Hi John,
Hope you can help with my final selection.
Background is that I am halfway through construction of my first shop, framing finished and electrics roughed in, 110v and 220v included.
It is small, roughly 12feet by 18ft, so for reasons of space and noise I want to locate the dust collector outside but immediately next to the end of the shop.
The entire area is inside an enclosed garage and the shop will be fully insulated.
Due to an overhead garage door the long side profile of the shop is stepped.
From left to right the first 8 feet is only 7 feet high, after that it steps up to 10feet high.
The location of the dust collector would be outside and left of the left wall Space is very limited, I have 32inches by 47 inches available as a footprint.
My intent, as it is a single user shop with only one machine in operation at any time, is to run metal duct from the dust collector up and over the outside of the shop to a point in the middle and bottom of the stepped wall, where the height changes, and through that vertical section. which would place the inlet in almost the center of the shop at about 8 feet high. Then, use the minimum amount of flexible hose to connect to whatever machine is in use.
I would estimate 16 feet of metal duct, and 12 to 15ft max of flexible hose.
I want to do a good job first time with this, and be sure the max amount of dust etc is removed. I have a 10inch hybrid table saw , a 12 in sliding compound mitre, and plan for a jointer and planer, and router.
I am assuming that as minimum I will need a 1 micron cartridge type machine, but am not sure of the rest of the specs.
Would you have a minimum, and a recommended machine or machines to recommend??
Sorry about the length of this, but thought it best to give all the info.
Many thanks in advance
Bill Gray
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Replies
Bill,
One of the better rated 2 horsepower machines might be adequate but just barely, thats a lot of duct and flex hose. The better choice would be to get a 3 hp machine and, as with any dust collector, the finer the filtration the better. Fine Woodworking has done a number of reviews of dust collectors they will help you to choose an appropriate machine.
John White
John,
Thanks for your input. The only problem I have in getting a 3hp machine is that all those I have seen have too large a footprint for my limited space. 32in by 47in. (They all seem to have a double dual bag system)I will remeasure the amount of duct I will need again to see if I can reduce it. Also I guess that by locating the inlet 8ft of the floor I am reducing the efficiency of the machine as it has to use power to lift the air and debris that height??? Do you agree?? I could try a ground level location.I will also look for a 3hp with a smaller footprint, if you should know of any possibilities I'd appreciate it.
I have read all the FWW articles and tool tests and found them really usefull.
Many thanks again.
Bill
Bill,Look at the two stage cyclone style units like those made by the well liked Oneida Air Systems. These are fairly compact, the cyclone sits directly above the collection barrel. Don't forget that whatever unit you buy will need to have a fair amount of room around it for emptying the barrel, which will need to be done very often if you start jointing and planing stock.While having to raise the chips to ceiling mounted piping will make a small difference in the systems performance, the friction of the piping is far more important. John W.
Hi John,
Yes I had started to look at the cyclones and there are several attractive units, which all fell down on the footprint, and at the planned location, a height restriction, especially after just visiting a showroom today, and actually looking at some of these machines, the sheer size hits you.
All of which, with your input, has been great in forcing me to think outside the box so to speak.
Problem is lack of floor space, answer is create more floor space.
Maybe this answer could help other people with the same issues, I'd be interested in any comments you have.
In the other half of the garage where my wife parks the minivan, there is a raised platform, at the back, about 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. (it is used to give access to my mudroom of a raised bungalow, and is currently used for recycling boxes etc.)
My plan is to extend this out as a supported shelf, allowing the minivan hood to park underneath it. and mount the dust collector on the raised platform. This will be in close proximity to the workshop, 2 to 3 feet, and will allow the floor space for a 2 or 3 hp cyclone machine with good access for bag removal etc. Height is not a constraint in this location, as I have 10 feet to the rafters from the platform and about another 6 feet to the roof itself.
Obviously the construction will have to be heavy duty, and supported by floor mounted supports etc etc. I would plan to go very heavy on the construction to avoid possible vibration etc problems.
Do you have any comments, or I am I out to lunch with this idea??
Thanks again,
Bill
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