Jet Vortex dust collector

[Rolf]

I took some of my profits from my craft fair and bought the Jet vortex, It filters down to 2um, the DB rating is around 82 ( what I measured in the shop) which is not too bad. Now I just have to figure out where to put it and run the duct work. It is a big puppy.
JET Vortex Cone Dust Collector Video - YouTube!
I hope to be doing more Intarsia so the fine dust is what I am after.

[handibunny]

Darn, your toys are much nicer than my toys!

Don't forget to post pictures of your set-up, once you've got it figured out.

[Hawaiilad]

Very nice machine Rolf....sure would like one of those in my dusty shop..

[TH'er]

Let us know how you like it. I'm looking at the Harbor Freight 2hp DC.. aprox $139.99.

Ive heard some great reviews about them as well

[tvman44]

Rolf,
How far from the DC did you take the sound measurement, I want to measure my HF DC but don't know how far away from the DC to measure the sound level.

[HAMMER]

Does the Harbor freight model compare evenly with the Jet model?

[Rolf]

Since we finally had a snowy weekend I decided to run ductwork for the Jet.
I used 4" pvc drainpipe (thin wall) about $12 for 10 feet. I put the dust collector in a different part of my basement to reduce the noise in both my shop and in our great room above. I ran about 30 feet of PVC with 2 elbows and 5 WYS. I did not glue anything so I can move things or add at any time. I still need to run a ground wire. Even at the very end I still get lots of air flow. Today I ordered a bunch of gates, pvc to dust collector adaptors and a remote. I thought about puting the switched gates in but decided to keep it simple. I look forward to not having to wheel my collector around my small shop. I will take pictures when I get home tonight.

TVman I took my measurement at about 3 feet.

[sawdust11703]

Looks like a great dust collector Rolf, congrats! Maybe I should of gotten that one instead of the Delta.

On another note, no offense to some of you but don't try to compare anything from harbor freight to Jet or any other reputable company. The only thing I ever brought at harbor freight were throw away paint brushes and a ruler. That is a complete junk store and just remember, you get what you pay for when it comes to tools. There is a reason why that harbor freight model is many hundreds of dollars cheaper than the Jet.

[Rolf]

Hammer,
"the Vortex" is a new concept from Jet, it is proprietary. Although I am sure it will quickly be copied. It seems to work as promised and seems to be a viable solution to the Cyclone type of collector.

[Steve_S]

Dusty

In the latest issue of Fine Woodworking they reviewed a half dozen of the $600 range shop vacuums and gave the "Editors Choice" to none of them, but recommended the person use their existing shop vac with a separator like the Rockler Vortex.

I use a dust deputy with my scroll saw using a porter cable shop vac.

There are time when you want CFM; table saw, planer, or jointer where you have an enclosed chamber or ducting to pull the cuttings from.

The scroll saw is more like the drill press where you want focused suction and a shop vac makes more sense to me. When I was using my large DC behind the scroll saw or piped down to near the blade, some dust could still be on the table, my leg or the piece being cut. Once I went to the shop vac with dust deputy everything is much cleaner.

BTW - the HF DC is one of the stores gems. It is really rated high by a lot of people with less than 1,000 sq ft shops. Actually their blue nitrile gloves are a good buy also. The HF 10" band saw is a direct clone of the Rikon.

Steve.

[Rolf]

I will check out that issue. I don't use the Dust collector for the scroll saw, that was never my intent, it is for the rest of my shop tools. It will be heavily used when I do my Intarsia shaping and sanding. I could not deal with the noise of a shop vac running for long lengths of time.
For the scroll saw dust I wear a half mask and will make a very quiet fan arrangement that pulls through a filter.

I like the idea of the Rockler Vortex for the shop vac. The bigest pain with the shop vac is the pleated filters loading up almost instantly, the Vortex should help with that. My shop vac needs to roll around the shop to have it connected to the Vortex would really limit its mobility. If it was connected as a fixed system it would be fine.

[tvman44]

Thanks, I will measure mine later today to compare my HF unit to the Jet sound level wise.

Since we finally had a snowy weekend I decided to run ductwork for the Jet.
I used 4" pvc drainpipe (thin wall) about $12 for 10 feet. I put the dust collector in a different part of my basement to reduce the noise in both my shop and in our great room above. I ran about 30 feet of PVC with 2 elbows and 5 WYS. I did not glue anything so I can move things or add at any time. I still need to run a ground wire. Even at the very end I still get lots of air flow. Today I ordered a bunch of gates, pvc to dust collector adaptors and a remote. I thought about puting the switched gates in but decided to keep it simple. I look forwart to not having to wheel my collector around my small shop. I will take pictures when I get home tonight.

TVman I took my measurement at about 3 feet.

[Rolf]

TVman 44 the manual says 70-80 db at 3ft.
I put in the gates and hooked up the remote. Since my shop layout is still a work in progress I opted to not use the switched gates.
I love the way this works with the remote hanging from my belt, open a gate hit the remote and no dust! It took a bite out of my Christmas sales but worth every penny.

Hammer and Steve regarding the Harbour freight comparison, the filters on it go down to 5 microns. You could buy a better bag for it but one of the problems with this type of system is that as you use it the bag starts to clog and you lose performance. I have have another older (small Jet) and it looads up quick when I do a lot of sanding.
The new Jet Vortex uses a cone baffle to deflect the dust away from the filter so it works better longer, time will tell. It filters Canister Efficiency 86% of 1 micron particles; 98% of 2 micron particles

[tvman44]

My DC is still a work in progress, I have the trunk line and all the blast gates installed. Still need to hook up all the tools. I put together my own remote system with the remote transmitter hanging on my apron so I too will only have to open the appropriate blast gate and press the button. I bought a Woods remote off of amazon.com and a 120 volt coil contactor off of E Bay and put it all in a aluminum project box and I have about $30.00 invested in it total, not counting my time which is free now that I retired.

[millwab]

My shop vac needs to roll around the shop to have it connected to the Vortex would really limit its mobility.

Rolf, would it be possible to put the two next to each other (or even stacked to have a smaller footprint) on one mobile cart/base?