Small Shops with Dust Collection System

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
I am starting to make plans to install a dust collection system in a small shop. I am in the process of laying out the piping on paper, getting a parts list together and looking at what dust collector to get.

I think it would be helpful to see a couple of small shops that have a piped dust collection system. That might help answer some question, give me some ideas and get some advice on my system.

Anybody in and around the Apex/Cary area will to have a guest over to talk about dust.
 

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
1 more question, does anyone have the Laguna b flux dust collector
 

Michael Mathews

Michael
Corporate Member
Robert, I don't know what you mean by "small" shop. Mine is approx. 24' x 36'. I ran 4" PVC pipe under the poured concrete floor when it was built, so my pipe runs are not seen, but also not able to be changed. You can however see the stubs and the collector. I also built a Thein Separator and then just blow the dirty air out through the wall. The separator works so well there's no sign of dust outside! You're welcome to come check it out. Oh, the DC Blower was from a 2HP Grizzly unit I bought years ago. I think it was rated at 1350 CFM.
 

FlyingRon

Moderator
Ron
My shop is small. Maybe 15 x 19 I think. What I've done is install a 2HP Grizzly cyclone outside the shop (it sits in the next room along with the air compressor). The intake pipe comes through the wall and splits into two runs of 6" snap duct (I started with the cheap stuff at Lowes but found that those tended to oil can if not collapse so I got some heavier gauge stuff from Grainger).

The intake into the cyclone happens to be about seven feet off the floor, so I run the 6" duck through a bunch of triangular shelf supports to hold it up. This also gives me a convenient shelf all the way around my shop. Periodically, I put 6" to 4" drop Y's and fit each of these with a sliding gate and then flexible hose down to the tool.

Two things I did learn:

Eschew the black corrugated "flexible" hose. I found the clear wire-wound stuff is much easier to deal with. The black stuff is not flexible enough.

The Grizzly remote is not RF as I had somehow thought. I fixed this by passing the wire for the control box through the wall and mounting it on one side of my shop. This gives me the handy feature of leaving the remote on top of the table saw fence and also having access to the buttons on the controller which is placed between my drill press and lathe. I put a regular light switch mounted where the controller used to go on the cyclone so I could make sure it is OFF before I do any maintenance on it.

I'm way over by Charlotte, but I'd be glad to show you. Alas, my shop is a mess these days as it's not quite recovered from the home construction.
 

MarkE

Mark
Corporate Member
My shop is about 25x22.

DC is an Onieda Super Dust Gorilla cyclone. I recently removed the filter and pipe the exhaust through the wall. Virtually all of the chips and saw dust get sent to the drum, no signs of anything outside (unless I forget to empty the drum).

I used snap lock pipe for all the runs/drops and clear, wire wound flex pipe to connect to each machine through blast gates. The DC is set-up to turn on when I open any blast gate and continues to run for a few seconds after the last blast gate is closed. The transformer that controls the contactor that turns on the DC is plugged into one of the lighting outlets so when the lights are off, the DC can't be turned on.

I am in Willow Spring and you are welcome to stop by the shop if you would like to take a look and get some ideas.
 

NOTW

Notw
Senior User
Here is my blog from Lumberjocks going through the ducting i did in my old shop
 

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
Here is my blog from Lumberjocks going through the ducting i did in my old shop

What size motor are you using
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
I've got a small 16x20 shop, single car garage, but I loose about 5 feet to non-woodworking stuff and a path. What I've learned in my dust collection designs (I'm on layout #2) is that make sure the equipment you buy is sized right. I think mine is actually too small for my CNC machine, so I am in process of saving up for replacement. Also, my current DC has the input ports on the bottom, so I have to bring the duct work down to ground level. I use PVC pipe when I can, and then switch to the clear dust hose at the end near the DC and the equipment (for the CNC it's roughly centered on the table, so the pipe has to be able to move and cover a 5'x10' area)

Also, make sure you've got enough room at the DC to remove the bag/barrell or whatever is catching the dust, as well as clean it out occasionally. I've learned I have to pull off my filter and clean out the dust (I have to cut MDF sometimes and it clogs up the filter holder) which can be a pain when it's in the corner.
 

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
I've got a small 16x20 shop, single car garage, but I loose about 5 feet to non-woodworking stuff and a path. What I've learned in my dust collection designs (I'm on layout #2) is that make sure the equipment you buy is sized right. I think mine is actually too small for my CNC machine, so I am in process of saving up for replacement. Also, my current DC has the input ports on the bottom, so I have to bring the duct work down to ground level. I use PVC pipe when I can, and then switch to the clear dust hose at the end near the DC and the equipment (for the CNC it's roughly centered on the table, so the pipe has to be able to move and cover a 5'x10' area)

Also, make sure you've got enough room at the DC to remove the bag/barrell or whatever is catching the dust, as well as clean it out occasionally. I've learned I have to pull off my filter and clean out the dust (I have to cut MDF sometimes and it clogs up the filter holder) which can be a pain when it's in the corner.

About what size DC are you using
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
I have a Jet DC-1100VX. 1.5HP, rated at 1100 CFM. It's a decent DC, but most of what I've read and looked into, recommend stronger for CNC use. And I'd like to upgrade to a higher grade filter.
 

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have a Jet DC-1100VX. 1.5HP, rated at 1100 CFM. It's a decent DC, but most of what I've read and looked into, recommend stronger for CNC use. And I'd like to upgrade to a higher grade filter.

I am trying to decide between 1.5 and 2. But Laguna has a very small 1hp that I really like but nervous it might be under power
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
I am trying to decide between 1.5 and 2. But Laguna has a very small 1hp that I really like but nervous it might be under power

I'd get the 2HP. I'm looking at the Laguna's too, the P-Flux 2 or the P-Flux 3 as I want the HEPA filtration. Long term effects of dust are not good, so I'd rather spend a little more now to try to be safer. If you're nervous the 1 HP is under powered, then it probably will be. What equipment are you trying to hook the DC too?

Here are two pics of how I've run the pipes for the CNC machine.

IMG_4470.jpg IMG_4471.jpg
 

rcarmac

Board of Directors, Secretary
Robert
Staff member
Corporate Member
I'd get the 2HP. I'm looking at the Laguna's too, the P-Flux 2 or the P-Flux 3 as I want the HEPA filtration. Long term effects of dust are not good, so I'd rather spend a little more now to try to be safer. If you're nervous the 1 HP is under powered, then it probably will be. What equipment are you trying to hook the DC too?

Here are two pics of how I've run the pipes for the CNC machine.

View attachment 184171 View attachment 184172

I have a couple of sanders, band saw, planer, mitersaw etc. I think 10 tools at the most. All but 2 only have 2.5” outlets. 2 have 4” outlets. Sounds like a lot but all my tools are small residential ones. Would be a lot of blast gates
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I have started to buy stuff but far from completing my DC setup. My shop garage is 14x24. I've purchased the "2hp" harbor freight but will not use it in it's stock configuration. The bags do not filter well enough to get the fine dust and I don't like single stage systems because they need cleaned too often. I still need to buy the super dust deputy cyclone and drum. I know what I want but have too many other projects in the way from a time standpoint at the moment. I will either discharge outside or buy the filter that Grey House Studios used (you can google them and see an article and you tube). I think I will use 5 inch snap lock pipe. 4 inch sewer and drain would be a lot easier but I think I will get enough more airflow that the 5 inch is worth messing with. Mainly I am worried about the CMS and RAS. With my previous Delta 1hp unit, I didn't have nearly enough airflow.

Ultimately I would like to have reed switches on the blast gates and use that to turn the DC on and off. But that will happen after the DC is setup and functional. That is still months away. I've run a separate 20 amp circuit and purchased the DC but am waiting to finish a bathroom before buying the remaining stuff and starting. Hopefully it will be next after the bathroom.
 

blackhawk

Brad
Corporate Member
I have used the Grizzly G1029Z2P for almost 20 years. I actually bought a 2nd one to keep in my detached garage where I run my planer. I use a Thein baffle with a Wynn canister filter on the Grizzly. Going to the Wynn canister made a huge difference in my airflow and catching the fine dust. The good thing about the G1029Z20 is the static pressure rating of 11". Static pressure is more important than CFM. The static pressure is what you need to overcome the bends and restrictions in your system. A huge CFM rating is worthless if the static pressure rating is low.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Robert,

Sanders, bandsaws and table saws are the hardest machines to collect. You really need highly rated blower, proper ducting to get the CFM's you need at the machine.

I think a shop vac is a much better way to go for collecting hand held tools like routers, sanders, etc. I even use mine on my miter saws and sanding machines. I think a shop vac would also do fine on a smaller type bandsaw.

With a central system you would need a very beefy blower to achieve the same results, plus, you've got the hassle of running more ducts, ducting down to the tool, and you also loose the mobility you sometimes need with hand held tools.

What I've learned doing this 30 years, doing 3 shop expansions, remodels and reading countless posts, is most guys make the common mistake of undersizing ducts. If you're running a 2HP blower, or for that matter, even 1 1/2, I saw a huge performance boost going to 6" ducts as well as exhausting outside.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I have no plans to get rid of my Rigid vac + dust deputy setup when I install my DC, for the reasons DrBob cites. I use it now on my SawStop but it only gets some of the dust from the compartment. But it does a great job with the track saw and handheld sanders. DCs do not pull well against high pressure loss situations like you get with the small hoses. Shop vacs never move more than 200CFM but will pull effectively against high back pressure. Shop vacs and to a siginficant degree small DCs, do not move enough air for jointers and planners and hoods on CMSs.
 

Hank Knight

New User
Hank
Robert,
My shop is 17' X 29'. It probably qualifies as a small shop. It certainly feels like one. I installed a ClearVue 1800CV cyclone in to 7 or 8 years ago and I've been very happy with the installation. I originally worried that the ClearVue was overkill for a shop the size of mine, but I have not found that to be the case. I'm glad to have the vacuum power. It moves a lot of air. I found that I couldn't live with the noise from the big cyclone, so I built a small insulated closet around it and that solved the problem. I have 6" main ducts running overhead down the two sides of my shop with drops to each machine. I tried to run the 6" diameter ducts as close to each machine as possible to reduce the constriction of the air flow. I built my own blast gates from Baltic birch plywood covered with high pressure laminate. My oldest friend is an electronics wiz and owns a hi-tec environmental monitoring business. He designed and built a switch system for my cyclone that turns it on and off when the blast gates are opened and closed. It also monitors the bin with a photoelectric cell and turns the cyclone off when the bin gets full. It's a nice-to-have feature that keeps me from having to check the bin all the time. I don't have any good photos of the complete ductwork system, but here are some shots that might give you some ideas. BTW, I have the schematic for the switch circuit I'd be happy to share.
 

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zapdafish

New User
Steve
i have a 2 car garage and went the move the tool to the dust collection route. Only one I don't move is the tablesaw. Just not really enough room to give each tool a permanent space with enough room to safely work around them. One hose that reaches a centralized open space I can move the tools too and then move out of the way when no longer needed.
 

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