Need recommendations for a Dust Collection unit.

[JMRoberson]

We are looking for a shop vacuum to suit our dust collection needs and is compatible with the ringneckblues DC hood.

47958
As you can see our "workshop" shares the same space as our dining room right now but we hope to move into a garage sometime in the next year. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Jen

[cnsranch]

If you do a search with quotation marks around your search words, you'll get tons of info (I searched "collector", and "dust collector" about an hour ago).

Don't use a shop vac - do a search for that, and you'll find out why.

BTW, I found out that the HarborFreight 1hp units that run around $100 will do you fine.

I've got larger DC in the shop, but I wanted to find something I could dedicate to the CW, and small enough to go under the CW, and sort of out of the way.

[myshop1044]

Jen go to Amazon.com and look up a booklet call Woodstock International W1050 Dust Collection Basics
Book (http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-International-W1050-Collection-Basics/dp/B0000223Y3/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1318450684&sr=8-3). It tells just how to set up a collection system for you shop or garage. It will give you many hints as to sq. footage and design layout.
Then look for a DC unit that is at least 650 CFM, nothing less, Rockler, Grizzly, Harborfreight, Lowes also sell some nice small units just for your CW machine.

Perry

[PCW]

Jen

I have a dedicated 650 cfm for carving and it works well with the Ringneck's collector. Don't know where you are located but if it's warm I would use it outside. JMO but way too many safety issues carving in the living area. I can see you have small children in the house as well... I'm sure others will chime in. Good Luck

[fwharris]

We are looking for a shop vacuum to suit our dust collection needs and is compatible with the ringneckblues DC hood.

47958
As you can see our "workshop" shares the same space as our dining room right now but we hope to move into a garage sometime in the next year. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Jen

Jen,

As others have stated 650 cfm is probably the smallest you want to go with. Carving in the house does pose some issues with the dust. Most units have a 5 micron filter which is ok for things like table saw planner etc. but not good enough for the CW because of the small sized dust. If you do really plan on carving inside take a look at this filter system http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm or any of the lower rated (micron) filters for what ever DC you do get. The link also has a lot great info on dust collection as well.

[cnsranch]

Here's a pretty good one, and shipping's not bad, either...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Baghouse-Dust-Collector-Filter-Bags-Fiberglass-/200382338844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea7b7d71c

[LittleRedWoodshop]

That is all good advice - That is an awesome picture ... shows dedication to your craft and it looks a little different then the last time I saw it. Absolutely love the sign hanging on the wall ...

[jaroot]

OK I guess I'll weigh in on this one. Here is what we have done. We bought a HF portable DC, the red one. It worked pretty well hooked directly to a "Fredricks" DC head. Problems were that the bag filled pretty quickly and until it "caked" it would leak a bit of dust, the CW creates really fine dust. Once it "caked" it worked pretty good until it "caked" too much. Emptying the bag is a pain and a mess.

Next thing we did was to incorporate a venturi system to separate the larger particles which helped the bag filling problem but it wasn't as efficient at actually clearing the CW.

When I get the time to do it I'm going to try to build the DC head designed by Bergurd (apologies for butchering your screen name)

Now all that being presented if there is anyway that you can locate the DC unit outside of your shop or at least vent it to the exterior DO IT.

The fine dust that escapes a DC unit is the most harmful for your lungs and if you have allergies or are susceptible to them they can be a big problem and have cause severe issues in some people.

Just my opinion and worth every penny you paid for it. :)

[fwharris]

Jim,

Worth every cent and the check is in the mail! :roll:

I did the same as you with the just let it run and build up but was still seeing lots of fine dust plus seeing a reduction in air flow at the carver. I am running a Delta 1HP 650 cfm with a 5 micron filter bag. 5 micron seems to be about the standard size on most units sold but have seen some at 10 and even 20 micron.

The A35 filter system (http://www.wynnenv.com/35A_series_cartridge_kit.htm)I got is rated at 0.5 micron and increase in air flow with the larger surface area of the filter. I can defiantly tell the difference in the taste of the air :-D with the new filter.

Jen does have a special situation with carving inside the house. It would help if they could figure out a way to install the DC on the outside wall by the CW. Not sure how that window works but would be a place to start.

[dltccf]

Here's a pretty good one, and shipping's not bad, either...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Baghouse-Dust-Collector-Filter-Bags-Fiberglass-/200382338844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea7b7d71c

Nice, but I was expecting slightly less for a used one.

dave

[JMRoberson]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Our computer crashed on Wednesday (literally, it got knocked over :sad:) so we've been dealing with it's replacement and all the fun stuff that entails. We definitely want to move the carving operation out of our living area as quickly as possible. When our lease is up in March we will be moving somewhere else. Right now we are still learning the machine and doing starter projects on pine. We live near Louisville KY so we have a few more weeks of warm weather and we are doing what we can outside. However, because of the weight, and a step into our duplex moving it outside to carve is not really an option, our neighbors are also likely to walk off with it. When the machine is running I generally play with the boys outside or in their room. I will also carve during their nap time when the door can be shut. I really liked the idea of venting to the outside and I'm thinking we could probably modify one of the DC hood designs to fit into our open window while we are carving. From the stuff I've been reading the length of the venting and the number of bends/adapters decreases the machine's effectiveness. Do you think it would be better to run the vent hose outside and roll the DC outside when carving or would it be better to vent from the DC inside out the window. Either way, we will need to store the DC inside.

Our local Woodcraft has a Rikon 60-100B 1HP 650CFM on sale for 229.99 (reg 279.99) and a 60-200B 2HP 1250CFM for 299.99 (reg 399.99). Both have 5 Micron top bags. My brain is still trying to wrap itself around what all that means but I have a very fuzzy idea of what is going on :rolleyes:. I'm sure it will come. LOL.

My husband and I will also be considering the Ebay link but it might be a bit more than we need right now for just the one machine :-D.

Thanks again!
Jen

[cnsranch]

FWIW - there's a Grizzly dust collector on CraigsList in Louisville for sale - he wants $175 for it - sounds like a good deal (runs on 220v, though).

Here's the model from Grizz:

http://grizzly.com/products/G1029Z2

and here's the link to the CL ad:

http://louisville.craigslist.org/tls/2599692437.html

CraigsList is a great place to find WW tools.

Hope this helps.

[DickB]

A consideration when venting outside: If you do so, are you not pulling in 650 CFM from the outside? Wouldn't that add significantly to HVAC load?

[cnsranch]

Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.

[jaroot]

Yes but if you are sensitive to the dust the reduced health care costs may off set the HVAC costs. it could probably also be run through and air to air heat exchanger to recover some of the heating/cooling costs.

Not that I do this. My shop is unheated except for a cat heater when I'm in the shop when it is cold but I am working on moving the DC unit outside of the shop or at least vent it out.

With the CT installed the CW is quite pleasant to work around so I'd really like to get the noise of the DC out of the shop.

:)


Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.

[DickB]

Hi, Dick

You aren't pulling the cfm in, but you are venting that much outside. That's something to consider - in the Summer, you're pushing air-conditioned air out, and in the Winter, you're sucking heated air out. Makes those elec and gas bills go way up.
I don't agree - if a volume of air is going out, then that same volume of air is coming in from somewhere. If not, you're lowering the pressure in your building, and I don't believe that is possible, as there are many, many places for air to enter even in a tight building.

[cnsranch]

You're right, Dick - I wasn't tracking with you.

I think we both agree that pulling 650 Cf of air out of a dwelling, and replacing it with the same amount of air from the outside will stress the HVAC system.

My son designs HVAC for the Feds, I'll get some numbers from him for the fun of it.

[cnsranch]

Probably waay more than you wanted to read:

Just one engineer's opinion, feel free to throw this straight on the forum as a response if you'd like:


___________________


CNSRanch posits that throwing the dust collector discharge outside will push 650 CFM of the heated/cooled air out of the house--he's on the right track.

If you pull 650 CFM from the house, it will cause a negative pressure situation inside the house and, as a result, will pull 650 CFM from the outdoors. If you're lucky, this "makeup air" will come through the cracks around windows and doors, etc. If you're not lucky, this makeup air will be sucked down through the flue for your gas-fired water heater or furnace (blowing the pilot light out on older units) or sucking the plumbing traps dry in sinks, floor drains, toilets. etc.

If you're set on throwing dust collector air outside, may I suggest adding an outside air system to your home/shop furnace? A great way to mitigate these pressure situations is to purposefully add fresh, outside air to your house (at a rate greater than that which your DC is discharging). That'll assure you won't have the nasty "negative pressure" situation described above. By adding this outdoor air into the return side of your home/shop furnace, it'll have the added benefit of keeping indoor air fresh and indoor air contaminants to a minimum. It's as simple as adding a louver to an exterior wall and sending a small, 10" to 12" round (insulated) duct right into the return side of the furnace. A balancing damper in the new duct and one in the existing return duct (I'll bet you've already got one installed) and you'll be in business!

Furnace manufacturers automate the process and call them "economizers." We can do it on the cheap for a few dozen bucks by manually adjusting it. And, the shop stays safe and clean--what more could you want?


I also pressed on the issue of HVAC recovery:

You'll pull 650 CFM of 30 degree air into the house--house temp will go down, furnace will have to use more gas/electricity to heat it and probably not keep up.

[JMRoberson]

Since we rent, we really can"t mess with the furnace any. It looks like we're going to keep it inside and find one that runs on 110v with a good enough filter for now.