Shopsmith Forums

dlbristol wrote:

Gene Howe wrote:Scooters,

If you are rural like me, buy the HF 2hp unit, dispense with the bags and vent it directly out side. Put a trash can separator inline.
It's much cheaper, it's pretty quiet, no bags or micron count to worry about, with the separator inline, very little dust is vented outside, and it consumes far less space.
Gene, can you give some more detail about how you did this? I have a Steel City DC that is very good at what I need it to do, BUT:
It takes up a lot of room and it sounds like an F-16 at full take off power. Do you get rid of both the plastic collection bad and the filter bag? I think I am "rural"!

Methinks the bag needs to stay!;)

I can only speak to the HF unit.
Took off both bags and directed the outlet (did go to the bags) to a short piece of 4" stove vent pipe through the wall.
The HF unit is fairly quiet and I don't think my modification altered the sound.

Welllll.... I took the advice of several here on the board and bought the Harbor Freight dust collector yesterday afternoon and put it together last night.

Their $249 vac was on sale for $189. An additional 20% coupon made it (almost) a throwaway if it doesn't work out.

My initial impression is that it is of better construction than I thought. The half-assembled model they have on display didn't help their case when looking at it earlier in the store! Other than a handfull of missing screws and the WORST assembly instructions I've EVER seen, it went together well.

I've plugged it in and the sound is loud, but not nearly as shrill and high-pitched as my old sears shop vac.

The unit doesn't come with any hoses, so I spent more online with Rockler last night on attachments, than I did on the machine itself! I got some connectors at the local Woodcraft store. However, I picked the wrong items (inner vs. outer fittings) and will take them back.

I suspect that I will swap the 5 micron hood for the .1 one that was suggested. I need to snug the unit up to a corner with other tools hanging off the wall. Thus, a canister won't work. http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/shak ... 20x32.aspx

I will update after I get all of the parts in an everything is working.

Thanks to all for the input! Time will tell if I made the right choice in the long run.

Feel free to continue the discussion....

[quote="JPG40504"][quote="dlbristol"]

Methinks the bag needs to stay!]

Why?

Gene,

I think his concern is that the 'trash can separator' may let some fine sanding dust get through to the collector and that it would be blown back into the air rather than being captured by the filter bag. If your are not noticing any dust accumulation in the shop I wouldn't worry about it, but I would probably leave the bag on just in case.
Can you provide pictures of the separator? How is it constructed and connected?

Sincerely,

Ron309753

I may get a little leakage out of the separator lid....not much, though.
When I first put the separator inline, I lined it with a large garbage bag. I stopped that after a few empties. Didn't see any differences.
The whole idea was to save the space needed for those bags. An added benefit is not having to empty and clean them.

Here are pictures of my HFDC mod and the trash can separator.

I do have a 50-760. The 1st time I turned it on in my little shop, my entire family came running down stairs to see the jet that landed in the basement.

Luckily, I was able to put a 3X4 shed outside the shop, but it cost a 5-inch hole in the wall to get to it.

On the upside, I have been able to run air conduit around the entire shop and connect to every device, including the shopsmith. I have had more than one port open at a time, and it has pulled the dust right out. I'm working on a Thein cyclone separator for the system.

So power wise - go for the delta, but be prepared for a lot of noise - you will need ear protection if you can't isolate it somehow.

I have never used the shopsmith, but I understand they are much quieter. Although they do not have the power of the delta.

If you do install the whole dust collection system, with conduit and all, be sure to include good grounding. Floating sawdust and static electricty are not friends.

Gene Howe wrote:

JPG40504 wrote:
Why?

The 'bag' I was referring to was the debris bag, not the filter! Like leaving the trash can off your separator. Although your trash can has an internal vacuum, the debris bag is under pressure. Different plumbing sequence. If the EPA doesn't 'object', direct evacuation is ok(as long as the air change is not too $(heat/cool)).

Thanks for the pictures, I am thinking about doing something like this.