From time to time, we get asked about our “professional setup” for dust collection. It’s not what you might expect from a (semi) professional shop…or maybe it is exactly what you expect, given that we’re known for hand-tool stuff.
But we do use machinery – particularly for stock prep and rough cuts. Plus, there’s a fair amount of sanding in making stick chairs. Our machine shop (aka “The Electric Horse Garage“) is, however, quite small; there’s no room for 6”-diameter piping or a large cyclone. Instead, we have two Jet Vortex dust collectors for the large machinery. One is hooked up to the jointer and planer, with manual gates that we open/close to direct the suction to the machine in use. The other is for the table saw. I don’t know about Chris, but before I turn on any of these three machines, I first poke the bag to make sure the dust level isn’t too high. Trying to birth an overfull garbage bag full of fine dust between the uprights is a bear, especially on the table saw (that dust is heavy!).
For the spindle and belt/circular sander, we have a small Ridgid unit hanging on the wall (which reminds me – I’d best check it given last week’s chair class; the collection bag doesn’t hold much).
On handheld machines such as the random orbit sanders and the Domino Joiner, we hook up Festool dust collectors (I bring mine in from home during classes so that we can set up two stations). Key is the addition of a 98-cent hose clamp to keep the collar from slipping off the machine’s dust port. (You can just see it in the image above.)
In the bench room, the only stationary(ish) machines we have are two bands saws. One, Chris’s venerable Delta/Rockwell, predates dust collection ports, but on the new Jet band saw we hook up the shop vacuum if we’re making anything more than a short, quick cut. Might as well go through the teensy bit of trouble of hauling out the vacuum, given that we use that same vacuum to clean up the machine and floor after using the band saw. Every time.
For larger stuff, let it never be said you can’t find a broom around here. We have plenty – all from Berea College in central Kentucky.
– Fitz
P.S. This is Chris, chiming in. This year we are going to add an electrostatic air scrubber to our machine room. We are serious about keeping the dust down. Also, the only sanding on the stick chairs is on the saddle. I sand about 5 minutes per chair. Beginners have to sand more. So it can seem like a lot when six beginners build chairs.
O dust, oooohhh dust, won’t cha carry me over… Sung to the tune of O’ Death, with apologies to Ralph Stanley. I have a portable dust sucker that lies idle most days. My shop machines are all on wheels so I shove them out into the daylight on my driveway. I’ll do all the rough cuts then finish the boards back inside in the quiet. On days where I’m using the planer and jointer, I have to do double duty by cleaning up the flower beds lining the driveway before the missus gets home. I have them learnin’ marks on my head from the time she discovered what I’d been doing. I had run a hundred feet through the planer so let’s just say the bird of paradise has never looked more festive. LOL
So yes, dust is a problem that goes along with this vocation.
Oneida Air makes a cyclone for the Festool vacuum that works very efficiently. The cyclone sits atop the vacuum buckling firmly in place. All of the larger particles settle in the plastic bin beneath the cyclone. Only light dust particles reach the filter making the need for filter replacement considerably less frequent. It works great!
“That means taking them apart and sucking out the filter folds with a smaller vacuum. Not my favorite job.”
In my experience on
nice spring days standing upwind of the filter and blowing the filter out beats sucking out the filter folds with with a vacuum.
I don’t think the neighbors would be happy with that (we’re in a dense urban area). But you’re right in that it would be more enjoyable for me 😉
“To Avoid Injury Don’t Tell Him How To Do His Job”. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Perfect.
The amount of dust apparent in your photographs show that you have a severe dust problem thats very dangerous. I suggest you have a complete rethink because its not working.
Hahaha. No. This is the cleanest professional shop I’ve ever worked in.
“To Avoid Injury Don’t Tell Him How To Do His Job”. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!! Perfect.
Just a tiny aside from the dust and devils and such. A fifty cent screw might help the bar back drawer on the left. Sorry…
Shoemaker’s children
Yes but, are the threads metric or imperial?
I’m curious about the collective of arm bows hanging next to the DC.
Highly recommend building Thien separators. After 8 years I changed the bag on my shop vacuum and it was only about half full. Also makes it easier to find something accidentally sucked up without ripping open a bag. I also have a 30 gal garbage can with one on the top for the planer and table saw.
They are excellent and simple to make. Improve air filtering and dust removal.
FYI to anyone reading this but make sure your blades and cutters are sharp and well maintained. A friend of mine retired but didn’t want to give up his machines and shop so he leased it out. (Big shop by the way). The guy he leased it to didn’t keep his router bits (CNC) well maintained or saw blades. Well dull bits generate heat and in this case embers that got sucked into the dust collection and when it hit the pile of sawdust in the bag the result was a very big smoky fire. Something to think about.
let us know when you decide on an electrostatic rig
I’ve been thinking about the 20×20 furnace filter + box fan rig, but that seems a little hacky
I have a PM2.5/1.0/10 detector in my basement shop. It’s usually 0-5. If I sweep it goes up. Running my box fan with a 4″ merv 13 brings it back down.
It moves more CFM than the ones you purchase and cheaper to run. I can’t imagine the commercial air cleaners do better, but they look better. For much more $. Just because its homemade doesn’t make it less viable.
I have a small shop (very small,) I struggled with dust, and still do even with a dust separator. Sanding is still problematic, but for shear aggravation: my 1949 Delta bandsaw takes the trophy! Now, here’s my question. In the pictures I see a hose attached to the band saw, is that attachment after-market or built in? If after market, is there any way you can share (without full endorsment,) where it came from.
That’s the new Jet, not the old Delta.
Rob Cosman had interesting idea for adding dust collection to a bandsaw.
https://youtu.be/Ut_tqnqrRww
This beginner remembers extensive sanding of the chair arm edges. But the Ridgid portable in the EH barn did the job. At least in that first class, the bench room was hand and block sanding only (or perhaps my memory is failing).
Dust and shavings are a pain in the butt, I have an old Robland combination machine which is 1985 vintage, no dust collection what so ever just drops straight out of the base of the machine, I was looking at building a shroud around the saw below the table top, it would need to allow for saw blade drop and tilt, lots of work and trial and error.
I was pleasantly surprised at how effective the corsi-rosenthal cube is. For about $200 and a few hours of work, it’s a remarkably effective air cleaner.
I hadn’t heard the name https://encycla.com/Corsi-Rosenthal_Cube but I knew of designs. Good to see some actual research.
Get a PM 1.0 counter and verify it in your shop.
From the outset: dust collection is one of those black hole topics, (and you folks are serious pros) but I’d like to offer a couple suggestions from experience helping friends with dust collection in their small shops: (plus reading various FWW discussions and articles on the topic)
One big change, if you’re willing to consider it, Remove the 4″ wye right at the input to the Jet dust collectors, and put a single five inch or six inch inlet on instead: (six, if you can wrangle it) helps the DC ‘breathe’ better and move more air. If you can avoid the wye/splitter, just bring the hose close to the machine and push on either hose you’re using. You’re bending over to flip either of the two gates anyway 🙂
Personally: I run five inch as close as possible and right near the machine I use one of the LVT garbage can cyclone lids to dump the chips into a garbage can upstream of the DC (so I don’t have to fight with the bag: for me, its easier to lift the garbage can/cyclone lid off and carry out the can)
If you don’t want to push on the hoses, instead of the wye, put a 45 degree splitter (either five or six) and run flexible five or six inch as close to the jointer and planer, and reduce to four inch as near the machine as possible. (this comes from reading a few FWW articles on DC, plus experience helping friends, as noted above) I typically run the ‘straight’ path to the chippier machine, the thicknesser.
But, i’d love to know if others have an opinion on this: we played with a ‘wye’ vs a 45 degree splitter in a friends workshop, and the 45 degree splitter always seemed better for moving chips in the ‘straight line’ direction 🙂
(experience comes from helping several friends out, plus my own shop: giving the Jet/Delta/Harbour Fright/King/General international/ whatever standard knock off DC a bigger inlet helps to move more air, which moves more chips and dust) (and a five inch flexible hose isn’t much bigger than a four inch flexible)
but I already know folks will have an opinion: Have fun ! 🙂
Whoops: just saw the “don’t tell him how to do the job” sign. Now I’m in trouble 🙁
BTW: huge fan of the Oneida dust deputy: just be careful about static build up with any ‘auto-start’ type vacuums.