Your dust collector

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Los Angeles, CA
I was at Rockler watching the sawstop demo when I noticed the Delta 50-760 dust collector for sale for $329. Even after tax, their price is cheaper than Amazon's.

I came home and did some research but could not conclude if this was the right unit for me.

What do you guys have for dust collection. Give me the good, the bad and the ugly about your unit.
 
I have that unit with a catridge filter and I have zero problems with it.
Seems to me to have a strong suction, but from what I understand, I still need a cyclone unit to improve my dust collection
 
I have the Harbor Freight "2 hp" (yeah, right) DC with a 0.5 micron pleated filter from Wynn Environmental. It has performed admirably for me, and even with the modifications I've made, it cost me less than the sale price on the Delta DC. MY DC also filters down to 0.5 microns instead of the 1.0 micron rating of the Delta. It's not a cyclone with a 5 hp motor, but I'd put it up against any of the other similar single-stage DC systems. If you can catch the Harbor Freight DC on sale, and throw in one of the 20% coupons, I think you can get a setup similar to mine for under $300.

The Good: Decent specs for a reasonable price
The Bad: The power switch on mine died, but it was an easy replacement. (I use a remote switch anyway.)
The Ugly: None, since I painted mine an awesome purple color. :rofl:

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I built my own cyclone. I used to have a one hp delta which was not adequate. I figured if I was going to upgrade I would do this one time and that would be it. This has enough capacity to take care of my current and future needs!
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It's 20" in diameter with a 5 hp motor and a 16" impeller. I ran a 8" main and split that into two 6" lines.
 
Mohammad, A lot of people think that Bill Pentz is the dust collection guru. He has a vast and informative website.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

I'm currently using the open-all-the-doors method of air cleaning. I wear a respirator and open my big garage doors and another door for ventilation. Everything I have is on wheels, so I go outside, weather permitting, or move as close to the door as possible if it's going to be dusty. Then I leave for a bit to let things settle or ventilate. When I do add dust collection, I'll go the Bill Pentz route.

Good: It's cheap, easy, quiet, and anyone can do it.
Bad: Makes it a tad chilly when it's miserable out (which it is a lot this time of year here). You have to take lots of breaks.
Ugly: It's not good for the dog, who is my constant companion.
 
Allen, do you have a Delta Cartridge or after-market? How much is the cartridge?

Vaughn, I have heard about the issues with the switch. Yes, the color is awesome.:thumb:. What is the noise level of that unit?

Drew, thanks for the link.

Garry, what are you waiting for?

Thanks Bob. I just signed up to get on their mailing list.

Cynthia, city dwellers like me live in close proximity to the neighbors. I don't have the luxury to do the woodworking outdoors. Maybe some day...
 
Mohammad, mine is about as loud as the other canister DCs I've seen and heard.

I just went out to the shop to measure mine, and it's running about 82 decibels throughout the shop, and going up to about 91 dB right at the dust hood where there's additional wind noise from the suction. By comparison, my shop vac is also about 82 dB. The DC is a lower frequency than the shop vac, so to me, it's less annoying.
 
I'm currently using a 1hp delta. It's enough to keep the tools clear of chips to operate, and makes cleaning up pretty easy, better than a shop vac. Much better than nothing but hardly enough to make me happy.

Have a 3hp grizzly cyclone in the spare bedroom waiting for the shop to be finished though :)
 
I have the wynn catridge.
It clamps on from the inside. A piece of rubber gasket around the rim for airtight.
I followed the post drew posted about installing it on the delta.
To clean up, I blow air in from the outside and just tap the filter a little and use a soft brush on a stick to agitate any of the dust collecting inside.I put a trash can under the cannister first, and put on a respirator, cause when I clean it good, its like talcum powder coming out of the filter.
I purchased after market plastic collector bags, approx 2 bucks a bag.
 
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Well, if you can open doors and windows and easily exchange all the air in your workspace in a jiffy, then one of them dust distributors might be OK, but I think you should save your money until you can afford a good cyclone, either building it or buying it, or a combination of the two :rolleyes: If you can still get a Clear Vue cyclone, buy that, and then build the blower for it, you will save money and you will have a very good cyclone.

>> I built mine in July of 2005 << and I have had no problems with it, it really sucks. My dust bin holds 120 litres (32 US gallons) of dust, and I've not emptied it 20 times, so that is 2400 litres (640 US gallons) of dust, and each time I empty it, I bang the filter stack, and then empty out the clean out, I have maybe 300 ml (just over one cup) of dust from the clean out so far (I keep it in a jar) :D I have no build up of dust in my duct work either, I've checked.

Just my opinion, and your situation could make that moot, but I'd save your money and buy a cyclone, kind of like buying cheap tools that wear out or do not do the job right, they are much more expensive in the long run. Again, just my opinion, but remember, my workshop is in a hole in the ground with the only egress being a hatch in the floor of a parking space, so YMMV :D

It is good that you are thinking about this stuff!:thumb:
 
Alan, I take it that you used Bill Pentz's plans to build your system. How much did you end up spending? Any idea of the noise level.

It was about $1200 total. Thats buying the impeller, 5hp motor, 2 filters, two 4' x 10' pieces of 24 guage sheetmetal ( you only need one but I wanted to make sure I had enough incase I messed up), all the 6" and 8" metal ductwork you see in the photo and the 6" flex. I also made my own blastgates and all the 45 degree take-offs for the ductwork and transitions.

I haven't done any official measurements but ear protection would still be reccomended. To me the 1hp delta bagger I had was more annoying noise wise than the cyclone is.
 
Ok i will be the patriot.:D At least when there are no manufacturers left in North America i will be able to say it was not my fault sir.:rofl:

Mohammad i bought one of these and have yet to hook it up. It was a lot less when i got mine and looked a little different.

But by the time i got it to Canada it was the most expensive unused tool in my shop. Its this years big shop project. But i got NN issues brewing again so i dont know. Still have to get the Fire Chief to sign off on anything i do with it so its become a real pain in the rear even though i think its a great machine and many others have it.

There is substance to their pricing and you get what you pay for.

But had i joined this forum before i bought this unit, I might have done things differently.

There is more to my delay than just the above. I have yet to settle on even my first layout.

I think there is a great deal of merit in looking at these machines

http://www.oneida-air.com/smart_new.php

They are portable and allow you very good dust protection and portable dust collector. Yeah it can be a pain to run around the unit and hook it up to the different machines but a lot of guys do this.

I think i would have sprung for one of these instead and maybe changed at a later date. Would have cost me the same for the machine but i would not have needed all the ducting.

Dont forget a stationary machine your ducting is gonna add another $500 to the cost of your setup with multiple machines and blast gates and some flex hose etc.

You might also want to think of an air scrubber like these

http://www.grizzly.com/products/category.aspx?key=570030

There is no easy answer to this one. Its really the price of being able to do woodworking without the negative side effects.
 
Mohammad, will you be working in your garage with the door open? I remember the photo showing a 16' garage door wide open on a detached garage.

Why buy a new one if you are changing the bags/filters right away? Consider finding a used one to modify.

Cheers,
 
Well, if you can open doors and windows and easily exchange all the air in your workspace in a jiffy, then one of them dust distributors might be OK, but I think you should save your money until you can afford a good cyclone, either building it or buying it, or a combination of the two :rolleyes: ...

While I agree with you about a properly-powered cyclone being better, not all of the single stage DCs are the dust distributors you make them out to be. A 0.5 micron filter is a 0.5 micron filter, regardless of the machine it's hooked up to. A good cyclone does have more airflow and will indeed capture more dust at the tool, but a good single stage will blow out no more dust than a comparably-filtered cyclone.

In my shop, even the best DC system wouldn't be able to catch all the dust. When I use the air hose to blow the sanding dust off something on the lathe, there's no way to get all of it in a DC scoop. This is especially true when blowing out a hollow form as it gets hollowed. It shoots dust and shavings in a 15' circle. That's why, even with the DC running, I wear lung protection.

Had I waited until I could afford a cyclone, I would have breathed a lot more dust than I have to date. I consider it $300 well spent, and in my current economic situation, a better DC is still way off in the future. ;)
 
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