[pjaromin]

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)

Scott- I'm lucky that a woodworking friend (and fellow LJ'er, blackcherry) stopped by one day and strongly suggested I put in some access points for cleanout. Heeding his advice, I used a 6" wye instead of a 45-degree elbow in one location and capped the 6' pipe at the main ends so that I should be able to get a fish tape in there if necessary. If that doesn't work, yes, I should have no trouble taking it apart…though I'm sure I wouldn't be that happy about it!

 

[cajunpen]

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)

That is a very efficient looking DC system. I really like the appearance of your shop - the walls are really comfortable looking. You should be able to produce some good quality time in that environment.

 

[mgradwohl]

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)

And not I am really jealous!

 

[Harry72]

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)

I got an idea for you to improve the extractor situation in its enclosure its what I did with mine(same machine by the looks).
What I did was I turned the fan upside down so its at the top
The before shot…

The after shot…

This will shorten your pipe run by 8~10' with 2 less 90° bends and give you more room to remove the plastic bags… and free up a little storage space(good spot for the aircomp… you can see the red of my AC in the pic)at floor level!
To do it you need to reverse the shroud rings that hold the bags(easy to do as the bolts line up!), otherwise the cone's in the shrouds will be upside down stopping the fine dust falling down into the plastic bags.
And make a metal frame that holds the fan housing and bag shrouds supported off the floor not the frame work of the shop.(it will vibrate your shop, it's what I'll be doing next as mines pretty loud vibrating the whole enclosure I have it in)
Also some PFC filters will gain you extra CFM by a fair margin.

The only problem I can see for you will be an extra hole in the shop wall so the fan shroud can sit in the middle, not offset like it is now. But there maybe a salvation make the old hole bigger put a furnace filter and use it as the return air!(but go the PFC's 1st)

 

[pjaromin]

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)

Wow, Harry…thanks for the tip and the pics! Great idea.

It certainly would make it much easier to empty the bags. I'm pretty certain you're right that mine's the same…the holes should line up as yours did. I may have to use a custom offset-maybe an airtight box since I placed the hole based on a workable arrangement of the main line on the inside of the shop. If I move the hole over even an inch or so, the main line will get jammed up in the corner and I'd have to use flexible hose to make the turn…something I really want to avoid. Something to look at when it gets a bit warmer outside…there's no room to work in the closet and we're in single digits right now!

 

[Grumpy]

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)

Patrick that is one great dust collection system. You sure are a fast worker, that video makes the mind boggle.

 

[JasonK]

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)

Patrick,
I'm curious about static buildup with the PVC. Have you experienced any static charge yet? If so, how do you plan to deal with it?
Also, any plans to paint it? Sure is a shame to see all that green pipe in that beautiful new shop!!

 

[pjaromin]

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)

Grumpy..glad you enjoyed it.

Jason- I haven't used it "for real" yet and my tests were too short to build up any static. I highly suspect it will be an issue though as even with a humidifier running it can still get dry in the house when the temp drops as low as it's been lately. I plan to just use it as-is for a bit and see for sure…but I'm thinking I'll end up doing what many have done-running a wire around the pipe and connecting it to the collector and tool to ground. As for the color-I have considered painting it, but with everything else I have to do that's way down on the list. I've gone back and forth in my feelings about the look…and it's starting to grow on me. I may just leave it.

 

[pjaromin]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

 

[GaryK]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

The shop is looking great so far.

As far as x10 goes the only thing I have every heard is that a DC ends up destroying them after a few uses.
Don't know the reason why.

I use the Long Ranger and have for at least 6+ years.

 

[gad5264]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

Awesome looking shop.

 

[Blake]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

Thanks for all the photos, movies, and descriptions. Your shop is one of the greatest examples of a tight, efficient, clean small shop on LJ's. I love it and have been following it's progress. This chop station is awesome, by the way. I have been planning one and I had thought of using the t-track embedded in the table as well. It gives you an extra long space for "stops" without a fence getting in the way. Excellent.

 

[pjaromin]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

Gary- Hmmm…I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that's true…but certainly hope it's not! I'll be sure to let everyone know. If X10 doesn't work, I'm pretty certain I could accomplish the same thing with a relay (or the controller from a Long Ranger, etc.) and some basic circuitry with components from Radio Shack.

Grant - thanks!

Blake - thanks a ton…I'm glad you find it interesting and really appreciate the encouragement. Yes, my limited space makes a fence a major issue as it would preclude using the counter tops for much else. Of course, it also means I need to keep them relatively free of clutter so it doesn't become a major hassle when I need to cut long boards.

 

[Tangle]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

Patrick,
That's a fine looking shop. Great ideas on the dust collection system. The counter tops look good as well. Well done.

 

[sIKE]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

let me know how well or not this solution works. I am thinking about using the same solution and mount several of the Slimline Wireless Switchs to my equipment throughout the shop as I have a hard time with setting things down like remotes, tapes, rulers, screw drivers, jigs, other tools, and Pepsi's and then not being able to find them. Most of the time I am very happy they are not snakes!

 

[pjaromin]

A Short But Productive Weekend

Countertops

I've been dying to start stowing my tools away in the newly built shop cabinets-getting them both organized and out of the garage where they're making it difficult to keep the car. The last remaining obstacle was finishing the countertops. Not that I couldn't finish them with the drawers full…but some time ago I noted that while the tops were individually level, they weren't perfectly in the same plane with each other. If they're not properly aligned, I'll have a heck of a time using my compound miter saw accurately. Therefore, until I remedied the situation, the drawers needed to remain empty and easy to maneuver. This weekend was my chance.



T-Track



Once they were properly aligned I routed a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dado in the tops 16" from the wall to accept a mini t-track. I had originally planned to use the blue stuff that Rockler sells-but I live much closer to a Woodcraft. Turns out that the only track Woodcraft carries that matches these dimensions is the siginficantly more expensive Incra stuff. Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't he buy the track first and then route the dado to fit? The simple truth is I had neglected to order the stuff in advance (bad planning) and I didn't want to stop working to head out to the store and the only track I had on hand was a length of the Rockler stuff. I also was actually planning to head to Rockler until google maps reminded me just how long a drive it was…2 hours round trip not counting shopping time would have put too big a dent into my limited time. I ultimately decided to spend the extra bucks for the Incra track rather than wait for a delivery from Rockler. This turned out to be a good move. The Incra stuff is simply better…and for one single reason: the track leaves a space for the mounting screws. My regular mini-track can be a bit annoying to work with since the screws fit into a small countersink…and if you're even a hair off alignment of the screw, the head will protrude from the surface and at the very least provide an occasional snag as you're adjusting your stop block. Incra solves this by giving the screws their own space by milling little ledges on the sides above the screw heads for the guides to ride on. The screws can stand proud of the bottom without a snag. Simple but elegant and worth the extra $$.

Jointer Dust Port

One of the items I had left 'til now was hooking up the dust collection to my Ridgid 6" jointer. The jointer lives under the countertop in the middle of the wall. I cut a hole in the back corner of the top and continued the run under the counter. I installed the blast gate at a convenient spot just above the counter.



CMS Dust Collection

Collection from my DeWalt 706 CMS was a bigger unknown. When setting up the PVC lines, I set a 4" drop with blast gate just off center of the saw on the wall behind it. As I started to work out the details, I realized that I'd have to offset the pipe a bit more. The reason was that I wanted to have a hose hooked up to the built-in dust collection port installed in the "throat" of the saw…but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't be sufficient, so I also was planning to build a venturi-box to collect from a wider area just behind the saw. The problem is that the hose sticking out of the back of the saw presses in pretty low at the back, making it impossible to run a pipe straight down from behind. Thankfully I didn't use any glue in connecting the PVC, so moving the drop roughly 6" to the right was fairly straightforward. At this point I've got the 1-1/2" hose hooked up to the saw and a 4" open pipe waiting to be hooked up to the yet-to-be-built venturi box. Next weekend, maybe?



Remote Control

This is still a work in progress-and if you've read this far and have had any experience at all, I very much welcome your suggestions/recommendations/comments. No where is this more true than with my emerging remote control setup. The dust collector is plugged into a 240V 20A Leviton X10-enabled outlet. I use Insteon for the majority of lighting controllers in my house and for the most part I love it. I decided to extend this into the shop. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there was no Insteon version of the 240v oulet. As Insteon is X-10 compatible, I decided to try it. I was unable to find much information/discussion online regarding using X-10 for dust collection, though I seem to recall reading a comment somewhere where someone indicated that it was less than reliable. This doesn't surprise me as I've read quite a bit about the unreliability of X-10, and in fact have experienced it first hand in my setup where I've been forced to use it. Undeterred (or crazy), I decided to forge ahead anyway. Early on I had considered a blast-gate operated system like the Long Ranger or JDS system. It certain is an elegant solution, but the thing is I wasn't sure I wanted to be forced to close all the gates in order to turn off the system…though there is clearly an advantage in that you'd know when a gate was inadvertantly left open. Anyway, I still wasn't sold and have thought that what I'd really prefer is a bunch of discrete momentary switches placed strategically around the shop - a single switch that I could press once to turn on and then again on any of them to turn it off again. After some searching and a brief chat with a Smarthome employee, I decided to try an X10 Universal Module. It's still not clear to me that "mode 3" will actually do what I want - I'm very skeptical - but the Smarthome guy said it would and for $26, I'm willing to give it a try. I also picked up an X-10 keychain remote. In the meantime, I've programmed one of the buttons on my main shop KeypadLinc to control collector and have also plugged in an extra X10 controller I happened to have gathering dust in a corner. I guess it's still gathering dust, just in a very different way!



(originally posted at http://tenonandspline.com/blog/archives/72)

Thos…thanks!

sIKE- Sure will. The controller should be here by the end of the week. I'm anxious to try it out. I'm with you, btw, when it comes to the remote control thing. I bought the keychain remote to basically play with, but I'm not keen on having to carry it around in the shop either as I'm almost certain to forget it or misplace it. I'll probably keep it around for the "gee whiz" factor, but hope to use the hard mounted switches day-to-day (or weekend-to-weekend as is closer to the facts).

 

[pjaromin]

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)

 

[GaryK]

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)

Pretty slick! Great idea.

 

[cajunpen]

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)

That is slick - but am I missing something here? Wouldn't a simple remote control switch for your DC have accomplished the same thing? Or, were you just intent on tinkering and coming up with a different solution? Either way - it sounds like you got what you wanted, and that is a good thing.

 

[motthunter]

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)

interesting adaptation