Hi Folks,
My old DC crapped out right in the middle of a project I’m working on. Luckily, the 2nd Annual Woodworkers Show was this past weekend so off on a shopping spree. Gads, I spent over $700 on stuff I really need! Yuk, Yuk, Yuk!
Since I only use 1 tool at a time, I don’t need a 3 hp Cyclone, so was in the market for something smaller anyway. I had heard nothing but good about the Delta 1½ HP Dust Collector so I bought one on Saturday.
Sunday morning up and at ’em @ 6AM, gotta get that sucker runnin! Up to the shop, turn on the furnace, whiz pop died……….. Great, now what? Back downstairs after much profanity and sharp words.
More coffee. Called my buddy who works on furnaces and he came out with a new primary controller – bingo, I’m back in the front row! 66° and living large! Had that bad boy up and running by 10AM.
Man that thing really sucks! It’s got a 5″ main and the Y breaks out in 2 – 4″ inlets. I connected just the 6′ hose that came with it and tried it on all the machines, cept the TS, which I need to do more work on. I figure I’ll permanent on 4″ to the TS, downdraft table, router & jointer. The other I’ll attach to the planer, BS & RAS as needed, or anything else for that matter.
I’ll end up with way less than 20′ of ducting so I’m thinking I’ll just use flex hose for the whole system. No it’s not elegant but will do the job for me.
Just wanted to post this so’s anyone else looking for a small DC, this Delta really works nice. Assembly is a snap, except for, you guessed it, those dang bags. I’m going to find a trash can cyclone adapter which should help reduce the times I’ll need to mess with the bags.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Replies
Bob,
I've got the same DC and I have a LV trash can lid. I've emptied the can several times since last emptying the bag and it (bag) is still only 1/4 full. Well worth it, imho.
Andy
Andy,
It's been a few days since the last post but was wondering about the LV trashcan cyclone lid. I was looking at a Jet the other day and noticed that it had foam around the perimeter where it sits on the can and the LV doesn't.
Did you add some form of cealant for the trashcan connection? It would seem to warrant something.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
You don't really need the foam. The problem I experienced was too much suction causing my Rubbermaid trash can to collapse. I had to drill a small relief hole in the cyclone lid.
-Steve
Steve,
Thanks, I'll remember that. I'll be hooking it up in a few days, gotta reroute some stuff first, hopefully tonight.
All in all, how do you like its performance?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
It's okay, but not fabulous. You lose a lot of "pull" with all of the extra plumbing.
-Steve
You might want to take a look at Woodcraft's trash can cyclone. It takes 4" hose only and got rave reviews over on the WWA forum. It seems to be designed for a DC system, while the LV model looks like it's better with a shop vac. Part number is 143290. At $29.99 it's cheaper too.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have the large one from LV that only accepts 4". Also have a Rubbermaid can and am thinking maybe a more rigid can would be better.
Since I have a credit @ Woodcraft if I can't get the LV working............
Thanks for the help,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob, The cyclone lid is working well for me. I was disappointed at the loose fit on a large rubbermaid trash can I got for the purpose. I put 1" weatherstripping on the lid where it meets the trash can. Seems to work. I've emptied the can several times and the bag is only 1/4 full. I did collapse the can in short order, so I quickly built a wood jig to hold the sides out. See attachment. Pardon my laziness but I'm not dressed for the shop and just reached the camera under the lid. :) Its just a wood cross cut to sit almost half way up and on a pedastal with a foot that sits on the bottom of the can. Only took a few minutes to build. I did NOT want to drill a hole in the lid as that would kill suction. Seems to defeat the purpose of the tool. Andy
Bob,
Keep us posted on this thread on how your new DC works with the cyclone. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on that very same Delta unit, and I'm curious as to how much loss of suction you get by adding in the cyclone.
The neat thing about your DC is it's the only one where there is a place to mount the cyclone directly under the motor.
Chris
> The neat thing about your DC is it's the only one where there is a place to mount the cyclone directly under the motor.
Hmm.. can't believe I didn't think of that... if it fits. Been kind of annoying moving the can around the shop. ;)
Andy
Chris,
The neat thing about your DC is it's the only one where there is a place to mount the cyclone directly under the motor.
Man do I feel stupid now.
Just last night I was putting some of the finishing touches on the ductwork (there's still more to follow), and placement of the cyclone/can was perplexing me. I was toying with the idea of placing it underneath my outfeed/downdraft table but it presents all manner of issues with emptying it, connection of the other 4" inlet, etc.
I think you have given me an answer to a big DUH on my part!
Up to this point I have been testing it out using just one of the inlets with 10' of 4" flexible hose and plugging the other one, connecting to one machine at a time.
Machines tested: Delta 14" BS, Delta Contractors TS, Jet 6" Jointer, Dewalt 735 Planer, 20" x 24" homemade Downdraft table, 4" to 2 1/4" reducer connection to Rousseau Router fence. Results: All dust, chips and debris is in the bag!
In fact, B4 I connected up to the DC port on the BS I had run the saw several times with no DC at all. The inside was piled with sawdust! I resawed a cherry burl into about a dozen pieces. When I finished I opened both doors - all dust gone!
Just for snickers, I bought the 50-760 for $305 at a show, $60 for a Pioneer starter kit and extra connections and clamps. $18 for 2' x 4" 26 ga. metal ducting, $40 for the cyclone lid. Not counting my time, I'm still well under $500 and the longest run is under 8'!
Life is good @ Kidderville Acres. I will post pics when the system is complete but if I were you I'd pull the trigger.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 12/6/2007 8:24 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Hi Andy,
That's a great idea, and it's simple to implement. Those kinds of solutions are the kind I look for. I was thinking of threaded rods with some wood blocks at the ends, but I like your better for its simplicity.
As for the weatherstripping on the lid, I was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure if it was necessary. I'll implement it based on your suggestion.
Thank you very much for your help.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
You should have good luck with this DC with 4" ducts but don't use it with 6" ducts. I have a similar 2hp Jet which I first used with 4" ducts but it couldn't handle some of my bigger tools. I upgraded to 6" ducts and it then handled the tools OK but it pulls so much air that it does a lousy job of seperating course from fine dust. Even when I use the cleaning paddles to knock the fine dust from the filters down to the bag, when I turn it back on the air stirs up the bag contents and the fine dust goes right back to the filter. I spend more time removing and cleaning the filter than I do cleaning the bag, especially when I am cutting veneer. I am now replacing the Jet with a 3hp cyclone.
Tom,
Just out of curiousity, did the cyclone/trashcan separator work good when using 4" ducting?
Right now I'm wrestling with hooking up both 4" inlets to the inlet of the cyclone/trashcan to the 2 4" inlets on the DC.
Beginning to look like an octopus, or half of one anyway!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I didn't use a trashcan/cyclone seperator, just the Jet DC. The Jet is a pseudo cyclone in that it has a plastic bag below for the bigger stuff, a pleated filter above for the fine stuff and a cyclonic effect to spin stuff around until the bigger stuff falls to the bottom. When I had 4" ducts, it did a pretty good job of seperating things because it didn't move the volume of air that tends to move most stuff to the filter. It was the 6" ducts that introduced that problem.
One of the biggest problems was when I was cutting veneer on the bandsaw. That tends to produce nothing but fine dust. In no time at all, the filter would be completely clogged and dust would be working its way out into the room with the DC through any opening it could find. If I used the paddles to clean the filter, as soon as I turned the DC back on, the dust would just go back up to the filter.
At one time I tried to use a trashcan/cyclone seperator but could not find a metal can to fit the lid I bought. I tried a plastic can but the DC pulled so hard it just collapsed it.
BTW, my cyclone is now installed and I am quite pleased. The little dust that gets to the filter is like fine powder. Lots of fine dust just falls into the bin along with the big stuff. I haven't cut any veneer yet so the jury is still out.
I have used the trash can cyclone for several years. Overall I have found it works pretty well. A couple things that worked good for me---I used a steel garbage can to prevent collapsing, a deeper can seems to work better at containg the debris from being sucked over into the bags,and I use larger diameter flex hose. I apologize if this has already been mentioned--I didn't see any reference to it.
j,
I am nearly complete with my DC setup with the Delta 50-760. I will be incorporating a trash can cyclone into it, if it ever warms up! I will post pics when complete.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Kidder,
Did you do the remote control?
BG,
Nope. My shop is so small and I only run one machine at a time so I don't feel I need a remote. But a lot of folks like the Long Ranger.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 1/21/2008 10:03 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Kidder,
Yes, my shop is tiny also. However, I did a bit of searching on the net and come up with this... http://item.express.ebay.com/OUTDOOR-DIMANGO-WIRELESS-REMOTE-CONTROL-NEW_W0QQitemZ350015208007QQihZ022QQcmdZExpressItemI then saw that it could be ordered through Ace or True Value and no shipping cost. So I took a ride to True Value and there it was on the shelf...with a 9 volt battery, about $20. It works!
BG,
Thanks. Looks like another winner. I do use a remote for the overhead air filter as it's a rather long (8') reach. Another reason I don't use/need a remote is that I need the exercise.
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Well whatta ya know, it looks like I made the right decision for a change!
Just looked at the FWW home page and found that the Delta 50-760 has received a high rating for single stage DCs. I must say that mine does work very well indeed.
I was going to add the LV cyclone precapture but am rethinking that in favor of a chip collection box that I saw in an old FWW. This would fit better in the woodshop as I can keep it under the outfeed/downdraft table for the TS out of the way.
I'd like to thank everyone for helping me to make this sdecision and it seems that it was the right one for me.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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