Hi Everyone,
I just recently sold my Powermatic PM1300TX-CK (2 Micron Canister) dust collector. This is the variant of the JET with their "Turbo Cone technology". It is a good dust collector but not quite sufficient for my needs. It lists for $850 with free shipping. Here are my thoughts and why I'm selling it -- which may be of help to some of you. I've gone through a number of dust collectors over the years. I started out with a tiny Delta and then upgraded to a Grizzly 3Hp cyclone after I became aware of how dangerous wood dust can be. The Delta really wasn't that good and lost suction very quickly -- I would consider it close to worthless -- better than nothing but not able to protect your health. The Grizzly cyclone was great but way too large for my small shop, especially as I continued to add more equipment. I then went to this Powermatic thinking it would be sufficient and much smaller. I went with the Powermatic over the equivalent Jet product because of the metal duct from the blower to the dust collection area (canister and bag). The JET has a spiral tube and the result is a product that feels very flimsy when you are moving it around. The Powermatic is very rigid and I like that about it. The "Turbo Cone" or "Vortex Cone" do indeed help keep the large chips in the lower bag at all times. There is only ever fine dust at the filter. It might seem gimmicky and it is certainly not a cyclone but it does help significantly. This fine dust still stops the suction eventually and I find that after the lower bag is 1/3 full that it is time to put a new bag on and clean the filter. If you don't clean the filter, then the suction begins to drop even with a new bag. I just grab my dust mask and a blower and set the filter on the grass and blow out the filter. This takes about 15 minutes but the end result is much better suction at all times. However, because I build guitars full-time, I am having to empty the bag and clean out the filter about once a month. I've gone through 11 bags since I've bought it a year ago. Also, I have a wide belt sander and I find the suction is just not quite strong enough to handle this one machine ideally (you need serious dust collection for a wide belt).
My conclusion is that these newer canister dust collectors (from Powermatic and JET) are great for the weekend warrior and for most shop tools. Folks that do this for a hobby are likely not making the amount of dust that those of us building fulltime are -- which means, that you can go much longer before having to empty the bag and clean the filter. I still need something portable and small and am therefore going with an 3HP Oneida Portable. I will post a review of the machine after I've used it for a while.
