Never being one to pass up a deal on a tool I know I’m going to buy someday anyway, about a year ago, I picked up a Delta 1.5 HP dust collector. I wasn’t really ready to buy one, but at the price, I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been using it in a limited capacity connecting directly to machines over the last year or so. Over the last month or two, I’ve slowly put together (along with making several other improvements to my basement shop) a central collection system with permanent hoods for my RAS and CMS, and a half dozen other gates on what will be my bench/countertops and for connecting hoses to run out to mobile machines.
I’ve been using it now for a week and a half and it’s the greatest thing since they figured out how to brew Guinness. I cannot believe how I ever got along without it. I have an air cleaner which has been a godsend but this DC system is just absolutely amazing. I’ve worked in professional scene shops building theatrical and film sets, so I know how great a good DC system can be, but strangely enough, I never really appreciated what a dramatic difference it would make in my own shop. Just for sheer convenience alone, it’s worth every penny, not to mention that I’ve not emerged from the shop with dusty sinuses since I finished putting the system together.
Anyway, I just wanted to post this as a testimonial to the benefits of installing a system or even just using a DC at all. If anyone out there is sitting on the fence about investing the time, energy, and resources in a dust collector or even a central system, don’t wait, don’t walk, but RUN to the nearest tool dealer. You will not regret it. I wish I had done this four years ago.
Replies
MILES
Just installed a one stage Penn State and added a separator. It has the felt 16 oz. bags 1 micron. 99% of the sawdust ends up in the separator can. Put it all on a mobile base to move various machines.
Ditto.. I also can't believe how much difference it makes. Agree with your comments..
G'day...
sarge..jt
You guys are making me wonder if I should pick up the Jet Shopmaster little DC that they have at Costco. Hardly ever see Jet stuff there. I've been holding out for the funds to get the new Jet with the pleated filter. Anyone know about this Shopmaster thing?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie
Just sent you and e-mail. Let me check out the Jet Shopmaster. Is it one of the small DC's like the small Delta? I looked at it and it doesn't have a lot of power. OK for small machine hook up and probaly ok for one at a time on the biggers.
After I did my homework I found I was better off for $250 with the Penn State 1 HP that comes with 16 oz. 1 micron over-size bags. It's gotten Best Buy at American WW's yearly tool review for several years. Check ot out at their site as follows: http://www.pennstateind.com
The problem with the small ones is they have one bag. It's woven cloth as most of the one stages besides Penn State. The only thing that gets the job done is felt. You have to spend extra to up-grade on most systems. IMO, you are better off to keep the Monster and equip with a HEPA as you have till you can get the Jet with the cannister. I like the new Jet canister a lot.
I'm not sure the re-sale value of the small one would be good. I again think you would be wiser to wait and pop for the Jet cannister. If I hadn't added 4 or 5 new tools, I would have opted for it at $399. Otherwise, I think the Penn State is the best one stage for the money. I added a separator that puts it in a cyclone category and it drops 99% of my sawdust in the barrel I have mounted on a mobile base with the DC.
If I missed anything with this logic, post me. Good to see you out and about after the big retail season.
Best Regards to the First Lady of the Forest...
sarge..jt
Jamie
Could you get the model # of the Shopmaster. I went to Jet's website and they have changed it. Don't show pics. You may be talking about the 1 HP 2 stage that operates off a 20 gal. steel can or 32 gal. plastic with a hose that filters what gets past the can through a small paper element.
What I posted related to the small portable that can be hand carried around. What is the price you saw? If it's the two stage with the small element, we're in a different ballpark. This will work, but I would be concerned with how small the filter is and how many microns it will really filter. Also the replacement filter is over $40 and not anywhere near the size of the new Jet thang.
Paper filters are paper filters. You can get a cheap air filter for your car, or you can get a K & N that can be cleaned and re-used over and over. The difference of design as to how it preforms is comparing a cat to a lion.
Let me know when you get time..
sarge..jt
Hiya Sarge. I'll probably get back over to Costco tomorrow sometime -- have to go to the nearby wild bird center to get some waste-free food for the ravenous songbirds! Am not remembering very clearly, but I think the unit had bag on top and who-knows-what on the bottom. It wasn't a hand-carried collector.
Since I'm pretty focused on getting the Veritas router table from this year's proceeds, I think the DC is taking a back seat. Next time I have a killer month, maybe I'll set aside that 4 bills for the new Jet. At some point though, the elderly washing machine and too-worn carpet in the living room are going to have to take priority! Sheesh.
Happy New Year.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Don't waste your time, get an Oneida 1.5 hp cyclone unit. Over 30 years I have tried them all and gone thru 2 double bag units and there is no comparison to the Oneida. It is the best out there. I do not work for them or associated with them in any way.
What collector are you using for your central system?
I'm using the Delta 50-850, 1.5 HP, 1200 cfm model with a set of 1 micron bags. I had been planning on buying the Penn State 1 HP with the 1 micron bags, but when this one came up on sale with a free bonus set of 1 micron bags at my local Rockler, I jumped on it. It ended up being a little bit less expensive when comparing the costs including the shipping and I gained quite a bit of additional CFM. I was a bit nervous about setting up a central collection system with the Penn State, so knowing I had another 3-400 cfm to work with, I felt a bit more confident about it with the Delta. As I was putting the ducts together and started using them, I realized I could extend the system significantly farther than I had originally planned so I ended up with a substantially larger system and I'm quite happy about it. It's really done great things for the way I work.
I ran two ducts from the collector. One is appx 15' with one 90 in it and a single inlet. The other is appx 35-40' with two permanent stations for my radial arm (one of the biggest dust producers in my shop) and my 12"CMS. I have an additional two inlets at bench height, another one that services one quarter of the shop floor and another that services the other quarter of the shop floor. The air from the farthest duct will have to pass through three 90s before hitting the collector. Thus far, I've been able to connect my jointer to the inlet at the far end of the longer duct and it's cleared all the dust and chips like a champ. I've connected my planer to the second farthest and gang planed a half dozen 8'x5"x5/4" planks without a complaint.
Basically, I've got the collector parked in one corner of my basement and have run a pipe to the other corner on the short side of the basement and ran a pipe all the way to the opposite corner of the basement. There's not a single spot, including on the "shared" side of the basement where I'm any further than ten feet from an inlet. It's not a large basement by any means but I've got it well covered. My SO is already happy about the decreased dust down there. (There's another good argument for a dust collection system. It's very good for your relationship. If your SO doesn't understand the importance of a good DC system, just tell her that it will add to your relationship. Just make sure to remind her when the house smells of PVC glue...)
Someone else had mentioned how to gather the dust from their miter saw. I used to connect a 2.5 shopvac hose to mine when using it elsewhere in the house when we were remodeling. THat was definitely the best way to go. I'm not entirely sure that it's still not the best way to go in a central system, but I made a rather large hood out of plywood that does a pretty decent job. It was inspired partially by the metal floor sweep I saw in the latest Penn State catalog, but with extremely wide angled sides and an angled back that funnel the dust towards a fairly narrow flat inlet at the bottom of the hood. It's kind of a combination of their "Big Gulp" hood and that metal floor sweep. I admit that I messed around tweaking it quite a bit and I'm reasonably happy with it, but what I really wanted to do wasn't possible due to spatial constraints. If anyone else tries this combination approach with building their hood, I'd be very interested in hearing about how it goes for them.
Edited 12/30/2002 11:01:36 PM ET by MILES717
Miles
Congratulations on installing your dust collector. I installed the Oneida separator with internal filter in front of a Jet 2HP motor (with metal piping). Works great!
I have not been able to fabricate a suitable collection port for my sliding compound mitre saw. Anyone have any solution to this hard to corral machine?
Thanks
I too would like to hear any ideas for fabricating an effective dust collector for a chop saw. I had my dust collector attached to the dust chute of the saw, which was useless. I had a off cut from a piece of bending plywood, and used it to fashion a semi-circlular hood which sits on the table in back of the saw. At least the dust collects here and I can vacuum it with the shop vac.
Maybe Dennis and I are not the only ones who need a good idea here.
You guys are not alone. I started working on a solution last year and got distracted. This thread reminds me that I should get back to it. The biggest problem is that on the SCMS you have to accomodate the sliding, mitering, and beveling motion. The solution I was trying out was to have a hood attached to the top and back of the saw with a hanging plastic curtain. I never really got this hooked up before I left it because it also required extending my central DC to that area of the shop. I'm at the point now where I really want the DC extention and so it may be time to get back to it.
TDF
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