If you have been following my purchase of the “dark horse” on the “Racing Form”… my Penn State cyclone is up and “Running for the Roses”. And forget the “dark horse” rating spouted by the acclaimed Dust Doctors, she was steady out of the gate, not missing a stride and looking strong going into the turns. :>)

Only 23″ of total run with the “eye” of the cyclone in the center and the major dust and chip makers in a tight perimeter around it. The “drive train” is all 6″ from the neutral vein all the way to the machine which were all modified with a 6″ port to accept it. No drops.. no off-shoots.. no reductions to eat up all the raw power a 2 1/2 HP can produce.

I made the decision to keep my smaller mobile Penn State DC and put it to use where it would do the most good. A 4″ drive to the router which then Y’s off to two 2 1/2″ lines. One direct to the fence and the other to the bottom where a dust sealed shelf separates the upper router housing from storage area below.

It also continues on a few feet to my SCMS to Y off again with two 2 1/2″ lines. One to the dust chute in the cutter head and one to table level behind the blade. No matter what you do, miter saws are still going to spray dust. I studied where it sprayed and built a clever little shroud from a $1.50 plastic table mat along with tried and true “duct tape”. From what was about 60% capture to about 90% as I even amazed myself on this one.

The vertical sander, smaller BS and spindle sander get the call from their standard 2 1/2″ port with a Contractor grade 16 gal. Shop Vac. Doing a fine job with those as they are mobile and get rolled to the outer door and machine work area when needed. Not much escapes the Shop Vac with HEPA filter and dry wall dust bag as far as I can see.

The cyclone sits ready for the “big boys” and trouble makers when it comes to producing large chips and dust clouds. The only machine I didn’t go direct with 6″ to is the 18″ BS. I Y’ed the 6″ just before the port with a 4″ line going to the BS dust port below table which on the Steel City is the best I have ever seen as far as capture. But there’s always the fine table dust that gets produced and float off in invisible clouds. A home-built dust shroud at blade level coming from the 2 1/2″ secondary line off the Y has hit a “home run”. I’m getting about 98% from what I can see. And of course you can’t see tiny particles, but I have my fingers crossed.

Straight hook-up on 8″ jointer with en-larged port and same with 20″ planer. Both sit at an outer door that can be opened when in use and a 20″ fan behind the operator moves the small escape dust from above the table outside. Most saw-dust from these machines are larger chips anyway, but Atlanta weather with only several months of below 50 degrees outside in the daytime makes the open doors an enhanced package with a 20″ afterburner fan sitting behind blowing out.

And the the Uni-saw which is a “dust spewer” by nature. And why not as the Delta boys didn’t do much to cover up gapping holes that allow saw-dust to escape from every nook and cranny. My first thought after purchasing it re-conditioned and getting covered in saw-dust on the first cut was. “who designed this thing”?

Every hole, gap has been sealed with camper adhesive foam tape. I installed a zero clearance place, but drilled extra dust holes in appropriate places. I made a sheet metal cover for the angle adjusting slot, but placed a piece of the same $1.50 plastic table mat between the outer cover and the saw. Cut a slot in the plastic and it closes around the angle adjusting shaft that comes out the front of saw at whatever angle you move it too.

I also added an over-head dust shield attached to my home-made crown guard. Acts as both a safety feature and dust pick up. With the PS now hooked up with a 6″ drive to the main port and a 5.5 HP Shop Vac driving a 2 1/2″ line to the over-head… there is no dust escape and if so, not noticeable. From about 70% with standard port to around 97% just guessing.

So… it the Penn State capable. I personally think so. I added another 15′ spliced to my current 23″ and still got tremendous suction. Bear in mind I am driving 6″ direct with no drops.. etc. I think the 2 1/2 HP model I have would be good to go even with drops up to about 35′ guessing. From 35′ to 45′ I would up-grade to the 3 1/2 HP to get the power and efficiency I am looking for. Over 45′ I would go to the 5 HP with multiple drops as I would not personally try to pretend an Chevy S-10 is a “logging truck” and hope it preforms as one. 

As far as consulting the “experts” to set up a peak system. Why would I want to consult someone who just sold me an expensive piece and not likely to purchase another? Then allow them to set me up selling me their expensive ducting? As I have not seen “doctorates in Ductology” displayed on their web-sites, I am going to heed the advice of my “grand-pappy” and “dance with the one who brung me” to this point.

That be me…. as common sense can set one up with the most peak efficiency by simply sitting down and staring at your personal lay-out, IMO. Who in an office 1000 miles away could do it better for you than you staring the problem in the face? Just my thoughts.

So… I’m done with this challenge. I had to learn to add a sub-panel, lay another 220 V line, figure a way to keep suction peak by reducing drops to minimum and get the fine dust that regardless of “how big and bad” your machine is touted, if you don’t get to the points of a machine that is not covered by just a hose running to a port from the factory, you ain’t gonna get all the fine dust you could get! And then what you got is nothing more than an expensive “chip collector”.

And a few of you asked how often do you have to empty the 35 gallon large particle can? Well… I ran about 150 linear feet of 6″-8″ stock through today and emptied it twice to keep CFM at maximum and dust out of my shop. Whoa… having to empty it twice with only 150′ linear feet?

Well.. those two empties took about 1 minute each. And how you say? Because I cut a hole in the bottom of the large chip can and added a dust gate as the small particle can. If you can do it with the small can, why couldn’t you do it with the large can and avoid removing the bottom flex hose clamps.. hose and taking that can outside to be emptied.

I just hooked up the 4″ hose on that little Penn State DC to the gate and sucked it out into the DC with a clear, disposable bag as the “catch can”. When 3/4 full (and you can see through a clear plastic bag) you un-snap a band, put some duct tape around it and chunk it out the door. No PITA removing that bottom large drop can from the cyclone.. taking it outside.. dumping it and then replacing it on the cyclone….

Why didn’t the Ductology Doctors think of that?… Life is simple. I will use the smaller DC in conjunction with some quick dis-connect at key point in my ducting to clean out the system. Just dis-connect and run the 4″ pipe through the 6″ pipe to clear any pools of dust that might potentially collect in the pipe and turns. You can’t see inside those pipes, but you can see what comes out into the DC bag used as a chimney sweep “so to speak”.

And to all that are considering a cyclone.. IMO, I feel it it well worth the investment if you face reality of you can’t buy an S-10 and expect it to carry too heavy a load on a long haul day in and day out. Ya gotta match the size to the job you expect it to preform, IMO.

So…………………….. “who ya gonna call”?

Dust-busters… of course!

Or…. ya can just dance with the one that brung you…

Sarge.. jt