathe.

Along came the Super Dust Deputy, Wynn 1-micron* filter, 30 ft of 4” PVC pipe, lots of 45° pipe fittings, and shop-made blast gates. Lots of design/layout time locating a dropdown for every tool. Choosing a pipe hanging method. Choosing the bucket. Then came the dismantling and hanging the DC components and system construction. Weeks later, there it was.

Now there’s no noticeable dust coming out of the Wynn, and if there is any it blows right into the Jet’s intake filter. The table saw still kicks up dust and bits on thin rips, but that’s the only particle invasion I have anymore. If I can figure out an effective above-table dust catcher, I’ll add that someday.

With the Deputy in line, I use the system to suck up a foot-tall benchful of shavings after hand planing. It’s fun watching all that stuff just float away. At the end of the session, the floor gets swept and then sucked clean.

Yes, the DC is loud. But after all, I mostly only use it when I’m running a power tool anyway, when I’m already wearing my high-dB earmuffs. Using the muffs for just the dust system is not a bother.

Not only do I admire my handiwork every time I switch on the dust system, but I also love the clear nostrils — not because I think dust is some kind of imminent killer health risk, but because a dusty nose is unpleasant.

*Filter rating is MERV 15: traps 85 to 94% of particles between 0.3 and 1.0 micron. Also traps bacteria!

[Andrew More]

The table saw still kicks up dust and bits on thin rips, but that’s the only particle invasion I have anymore. If I can figure out an effective above-table dust catcher, I’ll add that someday.

These overarm collectors seem to work decently. This one is from General Internation, but I've seen similar designs from Grizzly, and SawStop.

[David Justice]

I'm a full time furniture maker and DC is just another tool to me. I just want one that works and I don't have to think about, not something to spend any more time on than I need to. Like other tools that usually means it's going to be expensive, but that's OK, I'll gladly pay for the convenience and the time back to actually make furniture.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Andrew, The photos always look nice, but I never seem to see video of them under working conditions. I did see a YouTube video once where all kinds of dust still came out under the bottom edge of the unit.

[Rod Sheridan]

Andrew, The photos always look nice, but I never seem to see video of them under working conditions. I did see a YouTube video once we are all kinds of dust still came out under the bottom edge of the unit.

Once I went to over blade dust collection I no longer had to empty out the saw dust from my apron pockets.

The particle counter showed huge improvements as well............Rod.

[Jim Becker]

Dust collection is one of those things that we all have the constant opportunity to try and improve, so yes, sometimes it can seem like it's a "quest of its own". But that's honestly not such a terrible thing unless, of course, the dust producing side of activities stops happening.

[John Makar]

I don't know the motivations of other shop owners, other than what they post here. What I find interesting is when someone else posts exactly what I am thinking in exactly the same words that I use. Thanks for the tip on the PC20. I also don't have room, and probably would have bought it or similar. Do let me know when you solve that problem.

[Andrew More]

Andrew, The photos always look nice, but I never seem to see video of them under working conditions. I did see a YouTube video once we are all kinds of dust still came out under the bottom edge of the unit.

Here's the collector in action. Rob Cosman seems to think it's worth the cost, despite having some issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxmeTNhHPkU

More DIY version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HbHtmY138

It also depends quite a bit on the cut being made. Some cuts are better than others at throwing dust into the cabinet.

Finally some blades seem better than others. Most blade teeth strike the wood flat, but I've got a Frued blade that has slanted teeth, so that when the blade cares the dust into the cabinet it throws it off the blade once it exits the wood. A flatter tooth would carry more of the dust around with it, flinging it up in the air as it exits the saw cabinet.

If you want to argue that they aren't useful I'm going to respectfully disagree. If you want to argue they don't collect all the dust, I think we're mostly in agreement. However, I find that with almost all the dust collection shrouds for my equipment. No perfect dust collection.

[jeff norris 2011]

Here's the collector in action. Rob Cosman seems to think it's worth the cost, despite having some issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxmeTNhHPkU

Any one else notice the rob has a 4" drop and then runs 4" above and below the saw? His table dust collection would go way up with a 6" drop.

[Bob Jones 5443]

If you want to argue that they aren't useful I'm going to respectfully disagree. If you want to argue they don't collect all the dust, I think we're mostly in agreement. However, I find that with almost all the dust collection shrouds for my equipment. No perfect dust collection.

I'll argue the latter with you. I would also say that having any kind of collector shield will keep bits from flying up into your face. So I'll very likely mod something up this year. We're in active agreement.