Dust collection system advice

[Bob Hall]

I’m running this old bag system for chips/dust collection in addition to a Rikon 450 for the fines that get through the bags. It gets a lot of it but I am still getting a lot of fine dust that settles even though I leave the air handler run for an hour or two on a timer after I am done.

Any suggestions on cost effective upgrades or is living with the really fine dust just the way it is?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[GRJensen]

Maybe not 'cost effective', but my fine dust issues have been greatly reduced when I installed my Oneida Supercell. I run a Rikon overhead air cleaner anytime I am turning, and run the Supercell when sanding or turning dry wood.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

Replacing the bags with a pleated filter will help a whole lot. They will also stop much more of the very fine, more dangerous, dust. I an extremely happy with the ones I've gotten from Wynn Environmental. He packs in more square feet of filter material which allows greater airflow. I regard them as cost effective compared to the potential large negative health impacts, but admittedly they aren't cheap.

 

[Bob Hall]

Maybe not 'cost effective', but my fine dust issues have been greatly reduced when I installed my Oneida Supercell. I run a Rikon overhead air cleaner anytime I am turning, and run the Supercell when sanding or turning dry wood.

Thank you but that would be great but it isn’t in the cards at the moment. I’m running a 60’s era delta lathe and I haven’t decided to totally take the plunge. With my back issues standing at the lathe is an issue.

Replacing the bags with a pleated filter will help a whole lot. They will also stop much more of the very fine, more dangerous, dust. I an extremely happy with the ones I've gotten from Wynn Environmental. He packs in more square feet of filter material which allows greater airflow. I regard them as cost effective compared to the potential large negative health impacts, but admittedly they aren't cheap.

How do the filters affect the airflow?

Thank you both for the responses,

Bob

 

[Roger Wiegand]

The cloth bags on my 3hp cyclone type DC (not a brand name, made in the USA long ago) were so bad that the flow actually increased significantly with the Wynn pleated filters-- I could feel the difference in the wind being sucked into my table saw, for example. Used to be that whenever I turned the DC on there was a noticeable haze in the air. No more with the filters. (And remember that the more dangerous small particle aren't nearly as visible) I don't own a particle counter so can't give you other than anecdotal observations.

 

[Bob Hall]

The cloth bags on my 3hp cyclone type DC (not a brand name, made in the USA long ago) were so bad that the flow actually increased significantly with the Wynn pleated filters-- I could feel the difference in the wind being sucked into my table saw, for example. Used to be that whenever I turned the DC on there was a noticeable haze in the air. No more with the filters. (And remember that the more dangerous small particle aren't nearly as visible) I don't own a particle counter so can't give you other than anecdotal observations.

Thank you. That’s very helpful.

Bob

 

[robo hippy]

The cloth bags were obsolete years ago. I think most were in the 0.5 micron range. My newer pleated paper filter from Oneida filters down to 0.05 microns. I had a cloth one for my first DC system, and a dust plume would form every time I turned it on.... Part of the advantage of the pleated paper ones is that they offer several times the area for the air to filter through.

robo hippy

 

[John K Jordan]

I’ve never experience a cloth bag “filter” do not spew fine dust.

In the long run (especially if the shop is in a dedicated area for the long run), consider installing a cyclone. I put in a Clearvue with a 5hp motor when I built my shop, installing 6” ducts to the lathe, bandsaw, and some other tools. The thing is in a sound-insulated closet (with a big air compressor) and has a good filter on the exhaust for what very little dust gets past the vortex. I use a 30 gal metal trash can to collect the dust - get’s heavy when full of packed fine wood dust!

I use an electronic air quality monitor to check on the effectiveness. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004AWEG0Y
Mine is dedicated to the shop and has worked well. I double-check it with a less expensive monitor.

It’s amazing how well the Clearvue works and how powerful the pickup is. Don’t let your cat get too close to the pickup at the lathe.

JKJ

 

[Doug Freeman]

How do the filters affect the airflow?

Wish I could provide objective data, but like @Roger Wiegand I just have the subjective “significantly”. Additionally, the pleated filters will take longer to load up, decreasing service intervals. I have a Wynn filter on a 2hp dc. Some folks have used large diesel engine air filters on dc’s but I dont have links to that info.

 

[Bob Hall]

Wish I could provide objective data, but like @Roger Wiegand I just have the subjective “significantly”. Additionally, the pleated filters will take longer to load up, decreasing service intervals. I have a Wynn filter on a 2hp dc. Some folks have used large diesel engine air filters on dc’s but I dont have links to that info.

Interesting. I never would have though of using diesel air filters

Thanks for adding that.

Bob

 

[Darryl Fective]

It’s amazing how well the Clearvue works and how powerful the pickup is. Don’t let your cat get too close to the pickup at the lathe.

JKJ