Longest dust control run?

UncleJoe

Joe
Senior User
I know there are a lot of variables to consider like size of Dust collector, size of pipes, turns, etc. I am looking for some "rules of thumb" to get me headed in the proper direction or to avoid very bad decisions.

I had a nice 600 sq ft hobby wood shop then I retired and the "Boss" decided she needed to be a little closer to the grand children and who can argue with that. So we moved and now as a bit of a trade off I get to have a new shop built. After 20 years in a 600 sq ft shop I know what space I need and what I want and fortunately my budget allowed me to "bump up" to a 1000 sq ft shop. So now I am using sketchup to lay out machine placement and thus dust control pipe runs.

My plan involves gathering my main tools into what I call my Milling center. That would include a table saw, Band Saw and a Planer-Jointer. These tools are nested together so any dead space is facing each other and makes for a nice work flow. I am having the builder create a 12x12 trench in the floor from the wall to the center of the Milling center to run my electrical, compressed air and Dust control pipes. This will have a removable recessed cover so the floor is smooth and I have no trip hazards.

I am thinking of placing the Cyclone in a corner of the shop so I have a straight run along the wall to the milling center trench with drops for the lathe and other machines along the way. If I do this it may be as much as 48 feet of dust control pipe before I reach the milling center. I would make the curves with 2 45 degree elbows to reduce friction but is 38 feet too far?

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.
 

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
I would suggest going to the Oneida site (or one of the other manufacturers). I think they have a free planning guide that will help you w/ this question.

I've got several long runs in my shop that probably match, or exceed, the 48 feet you'll have and haven't had any problems. My system is a 5 hp cyclone.
 

blackhawk

Brad
Corporate Member
Joe - This link is a pretty good one to figure out your system. Figure Dust-collection Needs By The Numbers

I've designed a few industrial metal chip collection systems in my day. I did one that used a 100 horsepower motor with a 12" trunk line! There are no real short cuts if your going to have some long runs where you might be on the edge of performance. The static pressure losses in your system is the big factor that a lot of people ignore. The static pressure rating is arguably more important than the CFM rating of the chip collector that you choose.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
One thing I can tell you is you won't need a huge system. You might want to look at the compact cyclone units like Laguna. Grizzly also has good deals on smaller cyclone units. If you can vent outside and bypass the filters that will boost performance.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is don't undersize your ducts. For your size shop a 2HP blower should get the job done. That size will handle 6" ducts - trust me!! I see lots of guys running 4" duct systems and that is a huge mistake.
 

McRabbet

Rob
Corporate Member
I suggest that you spend some time reviewing Bill Pentz's website. He has extensive discussion of designing and laying out duct systems for woodworking shops and calculation tools to determine static pressure losses. All of the ClearVue Cyclones use his cyclone design and are very efficient. Here is a link to his section on Ducting.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
In a new shop , I think its best to work in it for a while before running dust control piping, you will invariably want to move a machine or 2 or maybe all of them. Ive been in my shop for almost a year now and still moving equipment.
 

Rushton

Rush
Senior User
I suggest that you spend some time reviewing Bill Pentz's website. He has extensive discussion of designing and laying out duct systems for woodworking shops and calculation tools to determine static pressure losses. All of the ClearVue Cyclones use his cyclone design and are very efficient. Here is a link to his section on Ducting.
Ditto this recommendation in all respects.
 

LB75

Moderator
George
I second the recommendations to spend time reviewing Bill Pentz's website. A few years ago I piped my 1,000 square foot shop using 6" sewer and drain pipe and following all the recommendations on long sweeping bends and to reduce as close to the machines as possible. I connected the piping to a 2HP Laguna cyclone only to discover that the cyclone just wasn't up to the task of clearing all that piping. I'm currently in the process of completing the install of a 5HP ClearVue cyclone with the 16" impeller to replace the Laguna.

You'll find all sorts of people online saying that a 2HP cyclone is plenty for that size shop (the trap I fell in to) but from my personal experience if you're going to pipe in a shop that size you should do yourself a favor and go with the 5HP system.

I should add that I'm not disparaging the Laguna 2HP cyclone, it is actually a great collector when used in it's intended function as a mobile cyclone to position next to the machine in use with a short run. It's just not the ideal solution for piped in shop using 6" piping.
 

dino drosas

Dino
Corporate Member
I too recommend the ClearVue system. I have had mine for over twenty years. Bill Pentz's site is the most helpful info I have found. I would take a hard look at the all steel cyclone on the ClearVue site with the 8" main trunk. Might be a bit of overkill but still less expensive than Oneida. Get you ducting from blastgateco.com as the have great sale pricing on snap together piping ror you can save considerable dollars using spiral ducting
 

bobsmodels

Bob
Senior User
Congratulations on the nice new shop, always fun to build one from scratch. I put in an Oneida 5hp system several years ago and found both Pentz's site and the planning input from Oneida very useful. This was my third wood shop and each had its own challenges for layout of dust collection system. In the tutorials section I put my construction article Pro2000 Installation, https://ncwoodworker.net/forums/index.php?resources/categories/tutorials.22/ . I used a Alibre to layout all the system in 3D, included in article which worked out very well. Let me lay out each component so I knew what to order.
I agree with Chris that you might want to work in the shop for a bit to make sure all is positioned how you want it. I used my shop for a number of years using a roll around before putting in the system.

Good Luck

Bob
 

Saber

New User
Jamie

this is a good planner and you can chose tools to place in your shop also.
 

Mrfixit71

Board of Directors, Treasurer
Rich
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have just over 1000sf in my shop and it's built over a crawl space. I too laid it all out in SketchUp before the start of construction. My dust collection is under the floor in the crawl space, sort of a Christmas tree design, and all 6" green PVC. I reduced the pipe as needed to 4" above the floor at the various machines. I took the blower off my roll around 2 HP Grizzly DC and mounted it under the floor, and then piped the 80 foot discharge pipe (6" dia) to daylight in the woods. It blows everything 10-15' beyond the end of the pipe with no problem. I was concerned about only having a 2 HP blower but have been very happy with the results. I don't know how much of this is useful in your situation.
 

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