Oneida DC...Owners or Advisors........

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I am pretty uneducated about DC.

In the next few weeks I'm going to be ordering an Oneida Dust Gorilla. I'm looking at a 2.5 HP High Efficiency Super Dust Gorilla and a 3 HP Super Dust Gorilla.

Any one have any specific recommendations...or pros & cons?

My shop is 30 x 24. I'll be hooking it to a b/s, jointer, tablesaw, lunch box thickness planer and I'll probably put some kind of port near my lathe.

Thanks for some advice

Ken
 
I have an Oneida cyclone and love it. The customer service has been outstanding. I wouldn't hesitate buying from them again, they helped me through installation, setup, everything. Even helped me with a problem like I had just bought the machine but it was a year later.
 
Ken, I've got the 2 HP Oneida DC. It is hooked to my X-31, BS, RAS, CMS and drum sander right now. Each has it's own blast gate, so I'm only drawing from that machine. Well, most of the time. I sometimes forget and I've had 2 and in one case 3 runs open. I saw little, if any reduction in collection from the tool I was using with more than one gate open.

Much of that has to do with how the DC is ducted. Mine is all 6" until the drop point and my longest run is about 20'.

I guess what I'm saying is that if the 2 HP you're thinking of is of the same caliber as my 2 HP commercial, it should be plenty to do the job.

If you'd like to see my set up, let me know and I can shoot some pics. Or, better yet you could see it in person. ;);)

Oh, yeah when it comes to the ductwork expect to spend near, if not more, than the unit itself. I have a place for some less expensive ductwork than Oneida, but Oneida's ductwork is worth the money.

Are you really going to finish the shop??? ;):eek::thumb::rofl:

Karl
 
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I've not dealt with Oneida, but I will say that they seem to have a good reputation.

Just on the general side of Cyclones, you will love it compared to your two bagger DC.

Don't forget to take pics! :wave:
 
...and I'll probably put some kind of port near my lathe...
No probably about it. :) After you try it once, you will never know how you sanded on the lathe before. I have a Big Gulp, but others just use a piece of 4" or bigger PVC. you'll love watching a stream of sanding dust go diving into the hose straight from a turned piece.
 
Hey Ken,
I have a shop about the same size as yours and the 2 1/2 HP Oneida is more than adequate.

The only cautionary note I would raise about Oneida is on the design service they offer. They will ask you what size port you have on each machine and give you a design based on that. Fair enough. Only thing is looking back, I think it might have been a good idea to take out the jig saw and enlarge some of the tiny ports on the TS and jointer - though to tell the truth they work fine with the original configuration.

Try to minimize the amount of plastic flex hose - lots of friction.

I worked in a spare drop with a gate and a long plastic hose just for odds and ends. I use it to sweep the floor or I will roll a rarely used piece of equipment (belt sander, spindle sander) up to it. Glad I did.
 
Ken,

Unless the impeller is larger on the 3 hp unit, I don't see a reason to go with more hp. But, when it comes to DC's, size does count and bigger is definitely better.

I have the original 2 hp commercial cyclone from Oneida in a 20' x 30' shop with over 120 ft. of 6" pvc ducting. Other than being loud, I love everything about it. I normally just work with one blast gate open but I'm so used to the sound/efficiency that I can tell when I've inadvertantly left one open somewhere else.

If you can find or build room to install the DC outside the main shop, that's the way to go. I have to wear ear muffs whenever mine is running.

Congrats on the purchase.
 
Try to minimize the amount of plastic flex hose - lots of friction.

Just wondering if anyone's tried using aluminum flex tubing - the stuff you're actually supposed to use with a drier instead of the flamable stuff. I was just looking at some 6" for hooking up the downdraft range, and wondered if it would be better than plastic for dust collection where you can use a semi-rigid hose.
 
Well, whether you have decided about retiring or not, you are making some major decisions!!:D:thumb:
With all the cyclones on the market today, what was it that brought you down to these 2 models? I'm just curious. I'm sure you know I have a different brand and I don't want anyone to start a debate here. I'm just curious as to your thought process.
Take a big hint from Marty and look around for prices on duct work. He has proven that there are good quality products out there at a fair price. My cyclone cost me about 935.00 incl. shipping. I estimate I put in another 350.00 to 400.0 in PVC piping. My shop is 20 X 24, but my duct work is more compact than some setups. Only 50' of 6" pipe.
OK, so you have an MM16, a Super Dust Gorilla, and a 8" jointer (Griz 4090?) ready to order. What else are you contemplating getting this fall? :p Jim.
 
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Just wondering if anyone's tried using aluminum flex tubing - the stuff you're actually supposed to use with a drier instead of the flamable stuff. I was just looking at some 6" for hooking up the downdraft range, and wondered if it would be better than plastic for dust collection where you can use a semi-rigid hose.

The stuff like that we have here in Japan, would suck flat the first time you used it. :D
 
Just wondering if anyone's tried using aluminum flex tubing - the stuff you're actually supposed to use with a drier instead of the flamable stuff. I was just looking at some 6" for hooking up the downdraft range, and wondered if it would be better than plastic for dust collection where you can use a semi-rigid hose.

John, I don't see the material as being a problem, but most will tell you that the aluminum flex has a much rougher surface on the interior that creates more resistance, and that is not good. Some plastic flex pipe is just as bad. You want the smoothest interior wall flex you feel you can afford. Now if you were only going to use 6" of the stuff, probably no problem. I'd stay away from it for anything longer. A lot of people will use 4 or 5' of flex from their piping to the tool. I ran pipe as close as possible, and used a short piece of flex just long enough to make the connection and allow some "wiggle" room. Jim.
 
I looked at them all and just received a Grizzly g0441 3hp unit. I think a 2hp would have worked but for the money, I went with the G0441.

It is sitting in parts in my basement. I am very impressed with the steel in this unit. This is a very heavy duty unit. They now even include a sound supressor that goes above the filter. Also a very slick thing that will clean the inside of the filter. Here is the web album with a picture of the filter thing.

Do a careful side by comparison of everything. I was going to go with a clearvue until another posted showed me his side by side comparison. That's what got me looking at the Grizzly.

I think you would be completely happy with either of your 2 choices. I think all of the recent cyclone designs are basically good designs.
 
. Now if you were only going to use 6" of the stuff, probably no problem. I'd stay away from it for anything longer. A lot of people will use 4 or 5' of flex from their piping to the tool. I ran pipe as close as possible, and used a short piece of flex just long enough to make the connection and allow some "wiggle" room. Jim.

Well, 6" was the diameter :D:D:D

My thinking was along the lines that though the surface may be rougher, the corrugations are effectively smaller than a lot of the really cheap plastic flex that people seem to use, so the turbulent boundary layer of air near the flex pipe would be a lot thinner. The high quality plastics or even stamped steel elbows would definitely be superior.

Reading Stu's post, I think he's right though, that stuff would collapse pretty easy, and if that didn't do it, I bet dust and chips would abrade it down to nothing in short order. :doh:
 
I have the 3 HP mustard yellow Super Gorrilla. Shop is 24 x 32 and I have it piped to 7 or 8 machines and I will agree with others, it is loud, very loud. Other than that impressive. I went with the 55 gallon drum, but to do that you really have to have 10 foot of clearance. I didn't order it special, but it came with the remote control and I can say that I am glad it did.

I was a bit shocked at how much stuff there was when I went to pick it up at the truck depot. Pretty much a full pallet 6 ft high.

The design service I thought was ok, not great. They had more pipe size changes than I really wanted to deal with. 8", 6", 5", 4" all through out. I made my trunk lines 8" and downsized to 6" from there.

My only regret with my dust collection set up is using snap lock pipe. I cut my hands to pieces (my own stupidity for not wearing gloves like I should have) and I found it a PITA to work with personally. Should have spent the additional money for spiral pipe or went with PVC. I have no regrets with the Super Gorrilla.

I have thought about getting the gadget so you can use bags in it, but never have. It seemed expensive, and it isn't that bad to bag the stuff up with 55 gallon bags after the fact. I don't know if they have one, but a sensor to know when it is full would be nice to get up front. I have several times overfilled the thing and then have to clean out the filter assembly.
 
Well, 6" was the diameter :D:D:D

My thinking was along the lines that though the surface may be rougher, the corrugations are effectively smaller than a lot of the really cheap plastic flex that people seem to use, so the turbulent boundary layer of air near the flex pipe would be a lot thinner. The high quality plastics or even stamped steel elbows would definitely be superior.

Reading Stu's post, I think he's right though, that stuff would collapse pretty easy, and if that didn't do it, I bet dust and chips would abrade it down to nothing in short order. :doh:

Yeah, John, what you said, but another thing is that if it was in MY shop, I'd probably get engrossed in something and either kick the stuff or swing a board into it and crush it within the first 30 minutes after I got it installed.:doh::D (I'm sure getting clumsy in my old age).:(
 
Just wondering if anyone's tried using aluminum flex tubing - the stuff you're actually supposed to use with a drier instead of the flamable stuff. I was just looking at some 6" for hooking up the downdraft range, and wondered if it would be better than plastic for dust collection where you can use a semi-rigid hose.

It would probably collapse at worst and just cause too much drag at best. I wish there was a good cheap flex hose (then again I wish the price would come back down on BB ply).

You'll notice the costlier stuff has smoother insides (and other characteristics like solvent resistence) as the price goes up. Six to ten bucks a foot is an average price for a quiality flex hose. The stuff I use is about two bucks a foot, but I'm working on it.
 
Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking :doh:

I hear you on the baltic birch. I bought about 20 sheets of 1/2 for our kitchen and other uses in feburary, about $17 each. Went back in july for 5 more, $34 :eek:

I wondered at the time if its just fuel costs finally reaching the product or if its all got to come from Russia through England :D:D:D (it was right when they were each busy kicking spys out)
 
ken, do you have your heart set on an "box type" system? one where you open the box and hook it up.....or are you open to ideas?
if you`re open to ideas you could put together a system with or without a cyclone that would out perform the mass produced stuff for little to no more money but a bit more labor.....
wondering your thoughts on time-vs-money-vs-performance?
 
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