J. Phil Thien's Projects

After trying various hoods and bags I decided to bite the bullet and convert my General contractor saw. Great stability, storage space and A1 dust collection.
http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=512.0

Thanks Aaron.... Take your time to plan everything, simple d?tails in the construction/planning phase may prove to be huge mistakes when you start using the shop. For instance, my solution to the limited floor space was simple enought; put every thing on wheels. But if you forget to also built every working surface at different heights you will soon realize that no matter where you put the machines you will have a hard time using them witout long boards bumping into another machine  ;)

Rick T.... Because of the cement block enclosure noise is barely audible at 10' outside the house. As for winter heating I plan to use the same contractor grade 2400w blower/heater  (the yellow box at the left of the DC) hooked to a separate thermostat about 15' away from the unit. The built-in thermostat has a 3 degrees reaction span so your options are to cold or to warm. Last winter at -20c outside, the shop was at 10c and I could bring it up to 18c in about 10 minutes with this heater. The on off use of the DC will certainly lower the temp for a short while but because of the efficiency of the heater blower I dont expect these temp variation to be very noticible. I think the variations on my electricity bill will be more noticible... Maybe not that much...I hope

I have previously posted the preliminary sketchup drawings for an outside vent separator set up on my 50-760. http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=442.0

I finally got around to building it. Here are some pics and relevant info. I hope they can be useful to anyone interested in setting up a similar system. Many thanks to Phil for is ongoing contributions and to Pitbull for is outstanding post on building the separator : http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=442.0

Shop Overview

Some specifics about my shop may be useful in order to understand why I choose to build my system the way I did. My standing floor space height is 75? below the 8? joists and 9?-4? wide by 20?-6? long. The other part of the basement is more then double this footage but it is only 53? high. The recess for the mitre saw and the table saw are built over this area. The DC is also installed there. (Shop-1.jpg,  Shop-2.jpg, Shop-3.jpg)

The scarce floor space dictated that all machines be mobile, witch turned out to be very much more efficient then I had anticipated, but there was definitively no floor space or height for a proper DC unit. I ended up with 3 Shop vacs equipped with EPA filters, one Oneida cyclone and one ceiling EPA air filtering unit. This was a costly setup given its more or less 70% efficiency.

This site opened up a whole new world? Why not a DC with a separator vented outside (I was lucky enough to have a window available and no neighbours nearby). While I was tinkering with this idea I found a barely used Delta 50-760 at a very reasonable price  and bought it.

The Separator

Given the type of DC I had acquired, I needed a sturdy dust container that could support the weight of the unit and it had to be the right size to fit in the available space. The sump basin pictured below turned out to be just about perfect. I just fitted a small plexi window on the side and a handle to pull it from ender the DC when full. The DC unit is attached to the joists with chains and turnbuckles so that with just a few turns I can lift it enough to slide out the dust container when full. (Container-1.jpg, Container-2.jpg )

I used plywood and MDF for the separator. The inside is lined with a glossy finish piece of laminate. I fitted a 6? metal duct encapsulated in expandable foam to hold it snugly in place. (Separator-1.jpg, Separator-2.jpg, Separator-3.jpg, Separator-4.jpg, Separator-5.jpg, Separator-6.jpg

The duct work

The connection between the duct work and the separator is made by a 1-1/2? thick plywood plate with the PVC elbow tightly fitted through it and over the metal duct in the separator. The 6? PVC elbow fits well over the 6? metal duct. This ?adaptor? is screwed to the separator so that it is easily removable. (Separator-7.jpg)

I choose PVC over metal because I found that the readily available metal duct was a bit on the thin side and it would have been a real pain to custom fit it the way I wanted. Heavier gage metal ducts are available of course but the cost is also a lot heavier. The gates are home made, easy and cheap to make and much better then the plastic ones. The 4? flex hose  can be connected to the router table or to the thickness planer. I still use a shop vac for the band saw and the belt sander that are fitted with custom made adapters. (Delta-OV-1.jpg, Delta-OV-2.jpg, Shop-4.jpg)

As you can see I did away completely with the dust bag. After some experimentation I decided to vent everything outside. There is very little visible dust and it will just accumulate outside? I think I might have to clean the hole once a year at most ! (OutVent-1.jpg, OutVent-2.jpg)

Mitre Saw

Collecting dust from a sliding Mitre Saw is always a challenge but given the way my saw is installed, it was a bit easier to tackle. Behind the curved wall, on each sides of the saw, there are two 4? pipes going down from the main 6? plus a 2-1/2? flex hose connected directly to the saw where the original dust bag was connected. For short pieces the saw stays in its recessed position and almost all the dust gets collected at all angles. For longer pieces I have to slide out the stand about 6? so as to clear the side walls. In this extended position the efficiency drops to about 95%. (MiterSaw-1.jpg, MiterSaw-2.jpg, MiterSaw-3.jpg).  The table saw extension can be lowered to accommodate the mitre saw when pulled out.

Table Saw

My table saw is a General Contractor saw that I have extensively modified. It spends most of its time in the recessed position but for wider pieces it is rolled out and can accommodate pieces up to 36? right side of the blade. The original metal housing has been completely sealed. The back is closed with a piece of corrugated plastic that is easily removable when the arbour/motor is tilted for angle cuts. The dust collector is fitted in a drawer under the saw. It can be pulled out to clear larger pieces or if underneath access to the saw is needed. The 6? PVC elbow is held in place by a ring inside the cabinet. There is a 1? space between the cabinet wall and the back of the dust drawer. The elbow extends about an inch inside the drawer.  The over arm collector is made with 2-1/2? PVC connected to a flex hose that extends out of the wall when the saw has to be pulled out. The flex is connected to a Y custom branch on the 6? main duct. (TableSaw-DC-1.jpg, TableSaw-DC-2.jpg, TableSaw-DC-3.jpg)

Final notes

The 6? jointer is not connected to the DC. I made a dust box attached to the dust chute and find this to be very adequate. See picture 1.

This DC setup may not be for every one but for me it is wonderful. Questions or comments are welcomed. French being my mother tongue, please excuse the misspellings and grammatical mistakes.

Thanks again to Phil and to all contributors to this forum. If you benefit from this forum please make an effort to give something back, this is internet at its best lets keep it alive.

Paul

 ::) Now it makes sense, Thank's

Jim,

I am not sure I understand how I could overload the motor (1-1/2 hp) with to much air coming in... Theoretically I could fry the motor simply by running it with nothing connected to the 5" intake ?

I thought that the risk of overloading was a consequence of to much restriction on the intake side ex: A single 2-1/2" x 25' hose connected to the 5" intake would probably be very inneficient and would certainly put a lot of strain on the motor.

Richard

...about filter removal and "greatly improved airflow efficiency due to lack of back pressure".

I have recently posted preliminary drawings of an outside vent system I am planning to build. I still have doubts about turbulence and back pressure with that rectangular outlet but this is the only one I can think of building, a 15" - 18" 90* tube being just about impossible to find and perhaps would not be that much more efficient ???

Richard

Thank's Phil

I am in the planning stage of a separator and outside vent for my Delta 50-760. Is it ok to have 6" and 4" Y intake (PVC custom made using Digital Pipe Fitter) and a 5" to the DC ? Also, would my vent hood design be ok or could it create to much back pressure ?