Dust Extractor Choice

[galwayworker]

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on dust extractors. I am looking for an extractor to use when I am sanding on the lathe and generally cleaning up the shavings that cover everything.
I was considering a “SIP 01929 50 Litre Dust Collector” as they look like they are good value for money, then I popped into Lidl today and I see that they have a wet & dry Vacuum on offer next Thursday. I was wondering would the 100mm diameter hose on the SIP be better than the regular diameter of a wet & dry vacuum. The Lidl model has a 1500w motor, 30L capacity and a power tool takeoff socket (very similar to the Earlex models etc).
Any advice is welcome.

J.B.

 

[Bemused]

My first vac was the Lidle and I found the filter passed way too much fine dust back out of its exhaust and also blocked quickly, Things were much better with a Record power unit

 

[galwayworker]

Cheers Bemused... Based on that I think I will give the Lidil one a miss and go for something with 0.5 micron filtration. Has anyone here used the SIP or Charnwood dust collectors?

J.B.

 

[wabbitpoo]

cant u get the cheap Lidl machine and use a better bag?

 

[chipmunk]

Hi JB,
The single motor extractors are ok but the airflow isn't very good with them (I think there's a misprint on the SIP website because it bears no relation to the Charnwood site for an almost identical machine or other single motor extractors).

If you can afford it I'd recommend a twin or even triple motor set-up, and the Camvacs are cheaper than the Axminster equivalents (Nu-matic).

http://www.camvac.co.uk/

The filtering on the Camvacs IMHO is better than the SIP or Charnwood since there's a double filter (cloth outer with paper inner) which means that the paper filter only gets exposed to the very finest dust. In the SIP and Charnwood it looks as if there is only one filter that has to capture the lot.

HTH
Jon

 

[jpt]

I have a twin motor camvac and would recommend them as the best there is for our type of work. Yes they are expensive but they do the job and how much is a pair of lungs worth?

john

 

[TobyB]

+1 for CamVac - I have one which is a great extractor when sanding via a hose to the orbital sander or the MultiMaster, with a funnel next to a piece on the lathe, and is also a great clean-up tool for collecting dust, shavings, etc. Occasional use as a blower, shifting the hose to the lid, is quite useful when making hollow forms - adds an additional function ...

It's not "perfect" though ... it works very well at what it does ... but even when I used it carefully to catch as much dust as possible when sanding a salad bowl (say) I found there was a fine layer of dust all around the workshop and plenty when I blew my nose ... I borrowed a Microclene (and subsequently bought one) and use a mask in addition now ... the CamVac is excellent and definitely a "first step", but the latter does what the CamVac doesn't do so well ...

 

[galwayworker]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I did read the review of the CamVac GV336 in the January issue of the Woodworker & Woodturner and it looks good. I'm not sure if there is any supplier for CamVac in Ireland??
I was looking at the Record extractors and the filter options available. The RSD models come with the cartridge filter and the paper filter bag but it looks like you can add a cloth filter as well. This would add a third filter to the extractor like the CamVac. Unfortunately I don't think the budget will stretch to a twin motor model (thank you rip-off Ireland :evil: )
I did figure that an extractor wasn't going to sort out all the dust produced from sanding and I would be using it with an AirAce respirator.

J.B.