Thread: Best Bang For Buck Dust Collector

Yeah while its not perfect if the 6" pipe sucks up as much as your saying it should at least pull some of the crap that usually wind up in my face into the catchers mit.

Could also possible rig up some kind of wrist strap / concoction that moves the flexible pipe when I move the saw.

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Yeah while its not perfect if the 6" pipe sucks up as much as your saying it should at least pull some of the crap that usually wind up in my face into the catchers mit.

It's impact at catching stuff at source still relies on the pipe being close to the source so it may not catch as much as you think but it will be better than nothing.

Could also possible rig up some kind of wrist strap / concoction that moves the flexible pipe when I move the saw.

I do this with belt and orbital sanders but I reckon there are enough risks involved when using a circular without hanging more stuff off it.

Going to sleep on it, but the more I rationalise it my head the 3HP / 6" does seem a better way to go for the long haul.

Headscratcher.. IF you are only going to use it on a single machine for the time being, would it not be better to go with the 1hp unit until you are set up better?

Kev

Originally Posted by Kev Y.

Headscratcher.. IF you are only going to use it on a single machine for the time being, would it not be better to go with the 1hp unit until you are set up better?

Kev

The minimum HP I would suggest for a single machine (or any small/medium size shed ) is a 2HP. So much dust escapes from a 1HP DC during many dust making activities that a 1HP should be left on for the rest of the day after the last dust making activity to vent a shed of invisible dust. A 1HP also cannot generate enough air speed in 6" ducting so that 6" ducting will eventually clog (well not so much clog as reduce the diameter so the air speed will drop to about an effective 4" diam pipe). A 2HP unit can manage short runs of 6" pipe which means it pump much more air and then only needs to be left on for 20-40 minutes after the last dust making activity to vent a shed.

If you are worried about invisible dust and follow these running times, while small DCs are cheap to purchase the fact that they should be run for longer means their running costs do eventually add up. To remove invisible dust, a 1HP has no choice but to run continuously after the first dust making activity, while depending on use, the 2HP has a good chance of being turned off for significant periods during any one day. A 3HP only needs to be run for a few minutes after the last dust making activity. If you work a couple of days of week in a shed and run a 1 HP, @ ~25 c/kWhr thats about $2 a day or ~$100/ year. The running costs for a 2HP are less but it consumes more power per unit time so overall running costs would be similar or maybe a bit less. What I'm getting at is it doesn't take many years of this usage pattern to reach the cost of a 3HP DC even though a 3HP may have had an additional cost of requiring a 15A socket. Of course if you are an occasional wood warrior and only use a DC once a couple of days a month then costs drop accordingly but you don'y have the same level of protection as with a bigger DC.

Kev it’s not so much a money thing as it is a space thing… I was reluctant to go to the bigger unit because of the floor space it takes up, and really I didn’t feel I needed something as big as a 3HP - 6”, but slowly I have come to see reason based on the data Bob has provided.
Most of my life I have been sucking up grinding and sawdust from odd jobs. Time I started thinking about what is good for me. Secondly I really hate doing thing twice, so I would rather spend the money once and do it right first time. I think the current unit I am looking at gives a good balance between performance and price.

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

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Secondly I really hate doing thing twice, so I would rather spend the money once and do it right first time. . . [/FONT][/SIZE]

I had to do it 4 times First I bought a 1 HP, then a 2HP then another 2HP and then a 3HP!

Did that with audio equipment and speakers chewed through 10's of thousands upgrading and upgrading.

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Did that with audio equipment and speakers chewed through 10's of thousands upgrading and upgrading.

Having seen others get trapped in the "audio black hole", although tempted I have managed to stay away from it. For about a decade I hovered around the PC black hole but since I gave up on games about 15 years ago I am happy enough with something that can provide a reliable web browser, email and a decent photo editing program.

Yep went crazy with the PC thing as well, having up to 8 PCs at one time just for me (not sure why I needed that many) Currently only have three, a desktop, a laptop and a touch pad.

These next set of DIY speakers are going to cost me $20k so I hope the sound good when they are finished. These are going to be the last major upgrade for a while.

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Looking over some of the earlier post rather than spend $69 extra on freight I am probably better off getting this locally in Sydney W329 | DC-7 Dust Collector | machineryhouse.com.au

Little more money but the CFM goes up to 2300. Should be able to do the necessary mods to give it a 6" outlet.

I bought one of these machines rebadged as a Rexon, big mistake. It lasted 14 months before it delaminated the windings. I now own a PM 75 3hp and it outsucks that fake 3 hp any day. Even on 4" flexi over 20 feet it is great. Soon I am modifying the machines to 6" and will run ducting the same. I would LOVE to run the 8" but imagine fitting prices.

I thought the Hare & Forbes was a fairly reputable brand? Whats a PM 75?

Originally Posted by jenno

I bought one of these machines rebadged as a Rexon, big mistake. It lasted 14 months before it delaminated the windings. I now own a PM 75 3hp and it outsucks that fake 3 hp any day. Even on 4" flexi over 20 feet it is great. Soon I am modifying the machines to 6" and will run ducting the same. I would LOVE to run the 8" but imagine fitting prices.

The PM 75s use a similar "dated" design as the H&F machines with an unnecessarily twisted air pathway between the impeller and the bags. While supporting an 8" impeller input duct , connecting 8" ducting to this DC without removing this twisted pathway would be a waste of time.

[EDIT- I stand corrected, I was confusing the newer PM75 with the older PM1900. The PM-75 has got rid of the twisted path way and is a superior design to the H&F unit - of course you do pay for it]

However, unlike the advertising there's no way it gets 1900 cfm with a 4" duct.
They do say the specifications are from the USA and may vary.
In the US where they run 60Hz AC the same impellers generate ~20% more airflow.

BTW 8" can only be used on a 3HP as a single line and even then it's borderline especially if only one 6" connection is used on a machine. This will slow the FPM in the trunk line to below 4000 fpm which may drop dust out of the air stream. If 8" ducting and 6" machine connections are used with a 3HP machine at least an additional 4" port has to be left open to maintain the 4000 fpm in the 8" trunk.

PM75 is a Powermatic Dusty, you pay for what you get. $1000 great quality, great reputation. If you haven't heard of Powermatic maybe more research should be done. They come from the same plants as Jet but with better specs and quality.