Dust Collection for Workshop in house

user-6001446 | Posted in Workshop on January 12, 2020 11:19pm

I am now living alone in midwestern state (hot humid summers/moderately cold winters, some snow and ice). I am moving a lot of my shop into the walkout basement to keep myself occupied and make it convenient and comfortable. As it happens, the kitchen is in the basement front left as I face the walkout and open to where shop is going to be….part will be behind the kitchen back wall – (back left side) area ~10×9 and part in an adjacent open area (back and front right side) ~14×18. Who needs a dining room anyway? There is an addition behind with full basement that is connected with doorway then a few steps up. Upstairs above the shop area is living area/office, guest bedrooms and bath. Master bedroom/master bath are in back addition upstairs. Front and the back addition have separate electric HVAC – entire house is electric, no gas appliances. I am thinking I will acclimate lumber in basement for projects, but will mill lumber in a detached no-heat garage. Will have 220v 10inch SawStop cabinetsaw with overarm dust collection, 14in 220v bandsaw w/upper and lower dust ports, router table with the Rockler dust box, drill press, workbench and hand tools in the basement. I plan to size, do joinery, glue-ups, sanding and finishing inside basement – after milling I will bring wood right back into basement. I am planning to rig up a tarp curtain and close off the shop when I am tablesawing/sanding or finishing. I have a HEPA vac for sanding. I have the Laguna 1hp dust collector but my upgraded tools are beyond it. So, for dust collection, I am thinking about purchasing an Oneida mini gorilla dust collector – seems to have great reviews and be quality machine. Also, depending on advice, may purchase the relatively new powermatic HEPA benchtop/floor standing large round air cleaners to keep dust under control or maybe just the ‘traditional’ ceiling mount air cleaner. I am thinking the 220v mini gorilla model since I’ll have wired for 220v for the saws. Near term, I am going to build some cabinets for shop, then for house and then some furniture – so plywood, some melamine, some occasional MDF, and I hope a fair amount of hardwood for assorted projects. Looking for thoughts and any advice: Will milling “outside” be ok if I bring pieces right back into basement? Will I be able to keep dust reasonably controlled in a basement shop with the mini gorilla? (it does have a HEPA filter). Is the mini gorilla really be enough machine even for an 8 inch segmented cutter head jointer? Will I forever regret not just going big on a more powerful dust collector like the Oneida V System and moving the milling operations into the basement? For an in-the-house shop will I need a heavy duty air cleaner like the Powermatic or will a decent ceiling mount box model be enough to help? Or, despite whatever dust collection efforts, will the “front” house just be always dusty?

Replies

user-6480500 | Jan 13, 2020 08:59am | #1
The mini gorilla works well in my shop. Collects most everything at the source. You will all ways get that float around dust. Ceiling or wall mount will get some of that. Get two if can afford, especially if working in your house. Still you should wear dust mask also. To be safe.
Flyer34 | Jan 13, 2020 09:23am | #2
It's good to see that you are taking an interest in protecting your health from inhaling dust particles. I agree with the post above that you might want to wear a mask as an added precaution. Have you tried Wynn Environmental? They make pretty good filters and excel in customer service. Environmental Filter or Damn Filters are good choices too though Environmental Filter is an aftermarket supplier. While it is true that HEPA filters are a little expensive, they get the job done.
_mj_ | Jan 13, 2020 09:46am | #3
Considering you're hot humid Summers and cold Winters you are better off moving your machines inside. You will be struggling with rust constantly otherwise. The mini gorilla should be enough for any one of those machines. If you are moving it from machine to machine you should be fine. If I were going to upgrade anything on the mini gorilla system I would go with Oneida's larger pleated canister filter.
joeleonetti | Jan 14, 2020 01:28pm | #4
I worry a lot about wood dust as a health hazard. If you go out to ClearVue, it has links to a lot of Q&A on dust collection in general. So far I've been sticking with hand tools to minimize dust. When I end up buying my first machine tool, I will probably get a dust collector that is what most would consider oversized. Again, I tend to error on the side of caution on such things.
markferraro | Jan 14, 2020 02:36pm | #5
I have my workshop in my walkout basement in my home, about 850 sq. ft. My workshop is acoustically and thermally isolated from the rest of the house via 1 inch foam panels on the concrete floor covered by two layers at right angles of 1/2 plywood. The walls of the shop are 2x4 walls sheathed with 5/8 sheetrock which rest on the plywood flooring. Insulation is spray foam on the cinder block walls. The entire space is heated/cooled by a small minisplit system with one power head.

I suggest you keep you tools in your HVAC controlled space - I have zero rust issues with my power or hand tools because I can control my humidity year round (RDU area). I store and mill my wood in my shop.

I have a 5hp Clear Vue cyclone with 2 Wynn filters in a sound proof closet with baffled air returns that return air to the shop. I have a 3 hp table saw and a 12 inch segmented cutter combo Hammer jointer/planer machine with similar sized band saw and drill press. I can't imagine anything less than a 5 hp motor with a 15 or 16 inch impeller keeping up the the dust and chips you will be creating.

What I can observe after 8 years in my current setup is that the majority of my dust is created by the table saw. Even with a 6 inch main line connected to the back of the table saw and an overhead 3 inch line connected to a blade guard, I am continually amazed how much dust and chips are thrown off the blade in cuts where using the overhead blade guard is not possible. Angle cuts and sleds are the biggest culprits.

The power head for the mini split is mounted 8 feet from the infeed side of the table saw, about 7 feet off the floor. The inlet on the top of the mini split power head and the filter inside are almost never dirty. Its not very scientific, but based on my on experience and some info from the Bill Pentz website, I believe that ceiling mounted powered dust filters are a waste of money. Saw dust from my table saw just isn't going 8+ feet in the air.

My next project is to build a floor dust collector like the one that Jay Custom Creations has on his website. He used a furnace blower and four filters built into a rolling cabinet to help clean his air. It is a cube on wheels that has a high quality filter on each of the four sides. He also is experimenting with shop made prefilters for his mini split power heads.

Wish you the best of luck.
user-6001446 | Jan 18, 2020 09:52pm | #6
Thank all of you for taking time to share your insights, suggestions and the details about your basement shops. Very helpful and encouraging. I did not realize there might be an upgraded filter for the mini gorilla - I will look into that. And I will definitely be exploring the DIY furnace blower box filter Mark mentions.