Thanks everyone for the advice. Our computer crashed on Wednesday (literally, it got knocked over ) 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 . 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 .
Thanks again!
Jen