I’m in the final planning stages of my retirement workshop, which will have underfloor ducting leading to a central DC unit located in a basement. So the sacks of chips and dust will fill, but in a separate room from where I work, and I will have no way of knowing when it’s time to change the bags unless I go and look. Anyone with a bright yet simple idea how to warn me when the bag is full?
David Ring
Replies
You could train a beagle.
I think the answer depends on the kind of dust collector. Is this a cyclone? If it's one where the chip container (drum or bag) hangs from the cyclone via a short length of corrugated hose, you could go by weight. Place the container on one end of a counterweighted balance beam. Once the weight exceeds the preset level, the beam swings down and triggers a switch that energizes a flashing red strobe light in the shop. Very Rube Goldberg-esque.
-Steve
Buy one of those backup camera/monitor gizmos that they sell for RVs and such. Some are wireless. cost is less than $100. Aim the camera at the DC and put the monitor in the shop. Assumes, I guess, that you have a clear collection bag.
In my shop, the planer goes into a trashcan with cyclone lid which is hooked to the DC. All the other machines go directly to the DC. The planer fills the 30 gal can quickly, which is easy to dump. The DC's bag fills slowly over time and only needs to be emptied occasionally.
David,
I too have been researching dust collection for a new installation, hopefully this summer, of a system in my small shop. If you are OK with building the electronic gizmo yourself this may be of interest.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f31/cyclone-high-dust-alarm-works-w-new-pics-7195/
There are also a few other posts that reference this one. Search on the author's name.
Chris
Chris, that's a really good idea. I think I'll set up something similar, although I only want a warning light, not the automatic shutoff. Thanks very much for the link.regards,
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
If this is truely a "retirement" workshop, you won't be in "production mode" any more, right? Instead of trying to come up with some fancy do-dad to alarm a full DC bag, back off on your throttle a little. Make checking the bag level part of your morning routine before firing up any tools. Are you in a hurry? If so, why??
I consider myself semi-retired and have pretty well surrendered to some of the Hispanic philosophies regarding manana and siesta. Those dudes are onto something!! - lol
Edited 4/25/2009 9:29 am by Dave45
It's truly my retirement shop, and I see this as an opportunity to invest a lot of thought and planning in making it small and smart. For now I don't have a problem with stairs for instance, but I'll bet that in 10 years time I won't appreciate running downstairs just to check if the DC bag is full yet. I'm not in a hurry, which is exactly why I'm taking my own sweet time to build the shop building itself and then outfit it.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
From your profile I see that we're pretty much the same age (I'm 63) and I can tell you that stairs, ladders, and hills stopped being fun a long time ago. OTOH, my doctor keeps telling me that those things are good for me. But he's just a wet nosed kid so what does he know, anyway?My shop is all on one level and I have it set up so that I can drag plywood straight from the pickup onto the table saw. That sure makes a difference - as long as I remember to stack my load right at the lumber yard. - lol
One consideration that will be important is air flow. My canister DC moves 1700 cfm. The furnace/AC unit for my shop and the rooms above it moves less air than it does.
My DC is in the shop so I don't have the situation that you will have. The air just re-circulates in the shop. If the DC is below, in a separate room, you will be pulling air from the shop and pressurizing the basement with it. Providing an adequate return air means between the DC location and the shop should work, possibly with some filters.
A concern when pressurizing a room (your basement room) is the presence of a gas furnace and/or water heater. If they are, the pressure could backflow through the combustion portion and out the vent, blowing out pilot lights or at least feeding way too much combustion air to them.
Yet another item to throw onto the "plan ahead" list.
OOPS, wrong Dave. sorry.
I just had another thought anyway. I considered moving my DC out into a small shed behind the shop until the cfm question rose to reality. If I were to pump that much nice warm air out, it meant re-heating an equal amount of fresh air to keep the shop cosy on 10 deg. days. My shop is about 850 sq. ft. with an 8' ceiling or about 6800 cu. ft. So with 1700 cfm going out I would need to re-heat 100% of the shop air every 4 minutes. Just not too practicle.
Edited 4/25/2009 6:59 pm ET by WoodyAl
You're quite right about the effect of removing all that air from the shop. But in my case it's a non-issue, because the climate here means I never need to heat the shop. My thoughts were more about whether it would be possible to AC the shop. In all the years I've lived in Israel I never yet had an airconditioned shop, but it would be very nice indeed. I'd like to leave that option open. Either way, it would be very easy to return clean air from the basement to the shop.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
David,
I'm getting ready for a setup much like yours, i.e. the DC in the basement except mine will be in the woodshed, below the woodshop. I'll be walking by it every day going up to the woodshop in the morning, down for coffee around 10AM, lunch, afternoon break, etc. If the bag's full, empty it. Life is simple.
Oh, and you could always do more hand tools and less machines. :-) Configure the woodshop for separate machine room and handtool/assembly room maybe? Don't need no fancy thangs that the batteries die when ye need em.
Sounds to me like you aren't going full tilt on the retirement thing for quite some time, eh?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,I'm doing the retirement thing quite methodically actually. I've signed an agreement with my partners that as of Jan 1, 2011 they will be buying out my share of the business, and I will have the option afterward (not obligation) of working part-time. In the 2 years until then I'm constructing a retirement shop on the property next to my house, and hopefully, gradually outfit it. The shop building is 7x10 meters (about 740 sq.ft) but the southern end of it is reserved for a porch that faces the hills over by Nazareth, and I fully intend to step right outside the shop and sit there with appropriate beverage in hand and watch the sun rise, or set, or whatever it happens to be doing. The DC unit will be underneath that porch, and while it isn't hard to get there it really won't be on my route to anything. Once I get the building permit I'm ready to go...hopefully this summer I'll take some time off to build it, with a lot of help from friends and family.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
David,
Oh man do I get those words, at least I think I do. For lack of better words it sounds like a lot more than a woodshop; the stuff dreams are made of.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
The cheap and safe way is to deliberately develop a habit: empty it as the last thing you do every day. If that doesn't keep up, empty it at noon and as the last thing. Or at coffee break, noon, coffee break and last thing.
Empty it whether it's full, partly full, or has nothing in it at all.
Then you'll be able to tell by the clock how much is in it, and it will never get full.
Anyone with a bright yet simple idea how to warn me when the bag is full?
Have it in a little room where you keep and have your 'good night' shot of whatever. LOOK!
There are attachments available (i believe that Penn State sells them) that have a rotating paddle extending into the drum. When the level of chips stops the paddle movement, a signal is set-off. (a light or a bell).Alternatively, a "window" can be cut-into the drum that will show from a distance when the drum needs to be emptied.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
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