Official Luthiers Forum!

right now i use a rigid shop vac that dims the lights on a 15 amp breaker, so just ballparkin it id say maybe a horse and a half. it works but it got to be dragged around and i can tell that more suction and a lot longer hose is needed. what should a guy be looking for in a dust collecter, or do i really need it. i use a 2 car garage to work in. i want to move my (very loud)air compressor out to a attached shed and would have room for a small dust collecter in the shed as well. i use the usual tools-tablesaw, bandsaw, sander(s), drill press, routers,. jointer,and thickness planer

Everything you want to know...

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

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Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

It depends on whether you want to leave all your machines connected (via gates) all the time or not. The least expensive solution is probably a 1.5HP or 2HP cyclone (e.g. a Grizzly G0443 or G0440) with a solid pipe 6" run from the cyclone to the center of your garage, with a 6" to 4" reducer there with a long length of 4" clear spiral wound flex pipe with fast-connects on each machine. This is the solution I am currently installing (with a G0440 2HP cyclone). If you don't want to be bothered moving the pipe everytime you move machine, then you will have to plan your pipes/gates very carefully to ensure you get adequate dust control over your whole system. Grizzly and Oneida both have good pubs on their websites that will help you plan a system properly. Beware - a properly designed dust collection pipe/gate system can cost almost as much as the dust collection machine itself!

A shop-vac does not move enough air or generate enough static pressure to be useful as a dust collector for the larger woodworking machines.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"