Ducting for Dust Collecton

[ictoos]

OK, the Dust Gorilla is built, the 220 is run to a brand spankin new sub-panel in the garage. Now to the duct work.

Question 1: There is a 6" port coming out of the gorilla- Do I reduce the 6" to 4" immediately, at the take offs along the run to the machines, or at the machines?

Question 2: Material? PVC, flexible plastic, clear or dark?

Question 3: Good sources for blast gates?

Question 4: Grounding- at the DC or end machine or both?

Question 5- Pearls of wisdom?

Thanks

K

[BradTheNailer]

Get as close as you can to the machines with 6".
If possible, connect to the machine with 6"[/font]

Question 2: Material? PVC, flexible plastic, clear or dark?

I used Metal HVAC, much cheaper and well, my system is 5".
Almost impossible to find 5" S&D (Sewer/Drainage) PVC.
With that said...
PVC is by far better, cleaner and much easier to work with. But it'll cost 5 times as much as metal. You'll need the flex to connect to the machines. I bought my 5" flex clear from Grizzly. I'm sure their 6" is just as good.

Question 3: Good sources for blast gates?

Grizzly, PSI, Rockler, etc... sources are almost unlimited.

Question 4: Grounding- at the DC or end machine or both?

Where ever is easiest.

Question 5- Pearls of wisdom?

Plan it out first, make as short as runs as possible. eliminate as many 90's and 45' that you can. Use as short as flex hose as possible.
Be prepared to bang your head against the wall a few times.



"Don't taze me, Bro!!!"

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[beamerweb]

Everything he said!

In addition:

If you go the HVAC ductwork route, know that they're designed to flow the opposite direction. Not a major problem until you get to wye joints. They'll be crimped on the wrong ends and you'll need to pound out the crimped ends and either crimp the opposite side OR just slice some relief cuts to reduce some diameter. I bought a crimper, they're about 20 bucks, but SOOO worth it. :)

[brent]

I went the HVAC route for several reasons: 1. I am cheap. 2. I am cheap. I made the wye's myself as well as the blast gates. (see #1. and #2)
Personally, I would run 6" as far as possible. Sometimes you need the pipe velocity to suck up chunks and you can reduce the diameter on the drop to that tool. A floor sweep is a good example. You need to suck up chunks, but not capture fine dust. But other things like a sanding table don't need the velocity and you could run the full 6" there to keep as much volume as possible.
There are different philosophies on collecting. Some focus on collecting the dust and chunks so they don't go on the floor. I am more worried about the dust that is not heavy enough to fly onto the floor. Like with my miter saw. The stand is open under the saw and that is where I keep one of my trash cans. The heavier sawdust falls into the can. That is nice also because I can throw the cut-offs in behind the saw and they drop there. But I set up my DC the way I thought it would catch the most fine dust.. the kind that floats around and gives you wood-boogers at the end of the day and can cause serious lung damage.
That is a pretty nice rig you got there, btw. Congrats on that.

[Cody Colston]

OK, the Dust Gorilla is built, the 220 is run to a brand
spankin new sub-panel in the garage. Now to the duct work.

Major congratulations are in order first. You made a good choice IMHO.

Question 1: There is a 6" port coming out of the gorilla-
Do I reduce the 6" to 4" immediately, at the take offs along
the run to the machines, or at the machines?

Run the 6" as close to the machine ports as possible before reducing size.

Question 2: Material? PVC, flexible plastic, clear or dark?

I used the white 6" pvc 2729 S&D pipe. It's easy to work with, it's rigid and won't dent, it's quieter than metal. Use flex hose to connect to the machines and keep those sections as short as practical.

Question 3: Good sources for blast gates?

Make your own.

Question 4: Grounding- at the DC or end machine or both?

Neither, it's not necessary.

Question 5- Pearls of wisdom?

1. If you go with pvc ducting, make a temporary miter box (for 90 deg. cuts) to cut it to length. You can use a handsaw.

2. 6" flex hose is very difficult to stretch over 6" pvc pipe. If you heat the flex with a hair dryer, it makes it much easier.

3. Perforated steel tape makes good (cheap) hangers for the pvc ducting.

4. Don't glue the pvc connections. You can seal them with silicone caulk which is easy to remove if you reconfigure.

5. A lit cigarette makes a good smoke source when checking for leaks at the connections. Lots of little leaks will seriously degrade the system efficiency.



Cody
Tyler, TX



He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose.

[I thought I unplugged it]

Agree with Cody.

I ran 6 inch pvc (blue s&d I picked up from the scrap yard at the local pipe supply for about half what new sticks were going for. For the 90s I ran long 90s I got at http://www.mcmaster.com/. They have wyes also.

Didn't glue mine either.

Didn't ground mine either. Once it got a fine layer of dust on it, no more shock (which wasn't much in the first place).

At the place I dropped from 6 to 4 pvc, I put in blast gates as the 4 inchers weren't horribly expensive.

In addition to the hairdryer, a recent tip in one of the WW mags showed using a plumbers torch to shrink 4 inch around fittings. Wish I'd known that when I was doing mine.

I took up smoking for the project also. No leaks

[Sonny Edmonds]

Good! Good start on the road to a healthier shop and home!

>Question 1: There is a 6" port coming out of the gorilla-
>Do I reduce the 6" to 4" immediately, at the take offs along
>the run to the machines, or at the machines?
I have done both. But the 6" overhead, with 4" verticals works the best. You see, the 6" brings the volume of your main DC to the vertical, then the velocity in the 4" is at maximum so you don't get suspension of heavier debris in the vertical run.
But when the stuff hits the horizontal runs, it can fly along right into the cyclone.

>
>Question 2: Material? PVC, flexible plastic, clear or dark?
PVC is far and away cheaper and easier to work with. The 6" fittings are pricey, and availability of the pipe will drive you to major plumbing supply stores, but you only have to do this once.
As mentioned, McMaster-Carr has your fittings for the 6". 4" stuff is available at any big box store.
Flexible duct just kills the flow in the pipe! Keep your pipes long, and your hose short!

HVAC fittings are not made of heavy enough metal to withstand sudden gate closures without eventual leakage occurring. Some of them are so marginal in gage they fail immediately.
Remember, they were designed for slight positive pressure (1-2 inches of water column), not negative pressures such as are seen in conveyance systems.
And they are noisy as crap clatters through them. PVC has an inherent deadening to sound inside of it.

Stove pipe (single wall) gave me a flexible offset for one problematic joint in my system. And it is a much heavier gage than any of the HVAC fittings available.

>
>Question 3: Good sources for blast gates?
Lots of those now days. I use 4" plastic, myself. Metal would be boobies, but when I was setting up plastic was readily available and it has lasted fine.
And the 4" blast gates will marry right into the inside diameter of 4" PVC S&D pipe. I use a self piercing button head screw or two at each one for rigidity.
Install them horizontal whenever possible, because the sliding action will clear the gates track. When installed vertically, fine dust will cause the gate to not fully close, it gets to be a hassle sometimes.

>
>Question 4: Grounding- at the DC or end machine or both?
Your equipment should all be grounded through your power source. Don't bother to try and ground the pipe system.

>
>Question 5- Pearls of wisdom?
[link:www.woodworking.com/dcforum/dcboard.pl?az=read_count&om=3679&forum=DCForumID8 | DO NOT use your pee-pee as a lightening rod! ]
Lest you have a post that will live in Infamy! }>


:D

[link:home.earthlink.net/~pie/data/index.html|Sonny Edmonds ]
Saugus, CA
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
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