[DesertRatTom]

Just notied Harbor Freight has their 2hp dust collection unit on sale again. $209, plus a 20% off coupon. Takes the price down 42 bucks to $167. Works very well for me and a lot of others. Put a chip collector in front of it and you get nice performance. It comes with a 5 miron bag filter, but you can buy a canister filter like the one in the piture, but it will cost you more than the HF unit. I have a Wynn filter for it, but I think Grizzly makes one now with a beater bar built in. With the Wynn filter, you blow compressed air back through it. The picture shows a canister filter, the one on sale is a bag. Roll it outside when you use it because the bag leaks small particles like mad.

The second picture is how I have it set up now, outside the shop under a shelter.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

I swear that looks just like my GI that I paid over 700 bucks for . You guys certainly get great deals down south

 

[DesertRatTom]

I think most of these are based on the same design. Stick thinks we're better off spending more for a name brand, but at this price, you could buy two and have a spare if it broke down, and you can order a higher power impeller for this from Rikon. To me, it's better to have some sort of dust collection than none. But don't forget a chip collector!

 

[thermobaric]

I think they all come from the same factory. I found the same part for my Rigid bandsaw at both Powermatic and Grizzly. The same exact part; a tenth of the cost.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I think they all come from the same factory. I found the same part for my Rigid bandsaw at both Powermatic and Grizzly. The same exact part; a tenth of the cost.

I think one plant producing all brands is pretty common now. I have several WEN tools that are identical to Jet and a couple of other brands, down to casting marks on the cast iron parts. Definitely the Taiwan stuff is better than the Chinese junk.

 

[bryansong]

Thanks for the heads up on this, I’ve been thinking about this dust collector since you first mentioned it. I just don’t have any room left in my garage. I do have a cyclone set up on wheels I move to wherever it’s needed. Just this last day I been watching videos on dyi dust collection.
I’m currently working on a plan for a new garage plus shop out back to start building late summer/early autumn time frame. And I want a little room off the back for a setup like you’ve got going.

It doesn’t look like you have a cyclone separator or am I missing it?

I’ll just keep using what I have for now and when I get the bigger shop I will upgrade. What a great day that will be for me.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Stick486]

Stick thinks we're better off spending more for a name brand,

I hoping you would leave me out of this...
so, let's try this again, for the benefit of the readership...
I'm more into doing it right the 1st time and not spending more till I get where I could have been to start with for less... (penny wise pound foolish theory)
the additional cost of upgrade and modification: (IMO is throwing good money after bad)...

2nd HF DC for parts.. (hmmmm)
canister filters..
external 4'' separator.. (which reduces CFM as does El's , flex and lengths of run collectively)

all of the additional cost of upgrade and modification puts you very closely in the price realm of a much superior and better made plug and play DC unit that is way quieter, (±65db) already has a canister filter w/ cleaner, doesn't redistribute dust, has a higher IRL CFM rating, and will be trouble free for a very long time.... VOE...

the inlet on the HF is 4''... and you simply can't pull their unrealistic rating of 1600CFM through a 4'' hole.. you can't do it...
no matter what impeller or motor you put behind it the 4'' inlet is only going to allow ± 350 CFM..
more motor and/or impeller will make a real screamer out it of though... HEY!!! Looky here we gots us our own jet engine sound effects...
also, cleaning the filter on the HF is one seriously messy job... you said yourself that you needed to take your's outside to clean it... that has got to be a pain
installing the DC outdoors like you did will run up your shop heating/cooling cost...
the better unit will be either a 5 or 6'' inlet which translates to ± 550~780 CFM...
I used the Jet 650VX DC (but you often brought the cost of a Jet 1100 which I have into it) as a base line comparison but there are many other brands out there comparable to the Jet 650...

 

[bryansong]

Uh oh

 

[Stick486]

Uh oh

no...
go do the research on the this very same thread...
same subject...

 

[bryansong]

Do you mean research you and Tom or dust collection?
I will do research eventually on what’s out there and choose based on what I find. There’s time for that.
I just said uh oh because it looked like this thread was getting testy. I’m not trying to step on any toes.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Thanks for the heads up on this, I’ve been thinking about this dust collector since you first mentioned it. I just don’t have any room left in my garage. I do have a cyclone set up on wheels I move to wherever it’s needed. Just this last day I been watching videos on dyi dust collection.
I’m currently working on a plan for a new garage plus shop out back to start building late summer/early autumn time frame. And I want a little room off the back for a setup like you’ve got going.

It doesn’t look like you have a cyclone separator or am I missing it?

I’ll just keep using what I have for now and when I get the bigger shop I will upgrade. What a great day that will be for me.
Thanks for the tip.

Wow, a full size shop! I sure wish I could manage that. I don't have a cyclone, instead the 30 gallon fiber drum in the foreground has two right angle spouts, set up to cause a cyclone effect in the barrel. What makes it work outside is a Rockler through the wall, 4 inch tube. That connects to the 26 ft hose inside, which I move from tool to tool.

If I were doing this over, I'd probably pop for the $180 larger cyclone, set in the middle of the same drum. But this works very well. Very little sawdust gets past the separator drum, and heavier fragments and hardware never make it past-no pings on the impeller. The electrical switch is inside for on/off. The space it's in is about 12 feet long and is open on each end. Only an extraordinarly strong wind will blow rain in. It is far less noisy and the shop no longer has that dusty feel. And I can barely hear it running.

I'm posting a couple of extra pictures of the setup, the cut away of the chip separator, and the connection to the through the wall port, which is connected on the other side to the long hose. EVERY tool has some sort of 4 inch port, all Rockler brand by the way, most brands are NOT interchangable.

I share this info because I tried to make my own system, which never quite worked, and spent much more than the cost of the HF unit and drum. I ordered the drums from U-line, by the way. They have a locking, sealing, metal top. When they fill up, you start getting more sawdust in the DC's clear bag.

 

[bryansong]

Looks good Tom.

I think my new shop will be about 18x32 feet, much bigger than what I have now. I just have too much stuff crammed in our 1 car basement garage, 2 motorcycles, a big ZTR lawn mower, snow blower, you get the picture. I’ve got a lot of my woodwork tools on wheels so I’m always moving things. I’d like to set up my tablesaw where I can build an out feed table that never has to move, that would be great. I’m working much like you with your limited space.

I’ve been wanting to build this for years, I have room with an acre of land. I’m retired now and the money is almost there where my wife is on board. I’ve scraped enough ice off the cars this winter, it’s getting old. I want a place for my stuff and a nice shop to work in during my golden years. Hope I don’t die before I get it built.

Too much information?

 

[Stick486]

Do you mean research you and Tom or dust collection?
I will do research eventually on what’s out there and choose based on what I find. There’s time for that.
I just said uh oh because it looked like this thread was getting testy. I’m not trying to step on any toes.

dust collection...

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Putting it outside like you did doesn't work up here Tom. I don't know how hard it would be on the motor trying to start it at 20 below of more. Plus you don't want it sucking the hot air out of your shop. And it blows too many fine particles to leave inside. I'm wanting to put the one I have like it outside but I have to build an insulated enclosure to put it in and then route the air back through a window opening where I can install enough filtration to get rid of the fines it blows out. Had I known better I would have done like Stick suggests and it would have been cheaper in the long run.

 

[Stick486]

Putting it outside like you did doesn't work up here

or over here...
and WTB you don't want to suck out the shop's treated/cooled air in a hot humid climate either...

you have a HF DC Charles???

 

[ger21]

the inlet on the HF is 4''... and you simply can't pull their unrealistic rating of 1600CFM through a 4'' hole.. you can't do it...

It's actually a 5" inlet, but it comes with a "Y" fitting that gives you two 4" inlets into the one 5".
The ratings are certainly not accurate though.

I've had mine for probably close to 10 years now, and was a steal at the $139 I paid for it. It's far more powerful than an older 1HP Craftsman I have.

 

[Gene Howe]

My HF DC is 15 years old. Haven't had one problem with it. Although, it's in a hobby shop and doesn't run continuously. It only serves two table saws and, the planer. The miter saw, and various stationary sanders use a shop vac.
I used a 35 gal. trash can with a venturi lid for a chip collector. That worthless filter and bag was removed and the dust is vented outside. After a day of planing, the dust accumulation outside is negligible. The chip collector catches most all of it.
For a small, one man shop, the HF DC is ideal...IMHO.

 

[Nickp]

Very timely thread for my purposes...I've been looking at the Jet 650 ($550) and 1100 ($750) Vortex units...
@DesertRatTom

Tom, and others that have done this, can you correct my estimate below of what it would cost me to make all the mods you mentioned...? I am in the middle of selecting a dust collector for my "soon-to-be" shop.

I see:
1. impeller upgrade................100?
2. separator (parts)...............100?
3. WYNN filter.......................200?
4. shipping for all the parts....100?
5. price of HF unit.................200
6. 2nd HF unit......................200
7. estimated CFM.................?

Did you also upgrade the motor...? Did I miss anything...?

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

or over here...
and WTB you don't want to suck out the shop's treated/cooled air in a hot humid climate either...

you have a HF DC Charles???

We don't have HF up here but it probably came out of the same Taiwanese factory. They all use the same induction motors, bags, impellers, etc. Just like my King Canada tools are available in at least 4 or 5 other brand names.

 

[twmv86]

im just using a shopvac and small separator now so the hf is a huge improvement. with the the $179 magazine coupon i can get it for $144. i have one that expires in april and another in june and probably more coming so i have time to stew over it. the wynn filter was what i was thinking of getting til the grizzly was mentioned. have to see about those. the hf is perfect for my shop and my abilities. low quality and cheap. i dont have a planer or a jointer so im not as messy as most of you