Dust Collector Advice for SawStop
This question may have already been asked in this Forum so apologies in advance if so. I am working to put together a small workshop as a hobbyist woodworker in retirement. The workshop, in the basement of my condominium building, measures 20′ x 20′. I have read general articles in FW and elsewhere on overall approaches to dust collection in a small shop.
I have decided to dedicate Shop-Vac type vacuums to some of the sanding and miter saw operations and these seem to be working reasonably well. I do not have a jointer or planer in the shop now.
I do have a SawStop cabinet saw with the router wing accessory but will not put it into service until I have a proper dust collector in place. SawStop provides a single dust collection connection for both the saw and the router.
I am looking for some specific advice (brands and models) from those who may already have this set-up. Since I am working as a hobbyist, dust collection efficiency is more important that dust collection capacity. The shop is essentially air tight and I need to keep the door closed when working so as to not disturb other occupants.
Because the space (and budget) will get tighter over time, I would like to purchase a unit that is the right size for this arrangement. I will appreciate whatever advice and experience you can share.
Thanks,
Russ
Replies
Well, if you ask 10 woodworkers a question about dust collection, you will get at least 15 answers. So here are a couple.
I have a SawStop (not router extension) in a 2 car attached garage. I have been using a shop vac and it does a better than expected job. The long term plan was always to upgrade to a dust collector and I have a Laguna C Flux on order. When I look inside my SawStop, it is surprisingly clean. I thought given my shop vac arrangement I would have to clean out the inside of the cabinet more often. I don't. When I pull the throat plate, I can still see the black bottom of the cabinet. Also, I have found that using the blade guard, versus just the riving knife, makes a big difference for dust collection. As an aside, when I hung a Rikon dust filter from the ceiling, I noticed a lot less dust crept into the house.
The important thing for you and your budget is to future proof. If you plan to get a jointer or planer, make sure your dust collector purchase moves enough air CFM to support those as well.
I have used Lagunas, and obviously I like them since I have one on order. However, in my research phase, I liked the Oneida Supercells as well. The big factors for me were particle size, CFM and noise level. Have fun outfitting your shop.
Don't bother with the overhead dust collection. Get the undertable router hood that goes with the sawstop. Then you will need to connect the router fence and router hood together with a Y connection. This is all with 2.5jn hose.
Then install an adapter to upside to 4in and then connect that to a T connection at the saw. Put a blast gate in at the Y connection so you can seperate the router from the table saw when only using the table saw. Even though you will not isolate the saw, trust me there is plenty of vacuum strength to reach the router because you do not lose much at the saw as it is moslty enclosed. Then run a 4 inch hose from the T connection attached to the saw to your dust collector.
This is a good time to step up to a dust collector. You'll never get away with shop vac on a thickness planer or other machines, and it will be much more efficient on your existing tools as well.
With enough space and budget, I would opt for a cyclone collector with fixed ducting and blast gates. I have neither enough space, or budget.
I used to have a 1 up Delta, with bags on top and bottom. Much better than a shop vac, but not too good overall. I traded up to a Jet DC1100 vortex, with the pleated top filter. It does a fantastic job. I have to connect it to various tools as I use them, but I'm very satisfied with it.
I have a similar size shop as yours with a sawstop and I use an Oneida mini gorilla. It works great.
The recent wall mounted DC review is probly a good place to start. I have my sawstop directly connected to an Oneida cyclone exhausting through a large canister filter. My twist is running another 4" pipe along the ceiling with a second drop behind the saw that I connect with a hose to the SS blade guard (not the floating overarm) with the dust port built in. It catches most everything.
When I roll the SS out of the way and bring in the bandsaw I have 2 4" outlets availabel. (Laguna 14suv) when I am sanding the primary outlet is closed and the drop from above connects to the sander ...or the domino or whatever else.
If noise is an issue, the Laguna P Flux is a good option. I can run mine in my barely insulated 1908 house and not have it affect conversation in the room above it. It is HEPA filtered, so running it inside cleans the air. The footprint is 2' x 4', and it rolls around on its own included wheels. The P Flux is 110V, the P Flux 2 is 220. I have the 220V, which is more powerful than the 110V.
I have a couple of home renovation projects between me and a permanent ducting solution. Until then, I use the Rockler Dust Right Quick Change attachments on a 4" hose that is 40' long.
I have a SawStop PCS 220V. I don't use the overarm collector. I have dust in the cabinet, but not so much that it is an issue.
Keep the collector in the same room as the tools and you won't create airflow problems - the air will just circulate around the room.
So I use a older model shop fox that I got cheap and works ok for me. I wish I had a hepa cartridge filter, but guess that is a future upgrade for me. I do have and highly recommend a dust deputy between the tool and dust collector. It collects 99% of the dust to the point I have never actually emptied the bags on the collector after 3 years. I think it helps the collector work better as it is filtering less dust in the filter. I do hook up all my tools (saw stop, band saw, sanders, planer, home made router table, and jointer).
If I were to do it again without the same finance constraints I'd do a wall mounted canister /hepa unit with a dust deputy or similar cyclone on a 55 gal drum.
After 20 years I finally upgraded my Jet DC650.
Bought a Jet Vortex 1100.
I looked at cyclones but my longest run is about 25 feet and it made no sense. I used the Rockler flex hose. The DC has two ports. One goes to the tablesaw. The other gets switched between jointer, planer and bandsaw. One flex hose for all three. I just move the hose around.
I’ve no regrets. The thickness planer was my biggest problem and there are very few chips left over now.
Huge improvement and I don’t work for or get anything from Jet.
The stand out issue to me is that your return air exhausts into your work area. This means that you will breathe it. This means you will need very good filtration. This means you will need very good separation or your very good filter will clog too rapidly.
You can go with a system that is deigned to account for the impact of a separator in the path or you can add a separator to a system that does not expect it with varying success. Either way your filter is key if you do not want to passively start the equivalent of a two pack a day habit.
Enjoy the journey ;-)
I bought an oneida supercell based on a few things. The size is small for a cyclone, as its less than 3x3 footprint, and 6 feet tall. It has 3 motors that are 5hp together that create not only a moderate cfm but a vacuum like amount of suction, which eliminates all the issues that people have with the overhead dust not working. It’s a hilarious amount of suction and air flow, and nearly zero dust, and the air monitoring machine in my shop says the air is cleaner whenever I use it, no matter what I’m cutting, planing, jointing, whatever. It’s my favorite machine. the downside? It’s 2500 bucks. But hey, dust clean up is time, and health is priceless.
At a bare minimum invest in some sort of cyclone - a 4” DC with a Super Dust Deputy works great for the money.
While the Super Cell is attractive, for that kind of money I’d look seriously at the Harvey G700, it’s quiet, powerful and compact.
https://www.harveywoodworking.com/products/gyro-air-g700-dust-processor
Nice machine, but HUGE footprint..I'd have to choose between the dust machine and my J/P!
I think that's what the CDC uses in the negative pressure room for Ebola samples.
Thanks to everybody who took time to provide advice and insights on this. Very specific and very helpful. As Beasley7 said in the first response, there are plenty of opinions about dust collection, probably because it is fundamentally important in woodworking, whether as a hobby or as a profession.
I will continue to think about this and post again when I have made a purchase decision. I am leaning toward an Oneida product solution but have to consider the cost and benefit in my particular circumstance.
In the meantime I will continue to welcome advice. This is a great place to cut through some of the marketing hype attached to almost every product. I really appreciate what you all have provided. Thank you.
Russ
When I was setting up a new shop I called Oneida, they were happy to spend time on me without a sale on paper.
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