Tonight I finished installing my new dust collection system. The cyclone is a Laguna 2HP mobile cyclone. The ductwork is 6" mains with either 6" or 5" drops to most of my tools (most of which have 6" or 5" ports). The ductwork is spiral pipe and long radius fittings from Penn State Industries. Even with just the 2HP cyclone, the ducting is so efficient that I am getting very good results.
On most tools, I cannot see or smell any dust.
The tablesaw and router table give me a very small amount of visible dust.
The wide belt sander and bandsaw create the smell of wood dust, so I know there are some fine particles even though there is no visible dust.
All other tools do not even leave the smell of dust.
I believe moving to a 3HP cyclone would improve things marginally, but I am very happy with the results I am getting now. I will stick with what I have for now, and if I ever get the urge to upgrade again, I'll move to the bigger cyclone.
Here are my recommendations for anyone who is interested:
1) Be demanding about your dust collection system. For too many years I have accepted a constant coat of dust in my shop. I made the decision a few months ago that I want my shop to have no more dust than my living room. What a difference it makes -- a clean shop is not only more healthy, but more inviting, and it makes you want to be out there working.
2) Efficient ductwork is more important than a powerful dust collector. You can get away with a less powerful dust collector if you have efficient ducting, but you cannot get away with inefficient ducting no matter how powerful your dust collector. The math just doesn't work. (Bill Pentz's ductwork calculator proves it over and over.)
3) The difference between 4" pipe and 6" pipe is mind boggling. The difference between flex pipe and spiral pipe is equally mind boggling.
4) Installing ductwork is a huge pain in the neck. For me, it was not pleasant. And it took a really long time. (I will still probably install more to a couple of ancillary tools like my disc sander and mini-lathe.) I spent the majority of my free time in January working on it. But it is definitely worth it.
5) If you do it right, you only need to do it once. And the benefits will last as long as you own your shop.
6) The Laguna 2HP cyclone is very quiet for a dust collector. Some of the bigger cyclones are extremely loud. If you have room for a large soundproofed closet, the big cyclone is a nice upgrade. But I don't, and I can't imagine listening to a jet engine sound every time I turn on a tool. For me, the 2HP with efficient ductwork strikes the right balance of good dust collection and low noise levels.
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