Hello All,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster.
I hesitate to use the phrase "dust extraction" in the title as there seem to be many different interpretations of what that means depending on circumstances. But I am looking for some advice...
I have read siggy_7's "Guide to Dust Extraction" post (sorry, apparently my account does not have permission to post links) and have looked about the site so have a bit of an understanding but I'm still not 100% clear on my best course of action.
I do a bit of woodwork in the garage and a project for the next year is to get all the non-workshop stuff out of the garage and into a shed (bikes, paint tins, tent, lawnmower, top-box, sledges, leftover bathroom tiles, coolbox - you all know how it goes) and then insulate the garage and make it into a proper "workshop". The garage/shop is approximately 24 feet by 10 feet. I currently have no dust extraction - I open the garage door and sweep up occasionally - and that is no good either for health reasons or for pain-in-the-buttocks reasons.
I am not a pro and do not travel to site.
Nearly all my tools are hand-held so have roughly 32mm to 40mm ports. I have a contract table saw with a 40mm (outside diameter) port and a jointer with a 61mm (OD) port. I have not yet bought a planer/thicknesser - it is on the list (along with everything else). For now I was imagining building a cart with a 60L blue food barrel along with a wet & dry vac and a dust commander (type) cyclone and then moving that around the shop as required. I am sure that at some future point I might require something more substantial than that but not right now. I want something to hoover up the dust as I go from sawing, routing and sanding. And for general shop hoovering. And, ideally, to hoover up all the hand plane shavings which I am sure will be a problem (impossible in fact) for a vac with a 32mm hose...
Perhaps I could swap out the 33-35mm vac hose with a 63mm hose like fluffinger did on the "Waste Plumbing for Dust Extraction" thread.
The cyclone will come with 50mm ports though so should I not use 50mm hose?
I've also read on here somewhere that you should restrict the flow with a small hose as near to the tool as possible. So 63mm (or 50mm) seems sensible with only the last metre or so being 32-35mm hose to attach to the tool. This keeps the restriction close to the source and makes the handheld tool easier to move around. But can a vac - used to pulling through a 32-35mm hose - pull through a 63mm (or 50mm) hose without a big pressure drop? Will air be moving so slowly that nowt happens at the tool? The vac will only ever realsitically pull over about 3 metres but is that ok?
I've seen Stimpi's advice on stepping between hose sizes on the same thread above so whether I adapt to use 50mm or 63mm I'm not that bothered. But want to give myself the best chance of the whole thing being actually useful!
I'm not sure if a CamVac would be more suitable - twin motor, larger diameter hose? Or something else?!
I liked the look of the Vacmaster WD L30 HEPA wet & dry vac because of price (£110 from Wayfair), power take-off, Hepa filter and it's wet and dry capability (so might be useful for the other occasional DIY job round the house). But maybe it's overkill for this sort of application and a second-hand Henry with a Hepa bag might be just as good?
I can imagine a future where I have sweet fixed machines with 100mm dust ports but if that is my future it's a long way off. And even if that is my future, I am sure a shopvac type system will still be required to be used too. Like everyone, I'm trying to use my cash in the most cost-effective way and buy something that has longevity.
The Numatic NVD750 gets great reviews but is £560! Add in the Hepa Module at a further £285. Plus, no doubt, some hose and other bits and bobs and I'm looking at best part of £900 which - at this stage - is just ridiculuous.
The Vacmaster Hepa Wet & Dry vac is £110, cyclone is £20, blue barrel is £25, some flexible PU hose will be about £30 from eBay. I'll also need some waste pipe and fittings, jubilee clips, etc. Build a cart out of some bits and bobs and I'm looking at about £200 I think? I could think about spending more than that (say £300?) for a better alternative but by the time you start looking more than that then I start sweating.
It's like buying a new TV, mobile, PC, whatever - if you're not careful the whole thing just escalates and you end up spending far too much on an overspecced solution to address some as yet unspecified and undiscovered future task. At present I have NO dust collection so a vac and cyclone sounds like a cheap and easy route.
So.... Is that my best solution? And, if so, (and very importantly) what diameter of pipe should I use to connect vac to cyclone and from cyclone to tool?
I'd appreciate any advice that's out there.
Thanks,
Andy.
Long-time lurker, first-time poster.
I hesitate to use the phrase "dust extraction" in the title as there seem to be many different interpretations of what that means depending on circumstances. But I am looking for some advice...
I have read siggy_7's "Guide to Dust Extraction" post (sorry, apparently my account does not have permission to post links) and have looked about the site so have a bit of an understanding but I'm still not 100% clear on my best course of action.
I do a bit of woodwork in the garage and a project for the next year is to get all the non-workshop stuff out of the garage and into a shed (bikes, paint tins, tent, lawnmower, top-box, sledges, leftover bathroom tiles, coolbox - you all know how it goes) and then insulate the garage and make it into a proper "workshop". The garage/shop is approximately 24 feet by 10 feet. I currently have no dust extraction - I open the garage door and sweep up occasionally - and that is no good either for health reasons or for pain-in-the-buttocks reasons.
I am not a pro and do not travel to site.
Nearly all my tools are hand-held so have roughly 32mm to 40mm ports. I have a contract table saw with a 40mm (outside diameter) port and a jointer with a 61mm (OD) port. I have not yet bought a planer/thicknesser - it is on the list (along with everything else). For now I was imagining building a cart with a 60L blue food barrel along with a wet & dry vac and a dust commander (type) cyclone and then moving that around the shop as required. I am sure that at some future point I might require something more substantial than that but not right now. I want something to hoover up the dust as I go from sawing, routing and sanding. And for general shop hoovering. And, ideally, to hoover up all the hand plane shavings which I am sure will be a problem (impossible in fact) for a vac with a 32mm hose...
Perhaps I could swap out the 33-35mm vac hose with a 63mm hose like fluffinger did on the "Waste Plumbing for Dust Extraction" thread.
The cyclone will come with 50mm ports though so should I not use 50mm hose?
I've also read on here somewhere that you should restrict the flow with a small hose as near to the tool as possible. So 63mm (or 50mm) seems sensible with only the last metre or so being 32-35mm hose to attach to the tool. This keeps the restriction close to the source and makes the handheld tool easier to move around. But can a vac - used to pulling through a 32-35mm hose - pull through a 63mm (or 50mm) hose without a big pressure drop? Will air be moving so slowly that nowt happens at the tool? The vac will only ever realsitically pull over about 3 metres but is that ok?
I've seen Stimpi's advice on stepping between hose sizes on the same thread above so whether I adapt to use 50mm or 63mm I'm not that bothered. But want to give myself the best chance of the whole thing being actually useful!
I'm not sure if a CamVac would be more suitable - twin motor, larger diameter hose? Or something else?!
I liked the look of the Vacmaster WD L30 HEPA wet & dry vac because of price (£110 from Wayfair), power take-off, Hepa filter and it's wet and dry capability (so might be useful for the other occasional DIY job round the house). But maybe it's overkill for this sort of application and a second-hand Henry with a Hepa bag might be just as good?
I can imagine a future where I have sweet fixed machines with 100mm dust ports but if that is my future it's a long way off. And even if that is my future, I am sure a shopvac type system will still be required to be used too. Like everyone, I'm trying to use my cash in the most cost-effective way and buy something that has longevity.
The Numatic NVD750 gets great reviews but is £560! Add in the Hepa Module at a further £285. Plus, no doubt, some hose and other bits and bobs and I'm looking at best part of £900 which - at this stage - is just ridiculuous.
The Vacmaster Hepa Wet & Dry vac is £110, cyclone is £20, blue barrel is £25, some flexible PU hose will be about £30 from eBay. I'll also need some waste pipe and fittings, jubilee clips, etc. Build a cart out of some bits and bobs and I'm looking at about £200 I think? I could think about spending more than that (say £300?) for a better alternative but by the time you start looking more than that then I start sweating.
It's like buying a new TV, mobile, PC, whatever - if you're not careful the whole thing just escalates and you end up spending far too much on an overspecced solution to address some as yet unspecified and undiscovered future task. At present I have NO dust collection so a vac and cyclone sounds like a cheap and easy route.
So.... Is that my best solution? And, if so, (and very importantly) what diameter of pipe should I use to connect vac to cyclone and from cyclone to tool?
I'd appreciate any advice that's out there.
Thanks,
Andy.
