Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:00 pm
I was reading through this thread waiting for a Bill Pentz mention. He is the dust collection guru, in my opinion! His site is chock full of info.backhertz wrote:Dust control in a wood shop is a serious issue. Sure, you can see the wood chips and a decent collector will pick them up, but the dust is very tiny in some cases and unless you have a lot of money to buy a 5 hp dust cyclone which has a capability of 1000 cfm, you are almost chasing your tail.
Bill Pentz is a person I know who has devoted a lot of time & research into dust collection. http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm His only endorsed design is only made by Clear Vue cyclones: http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/
Clear Vue made the original tiny dust collector that Oneida now sells as the Dust Deputy. Clear Vue was selling their version long before Oneida, but I guess never patented the product- I am speculating here. But I was going to buy a small Clear Vue when I learned Clear Vue was not permitted to sell them any more. Why? I don't know. For most of us here, I do not think many can afford a huge $1500-2000 dust cyclone as we are hobbiests and our money i used to buy tools. But a small one would be perfect. Oh, I got to use a Lie-Nielsen hand plan on Saturday when I picked up my latest 510 & what a please it was to use.
I was going to build a wood workshop in my basement until I started communicating with Bill Pentz and learned of the hazards of dust that just can't be seen. My wife has bad lungs as a result of smoking many years before she had no choice but to quit. So I had an extension built on the rear of my garage so there is sharing of the air of the house & the shop. We're going on year 38 of being married and I want her to be able to continue breathing as best as she can, as well as myself.
Clear Vue was forced to stop production of their Mini Cyclone, but I know it is or was in litigation and I see on the Clear Vue site that Clear Vue is selling them once again. The original owner of Clear Vue was bought out and the new owners are doing well to my knowledge in selling the product which is based on Bill Pentz's design. A dust cyclone is something actually called a swirl tube and has been around for years. I've seen them on factory buildings when I was a kid many moons ago.
However, many of the cyclones sold are okay, but could perform much better in my understanding if they were properly powered. Many wood workers don't have 220 VAC or 3 phase power to power a 3-phase 5 HP motor. You could always wear a mask (yuck), ensure your shop is well ventilated, and use ceiling mounted dust filters that simply suck & filter the air in the shop. I imagine if you ask experienced people their opinions, you'll get 10 different answers.
I also know many older guys in their 80's and older who have turned wood much of their lives and suffered no bad side effects. But I believe it's better to be safer than sorry. I know some wood dust is just toxic to human body. Here is a list:
http://mnwoodturners.com/New_Member_Doc ... Chart.html
I enjoy breathing. Yet I see people smoke and do not understand why. But wood working is like smoking in that we are able to do what we want to- whether it is harmful or not. But we should be careful & safe as I always seem to read or listen to others at the beginning of a wood working show or presentation that safety by reading the manufacturer's literature, protecting our eyes, removing items which might get caught- i.e. long shirt sleeves and for gals & guys who have very long hair to tie it up. But in my humble opinion, our lungs have more stuff going into them than we can see on a daily basis. If you are a woodworker, you should also do your best to keep those tiny particles from getting in your lungs.
As I sit here typing this, I just remembered the guy in MA who lost some fingers because he didn't follow or read the instructions on a portable table saw. I believe he was an immigrant. I have nothing against immigrants as my grandfather was one too. Well, here is a link: http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/251 ... aw-lawsuit
He is winning $1.5 million because the Ryobi table saw he misused was not equipped with Saw Stop technology. Not because he was feeding the wood too fast into the saw or following the safety instructions which were not printed in his language. The Saw Stop feature scares the you know what out of me as a guy demonstrated it to me & never warned me that it would be loud. So when will someone sue a lathe manufacturer for not ensuring the lathe had a dust protection feature and because of the lack there of, is now suffering from breathing issues or permanent lung damage?
What happened to common sense? That guy was honest and admitted in another story that he was not following the instructions in safe operation. At least he was honest. Will we all be required to be trained and licensed in order to use wood tools? Wood tools can kill- yet fortunately, no one has considered ever using for killing or attempting to kill another with a wood working tool or machine and then the injured party suing the tool manufacturer to my knowledge. People need to be aware of the hazards of their actions whether they be with or on a lathe, a planer, a table saw, or a gun. I better get off my soapbox now.
Just be safe and be careful always. I have a brother-in-law who doesn't believe in using the anti-kickback features on his table saw... I barely escaped a piece of oak he was cutting get kicked back- not at him, but at me as I was walking up behind him. But it's his choice. But I know to never walk up behind a table saw when it is being used. One just never knows.
I have a metal Dust Deputy on a big shop vac and another on my Beam central vac. It works well.
I built a couple of Bill Pentz cyclones years ago as well as purchasing a large Oneida cyclone. Bill's design is better. It's now being copied by several of the Chinese built DCs.....but not copied well.
Bottom line is if you want serious dust collection you need a really large cyclone (an 8' tall one,roughly). But for a shop vac, the Dust Deputy works as intended. And that intent is to keep the shop vac's filter clean......which keeps the vac's efficiency high.And with a large bin, keeps emptying to a minimum.
What JPG said about needing high volume for dust collection is exactly the case on most woodworking tools. To really do a good job requires a big machine with a big motor (like 3-5 REAL HP). That way you gulp in the fine dust and get the wood chips/pieces so that none of that really fine dust settles anywhere.
So the Dust Deputy is excellent for "helping" a shop vac, not serious woodworker dust collection. For a shop vac it is highly recommended and allows the shop vac to do what it was designed for..
Fred
