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Dust Collector Design

9520 Views 42 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  Sominus
I haven't been here lately for a number of reasons, most recently I've been going through the hassles of selling my home in TN and buying a new one in Alabama.. The things we do just to be near our grand kids. I am getting a big benefit from the move which has me pretty excited. I will have a large basement located on grade level with one end open to the outside through sliding glass doors. Easy access and a lot of outside light.

But to get to my point, I want to install a dust collector system. This is all very new to me and I'm not sure what I'm planning will work properly. I read the previous posts on this on Routerforums as well as watched a number of videos on YT. See my sketch below. I believe it's fairly typical for the most part. My plan is to use a Harbor-Freight DC along with a Dust Deputy. I also plan on upgrading the DC with a Wynn filter. One of my concerns is the use of 2-1/2" flex hose.

1) Will the 2-1/2" hose be adequate for its intended purpose? The ports on the equipment are 2-1/2" thus the use of 2-1/2" hose.

2) Does anyone else run 2-1/2" hose to their equipment?

3) Would I be better off using 4" flex hose and then reducing down to 2-1/2" at the equipment. Would it make much difference?

4) Any suggestions on what to use to ensure a good seal on the connection of the trash can lid to the trash can?

I'm only showing 4 equipment hook-ups, but will probably add more; one for my miter saw and another for the Rigid oscillating sander.

Any comments, either design or installation, will be greatly appreciated.

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Stick, you never cease to amaze me with the magnitude of information you have. The Library of Congress would be jealous of your collection. Thanks a lot for the info.
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Thanks for the tips Charles! Hoover, just south of Birmingham.
Thanks for your help Tom. I think I'll go with the Super Dust Deputy and 30 gal fiber drum as you suggested.

I'm kinda getting used to the sweaty summers. I don't believe I'll ever get used to the twisters. I dislike them more than hurricanes.
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I still contend that the HF unit is a poor value/investment inadequate money pit when compared to so many better more reliable ready to use units that need nothing...

you can upgrade to 6'' units w/canister and separator included for all that not much more money than a HF reworked unit...

http://www.grizzly.com/dust-collectors
http://www.rockler.com/dust-collection/dust-collectors\

https://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/137893-dc-unit-sale-cheap.html
https://www.routerforums.com/new-member-introductions/138431-intro-newb-question.html#post2014547
Stick, I checked out the links for the DC's and they are less expensive than I thought, but still somewhat outside of my budget. I'll just have to see what I can do. For my clarification though, are you saying the $396 1-1/2 hp Grizzly will perform better than the ~$200 2 hp Harbor Freight? Big price difference.
My brother lives just north of Columbiana so shouldn’t be too far from you.
Columbiana is about 30 miles southeast which would be just over a half-hour drive. Is your brother a woodworker?
look into the Jet 650... nothing to add on to it..
This is a single stage similar to the HF. I know you said that there's nothing to add on to it, but would the Jet DC-650 benefit from the addition of a Dust Deputy. I ask this because I have read many comments regarding the huge benefit to the DC system by adding it as a second stage. I will be exhausting into the shop so I would like to minimize the amount of dust.
Thanks for a ton of good information Tom. My thoughts are similar to yours in that I'm just a hobbyist and don't put a lot of hours on my equipment and so it's hard for me to justify putting extra money into it if I don't need to. If I went commercial, which I have absolutely no plans on doing, I too would certainly opt for a better quality system.

I feel quite confident that Stick is correct in everything he said, but perhaps not for my particular situation. I plan on looking into the Wen or similar unit for additional filtration. I think that most people would agree that health is something that you can't put a price tag on.

I have learned a lot from this post, and the system that I initially imagined will be quite different from the one I will be installing. Whenever I ask a question on this forum, I get great advice. Thank you everyone for your valuable feedback.
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Thanks Gerry, I believe I will run a 5"main with 4" lines to the equipment. I'll have to see what I need to do to convert the 2-1/2" ports to 4" ports. I think the most challenging one will be the table saw.
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My plan is to modify the ports to 4" if possible. I think I can do it for my jointer and band saw without too much trouble...the others I'll probably end up going with the reducer as you had mentioned. As far as the over-the-blade dust catcher, my honest thought is that it would probably remain in the box at my house too.
Thanks Ellis. All good suggestions that I'll be incorporating!
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