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Well I finally got my new band saw all wired/setup and running. After about 20 minutes of sawing I realized just how big of a problem dust is going to be with the large amount of work I will be doing with the machine. I would appreciate some input/recommendations on what I should be looking to get. Eventually I will be running a tablesaw, jointer and sander along with the bandsaw. My budget will be somewhere around 600-1200 range. Here are a few units I have been looking at.

3 HP General Canister
http://www.general.ca/site_general/g_pr ... 0-210.html

2HP JDS Cyclone
http://jdstools.com/2hpcyclone2100-ck17 ... ector.aspx

1.5HP Delta Canister
http://www.deltaportercable.com/Product ... ctID=11491

I really like the looks of the ClearVue cyclone. 5HP...a lot of suck. The next on my list was the Grizzly 3hp cyclone.

Make sure to keep your duct runs as short and as straight as possible. Try to have no 90 degree turns...45 straight 45 is more efficient. Try to keep the ribbed flex hose parts short...creates turbulence and decreases efficiency.

Darrin

I like the looks of the Clear Vu a lot too but its a little bit out of my range, will have to see.
Cant get Grizzly up here unfortunately...

Well reading the specs on the JDS unit, it looks pretty good. Obviously that one is at the top of your price range too, but the claimed airflow looks good. I wonder how those numbers are in real world applications.

The size of that unit would fit my needs better. I'm limited in how tall the machine can be in order to fit in the "closet" I'm building for it.

If you can swing it, of those three, that's the one I would go for. I'm sure the General is a great machine, and you may even be able to use it for a while then scab the parts together to make your own cyclone. Use the canisters for your filter, buy or make the cyclone unit, use the motor/impeller to drive it.

Good luck. What kind of bandsaw did you get?

Darrin

I use the Oneida 2HP Super Gorilla; it is an excellent unit and has a 0.5 micron filter. Good advice from Todd about dust particle size, worth studying up on - check Bill Pentz's site for a start.

The V series was not available when I got mine or I would have probably opted for the V-Systems 2000 with the upgraded filterhttp://www.oneida-air.com/v2000.php. It's a few hundred dollars cheaper than the one I got and you still get the Baldor motor and plenty of CFM to do the job!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks for all the excellent replies so far guys.

Todd, I would not get anything that does not filter at least to 1 micron. I looked at that Oneida and the specs look really good especially with the upgraded filter, how much of an upcharge is that? This is going to be a central system for sure, hooked to multiple machines.

Darrin, I want to just make one purchase and be done with it so I guess I should just go for a cyclone right off the bat. I got a Laguna 16" saw.

Cyclone is the way to go. 2hp or more. The JDS got a decent review in the Wood mag ratings a couple of years ago. So did Griz. I'm in the process of installing a Penn State system (for one thing, the filtration was finer than most). Lots of choices here. You will be happier if your collector is on the other side of a wall.

Do not underestimate the cost of ducting and connectors. For me, it came to quite a bit more than the cost of the 3.5hp cyclone.

You need to read Bill Pentz's site and not be in a hurry to just go out and buy something. This is a critical system; doing it right will take money and time.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Things they don't tell you . Those filer units will need to be replaced about once to twice a year depending on how much you use them . I have a Grizzly unit, it knocks me $250 for the filter every time I replace them. I will soon replace with the clear vu . The bags don't work much past the 5 micron level so as Todd pointed out , look for 1 to .5 micron filter capability if possible. You can supplement the dust collector with an air filtration unit. I run a 1 micron ceiling unit.
This is one area that you don't want to cheap out . It is your lungs , so if you use a 5 micron , you may as well light up and smoke "lights" it is about the same affect. Look for good volume 2500 cu ft or better and the more HP the better..

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

http://www.grizzly.com/products/2-HP-Cy ... ctor/G0440 this is what I have , it is a cyclone unit.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Just for the record Grizzly now does ship to Canada! I think they started mid January, decent brokerage fees as well. Anyways sorry nothing else to contribute to the thread.

Matt

I found the cyclones work much better than the other dust collectors. I built this one http://www.woodstore.net/cycduscol.html and I don't have any dust getting out of it. I have it hooked to my tablesaw, 16/32 drum sander, planer, jointer and shaper with 4" pvc pipe. It works great on all of them even though the planer and sander are on about 15-20' of pipe. I blow the canister filter out once or twice a year and I have had it several years. I don't use it on my band saw because I found my shop vac works better on it, I think because that only has a 2" port on it and it cuts the volume down too much. I had a dust collector with bags before I built this one and you could see the dust coming out of them. That was an inexpensive collector though.
Mike

Won't hijack the thread here but WILL say that I've recently become enlightened on dust collection. I too read Bill Pentz's site and wound up, for starters, retrofitting my clunky old Harbor Freight bag collector with a $100 Wenn canister filter, and MAN what a difference! I'm blessed/cursed with a small shop, all the power tools are within 10' of each other so the runs are short...but in going with the canister, the suction is easily double what it used to be, I'm still planning to go cyclone eventually but for now, this was s smart move for me. Truthfully, I never gave the workshop air quality much thought until this last year when I'd had several bouts with recurring respiratory illnesses. That fine dust is some nasty stuff, gang.

Anyway, don't skimp on dust collection if you have the means....that's my 2 cents!

I called a local place today that carries Oneida systems and got some pricing.

V-2000 w/remote no hepa filter $1499.00 CND
V-3000 w/remote and hepa 1599.00
Gorilla 2HP w/remote and hepa 1699.00
Gorilla 3HP w/remote and hepa 1999.00

Obviously it would not make much sense to buy the V-2000 when I could get another one HP and a better filter with the 3000 for $100.00 more, but would there be any reason to go up to the gorilla unit then? The 3HP gorilla is out of my range though.

As much as I like my 2HP Gorilla I would probably opt for the V3000 if I were buying one now. It has all the CFM you need for one machine, the 6" outlet is a bit more convenient (the Gorilla's 7" outlet has to be reduced to 6" within 8' or so). Everything else seems to be pretty much the same.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Why do you say the pipe has to be reduced within 8 feet?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Came from Oneida's ductwork design guide:


Actually I ran the 7" to my downdraft table then continued on with 6" from there.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Bill Pentz seems to disagree. He says you need 6" or more going as close to the dust making machine as possible. But the specifics of the cyclone and ductwork would need to be known and calcs done, I guess. The Oneida folks seem to know what they are doing. One thing to avoid is seeing it as an air moving system where you want to reduce as you get further from the blower to keep velocity up; dust collection runs the opposite direction. But I think you still increase velocity and decrease volume when you reduce pipe size.

I asked because my new Penn State (3.5hp Tempest) comes with a 7" outlet, and I'm running 7" duct over the rafter ties most of the way to the machines, and then going to 6" on the drops. For some of the machines that 6" gets split to a pair of 4" right at the machine. I'm hoping that there is enough of a margin of overkill in the power of the collector to compensate for my ballparking a lot of stuff. Installation is hard work. Lots of little sheet metal cuts (I'm using metal duct).

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard, I'm thinking you should be ok. The guidelines from Oneida that I quoted were for a 2Hp collector and yours is 3.5 Hp so should be able to pull through the ducting just fine. These are just general guidelines but here's the link http://www.oneida-air.com/files/Ductwork%20Design%20&%20Order%20Form%202hp%20&%20Under%2010-06.pdf

I've got about 10' of 6" going to the table saw. I haven't finished installing all the duct work yet so I'm still splitting off from the 6" to a 20' piece of 5" flex that I reduce into a 6' piece of 4" for the bandsaw and my 10-20 drum sander. All of that and I still get really good dust collection so I bet you'll be fine unless you have a monster shop (in which case I'd be very jealous).

Here's some other info I found useful:

A CFM sizing guide for the tools: http://www.airhand.com/downloads/AHS_Cut_Sheet_CFM_Req_and_Branch_Sizes.pdf

Some good info on ducting design:
http://www.airhand.com/designing.asp

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Something else to consider is how loud is it. I didn't see ratings on it for sound but mine is 1.5 hp and it's pretty quiet. My neighbor built one just like mine except with a 2 hp and you should probably wear hearing protection with it.
Mike