Dust Collector

[Neal Moore]

Well I finally broke down and bought a small Jet dust collection system. I got everything I needed for just under $300.00. I put it all together and tried it out briefly....works like a charm. I decided that I should clean my shop being as my sawdust issues were relieved. What a train wreck!!! Started out easy then decided to "deep clean" the whole shop. I've been down there most of the day and it looks like another day before I'm done. Wish now I had never started!!!

[pete00]

but now dont you feel better that's its clean.......
at least until you start a new project

pete

[Indiana saw man]

Dust

And Just What Did You Find By Cleaning Up The Shop . I Allways Find A Tool Or Some Good Peice Og Wood You Have Been Looking For





Indiana Saw Man

[workin for wood]

When I built my new shop, I took the dust collection into account before finishing. My barn is built pole stile. between the poles I have regular 2x4 studding but instead of a 2x4 capping the top of eache wall section, each 2x4 is nailed into the beams. This saved some lumber, but more importantly allowed easy wiring and allowed me to install 4" piping inside the walls. I pre-planed where my tools would be for the most part, and added a few extra ports. I have no visible dust collector pipes. Basically the pipes elbow out of the wall about 4 feet from the floor for benchtop items and 2 feet up for floor standing tools. After the piping and any electrical work was finished, I hung the drywall on the walls only. I then bought a ton of insulation and the free blower and went around the shop blowing in the walls. Then the ceiling was installed and blown in. Not having exposed pipes also helps cut down on dust and spider webs accumulating on them. It's all a big tip in case anyone is planing to build someday down the road.
Oh, and clogs are not a problem. If it does happen, the pipes are easy to access from the attic and/or by using a snake.

[Neal Moore]

I just bought a small unit Jeff. I cut the hose to 6 feet and wheel it from machine to machine. If I had a larger shop or were to build a new one I would certainly do as you suggest!!!

[William Young (SE BC)]

Hi Jeff.
Sounds like a real neat idea.
Just wondering . . . .

I have regular 2x4 studding but instead of a 2x4 capping the top of eache wall section, each 2x4 is nailed into the beams.

.

Were you lucky enough to find some full 2" x 4" studs or did you get around it in another way. Regular 2 x 4 studs around here are only about 1 1/2 by slightly under 3 1/2 and they even got a little smaller after Canada went metric..
Just curious if you had to compress the walls of your piping into a somewhat oval shape to get them within standard 2x4 studs. What kind of piping did you use? galvanized metal or plastic ? The piping I used for my DC system is 4" inside diameter which makes it slightly larger than 4" .
Your idea would also work wonderful for anyone using 6" studs which are about 5 1/4" wide .
W.Y.

[workin for wood]

the building is post and beam, we call pole barns around here. The poles are 6x6. Therefore the thickness of the walls is actually 6" thick or of course 5 1/4 as you would say. On the outside of the posts, 2x4's are naild horizontally for the plywood/chipboard sheets to attach to and then siding on that. I wanted to drywall the inside, so inbetween the posts is where i built the 2x4 frames. So as you can imagine, the wall is actually thicker than the 2x4's. There's a space behind the 2x4's which doesn't really matter, the insulation packs in there. The frames are attached to be flush with the posts, and held in place at the top by nailing into the beams. Some of my framing is actually a mix-mash of 2x4 and 2x6's. I framed the inside of my barn, built some lumber racks and a 40 foot long wheel chair ramp for my neighbor for $500. I bought an entire 20 foot flatbed truck full of discards and returns from the lumber yard. The pile was bigger than my silverado pickup truck. The 2x8's, 10's, 12's etc, where ripped on my table saw to become 2x6's and 2x4's. the neighbor's insurance company re-imbursed me for his ramp, they payed me $1800.
anyhow, you can see how the pipes easily fit down the walls because they are thicker than the 2x4. When you add in the horizontal 2x4's, the walls are actually 6 3/4 inches thick with blown insulation.

[workin for wood]

behind my avatar, you can see the porch on my barn. I've noticed in the winter time that if you have two dust ports open on opposite sides of the barn, one pipe exhausts cold air. (dust collector off of course). I'm thinking heat goes into one pipe and gets cooled in the attic then drops down through the other pipe, like convection of some sort. I keep the ports closed when not in use of course. I have a small dust collector too like neal is talking about for my table saw. This helps alot because the table saw makes alot more dust so I only have to empty the small bag. Also, I don't have to have a hose across the floor to trip on. I removed the rod that holds the filter bag up on that one, because it gets in my way when not in use. It has no effect on the machine, when you turn it on, the filter goes up on it's own.