Thread: PVC or metal ducting

I have looked at Ironwood and Al B's recent posts on how they put together their ducting. I have finally got power to the shed and have finally acquired a few good tools. I now need to put in a good dust collection system to each machine but am unsure on what would be the best strategy.

On the one hand Ironwood has shown that 6" PVC looks pretty good and it seems that this is probably the easiest system to implement but I have been surprised at the cost of 6" PVC components - $57 for 6mx6" PVC pipe, $33 for each 45 degree take-off and $13.50 for each 45 degree bend. Each drop will probably cost around $60 and then I would need to add a blast gate and some flexible hose. 10 drops quickly brings the probably cost up to more than $700 or so.

As I said the attraction is that PVC ducting is probably within my skill level although it appears that I might still need to make some metal transitions and possibly devise some other dust collection strategies for some machines.

Al B's sheet metal work certainly seems to be much more versatile and possibly more useful in the long term. All the transitions, bends and take-offs seem to be relatively easy and cheap to construct but I think this is because he knows what he is doing.

Nonetheless I have been investigating the feasibility of constructing the metal ducting.

An 8'x4' 22 gauge gal sheet metal costs about $43 (I don't have a friend with a sheet metal workshop). A Hafco SJ-22 swage & jenny costs $395 and a suitable soldering iron costs less than $100. I think Al B used 24 gauge so the gal sheet may be a little cheaper and easier to work.

If I had to buy the jenny the costs run out about the same for metal and PVC but I think that the metal will probably be more versatile.

It comes down to how difficult is the metal work. I have done a little sheet metal work (rudimentary at best) a long time ago. I am sure I will eventually manage the soldering but don't know about the rest.

I noticed that Al B used a spot welder to hold his joints together before soldering - the cheapest spot welder I can find is about $800 so I hope to avoid this. Are there other ways to hold everything together for soldering - riveting for example?

Cutting or simple bending of the 24 gauge sheet metal is probably OK - rolling it into a nice curve might be less easy. Can you get satisfactory results by hand or by forming over something of the right diameter (6" PVC pipe perhaps)?

I am tempted to go with the sheet metal but fear I am being a little too ambitious.

Apart from some answers to some of the above questions I would appreciate other views from the more experienced.

Regards

Terry