Shop upgrades

[shortcast]

Also posted in the pen turning section.

I can't invest in a dust collection system right now. So, I am looking to attach a hood to the lathe and use a shop vac for suction. The vac that I am considering is 5.5 peak hp and boasts 195 cfm. For 60$ more, I can get a unit with 6.5 hp and 210 cfm. Do you think that this would be money well spent or is the 5.5 hp/195 cfm sufficient?


Next question: If SWMBO will loosen the purse strings a little more, I want to aquire a benchtop joiner and a benchtop bandsaw. What units would you gents recommend?

Thanks,
Jeff (shortcast)
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[Woodturnerjosh]

Hi Jeff,
The shop vacs are really only good for connection to hand-held power tools as they move a small volume of air under very high pressure. The sort of dust extractors you see hooked up to lathes would move a minimum of 600cfm (I use about 1000cfm) under low pressure and these are good at removing sanding dust from near your turnings if set up properly. Unless you get the shop-vac nozzle very close to what you are doing I think you'll find it to be useless (this is my experience with them anyway)
Cheers
Josh

[Jim Carroll]

:iagree:

Put the money into at least a 1hp extractor with the hood. You can still use the extractor as a vac to clean up the shop by atatching a 90mm pipe into the end.

[Sawdust Maker]

I'd put the money into the dust extractor - lungs are very important IMHO
I've got to upgrade mine soonish :~

[steck]

I went down the cheap vacuum road myself and it really doesn't work.
I eventually bought a good second hand 2HP Dust extractor on ebay. I so wish I had bought one 30 years ago! All those years of sneezing, wheezing and revolting boogers!!
Your lungs are important! A mate of mine got poisoned from cutting up a heap of wood and breathing in the dust. It took him several months of pain and skin rashes to get over it.
Breath Well!

[Texian]

Jeff,
Ditto what they said. Do not know how much you intend to spend on that humongous shop vac, but suggest a look at some 1 hp. dust collectors. That size is typically rated at 600-650 cfm, which is about the minimum (IMHO) that will do some good if located close to the dust-producing source. I have a 1 hp. DC that is kind of stuffed into a corner, close amongst the table saw, stationary belt sander, and band saw. While imperfect, it has made a world of difference in shop cleanliness and air quality. I spent extra $$ for the 2 micron canister filter, as the usual standard 5 micron bag will let a lot of stuff through. Even the 2 micron lets a lot of invisible stuff through that you would rather not breath, but it is a great improvement over the 5.

[Ed Reiss]

Everything they said:aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::!

210 cfm is woefully underpowered:C plus shop vac universal motors are not designed to be run for long periods of time.

Save your money and invest in a dust collector.:2tsup:

[NeilS]

What everybody else said:aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::aro-u:

Neil

[rsser]

Dust collection from a lathe is difficult.

If your budget is limited you might consider my first effort which worked pretty well, viz:

Salvaged kitchen extractor fan mounted in the wall behind me (when standing at the lathe).

A length of salvaged 8" steel duct glued into the fan opening and braced with strapping steel from the ceiling.

Into that a length of 8" flex duct which rested on a rail mounted from the ceiling over my head then coming down on the offside of the lathe. With an assortment of fencing wire hooks and lines I could move the entry point along the lathe to suit where the muck was being generated.

I blocked 3/4 of the entry off with a ply disc to aid localised suction, since the fan wasn't pulling that much volume.

After relying on that for a while, my budget ran to adding a ceiling mounted air scrubber to gather up errant particles.

Good luck.

[OGYT]

I agree with the rest of them. Vacs won't work worth a hoot. I can't afford a dust collector either.
I have a large exhaust fan in the end of my shop. I have a homemade air scrubber over the lathe. I have a fan mounted above and behind me blowing toward the exhaust fan. I have a floor stand fan that stands to the right and behind me, also blowing across the piece, and toward the exhaust fan. I turn, and sand, rosewood and cocobolo without any problems.
I just wish I could afford a dust collector.

[Texian]

Forgot to mention, for dust extraction at the lathe the cheapo method is a 20" box fan with a conventional furnace/A/C filter in front of it, located directly behind the spindle. It creates air flow away from your breathing zone and collects some of the larger dust.

Re. your other questions, IMHO you will be disappointed with a benchtop jointer and/or bandsaw. They probably will not do what you are visualizing them doing. Save your money until you can afford full size tools. And/but remember that this is just one person's opinion.

[Sawdust Maker]

Actually Richard's (Texian) comments re bench mounted equipment is worth listening to. I bought a 14" bandsaw, no it isn't bench mounted but whilst it does some things really well I wish I'd got something larger.. The smaller bench mounted saws have tiny wheels and I've read somewhere they cause too much flexing of the blades. ie the blades have to bend in a tighter radius. Thus causing greater stress