# Help ... I am drowning in Dust



## fstellab (Oct 12, 2012)

Hi Folks,

I am drowning in dust, especially the router and table saw. The dust sent 2 shop vacs to the repair shop.

So I purchased a Harbor Freight 2 HP collector. I then ran some searches for setting the collection duct-work, and connecting to the dust creators. I came up with a lot of clever but complicated plans … Some called for 6” ducts. I am not sure how a 6” duct would work when the collector only has 4” ducts.

I am looking for the fastest, easiest way to connect the HF HP2 to a Table Saw, Router and Miter Saw.

I am sure I will enhance the dust collection system in the future .. but for now I just need to get something together quickly.

Thanks ..

-Fred


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I am doing the same thing Fred.
I bought the kit from rockler to make a pre-separator. And I plan to fab up a Thein baffle and install it in the plastic drum - a 30 gallon white translucent drum w/removeable lid - (pre-separator).

So, the hose will go from my table saw, or jointer or band saw to the pre-separator, then to the HF dust collector. Very little should make it into the plastic bag.

Finally, to top it off, I am ordering a cannister type filter from Wynn Environmental. The series 35A fits the HF model.

Hope this helps.
Mike


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

I am not familiar with your model but can you put it on wheels and move it to each piece of equipment as needed? I did a bit of rearranging in my shop and I can quickly and easily move my DC from one unit to another.


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## Genel41 (Feb 6, 2013)

I made my dust collector I think they call it it has the funnel shape on the bottom I got the plans out of the Wood magazine and bought a 2.5 HP turbin and it has 6 inch pipe going to the collector fastened to the ceiling and branch off of the 6 to 4 going down the the the saw and planer and joiner. I even tried those Lone Ranger remote control . The first worked for 6 hours the next one did not work at all . So I have a rope at each station that is connected to a switch . Pull to turn on and pull to turn off .


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

There some good articles in Fine Wood Working magazine about a year ago and according to what they wrote, you need to do what Mike is suggesting. It would be hard to haul all that equipment around so you would need to run hose or hose and pipe. I have to change my system because the bag on my DC doesn't catch the smallest dust which is the most dangerous. I used steel duct pipe for much of the runs. It's cheap and you can attach ground wires to it easily.
PhilP posted some links to homemade saw blade guards with vac attachments. That would be your best bet for the saw.


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

i had the same problem with being overwhelmed by dust, especially from the router table and table saw. the hassle of all the hoses and eye/ear/lung protection, along with the dust settling everywhere got the best of me. i ended up going to hand tools. now my dust collection is a broom and dustpan.

just another option ...


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

You might want to check out this thread along with a few others like it, as there is lots of info there :

http://www.routerforums.com/introductions/39135-putting-dust-collector.html


Using larger pipe ( 6” ) is not an option unless your putting in a 12 Hp cyclone. The whole idea of ducted dust collector is to move air at a high enough speed so as to carry ( suspended ) the sawdust etc. you are attempting to capture and deliver it to the dust bin / bag. Your dust collector draws / sucks a fixed amount of air assuming a fix amount of resistance so what you play with is keeping the pipe size down to the point that the fixed amount of air the dust collector is drawing will travel around 3,000 - 3,500 ft/min ( metal dust 4,000 - 4,500 ft/min. if you have multiple outlets on fixed size pipe make sure to install blast gates so only one or two outlets are open at once. The length of the runs can be an issue in large locations but in the typical home workshop run distance shouldn't be an issue 

Your 2 hp dust collector probably says in moves 1,500 to 1,600 cfm and 4” carrier pipe from 3" - 2 1/2" - 2” flex pipe at the machine pickup points would give you the kind of velocity you need to carry the dust. Larger pipe would simple cause the same volume of air to slow down and the dust would fall out of the air stream and collect in the pipes. Smaller piping would increase the speed but also the resistance which would decrease the volume of air the blower in the collector would pull so it's a trade off and balancing act. The 2 hp dust collector you bought is robust with lots of room for 4" and down piping but it's not designed to pull completely through 2" hose as the design static ( ability to overcome resistance ) for the blower is not like a vacuum cleaner.


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## Gerry Kiernan (Jul 19, 2007)

If your equipment is spaced reasonably close together you can do a quick and nasty by getting a duct splitter with three inlets. Install a gate valve at each duct, and install a hose from each gate valve to each piece of equipment. You can open the gate valve for the piece of equipment you are using, and close the other two, to maximise the airflow from the one you are operating. That is how I have my bandsaw, router table, and planer set up. 

Gerry


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

Hi Fred, It seems as though everyone wants to over complicate a simple system. Mike is right about the DustRite kit. from Rockler (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=25225&site=ROCKLER), a simple plastic or fiber drum to collect the chips and most of the dust. The taller the drum the better. With this setup I don't think the Thein baffle is required. 4in. pvc is plenty large enough for the home shop and some commercial shops. Ebay has the fitting kits with blast gates and hose at a great price. I have a friend who has a small commercial shop with a similar 2HP setup, he says he very seldom even checks the bag, to empty it, everything is in the barrel. There is a great deal of information out there, problem is a lot of it is BS. A couple of excellent videos of a systems being set up. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnMtcKfGt1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJATS689wCM


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## Bradleytavares (Feb 25, 2012)

When I had the same problem I purchased the same HF-DC w/ the Wynn filter (5 micro dn to 0.5 micron), used only one of the two DC ports, put on the 'Dust Right' system from Rockler with it's hose and connector with quick connector package and have no dust any longer. Mine is a one man shop so for me to move the quick connector from one tool to the other is a breeze and the 1550 cfm's is great (watch out shop rags!). I have a CW 3D carving machine that I will soon use the second port for exclusivelly. HF-DC is a bit weak with its support system so don't plan on moveing it around a lot so buy an extra 10' length of 4" flex hose. The Wynn filter will make a huge difference in the airborne dust, Wynn's works wonders.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

gwizz said:


> You might want to check out this thread along with a few others like it, as there is lots of info there :
> 
> http://www.routerforums.com/introductions/39135-putting-dust-collector.html
> 
> ...


You are dead on the money Richard. Are you a mechanical engineer?


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> You are dead on the money Richard. Are you a mechanical engineer?


No but I ran an HVAC company for 12 years before I retired ( the 1 st time ) and we installed industrial dust collectors along with distributions ducting for heat and A/C, Most smaller companies don't spend the money on engineering and expect the installer in simply do what's needed so you have to learn.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I have a steam ticket and steam works the same for flow and velocity. We also have to learn a bit about HVAC as boiler operators in some large buildings also have to operate the HVAC systems. Never did that but personally, I think I was taught just enough to know when to call someone like you.


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## Gerry Kiernan (Jul 19, 2007)

fstellab said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> I am drowning in dust, especially the router and table saw. The dust sent 2 shop vacs to the repair shop.
> 
> ...


What I found with my table saws is that most of the heavier dust falls downward onto the floor. So, I enclosed the openings as much as possible with pywood or plexiglass panels, and built a box that would slide under the saw. I made the box as big and deep as would fit uder the saw table. Most of the dust is collected in the boxes, which can be pulled out and emptied as needed. An over the blade pickup attached to a vaccum or DC will grab most of the lighter stuff. As it is difficult to fully enclose a table saw it is almost impossible to grab all of the dust, but you can get a lot of it.

Unfortunately, I have not yet seen a truly effective collection system for a miter saw. They tend to scatter the dust in all directions.


Gerry


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