Lets see you dust extraction systems

[garageman]

hi everybody so im am thinking bout buying a hafco hare and forbes dust extractor the stand up type anyway i was curious can i suck up metal or just wood shavings and dust and how are yours set up?

please post pictures of your set up , i need ideas would be greatly appreciated

cheers sam

[BobL]

hi everybody so im am thinking bout buying a hafco hare and forbes dust extractor the stand up type anyway i was curious can i suck up metal or just wood shavings and dust and how are yours set up?

please post pictures of your set up , i need ideas would be greatly appreciated

cheers sam

Which extractor are you referring to - there are 7 upright extractors on teh H&F website

The 1HP smaller ones are not much more than higher air volume vacuum cleaners suitable for one small machine, while the bigger ones can pick metal - relatively large pieces of metal - but I'd be VERY careful about sucking up metal. When that bit of metal hits the spinning impeller - BAM - it can make a big mess. If you plan to collect a lot of metal dust I would suggest getting a specialized unit.

For setups - the answer is, "the piece of string is this long". Have a look in the Dust Extraction forum and you will see heaps of different setup. Dust collection is a very complicated topic - it should be divided into; chip collection, visible dust collection, and invisible dust collection. The first two relate to reducing fire hazards and keeping things tidy. The invisible dust is the one that affects people health teh most. Collecting invisible dust efficiently is very hard work and requires a minimum of a 3HP impeller and 6" ducting - nothing smaller than this will grab the invisible dust at source and it will slowly fill up your shed.

[garageman]

Which extractor are you referring to - there are 7 upright extractors on teh H&F website

The 1HP smaller ones are not much more than higher air volume vacuum cleaners suitable for one small machine, while the bigger ones can pick metal - relatively large pieces of metal - but I'd be VERY careful about sucking up metal. When that bit of metal hits the spinning impeller - BAM - it can make a big mess. If you plan to collect a lot of metal dust I would suggest getting a specialized unit.

For setups - the answer is, "the piece of string is this long". Have a look in the Dust Extraction forum and you will see heaps of different setup. Dust collection is a very complicated topic - it should be divided into; chip collection, visible dust collection, and invisible dust collection. The first two relate to reducing fire hazards and keeping things tidy. The invisible dust is the one that affects people health teh most. Collecting invisible dust efficiently is very hard work and requires a minimum of a 3HP impeller and 6" ducting - nothing smaller than this will grab the invisible dust at source and it will slowly fill up your shed.


this one seems pretty good
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Products?stockCode=W3325

[Stewey]

My opinion is that that model with the 1 hp motor is a bit small & weak-better to go for the 2 hp model and be happier with the increased capacity. You could also mount it further away-like outside, when you have more sucking power. Bear in mind that it will also become a "dust distribution system" if kept entirely indoors.

We suck up dust, shavings & metal chips with ours, BUT there is the common sensical danger of hot metal shavings landng in a dust bag full of sawdust...and what happens next...

So use common as well as uncommon sense & empty the bag frequently. Keep an eye on all possible danger spots.

[garageman]

My opinion is that that model with the 1 hp motor is a bit small & weak-better to go for the 2 hp model and be happier with the increased capacity. You could also mount it further away-like outside, when you have more sucking power. Bear in mind that it will also become a "dust distribution system" if kept entirely indoors.

We suck up dust, shavings & metal chips with ours, BUT there is the common sensical danger of hot metal shavings landng in a dust bag full of sawdust...and what happens next...

So use common as well as uncommon sense & empty the bag frequently. Keep an eye on all possible danger spots.

thanks stewey as for the metal shavings they would most likley be cold just scraps sitting on .near. or around the drill press arfter drilling .btw do you have your tools set up on dust extraction i would like to do that but some of my stuff is on wheels like the disc sander and makita scms ,

[Stewey]

Ours manages to suck up wooden chips 1/2" cubed OK, plus smaller stuff. Cold metal filings are fine. You need to keep the tubing at the biggest diameter you can, for as long as you can. Dropping down to vacuum cleaner hose size is a big waste & you lose much of the capacity due to friction & restriction. We only have the router (CNC) & one thicknesser connected to the vac. All other tools' dust & chips just lands wherever it lands-for the moment.

[BobL]

My opinion is that that model with the 1 hp motor is a bit small & weak-better to go for the 2 hp model and be happier with the increased capacity.

1HP units are not much more than a higher air volume lower air speed chip catcher.

The 680 cfm rating provided by the manufacturer will be without any bags or any ducting attached. As soon as the bags and some ducting (even a short length of fley hose) are attached and it gets 15 minutes of use the flow rate will be half that. How do I know this, I have done my own testing using testing gear from work.

If you want to capture the most chips at source, the 1HP units are best used right next to machinery but they do not capture invisible dust particles at source and the bags used don't retain the invisible dust so they fill effectively fill the shed up with invisible dust. No commonly available bags/filters will filter the invisible dust from any DC.

A simple way to minimise the invisible dust from a 1HP is to locate the DC outside the shed. Even though it does not capture the invisible dust at source if the unit is left running for 15 or 20 minutes after use it will slowly remove the fine dust from the shed. Of course locating the unit outside the shed means more ducting which means poorer chip collection. Users of any DC face the choice of minimizing invisible dust exposure OR maximizing chip collection. Most choose chip collection simply because they cannot see the invisible particles and of course if it cannot be seen, it cannot hurt you, right? :D

To capture invisible dust at source from most machines 1000 cfm and an air speed of 4000 fpm are needed at the machine intakes. The 2 HP unit rated at 1200 cfm will also drop to half when used in practical situations so do not capture much in. The 3HP units are a minimum that is needed to get this level of volume and air speed, but even with these units, too long or too narrow a ducting will drop the air flow so they too can easily fall below spec.