[sbryan55]

My "Green" Dust Collection System

Not "green" in the environmental sense, mind you…but green in a very literal sense. I've spent literally months planning out most of the details of my new shop, since before they broke ground. One of the features I was most anxious to include that I was unable to have in my shared garage space was an honest-to-goodness central dust collection system. One of the earliest decisions I needed to make: metal or plastic?

Metal of Plastic?

I first read Sandor Nagyszalanczy's oft recommended book "Woodshop Dust Control" where he makes a strong argument against the use of plastic PVC piping for ductwork citing the risk of explosions that could ruin your day/shop/life/etc. After reading this book it was clear to me that metal was the only way to go. That was, until I began researching actually purchasing the stuff. Expensive. What's more, the stuff they sell at the "Big Box" stores is too thin…so the only real way to do this with metal ducting, beyond finding a local supplier (which I was unable to do) is to meticulously plot out the whole thing and place one big order to have shipped to the shop. While I'm no stranger to meticulous planning, I've never setup a dust collection system before and was not 100% sure I could plot this out perfectly without actually attempting to fit some pieces together first. In fact, I was pretty darn certain that I couldn't plan this out to the last screw in advance of ordering the materials. I just knew I'd get half-way done with the install and either change my mind or realize I needed some other type of fitting(s) to finish the job. Without a local supplier, I'd be forced to place an order-likely a small one-and incur additional shipping charges and delays. Time's too much of a premium to lose an entire day because I can't get what I need. This realization sent me searching for alternatives.

It didn't take long for me to find some interesting forum discussions online…but the clincher for me was this extremely well-crafted article. The upshot of reading this article was that I was now certain that I would definitely use the cheaper/easier-to-find S&D PVC piping for my system. Fortunately or Un- I was now also paranoid about what I could appreciate was the most dangerous aspect of my dust collection system-a smoldering fire in a collection bag. (Mental note: daily emptying of the bags is a must. But I digress…)

A bit of searching locally initially indicated that my local "Big Box" stores carried only up to 4" diameter piping. My basic math says that I'd really be better off using a minimum of 5" ducting for the main run. As S&D pipes aren't offered in 5", I opted for the next size up…which, as I mentioned, I was unable to locate locally. That is, until an unrelated and rare trip to Menards where I discovered all the 6" and 4" fittings and pipe I would ever need. Excellent.

Goin' Green

Menards stocks their PVC piping in an outdoor lumber yard. This meant that I placed an order off a sheet with a nice picture of white 6" PVC pipe listed as ASTM 2729 S&D. When I got into the yard, however, the pipe was actually the green stuff..ASTM 3034/SDR35. The Menards product number on the sticker on the pipe and the label on the bin matched my receipt, so I'm not sure if there was a mistake in their inventory or their labeling…or if they for some reason sell the 3034 and 2729 interchangably (seems unlikely), but I didn't see the 2729 anywhere so I figured I'd use the somewhat heavier, green 3034 that I had paid for rather than start the hunt over again. I purchased a few 10' lengths of the 4" thin white stuff from Lowes as well figuring I'd at least have white drops.

Fittings

I purchased my blast gates and quick disconnect fittings from my local Woodcraft store and started the assembly. What I discovered during the assembly was that the thicker-walled SDR35 was a significantly snugger fit for the pipe fittings. Also, while a special coupling is required to attach the blast gates to 2729, they fit perfectly in the green stuff. So, while the 2729 is a bit cheaper and much lighter, I save money overall with the SDR35 since there are no adapters needed to fit the blast gates to the pipes. Serendipity.

Assembly continues apace. I'm currently roughly 50% complete with the core installation, that is the main 6" line is 80% complete and half the drops are essentially in. I still need to build the hoods for the RAS and CMS and work out the details of the fittings for the router table, which will likely take more time than the assembly time to date. I've still got the two cameras capturing the process and have been sure to move them as needed as there's no one position that can capture even most of the shop. Editing of the time-lapse is ongoing and I will be posting the completed video when the job is done, natch.











(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/70)

That is a really nice job, Patrick. It does give me some ideas for my shop.

 

[sbryan55]

The Monster in My Closet



OK, so maybe not exactly a "monster," but the old Woodtek 3HP double-bag dust collector I bought sure does sound like one…and appears to live up to its 2100CFM (free-air) rating.

I've finally finished the main duct work runs and over the weekend I cut the hole from the shop into the external "dust collection closet" and ran the 6" main through. As I had feared, the dust collector argued mightily against being confined in such cramped quarters. The closet is <30" deep and ~60" wide with a standard 36"x80" door. The two-bag collector simply wouldn't make the tight turn through the doorway. Fortunately I'd half suspected this would be the case and was already mentally prepared for the situation…which likely saved my neighbors an earful.



The solution: disassembly.

I removed the upper-half, post-fan section that holds the bags to the blower and then removed the lower half, including the motor from the base. I'd already purchased a length of 6" flexible hose that I'd planned to use to join the collector to the 6" S&D piping…figuring that it would likely be a rather convoluted angle and possibly too tight a fit for a hard plastic 90-degree elbow. By mounting the base directly to the floor of the closet, I also gained an additional couple inches - making it now possible to use rigid fittings. Ultimately the hookup turned out to be "do-able" using rigid piping as well, eliminating the need for the rather pricey 6" flexible hose. Anybody need any 6" hose.



Though I don't have any tools for measuring CFM or static pressure, my quick test sweeping some sawdust piles into the floor sweep at the very furthest end of the longest/narrowest run and hearing the swooooosh as the debris found its way swiftly into the waiting collection bags was enough to convince me that the system should do just fine. I'm hoping to do a test using the planer tonight-if it can keep up with the 13" planer, it should have no trouble with the other tools.

My one real disappointment is with the on/off mechanism. I outfitted the 240v 20A circuit with an X10-controllable outlet and programmed the "D" button (for "Dust collection" of course) to send the appropriate on/off commands. It worked the first couple times I tried it, turning the collector on and off as expected. However, the third time I tried using the second keypad (linked to the first) and this time…nothing. I went back to the first and tried it a few more times. Again, nothing. I recall reading some forum posts (don't recall where) by some unhappy woodworkers/X10 enthusiasts complaining about the poor reliability of X10-specifically in the context of dust collection systems. I was planning on purchasing a "Long Ranger" or similar system and using a combination of manual switches and blast-gate mounted microswitches in the future…apparently this will need to happen a bit sooner than I'd anticipated.

As usual, the entire installation process-well, the indoor portions at least-was covered by my trusty D-Link wireless cameras. Here's the finished video:

UPDATE: Last night I completed the "planer" test as planned. I hooked up my Rigid 13" planer to a port at the end of the run and took some fairly decent passes on a 9" piece of poplar. The dust shroud was empty. I opened a couple other blast gates and repeated the test. Still clear. Looks like this "monster" will do the job!

(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/71)

This is an interesting video. Once again you moved on this project with incredible speed. But it does look like a shop expansion is going to be necessary. This is the safest install for a dust collector. Any fines that do escape will be in the closet and not in the work area.

I've got a couple of questions (1) are you going to leave it like this and (2) did you glue the pipe runs together?

All in all this is a nice addition to your shop and at 2100 cfm I agree with Blake- this thing does suck. Just don't leave any loose papers or let any small children or animals anywhere near an open blast gate.

 

[sbryan55]

The Monster in My Closet



OK, so maybe not exactly a "monster," but the old Woodtek 3HP double-bag dust collector I bought sure does sound like one…and appears to live up to its 2100CFM (free-air) rating.

I've finally finished the main duct work runs and over the weekend I cut the hole from the shop into the external "dust collection closet" and ran the 6" main through. As I had feared, the dust collector argued mightily against being confined in such cramped quarters. The closet is <30" deep and ~60" wide with a standard 36"x80" door. The two-bag collector simply wouldn't make the tight turn through the doorway. Fortunately I'd half suspected this would be the case and was already mentally prepared for the situation…which likely saved my neighbors an earful.



The solution: disassembly.

I removed the upper-half, post-fan section that holds the bags to the blower and then removed the lower half, including the motor from the base. I'd already purchased a length of 6" flexible hose that I'd planned to use to join the collector to the 6" S&D piping…figuring that it would likely be a rather convoluted angle and possibly too tight a fit for a hard plastic 90-degree elbow. By mounting the base directly to the floor of the closet, I also gained an additional couple inches - making it now possible to use rigid fittings. Ultimately the hookup turned out to be "do-able" using rigid piping as well, eliminating the need for the rather pricey 6" flexible hose. Anybody need any 6" hose.



Though I don't have any tools for measuring CFM or static pressure, my quick test sweeping some sawdust piles into the floor sweep at the very furthest end of the longest/narrowest run and hearing the swooooosh as the debris found its way swiftly into the waiting collection bags was enough to convince me that the system should do just fine. I'm hoping to do a test using the planer tonight-if it can keep up with the 13" planer, it should have no trouble with the other tools.

My one real disappointment is with the on/off mechanism. I outfitted the 240v 20A circuit with an X10-controllable outlet and programmed the "D" button (for "Dust collection" of course) to send the appropriate on/off commands. It worked the first couple times I tried it, turning the collector on and off as expected. However, the third time I tried using the second keypad (linked to the first) and this time…nothing. I went back to the first and tried it a few more times. Again, nothing. I recall reading some forum posts (don't recall where) by some unhappy woodworkers/X10 enthusiasts complaining about the poor reliability of X10-specifically in the context of dust collection systems. I was planning on purchasing a "Long Ranger" or similar system and using a combination of manual switches and blast-gate mounted microswitches in the future…apparently this will need to happen a bit sooner than I'd anticipated.

As usual, the entire installation process-well, the indoor portions at least-was covered by my trusty D-Link wireless cameras. Here's the finished video:

UPDATE: Last night I completed the "planer" test as planned. I hooked up my Rigid 13" planer to a port at the end of the run and took some fairly decent passes on a 9" piece of poplar. The dust shroud was empty. I opened a couple other blast gates and repeated the test. Still clear. Looks like this "monster" will do the job!

(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/71)

In my mind venting to the outside is the way I am going to go when I put in a bigger system. I agree that health concerns outweigh any negatives.

I am glad to see you did not glue the joints together. If you had, it makes removing a clog very difficult. I had a neighbor who put his dc piping under a concrete floor because he didn't want it to show. He happened to get a chunk of wood stuck in the piping one day and needless to say he quit using the system rather than jackhammering the floor and had to run all new pipe overhead.

Thanks for the tip about the pipes as well.

 

[sbryan55]

Custom Collector Controller

If you read my last post you might recall how I decided to purchase an X10 "Powerflash Interface" to test out as a controller for my dust collector. My skepticism about how the unit worked turned out to be well-founded. The Powerflash device sends an X10 "on" signal when 6-18VDC is applied to the contacts-but once the voltage is removed, the unit immediately sends an "off" signal. What I was looking for was a way to use a single momentary switch to toggle the collector on and off…so that won't do. In fact, the plan was to mount multiple doorbell-style pushbuttons around the shop and have it wired so that I didn't have to turn the unit off at the same station where I turned it on. Since the Powerflash unit didn't support this, I set out to basically build my own.

I'm not an electrical engineer and couldn't design a circuit to do what I wanted, but I had no trouble finding a few options online. As a kid I used to quite literally spend hours loitering at my local Radio Shack store and would frequently spend what money I had on their "Engineer's Notebooks" and specialty ICs to tinker with. So while I don't fully understand the specifics of the circuits, it wasn't much trouble reading the schematics or assembling the circuit. Of the three circuits I found online, my local Radio Shack store only stocked all of the required parts for one of them. This was, naturally, the most complicated one. It is succinctly if not aptly named Alternating ON-OFF Switch, #2.

A big box of parts…



After a couple after-work evenings, the "DustBunny 3000" was born…



Hooked up to the "Powerflash" for testing…



Labeled and plugged into the volt meter showing ~4.74vdc on the output



And here's the video demonstration of the system in action:

(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/73)

Very innovative idea, Patrick.

 

[sbryan55]

An Hour Here, a Half-Hour There and a Few Saturday Mornings

Over the past month I found very little contiguous time to make progress on the shop setup. Consequently I never felt like I had made significant enough progress in any given week to warrant a new post. While I'm still quite some distance from the finish line, I finally feel like I can actually say, once again, "I have a shop!"



Dust Collection Controls

I installed a half-dozen doorbell buttons around the shop, under bench tops near power tools, on the wall by the bandsaw and underneath the tablesaw fence next to the power switch. I installed a couple power outlets in the crawl space under the shop for the controller as well as my air compressor which I located in a corner of the crawl. I also programmed the air filter as I discussed in my last post to automatically switch on with the dust collector and off 2 minutes after the collector is switched off. I'm extremely pleased with how this has worked out.



Supplies Organized & Remaining Tools Installed

I finally managed to commit to drawer assignments for my tools and supplies. For the most part the drawers are logically organized, though a few of them are temporary "catch-alls" waiting for the day when I complete the upper cabinets. I enlisted the aid of my brother, sister-in-law and nephew to help wheel the 17" Grizzly bandsaw up a ramp and into the shop. This turned out to be not as difficult as I'd feared it would be. I also unboxed the Ridgid oscillating sander I'd purchased nearly 3 months ago and connected both to the dust collection drops installed previously. All the tools are in!



Clamp Racks

Following some quick research at my favorite site, I assembled and mounted some clamp racks for my rather modest pipe, parallel and bar clamp collection. I still have a number of spring and "C" clamps to hang, but I'm satisfied with the arrangement for now.



A Number of Tasks Remain

No matter how much I manage to accomplish, the list never really seems to get any shorter. Some tasks that remain are setting up dust collection for my router table and building an overarm blade guard for the table saw. The router table will require installing some kind of enclosure around the hanging router…which will take some time to devise. I'm also working on a design for a tall thin "drawer" to fill the 2 spaces in the RAS cabinet. These opening are roughly 36" tall by only 9" wide. I'm thinking that I'll create a sliding angled vertical panels in one to hold router bits and a vertical pull-out panel in the other for miter/RAS/table/circular saw blade storage. Next steps also include major improvements to the "large piece assembly area"-which my wife insists upon calling a "garage." Improvements include an updated lumber rack and sheet goods pen as well as some custom cabinets for "non-wood-related" storage…though I can't imagine what that might be.



The bottom line is that I'm just about ready to get back to spending at least some time working "in" the shop instead of "on" the shop! Hooray!

(Originally Posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/75)

Patrick,

This is a beautiful shop. I love the walls and the hardwood floors. Wow. This is an upscale shop. You have designed it well and it is a visual delight to be in too.

Great job.