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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on January 3, 2012 at 5:35am

Dave: Thats really a kick in the butt-like a violin player loosing the tips of his fingers.  I have been using a Grizzly dust collector system for about 10 years as well as a Jet dust filtration system.  The shop(basement)  is about 50ft by 30ft.  The setup uses 4"pvc drain pipe (from Home Depot)  down the middle of the basement and branch lines to bandsaw, tablesaw,planer and floor sweep. Tee's,y's and gates are all Grizzley.  The collector has the standard mesh bag as well  as the filter.  I must admit to not running the system for every little cut- nor do I wear a dust mask except when doing a lot of sanding esp between coats of marine oilbased paint.  I have had no problems with any of Grizzly equipment- having installed it as per directions- including bare copper wire for static electricity.  Had to add some 220v breakers.  It has collected many bags of dust/chips  over the years- just dump them in the woods behind the house(recycleing).  I still get dust around the shop- have to lay off the woodworking for a few days before doing varnish jobs.

Since you are "sensitized " - suggest you get the super small filters for the collector and filter .3 microns  or whatever they are.  Need any more info I will look up the details in my files.

 

Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Charles Ray Heater on January 3, 2012 at 9:31am

Dave;

 

I use various dust collection systems for my work.  I have a Jet unit for my table saw that is OK.  I use my portable power vacuum to draw chips from my portable planer.  I do the same with my stationary belt sander. 

 

Just a couple of years ago I invested in the German engineered tool line called Festool.  I have their portable vacuum that allows for quick connection to Festool's disc and pad sanders and their jig saw.  I have found no other wood working equipment the equal of Festool.  I wish I had discovered them when I started my business.  Festool has been making quality tools since 1928.   www.Festool.com. 

 

Ray Heater

 

Ray Heater

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Permalink Reply by Roger Fletcher on January 4, 2012 at 7:44am

Dave – Like yours, my work space is relatively small (25 x 30). I do a lot of hand-work and while my collection system is Jet I tend to use it only when milling material. Like Lawrence I don’t turn it on when doing every small cut. My problem is the lighter particulates that remain airborne. At the end of the day, if I haven’t paid attention to my work habits, I will feel stuffy and my eyes are irritated. The stuffiness inevitably leads to a poor night’s sleep. To avoid this problem, I do two things: mask up when generating dust, and keep a small box fan running on low that pulls ambient dust through two furnace filters that hang on the backside of the fan’s frame. I’ve been meaning to build a simple box for the unit that I can hang but haven’t been moved to do it yet because my little Rube Goldberg arrangement works quite well. I remain amazed at how much dust those filters catch in the span of a couple of days. I simply vacuum them, and re-hang them. I feel like if it’s not in the air, then it’s not in my eyes, sinuses or lungs.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on January 4, 2012 at 9:43pm

Hi Dave. I help my friend Andy with his dory business and also work on boats for an outfitter, and they've helped this old timber-framer with the occupational hazards. Andy has pushed a full-face respirator(Jamestown Dist., they are on sale right now) on me everytime we work and it helps--I understand that your eyes are as permeable as your lungs with regard to paint and solvents. The winters are the hardest as we can not always move the boats outside to sand. At the outfitters shop we use full-face respirators which are hooked-up to a fresh air pump which is outside away from all the commotion. At first it felt kinda restrictive but after a while all I notice is the cool, clean air I'm breathing. Pro Air is the name on the air pump, just a little box that you hook to a hose. When I was a timber-framer I'd go home at night and pick my nose and cough, wish I had had these things then! Good luck and don't forget your hearing protection(what!). Cheers, Jim

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Permalink Reply by ROBERT BITTNER on January 5, 2012 at 7:41am

Dave,

new to posting , though i read many of forum posts while researching ifo for building the wood interior for my bbw dory hull. as a professional woodworker for over 30 years, i understand your problem. currently we use a grizzly double bag unit with a 7" metal trunk line / 5" machine drops for our stationary processing - 12" jointer, 20" planer and 24" thickness sander. we use a single bag grizzly portable for the two shapers and tablesaw. metal piping is more efficiant than plastic and does not require grounding wire, just ground the pipe. our shop is only 2300 sq. ft. so we used regular duct piping instead of the fancy, but sweet and expensive, welded trunk lines. rivit and tape your joints and they will be fine. when I first started my own shop 13 yrs ago it was only 600 sq. ft. and I was given a dust filtration unit that suspends from the cieling and draws air through a screen and filter bag. the unit is too small for the expanded shop, built in 2009, and sits un-used in the ceiling of the old shop. We are down in Pendleton co. WV , I'd be happy to see someone use it if you want to come to WV to pick it up. you can reach me at rbittner@hughes.net  my way of saying thanks for all the info I received reading the forum

bob

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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on January 7, 2012 at 10:01am

As for sanding like Ray mentioned, Festool.  A person at my old shop had Festool sanding equipment and it worked great.  It's expensive but, the best you can get.

I have a 1 HP 2 bag system which will handle 1 major tool at a time, table saw, jointer etc.  If you are going to take the time to install a central system make the additional investment in a cyclone separator.  

http://www.oneida-air.com/

Grizzly has many but last I looked they were integrated systems.  Oneida has separate cyclone units you can place before any dust collector.  Saves tons of time empting the bags when you plane a lot of stock.  They also make a little one for on top of a 5 gallon bucket which works great for in front of something like a festoon vacuum.  Put one in front of any shop vac and you can even suck up drywall dust without clogging it.

One final note. A person I worked with had a cyclone made by clearview.  It was plastic, a big 5 foot tall 3 HP unit.  I did the installation wiring.  I had copper running in all the ducts but forgot to connect it to the metal collector can and filters.  After a test run of only a few minutes I held my hand next to the output filter canisters looking for air leaks.  A 4 inch spark hit me worse then sticking my finger in a light socket.  It was like a giant Van de Graaff machine and could store a huge charge.  Ground everything to bleed off all that static.   Dust is not only unhealthy, it can also combust in a was as to be explosive.      

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