Dust Collection

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cliff Wilson
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Cliff Wilson

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I have been using a shop vac attached to my miter saw. It works ok. Mostly catches all the dust, and mostly needs emptying infrequently. But, I was trying to find something that needed a little less attention and still worked at least as well or better. Of course, I don't want to spend too much.

I was looking at the "Cyclone Lids" from Lee Valley & Veritas. Anyone have experience with these things? Any other comments/suggestions?

Thanks,
 
Cyclone lids for metal trash cans? I have three, they are OK and help a lot with emptying the sawdust. I think you lose some of your vacuum capabilities when using them. I do not think they would work with a shop vac.

I would suggest getting a hold of Grizzly Tools, see what they have to offer.

Dust collection is incredibly important, I know this because I now have chronic pulmonary blockage from years of breathing sawdust and smoking cigarettes.

I quit smoking six years ago and installed a good dust collection system. Take it seriously, those paper dust masks are worthless. The thing that destroys your lungs are the tiny, invisible particles that go right on through those paper masks. Get a good respirator and ALWAYS use it when you a spraying, sawing, working with solvents, etc.

When you discover you have a problem with your lungs, it is usually too late to save them.

John
 
Jezzz Cliff. And I just sold that lid at the garage sale for a buck.
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I got mine at Rockler. Futzed around with it and shelved it. Got a two stage two bag 4" collector.

The lid is good if you have the space and run it post planer, jointer or router which produce "large" chip, which settles in the inverted vortex. The "fines" continue to the shop vac. Read in here: everything from the radial arm, shop saw, & band saw went straight through.
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But, HEY! It might work differently for you. You're on that other coast.
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:D

Sorry about your lungs John.
 
Being cheap when it comes to health and safety is not a wise move in most cases. Go for the 2 stage collector and make sure it is installed properly with proper seals along the way from the saw to the bags. I have a micro filter on my bag system.
 
Cliff,

Unless you are rigging up a full vacuum system that will service a number of wood cutting tools, I don't believe that you need to go the full blown route of piping, blast gates, grounding wire, and a big 2 stage dust collection system particularly if you want to stay in a reasonable price range for your shop.

I used a big Craftsman shop vac for many years and it worked OK but I had alot of sawdust that didn't make it to the vacuum. When I moved down here, I bought a 1 1/2 hp vacuum from Penn State Industries that has a 4" vacuum hose and goes directly from the chop saws to the vacuum. I built a hood behind my saws (a Phaedra system) and placed a collector vent at the bottom of the hood and it works much better than the old system. It cost me about $200 with all the stuff to build the hood.

You can buy a good 1 - 2 hp dust collection vacuum from Grizzly, Penn State Industries, Jet, Delta, or any of the other wood tool catalogs that are out there.

Framerguy
 
I have a 6 1/2 HP Shop Vac that just about sucks the tiles off the floors ... it's hooked up with a 3" hose from the Vac, down to a 2: hose into the back of my Clearmount-mounted Makita ... collects about 75% of the dust ...
 
I have a one hp Delta two stage filter. It is the best purchase I made for myself. It is so nice to have fresh air when sawing.

The two stage filters are not reccommended for metal mouldings. (Sparks and dust don't always mix.) I have a dedicated saw for metal which is not hooked up to the filter.
 
Ok, I've done enough searches to be certain that it will take a lot more study than I want to invest to decide on "which one's best." It looks like I could get a Grizzly G8027 or a Delta AP400, that use 110V so I don't need new wiring for under $200. Is there a REAL difference or is it a Ford/Chevy thing? Notice I didn't say Mercedes/Hundai thing.

The Grizzly can be seen here:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G8027

The Delta here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/hi/B00006K005/qid=1098730593/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/002-4127875-6074458

Thanks,
 
Dust collection has been one of the most difficult problems we've had in both the cabinet shop and in the frame making shop. The best solution is a cyclone - vastly superior to bag collectors. I reccomend Oneida Air Systems. We've got a 3 hp 3 phase cyclone outside the cabinet shop and two 1.5hp single phase collectors connected to the Pistorius and Cassese saws in the frame shop. We can switch the collectors to whichever saw is running. Both exhaust to the outside.

The cyclones seperate any dust big enough to be visible and exhaust the rest. After years of service we can't detect any build up around the outside exhausts. Be aware, though, no dust collector is going to get all the dust from a cross cut saw. Our SCMI table saw's blade is fully shrouded and dust still gets away.

In the frame shop we also have a large Dayton air filter mounted above the saws; it's nothing like what you see sold for hobby shops. The filter constantly scrubs the air for fine dust that escapes the cyclones. The frame shop saw room isn't completely dust free but it's the best I've seen.

Take a look at our web site's Back Room and there are two glimpses of the cyclones, I think. Note we use 6" flexible duct to the saws. You want to move as much air as possible and anything much smaller isn't going to work well. The ducts reduce to 4" at the Pistorius outlets.

The cyclones aren't inexpensive but they give us healthy and clean shops.
 
Both look good to me. They do take up space. You might check to see which one would take up less.

I do know that you can get a cleanable permanent filter upgrade for the Delta. (about $169.) Just turn a crank and the filter is cleaned and dust is deposited in the lower bag. I haven't upgraded because it's not that hard to go outside face downwind and shake a bag.

Mitch
 
Delta: Problem = national repair centers.

Grizzly: Prob = ship back to Seattle. This ain't so bad with a hand plane, but when you start talkin 100 pounds or a table saw......
 
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