Dust Collection

italdesign · Post by **italdesign** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:53 am

Hi guys,

I was just wondering what most of you use for dust collection. I currently have a 12 gallon Ridgid wet/dry vac and I’m not sure if this is going to be sufficient. My shop is about 20x30 and I’m wondering if I’d be better served by a dedicated bagged dust collector? Do you think the (5HP) Ridgid is up to the task? I just want to make sure it is before I spend money on the ducts and attachments. Thank you.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:04 am

Definitely get a dust collector, the filter in the shop vac will get clogged very easily with all the fine dust particles.

I have a 1 hp delta and it keeps up just fine for me, then again bigger is better.

Ryan

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:33 pm

I've got a big Delta dust collector that I use. I definitely recommend some kind of purpose-built dust collector.

I used to use a 5HP Kobalt shop-vac as my dust collector when I was working in a garage, and it really didn't work well - but I didn't care because I was in a garage and wearing a dust mask.

When I bought my current house and setup shop in my basement, I bought the dust collector and have been very happy. It works so well, I don't even need to wear a mask while grinding - but usually do anyway unless it's just a quick couple-second grind.

It also works great as a way to keep the shop clean. Every once in a while I'll push all the chips, dust, shavings, etc off of the tables and benches and sweep them towards on of these:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DFS.html
Works Great!

FredS · Post by **FredS** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:02 pm

Sorry for the long reply but. . .

I use a 6.5HP, 16 gallon Rigid vac in my little garage shop. I have to clean the filter every 2 weeks. It works great, but - as everyone will tell you - it's not designed for dust collection so someday I'll get a real, bag-type dust collection system designed for woodworking.

Now for the long part (which you may or may not find interesting):
The company I work for designs and builds pneumatic material handling systems. In that capacity we also build a lot of dust collectors. For instance, large, industrial bakeries use a lot of "dusting flour" - they sprinkle it on the dough so it doesn't stick to everything - but they want to minimize the amount of airborne particulate and also reclaim excess flour so it can be reused, so they need huge dust collectors. The attached pictures show a recent installation in a frozen biscuit plant in SC. The big square dust collector in the first picture functions exactly like a shop vac (with one very important difference). It has 36 filters, each of them 6” diameter and about 5’ long. They look and function just like oversized shop vac filters. The big difference (and it’s huge) is that our dust collectors automatically clean the filters. We use a differential pressure gauge to measure the vacuum inside the unit and when it reaches a certain level the brain of the unit will send signals to a set of valves that sequentially pulse a huge volume of compressed air to the inside of each filter. The pulse blows the dust off the outside of the filters. The filters typically get a half-second pulse every 4 or 5 minutes. The filters get progressively less clean and they typically have to be replaced every 4 months.

We did one last year for a charcoal plant. It's 35 feet tall, has 96 filters and a 150HP motor on the fan!

dust collector (you go through the door in the top section to change filters, the overhead duct going in is 14" diameter):

a collection hood

"before"

just for fun, here's a shot during fabrication

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:42 pm

FredS wrote: We did one last year for a charcoal plant. It's 35 feet tall, has 96 filters and a 150HP motor on the fan!

Want.

FredS · Post by **FredS** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:09 am

At the risk of completely highjacking this thread, here's the Big Boy Dust Collector:

But to the point of italdesigns original question:
I posted all of this information to show that vacuum systems with cartridge filters are in use in thousands of plants around the world so the concept is proven and effective. However, if I were going to the expense of building a system of ducts and collection points for a home workshop I would buy one of the bag-style units designed specifically for the task. I only use my shop vac with a 6 foot length of 2 1/4" hose and only one collection point. Even my fairly large 6.5HP model does not move nearly enough air to work effectively in a larger system.

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:09 am

FredS wrote:At the risk of completely highjacking this thread, here's the Big Boy Dust Collector:

Yep, that's the model I've got in my shop, but I opted for the larger motor.

Todd

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:31 am

I use one of those collectors from Grizzly. When I first got it, I got it all put together and turned it on to see how it sucked. It sucks really well.

I was sucking up some chips on my drill press table and got a bit too close to a briar block, and Whooosh---clang! it sucked that block right up! I had to take the hose off the intake to get the block back out.

Luckily, there's a little plastic mesh apparatus in there to keep briar blocks from going through the impeller.

Rad

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:53 am

The other thing that's really nice to have is an ambient air cleaner, which amounts to a filter and a fan behind it.

This kind of thing just makes breathing a helluva lot easier if you are doing things like working with a router, which don't hook up that well to dust collectors proper.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... at=1,42401

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:26 am

RadDavis wrote: I was sucking up some chips on my drill press table and got a bit too close to a briar block, and Whooosh---clang! it sucked that block right up! I had to take the hose off the intake to get the block back out.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

I opened my damn mouth one day to belt out a line from a well known Queen song playing on my iPod, and I had pipe in my mouth at the time. One tenon replacement later...

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:43 am

KurtHuhn wrote:
RadDavis wrote: I was sucking up some chips on my drill press table and got a bit too close to a briar block, and Whooosh---clang! it sucked that block right up! I had to take the hose off the intake to get the block back out.
Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

I opened my damn mouth one day to belt out a line from a well known Queen song playing on my iPod, and I had pipe in my mouth at the time. One tenon replacement later...

Hey Dufuses,

That's what wire mesh is for

Or, if your dust collection system is rigid PVC, you can drill a hole and glue in a wooden dowel about 6" back from your down-port. It will catch the block/pipe if you ever drop it in there. You can just reach up in there and pull it out. It never makes it to the unit itself.

Todd--who's dropped pipes into the dust port plenty of times.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:13 am

ToddJohnson wrote:That's what wire mesh is for

My episde was followed by an immediate trip to the hardware store for exactly that, THEN a resumption of work. Who new that 1300CFM of air moved that fast!

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:28 am

RadDavis wrote:
Luckily, there's a little plastic mesh apparatus in there to keep briar blocks from going through the impeller.

Rad

Scientists think of everything these days!

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:00 pm

ToddJohnson wrote:
KurtHuhn wrote:
RadDavis wrote: I was sucking up some chips on my drill press table and got a bit too close to a briar block, and Whooosh---clang! it sucked that block right up! I had to take the hose off the intake to get the block back out.
Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

I opened my damn mouth one day to belt out a line from a well known Queen song playing on my iPod, and I had pipe in my mouth at the time. One tenon replacement later...
Hey Dufuses,

That's what wire mesh is for Or, if your dust collection system is rigid PVC, you can drill a hole and glue in a wooden dowel about 6" back from your down-port. It will catch the block/pipe if you ever drop it in there. You can just reach up in there and pull it out. It never makes it to the unit itself.

Todd--who's dropped pipes into the dust port plenty of times.

Dear Mr. Perfect,

I know all of that, and I have hardware cloth screwed down over my down port, but I had just put the unit together and was seeing how it worked just using the 4" hose around the shop.

Bitch.

Rad

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:24 pm

RadDavis wrote:
ToddJohnson wrote:
KurtHuhn wrote: Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

I opened my damn mouth one day to belt out a line from a well known Queen song playing on my iPod, and I had pipe in my mouth at the time. One tenon replacement later...
Hey Dufuses,

That's what wire mesh is for Or, if your dust collection system is rigid PVC, you can drill a hole and glue in a wooden dowel about 6" back from your down-port. It will catch the block/pipe if you ever drop it in there. You can just reach up in there and pull it out. It never makes it to the unit itself.

Todd--who's dropped pipes into the dust port plenty of times.
Dear Mr. Perfect,

I know all of that, and I have hardware cloth screwed down over my down port, but I had just put the unit together and was seeing how it worked just using the 4" hose around the shop.

Bitch.

Rad

Rad, I will admit to being an asshole, but not a "bitch." You have insulted my honor. Pistols at dawn . . .

Todd

smokindawg · Post by **smokindawg** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 3:39 pm

I just got a 2hp and am working on an addition to the shop.

Why an addition you might ask.
1) Didn't have room in my small shop.
2) I needed to dampen the sound of it, so I can still hear my radio. (LOL)
3) Now I'll also have a place for my air compressor where it isn't so
noisy either.
4) All this because I want to do more work in there soon.

I'm hoping it works well and isn't too much overkill. But I at least can work into it when my shop grows.

Tano · Post by **Tano** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:21 pm

Hi Guys,

Have any of you experienced this type of dust leak from your dust collectors? I don't produce as many pipes as some of you so I can't imagine how much dust would leak from my system, if I did.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:24 am

That's actually a bit normal. They're not really leak proof down to the size of dust that most pipe makers generate. That said, you can probably stop a good bit of it by using some gaffers tape to seal around the outside of hard connections (metal to plastic, metal to metal).

I actually used a couple layers of gaffers tape to create a "gasket" on the metal where the bags attach. It isn't perfect, but it does help.

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:46 am

LOL!

Rad