Easy Dust Collection Setup - My Dream Workshop

I have been needing to install a decent dust collection system for some time now and finally got around to it. There are many different levels of dust collection but I have a medium sized shop and wanted to create a flexible and easy system to use and install. I opted to go with a Dust Right unit from Rockler because it is a great fit for my shop and they have tons of components to go with it.


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[carterscustomrods]

Great setup!

My shop is <1/4 the size of yours so I went with a "lower" cfm (supossedly a 600cfm), but it still collapsed the Brute. And with a 2.5mh bag, it was still pulling the ultra fine sanding dust out through the bag after I had got it "seasoned".

So, the best things I did was toss the brute garbage can, and get a steel 55gal drum with a great lid (it was for poly resin insulation foam and it has a very slick lining in the can and lid (ptfe I think. Its Non-static/hydrophobic.)

Then instead if bag, I bored a hole through the wall, and put an external 5in vent in the wall, so it could dump the ultra fine stuff outside.
However, I put a clear tape there to see if it's exhausting the dust, but after several hard days of use, my tape had nothing on it. I assumed it was a leak. But after checking and rechecking, it seems the 55gallon drum is catching >99% of all dust... in fact I get zero visible dust going out of my outflow, outside my shop, up until the 55 gal drum is a bit over ½ full. Then as my drum fills up, it seems to allow a bit more finer dust to escape through the outflow.

Here's the odd thing... (I'm embarrassed to even say this because I 💩 on the brand so much for its low quality) I am using the newer, smaller WEN DC3474 that came put earlier this year. And it states 600 cfm, but it's quite a bit more it's one of those mobile port to bag styles, and I mounted it yo the wall thinking I'd just use it on a few machines. But wow, was I wrong. I bought similar units before for mounting underneath tool benches, (like my planer bench) so it can be a dedicated unit, but none of them (HF and Grizzly) were anywhere near this strong.

But what I noticed was that eith the bag on it, my cfm was cut down considerably. And I'm not going to alot space for a big filter that costs more than my unit lol.

So just try a test and feel if it increases your cfm by ditching the bag (but not pulling in dust obviously ). I noticed due to my hoses tightening up a ridiculous amount without bag.

That way, if it does increase flow, you can do an external dump, and your unit now turns into a beast.

*-Also, I removed all the built in obstructions the dust collector has in place to prevent chips (like on the outflow seen @2:29 of your video). I also used Drain/Vent pvc piping, and not schedule 40. It was ½ the price. However, while it did make a bigger sized flow for 45° and 90° joints, it made connecting things a bit tougher, so I had to get out a heat gun and mold it a bit, in a few places. ... I'm not sure how much these factors helped, but any increase in cfm for the smaller machines, is always good no matter how insignificant.

Hopefully, one day, I can get a space the size of yours... with windows, insulation and A/C lol. Florida heat killing me thus year.

Thanks for the video. Apologize for the TedTalk I just gave. Keep up the good work, as I'm checking out your channel right now.

[cmcnichols]

Very helpful and applicable to my shop - thanks. Like the way you and your wife work together - great example.

[alanmatthews]

Having a wife that is as interested in building as you are is awesome!

[brandonmcdole]

Looks good, but you should put your blast gates at the Wye. Otherwise when you aren't using the table saw, you still have 30-ish feet of suction going to that blast gate.

[terry]

Looks nice but would like to see it in action and how well it works!

[stephandelange]

I was going to say the exact same thing that Paul just said below. I love seeing you and your wife working together like you did, making your workshop a better shop, but together... It's wonderful to see. And you both did an awesome job. Congratz!

[grega-kendalheightsdecorwo]

Looks awesome... I did something similar but I grounded all the PVC to keep the static down. Also I found those plastics blast gates to be a pain. Changed to the metal self cleaning, much better!!

[iandodd]

Glad all this equipment was sponsored and you didn't actually waste money on it because that set up is for show purposes only.

For a shop that size, a nominal 1250 cfm unit is way underpowered. Then cripple it further with all those tight 90° elbows and by the time it makes it to the separator, it's probably down to well under 300 cfm which is good for only stirring the dust around the shop which is exactly what will happen when it all gets blown back out through a bag rated for 30 microns (5 microns would be the absolute upper limit to consider if you're serious about protecting your lungs; 1 micron is the goal you should be striving for.)

Looks great on video, but I wouldn't depend on it for actual dust control.

[directive]

Great video and awesome looking shop. Even though this video is a couple years old, I still wanted to mention this to you. Grounding the PVC piping to the blower is something that you should look into (lots of videos on the subject). It involves running small screws at around 24" intervals through the PVC wall that bottom out with about 1/8" sticking out inside the pipe. You then attach a ground wire by wrapping it around the head of the screw that is then terminated on a housing screw on the blower. This will keep static from building up inside the plastic pipe which could cause a really bad fire if you have enough fine dust built up in the pipe. The flex tubing should be made with a spiral metal support wire that can be used to ground it as well. You may already know all this, but I wanted to throw it out there just in case. Happy woodworking and stay safe.

[mtnjak]

What a coincidence that this popped up randomly on my feed today. I have been considering a Dustrite 1250 machine for my 400 square foot shop. This gives me ideas. Thanks!

[jblewis]

Super nice setup, and I like the black PVC pipe!

[pauljohnson]

I love that you can both work together on projects like this together. Wholesome AF.

[PooVoo]

Great setup! I just finished mine (heavily inspired by yours). Very happy with everything but the hose reel and 40' hose. I think you forgot to mention you lose virtually all suction on that thing haha. It's kinda useless, but can suck up very small stuff.

[LoneOakWoodworks]

With all that attention to detail you REALLY need to get rid of that 30 micron bag, even with a 5 micron bag the walls near my dust collector would be coated in the really fine dust that blows right back out through the bag and into the air. Just upgraded to a cyclone separator and HEPA filter for long term health. Also look into grounding the pvc pipe if you didn't do so. Fantastic looking shop!

[jenniferbecnel]

Nice setup. I am definitely going to get this dust collector soon.

[ogsan]

I really like your set up. Very efficient. Your workshop is really boss. I can only imagine that some really awesome projects are made there. Great video.

[timorieseler]

That's the best looking bad system I ever saw...
Adding up to what other skilled people had already brought up in the comments below regarding power, bendings and particle size, I want to point out that the cyclone outlet should be centered to suck clean air and that gluing the pipes gives you no chance for inspection.

[lhtsnakes]

Can I hire you to come to Georgia and install this for me?? Lol, but seriously....

[philackerly]

Nice shop. Nice workbench there in the middle of the shop.

[Mike]

I always like well organised system like yours. Just few things to improve. Use the real cyclone (like Oneida Super Dust Deputy) what captures way more fine dust than the bucket system used now. Your filter stays way longer clean. Don't use that hose reel with high airflow/low pressure system. System you have needs minimum at 4" diameter pipe. Hose reel will suffokate your dust collector. It works best with the shop vac. I hope you didn't mind my tips :)