... in a good way I mean :-)
Many of you helped me directly (responding to my questions) or indirectly (as I read so many other threads) and my DC setup is now operational and working nicely. A buddy woodworker asked me to write up some tips for him as he looks to largely copy what I've done, and I figured I'd paste it here in case it helps someone.
Disclaimers about my setup
- Probably not fully up to Pentz standards
- Intended for those budgeting to be under $1500 total
- Cobbled together and effective (as opposed to a work of art)
That said, my system does feature 3hp blower, 6" ducting to stationary machines, shop made blast gates and connections, adjustments to tool ports (e.g. 4" at router table, 6" at jointer etc.), minimal flex hose, minimal 90's, cyclone separator (Super Dust Deputy XL), Wynn environmental cartridge filter, grizzly air cleaner, a shop vac, and respirator.... and a broom
Anyways, I'm just hoping that someone lost, just getting started, or overwhelmed on the $$$ this topic can bring may find this as a useful starting point.
The pricing in the subject line assumes that you can find a 3hp DC used in the $300-400 range (which I find to be commonly true) and all other items bought new / shop made. I'm at $1500 including the new shop vac I just added even, but then I'm uncommonly "Yankee Frugal" (aka resourceful and cheap).
My email to buddy follows:
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I did a version of this, and my steps below will guide you (but you can go off script wherever you like/need). https://youtu.be/75SkuQ9oS0w
The blower will sit with suction side facing down, and exhaust side facing to wherever you want your filter to be (hopefully in “dead space” out of the way). A bracket from 2x4’s firmly affixed to studs is the goal. The blower is quite heavy, and will sit on the bracket.
The suction port currently has a 3-way 4” port on it. We want to remove that in favor of a 6” piece of PVC or a fernco. I used PVC (and some silicone caulk) to marry that port to the Super Dust Deputy XL (SDD XL).
Underneath the blower (under the suction port) is where the SDD XL will be affixed as noted above. I supported the bottom of mine with a plywood shelf with a hole cut in it. Sealed again with silicone. Aim the infeed side of the SDD XL towards your primary/main duct run.
Underneath the plywood shelf I put a 17 gallon barrel with a short piece of 6” flex duct running through the lid (again, silicone caulked too) – just enough to allow you to get the lid off. FB Marketplace to find barrel. If you have enough ceiling height to go with a bigger barrel, do it. 30 gallon would be nice. 50 gallon starts to get pretty heavy and bulky. As a point of reference, I empty mine about every 2-3 weeks (and I’m out there a lot).
The exhaust side of the blower… we’ll disassemble all those trunks/rings and ideally re-use one of the rings (without the trunk). It looks to me like it’ll attach right onto the blower exhaust as is. This will be our plenum box basically (and save us the $$ and effort of having to built a plenum box from scratch). Good read: https://wynnenv.com/filters-for-cyclones/plenum-boxes/
Cap the top by cutting a plywood circle that will fit inside the inner diameter of the ring, and affixing to a 2nd piece of ply that sits on top of the ring.
Same thing on the underside of the ring, but with a 10” hole cut. The filter will be bolted over that hole.
Under the filter, the gamma seal lid and 5 gal bucket will be your removeable fine dust catch. Buy at lowes or HD or amazon. Install like this: https://wynnenv.com/filters-for-cycl...mma-seal-lids/
To mate flex hose to PVC… cut a 6” piece of pipe, and then cut a little slit out of it so that you can perfectly fit inside a non-cut piece of pipe. This smaller diameter fits perfectly inside the flex hose, and once a host clamp is added is very strong. If you can’t picture this, I’ll show you some examples.
Note… 6” and 4” metal ducting (at lowes etc.) fits really nice with flex duct. Expensive though, and not really worth it in most situations in my opinion.
Don’t ever reduce to 2.5 inches. The smallest you ever want to go with this DC is 4”. And keep it at 6” where possible.
- 6” flex duct – 20 feet
- 4” flex duct – 20 feet
- 6” hose clamps
- 4” hose clamps
- Blast gates (or make your own.. I have some cheap bought 4” from Harbor Freight which have been fine, and made my own 6” which work great.. made from scrap for a total cost of $0)
- 100% silicone caulk (probably about 4 tubes)
- Window flashing tape (for sealing the PVC… or use silicone for this too if you like… I used 4” rubber flashing tape which is strong as hell and adds rigidity to setup)
- Pipe strap (plastic roll with holes in it used to hold pvc pipe in place)
- 6” pvc SD (sewer/drain… thinner/lighter) and fittings (opting for 45’s over 90’s wherever possible)…
- You’ll probably want a little bit of 4” too (maybe 10 feet worth) and a couple of 6 to 4 reducers
- Gamma seal bucket lid (for under filter)
- 5 gal bucket (for under filter)
- Flanged filter from Wynn – part 13F230NANO
- Read their page / watch their youtube videos
I'll post better pics later if anyone is interested, but these (for some reason sideways) work-in-progress pics will get you started
new dust runs.jpgcyclone 2.jpg
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