I’m thinking of adding a central dust collector to my barn/shop, specifically the Delta 50-760 1.5hp unit that FW gave the best reviews to. I plan to add the Thien cyclone type seperator to it as well. It comes with the 1 micron bag but at some point will go to a canister too. My question is, is there any reason I can’t tap into that via a blast gate for use with my router or random orbit sander etc? I’d like to avoid having to upgrade my shop vac to one that will accept a hepa type filter and seperator at the same time. Helps me justify getting the Delta. This is for a strictly part time home owner shop and not for full time daily use. Thanks in advance for any input.
Jim
Replies
Choking up
Dust collection as ALL about static inches of water. My experience is that when dust collectors are choked way down to fit routers and sanders they just loose their "guts". Stick with a shop vac, preferably a Festool or Fein, the results are far superior.
Use a DC for a router table
If you are planning to use the router freehand then I agree that a shop vac would be best. However if you are planning to use the router in a router table then I recommend using the DC. I have a 6" duct running to my router table and then split that into 2 4" ducts. One goes to the back of a home made fence and one to the router compartment. The router compartment has the lower couple inches of the door cut off to allow enough air flow to not choke the DC. Not many chips escape this setup.
DC to Router table
I agree that hooking a Dust Collector to a router table is the way to go. However, I have found the the 'secret to success' is to allow as much air-flow as possible from the table-top to the DC. This means that, whenever possible, use a large opening around the router bit.
I have a Woodpeckers PRL lift which has insertable bit-surrounds. Unless I am working with short pieces I always use an insert that allows ample airflow down through the table.
Frosty
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Dust Collector not a vacuum
Jim,
Keep in mind that a dust collector moves air differently than a shop vac. The impellers in dust collectors are called material handling and are design to actually pump dust big volume, low vacuum. The shop vac is low volume high vacuum.
Shop vacs pull more air through a small duct. SDust collectors pull less. When you reduce to less than 4" ducting you will notice the drop in cfm immediately.
If your shop vac is still running well, think about connecting it to a Dust Deputy mounted to a plastic 5 gallon pail. The cyclonic action will do a good job of separating most of the dust into the pail before it gets to the main vacuum. This will allow you to use standard filters, although this would be the time to install a HEPA grade filter. Unless you forget tho empty the pail, the only time significant dust will carry over into the vac unit. Filters will last forever and the suction power will always be high.
Don
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