Lessons from a Pro 90° Large-Radius Blower Elbow Small-Shop Dust Collection Create a Clean, Healthy Environment for Working with Wood
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Lessons From a Pro 90° large-radius Blower elbow Small-shop dust collection Create a clean, healthy environment for working with wood. By Jim Harrold Consultants: Robert Witter and Jeff Hill W hen we first work with Pleated Cyclone wood, taking on a small project filter here and there and buying a power tool or two, addressing the mess of sawdust and chips with a broom and dustpan seems reasonable enough…and cheap. But as our passion grows and the projects become more frequent Figure 1: and involved, our investment Anatomy of a small in machines increases as well. shop dust-collection system Canister And so does the sawdust. That’s when we cough up the bucks for one or more portable shop Why central dust- vacuums to help police the area. collection makes sense Eventually, we realize that our pre-separation, and works with paltry militia of maintenance gravity to pull dust downward.” tools falls behind the volume of For the woodworker who fits the He also notes that a whole-shop sawdust and chips. We ask: Is my mold of “dedicated hobbyist,” system has numerous ports shop a candidate for a central one who spends hours every around the room to collect dust collection? Can I even afford week making furniture, having from, not just one port up high. such a system? And, if so, can dust collected at every machine The end result: an overall I plan and install it myself? means convenience and time- healthier shop environment and Working with experts Robert savings. With the right system, reduction of the slippery fine Witter and Jeff Hill of Oneida cleanup at the end of the day dust on the workshop floor. Air Systems, a major player may amount to five minutes The downside? Cost. For a in small-shop dust collection, instead of half an hour or more. one-man 20 × 30' workshop with we’ll help you answer these and In addition, according to Jeff, a standard layout of stationary other questions, and provide “a good central DC will cycle machines and portable power you with several options. By and clean air in a shop more tools, the price tag can run as story’s end, you’ll know what’s effectively than any ceiling (air– high as $2,000 ($800 to $1,300 involved and how to proceed filtration) box. It moves more for a quality collector and without46 woodcraftmagazine.com getting mired in math. June 2009 air, has better filtration and the rest for fittings, pipe, and 6" pipe 7" pipe 7" to 6" wye 45° elbow hose). This high-end approach would include an efficient two- stage cyclone dust collector 6" to 5" with metal pipes and fittings. reducer However, you can work up to a whole-shop system by starting with a quality dust collector and filter and adding ductwork in stages as your budget allows and needs arise. Says Robert, “Customers tell us that they wished they had installed a cyclone system While this portable 1½ hp dust collector can connect to two machines, with ducting first, instead it works best collecting from one at a time. Consider using blast of spending years with bags, gates to improve efficiency. 5" pipe mobile collectors, overhead units, masks, and other less effective measures.” But for the hard-charging weekend bag collectors pump fine collector (the most horses warrior, there may be a less micron dust back into the air you can hope to run off 110 Optexpensive for a alternative. portable while retaining the larger volts). These mid-sized units dust collector debris. In this case, upgrade the can connect to two machines collector with an after-market at the same time with dual bag or pleated cartridge with 4" ports or one 6" port. That If budget and space rank among ASHRAE tested-and-rated said, you’re best off capping your concerns, you may opt for 1-2 micron or better/ filter. or blast-gating one a portable dust collector like Or, for another1 2 $200-$300, port and collecting the one shown above. At the you can get a 1 hp dust from one machine Blastat a gate low end, you can pick up a 1 hp Secondary Strategies 5" to 4" reducer unit that’s powerful enough to Let these health-smart measures supplement Flexible hose collect from the biggest chip- your primary collection efforts: maker in your shop for around • Wear an inexpensive dust mask or respirator $200. Of course, it collects from when creating fine dust from sanding, turning, one machine at a time so you’ll and similar fine dust operations. need to move it from tool to tool • Ensure that every power tool has a as you work through a milling dust port for dust/chip collection. sequence. Be aware, however, • If weather permits, ventilate the shop with a thatTip many Alert of the single-stage box-style window fan to remove fine dust. • Use a shop vacuum for suitable portable power While purchasing the flexible tools such as sanders and circular saws, and outfit hose to attach to your tools, it with an after-market pleated HEPA filter. also include quick-connecting • Capture sawdust and chips with passive (gravity) adapters (Woodcraft #140259, boxes or bags underneath some machines $6.50) to speed hook-up time. such as a contractor table saw or mitersaw. Photo: Doug Rowan Illustrations: Chris Glowacki June 2009 woodcraftmagazine.com 47 Lessons From a Pro 6" wye Opt for central dust collection time. For superior collection portable also lets you save in the category: spend a few the cost of running ductwork more bucks and buy a two- throughout your shop. If you desire a full-service dust- stage portable dust collector. When shopping for a dust collection system, one that pulls Says Robert, “The objective collector, whether a low-dough from every machine (though is to provide enough CFM mobile unit or a fixed model, no more than one or two at a at the machine to capture brush up on a few terms to time), then Figurelet’s examine 1 the nearly all the dust and then know what you’re buying and parts that make up a system. consolidate and filter it down to assess your needs. See the Follow the anatomy to the smallest particles. woodcraft.com“Glossary of Dust-Collection drawing beginning on page 46 A portable can do this if Terms” below, and then go to and ending on page 53 for an it can pre-separate waste to find a wide understanding of parts,Table pipe 2, D-C and capture 99% of the 1-2 variety of dust collectors. Keep Systemreductions, Parts and installation. At micron fine (flour) dust.” A in mind that manufacturers’ the same time, see claims regarding CFM may be for a rundown grossly exaggerated. Therefore, of individual components. to ensure efficiency, refrain Note that while dust-collection from collecting from two pipes and fittings come in tools simultaneously PVC, plastic, and metal, we unless the collector chose metal here (and for the is 2 hp or greater. Woodcraft Workshop, page Finally, if you do buy a 24), because of the diversity portable dust collector, of compatible parts and to implement one or more of avoid the static electricity the “Secondary Strategies” found in PVC ductwork lines. on the previous page to At the heart of the dust- achieve your goals for a collection system in a one-man Glossary of Dust-Collectionclean and Termshealthy shop. shop is the collector itself. D-C—Short for dust CFM (drawing more debris) than stage) collection container before collection/dust collector. smaller diameter pipes. The reaching the motor impeller; CFM—Cubic Feet per Minute or goal is to keep debris moving, this allows only the dust to rate of airflow. See Table 1 for the and not settling in the pipe. pass through the impeller and CFM required to remove sawdust Single-Stage Dust Collector— collect in a second-stage filter and chips from a woodworking A less expensive collector that bag or pleated cartridge. machine to a collector. pulls sawdust, chips, and other Two-Stage Cyclone Dust SP—Referred to as Static debris directly through the motor Collector—An advanced type of Pressure, this is the amount of impeller before depositing it mechanical debris separator, that airflow resistance in a ductwork into a collection and filter bag. employs centrifugal air movement caused by pipes, fittings, airflow Two-Stage Dust Collector— to separate coarse and fine reductions, direction changes, A more efficient collector that material so only ultra-fine micron clogged filter bags, etc. Note that allows larger chunks, chips, and dust reaches the filter. It includes larger diameter pipes have greater sawdust to drop into a (first- a more efficient and quieter fan. 48 woodcraftmagazine.com June 2009 Branch It can be either a single- or under the workshop floor. perpendicularly or diagonally double-stage unit and consists lines stem off the across the shop. (Running it of a blower motor (from 1hp main trunk line via wyes and around the shop’s perimeter is to 3 hp), an impeller, and elbows. These typically step the least efficient way to go.) one or more filters (cloth down in pipe size (often to • Make branch lines as short bag or pleated cartridge), 5"-diameters). The branch lines as possible as well. Work for containing fine dust and may again be further reduced to keep tools within a 30' exhausting air. It contains a to 4"-diameter pipe and flexible radius of the dust collector.