Dust collection - to bag or not to bag

[Charles Coolidge]

So I emptied the ridiculously thick plastic bag in my cyclone drum recently. So thick the bag didn't get sucked down into the drum well so the drum really wasn't full. Lacking another bag I ended up dumping the thick bag into a 32 gallon trash bag for disposal. It dawned on me, why even use a bag? If I'm going to dump the drum anyway just collect chips in the bare drum.

Thoughts?

[Andrew More]

You could do something to hold the bag down. I've seen wire frames stuck into the bad, or Grizzly DC's have a tube that goes from the cone to the collector.

[Paul F Franklin]

My Oneida has a heavy sleeve that slides into the drum to hold the bag fully open. Remember the drum is on the suction side of the blower, so the bag is not being pushed outward. If you are going to dump the bin into something else, there's no reason to have a bag. But I wouldn't want to do that inside the shop and release a bunch of fine dust in the process, after having carefully collected it.

[Kevin Jenness]

I made a sleeve of bending plywood to hold the bag in place. My Oneida cyclone came with a 1/4" tube from the cyclone intake down to the drum to suck the bag open.

I use bags to minimize my dust exposure and decrease my trips over the hill to the dairy farm for disposal as bedding. I can get 8 or 9 30 gallon bags in the back of my Volvo wagon. For a while I used multiple plastic drums, but the bags are lighter and more compact. Dumping one bin into another is no fun.

The best setup I have seen for a busy small shop was a cyclone with a rotary air lock dropping into an enclosed dump trailer - minimal handling.

[Jim Becker]

It really comes down to how/where you need to dispose of the chips/dust. At my old shop, the barrel when full took a joy-ride on the front end loader of my tractor to the pile where I put said materials to enjoy nature while they (eventually) decomposed. Here at the new place, I have to put them into the regular trash pickup so I've had to go with the bag scenario in the bin. I do use an insert that holds the bag down so they do actually fill up. Disposal is pretty much pull out the insert and then the bag, tie up the bag and put in the big trash can, install a new bag, put the insert back in followed by carefully installing the lid for a tight seal.

[Curt Harms]

You could do something to hold the bag down. I've seen wire frames stuck into the bad, or Grizzly DC's have a tube that goes from the cone to the collector.

I've heard of people using a piece of cheap laminate rolled into a cylinder. Put a bag into a drum them put the rolled up laminate inside the bag. It'll hold the bag open against the suction. Remove the laminate then empty or dispose of the bag.

[Greg Parrish]

I've heard of people using a piece of cheap laminate rolled into a cylinder. Put a bag into a drum them put the rolled up laminate inside the bag. It'll hold the bag open against the suction. Remove the laminate then empty or dispose of the bag.

That's pretty much what Oneida does on their larger collectors. They include a thin piece of plastic that you roll and pin together into a loop and then slide it down just inside the bag. Slips out to pull the bag out when full and then repeat.

[james manutes]

I've heard of people using a piece of cheap laminate rolled into a cylinder. Put a bag into a drum them put the rolled up laminate inside the bag. It'll hold the bag open against the suction. Remove the laminate then empty or dispose of the bag.

This is what I do . It keeps the rim of the barrel pristine , no small leaks .

[Kurt Wyberanec]

I just posted about this in my ivac thread....I just went through the same idea recently myself and have also decided to drop the bag. I have a Clearvue 5hp and the bag always wanted to suck up so I had to rig things to try and keep it secure...PIA and doesn't work that well. The oneida unit was recommended but I didn't end up buying it because of too many reviews saying it only lasted them 6mo. Then I thought about it. I have a drum with a seal so nothing is going to escape any differently than if a bag were in there....when I do have to take the bag out of the drum I usually have to fight with it to get it out which in turn I am sure is releasing more dust into the air (always wear a mask when emptying the bin regardless) and if I have a liner of some sort I have to play around to get that out too releasing more. So I said, fill the drum up open the lid, put a bag over the top, bungee it down, tip it over, fill up the bag close er' up. I find that I can get more material in the drum, less dust escaping on emptying, and less time playing around with it. Now all of this depends a bit on your particular drum style and ease, but this works well for me.

What doesn't work well is knowing when the drum is full! I installed the ivac and immediately have some issues (see other thread) what are you guys using, and how well does it work?

[Jim Becker]

That's pretty much what Oneida does on their larger collectors. They include a thin piece of plastic that you roll and pin together into a loop and then slide it down just inside the bag. Slips out to pull the bag out when full and then repeat.

It's also available from them for the 35 gallon bin like the one I have in my temporary shop with the SDD. It's not laminate, but it is thin plastic. The Oneida version has fasteners to roll and keep it at the diameter one needs to hold the bag for the particular bin...no re-rolling every time like with a piece of laminate.

[Charles Coolidge]

I just posted about this in my ivac thread....I just went through the same idea recently myself and have also decided to drop the bag. I have a Clearvue 5hp and the bag always wanted to suck up so I had to rig things to try and keep it secure...PIA and doesn't work that well. The oneida unit was recommended but I didn't end up buying it because of too many reviews saying it only lasted them 6mo. Then I thought about it. I have a drum with a seal so nothing is going to escape any differently than if a bag were in there....when I do have to take the bag out of the drum I usually have to fight with it to get it out which in turn I am sure is releasing more dust into the air (always wear a mask when emptying the bin regardless) and if I have a liner of some sort I have to play around to get that out too releasing more. So I said, fill the drum up open the lid, put a bag over the top, bungee it down, tip it over, fill up the bag close er' up. I find that I can get more material in the drum, less dust escaping on emptying, and less time playing around with it. Now all of this depends a bit on your particular drum style and ease, but this works well for me.

What doesn't work well is knowing when the drum is full! I installed the ivac and immediately have some issues (see other thread) what are you guys using, and how well does it work?

^^^ this confirms what I was thinking, well said. I'm joining the bagless camp! I like the bungy cord idea also I'm adopting that.

I would add that my cyclone has a metal ring in the bottom to create an air space and a 2 inch hose from the bottom up to the fan housing, the design is supposed to apply negative pressure to keep the back sucked to the bottom of the drum without having to insert a weight into the bag itself. I find it's not working well, nice idea but the cyclone doesn't have shop vac like suction. Plus it's a pain that the drum is tethered to the cyclone via that hose, another reason to go bagless.

[Prashun Patel]

Don't join the bagless camp quite so fast.

On AMZN, Lawson makes a 'bag holder' that you can use exactly as the Oneida bag holder. Mine was about $30. You can cut it down to size as you see fit.

Then, you use cheap, black garbage bags inside the dust collector.

To prevent them from being sucked up, poke a hole in the bag a little above the rim. These breaks provide enough relief so my 3hp motor doesn't suck up my cheap Costco bags.

When you open the bin, pull the liner out, then throw the entire bag away. It's much easier and cleaner than having to transport and empty the bin directly.

I've been doing this on my Oneida for 2 years and it works well.

[Darrell Bade]

I dump mine in the woods, seems it always fills up at 10 o'clock at night when it is 10 degrees out. I would just like a spare fiber drum. Oneida has switched to metal so that would require 2 new ones with $75 shipping fee just for one. The fiber drum they supplied was made by Grief but must have been special for them since their standard size is 30 gallons, smaller diameter and shorter, would need to modify a new lid plus lengthen the hose plus ...... suppliers of Grief drums still charge that $75 shipping.

Seems like lots complain about the plastic sleeve and bags having issues but I see myself going down that road so I can empty the full bag when convenient. Unless I find a spare 35 gallon fiber drum laying beside the road of course.

[Thomas Wilson]

I have a 35 gal metal drum on my dust collector, no bag. I dump the drum into a big trash can (55 gal?) periodically which has a cheap plastic bag. I wear a mask and roll the can and drum outside for the transfer. I check and dump the drum before it is full most of the time. I don’t want to overfill the drum. I would probably waste a lot of bags by under-filling if I used drum liners, or worse, I might over fill the drum trying to get the liner full.

I have a 35 gal drum because I think 55 would be too heavy for me for transferring to the trash can

For those who use Oneida’s plastic sleeve inside a drum liner, does it work well? There are some negative reviews on Oneida’s web site that say the sleeve collapses inward cutting off most of the drum volume. Oneida responded saying they had upgraded to thicker plastic for the sleeve. Is the problem fixed?

[Kurt Wyberanec]

I dump mine in the woods, seems it always fills up at 10 o'clock at night when it is 10 degrees out. I would just like a spare fiber drum. Oneida has switched to metal so that would require 2 new ones with $75 shipping fee just for one. The fiber drum they supplied was made by Grief but must have been special for them since their standard size is 30 gallons, smaller diameter and shorter, would need to modify a new lid plus lengthen the hose plus ...... suppliers of Grief drums still charge that $75 shipping.

Seems like lots complain about the plastic sleeve and bags having issues but I see myself going down that road so I can empty the full bag when convenient. Unless I find a spare 35 gallon fiber drum laying beside the road of course.

Telling you, just bungee a bag over your drum turn it upside down (unless it's too big) shake a couple of times, remove, tie, and get back to work...I do this in my shop 5ft from my collector in a few min and get virtually no dust in the air (that I can see... and certainly less than pulling out the retainers and bag from the drum) or floor... try it a couple of times there really nothing to lose.