My Dust Collection System
(Updated 3-1-96)[ Home | Woodworking ]
I have a shop in the basement of my house. To help deal with the dust
problem, I built a small shed (booth) about
3'x4' and 5' tall that is against
the outside wall of my house adjacent to my shop. I rented a
SDS rotary hammer and drilled a 5" in diameter hole through the basement
where it enters the manifold. This
system takes a little more ducting but locates all the blast gates in the
same place. I don't have to walk over to the last tool I used to direct the
flow from the next tool I will use. It also reduces the amount of duct work
that is under suction at any one time because all of the blast gates are
located 'close' to the dust collector. I have one other run that goes from
the manifold out through the hole in the
foundation to the shed where the
duct collector is located. I have vents on the shed
to vent the air to the
outside that has two 25"x20" furnace filters.
Most of the 4" ductwork in my system is pvc drain pipe because
of cost. I could get 4" drain pipe for about $.50/ft vs about $1.50 for
flexible duct collector hose. The 3" that goes to my sanding station and
drill press is flexible dust collector hose that I got from Grizzly. I have
one strand of 14 gauge bare copper wire running through all my 3" and 4" duct.
In the winter, this system does blow warm air from the basement to the
outside, but I consider the heat loss worth getting rid of all the fine dust
that goes through the bags on the dust collector. I can see by the buildup
of dust in my shed and on the vent filters how
much dust I am getting rid
of. You get a huge mushroom cloud of dust when you empty the bag, at
least I do with my Performax 16-32 sander. I much prefer getting this
huge cloud of dust in my backyard than in my house.
A one HP dust collector (alone) is NOT big enough for my shop/use. The
truth is that a 1 HP dust collector with the bags that come on the 2 HP
units or a first stage cyclone probably would be. It is not only a capacity
problem, as the bag fills up, the suction drops off. When my bag is about
2/3 full, I get about 1/2 the suction of freshly cleaned out bags.
If you want to be able to run the DC on two or three machines at the same
time, you should get a 2 HP unit. They are $255 from grizzly right now,
$305 delivered to my house in Utah from WA.
I wish I had made the hole in the wall big enough for a 6" main and wish
that I had made the shed big enough for a 2 HP
dust collector. I now have a
2 HP DC (Grizzly) for use in my garage where I now have a big 5 HP Belsaw
planer and home made 3 HP shaper. If I could switch the two DC units, I
would put a first stage cyclone on the 1 HP unit in my garage where I have
room and use the 2 HP unit for my basement shop.
The moral of the story is, everything should be bigger than you think it
needs to be. Get a 2 HP unit. Jet 650 (1 HP) is going to run you at least $220,
probably more like $240 if you go mail order. The extra money to get a
Grizzly 2 HP is well worth it. I built my
manifold big enough for 9 runs
plus a main line. I have two holes left for expansion. Given that I donÍt
have much more room in my shop for more tools, itÍs probably enough.
The Manifold
(looking up)
- The white pipe is 4" drain pipe.
- The center white pipe at the bottom of the picture without a blast gate is
my main line that goes out to the shed.
- The small black hose is something I found at the hardware store (2") that
I hook up to my RO Sander and biscut jointer.
- All the ground wires are hooked together here at the manifold.
- Not shown are two 3" lines of flexible DC hose that run to my sanding
station and band saw that I put in after this picture was taken.
- The bottom of the 'box' is made of clear pexiglass. I did this beacuse I
wasn't sure if the box would fill with sawdust or not. I've left it on because
it is fun to watch the stuff wizz through.
The Shed
- The shed is about 3' x 4' by 5' tall.
- It is sided with cedar fencing and
stained to match the fence in my back yard.
- The roof is cedar shake to match the roof of the house.
- The two vertical slits on the left are vents that are filtered with
two 20" x 25" furnace filters.
- The door is locked with a keyed padlock.
The Mobile Planer DC Hookup
(Looking up)
- The planer & Performax 16-32 sander DC hookup hose, put away.
- The bright white stuff is dryer vent hose. When poulled tight, the
wire in the hose keeps it from collapsing under the suction of the DC.
The Shed with Door Open
Send comments to Mike Scalora at mscalora@scalora.org