- In today's video
we're covering five different systems or strategies
for reducing the amount of sawdust in your shop.
The five systems or strategies
that we're gonna be covering today
really apply to both beginner wood workers,
as well as big professional shops.
The only difference is how much time and money
someone is willing to invest in each strategy.
Now, before we look at the first system,
it's important to know the golden rule
when it comes to dust collection and that is,
you always want to collect the dust
as close to the source as possible
before it gets into the air.
Now that you know that,
let's look at our first system or strategy
and that is the use of a dust collector.
This is a single stage dust collector,
which means that it collects both fine and coarse wood chips
in the same bag or container.
The other option and what all professional shops have,
is a two-stage system which includes a cyclone separator,
powerful motor, and a great filter.
The two stage systems use a cyclone separator
to separate the heavy solid material
from the fine dust material.
Basically, the fine dust stays at the top of the cyclone
and exits out into another container
while the larger material slows down and falls down
into the storage container below.
These systems are really the best but they're expensive,
they require a lot more power
and they take up a lot of space in a shop.
So if you're a beginner more times than not,
you don't have the space.
So starting with a single stage dust collector,
and then moving up from there
might be the best option for you.
I do have to mention before we move on
that they do make a cyclone attachment, if you will,
for a single stage dust collector
to make it a two-stage dust collector.
They work pretty good at separating the fine
from the heavier particles,
but they really don't increase
the overall power of your machine
and they actually decrease the volume of air.
Moving on, if you get a single stage dust collector,
it's really important to know that these units generally
can only handle one to three machines at a time.
For example, in my small shop,
I have a single stage jet that is rated to move 650 CFM.
And it's only good for one to two machines.
Now, because I had a lot of old HPAC metal duct work
just sitting around the shop,
I use that to run my main dust collection lines
and then use simple fittings and blast gates
so that I can control each line
and never use more than one line at a time.
And for the record, HVC metal duct work
is really not designed for woodworking.
However, if you need to get something done
sort of quick and dirty, you can make it work.
Now, I show you this system before I upgrade everything
to let you know how I started out.
And I've actually used this system for many years now.
It's rough, it's sort of a Frankenstein
of a dust collection system,
but for my shop it has worked pretty well.
Now, we're not gonna get into all the details
of how to size and install all of your duct lines
for dear dust collection system.
However, I will give you six important things
to think about when designing your system.
First, if you get a single-stage unit,
be sure that it comes with or can be upgraded
to a canister filter like this one.
This is the simplest way to drastically improve your airflow
and quality of collection on your single stage unit.
Second, when it comes to your duct work and your fittings,
for the beginner the best option would be to use PVC pipe.
It has a very smooth interior surface,
which reduces the amount of friction
which increases airflow.
And you can pick this up at almost any hardware store.
It's also best to keep the runs as short as possible.
And when you make a 90 degree turn,
don't use a 90, like I did,
but rather two 45 degree elbows to make your 90 degree turn.
Third, dust collectors move large volumes of air
at low pressure or speed.
So it's really important to maintain
the same inlet size or duct size
that's coming off of the unit itself.
For example, my machine has a four-inch inlet
so all the duct work running in the shop is the same size.
Fourth, don't connect, smaller machines
like a sander for example, to a dust collector.
Dust collectors are designed to move large volumes of air
so if you reduce it down to a smaller size,
say below a three inch,
you're asking the collector to do something
it was never designed to do.
In those cases a smaller shop vac
would be more suitable for this
and we'll talk about that in a second.
Fifth, use as little flex hose as possible.
In general, get your solid duct work
as close to the machine as possible
and then connect the rest of the way with a short flex line.
And lastly, dust collectors are really only designed
for larger machines like table saws or jointers or planers.
So when you're thinking about the design for your system,
you're only gonna wanna consider the larger machines
you have in your shop.
So what about all your smaller machines?
Well, that's where the second strategy or system
comes into play.
And that is to use a shop vac or a smaller dust extractor.
Machines like the shop shop-vac and dust extractor
move a smaller volume of air but at high pressure.
And because of that high pressure,
they work extremely well for routers, router tables,
circular saws, and other smaller power tools.
Like most beginners starting off with a shop vac
might make the most sense
because everyone either has one or needs one
for in the shop or simply around the house.
Keep in mind though that if you're using these
to collect sawdust in your shop,
you're gonna wanna upgrade the filter to a HEPA filter.
Higher end vacs like the Festool have HEPA filters built in
among many other options but by no means
do you need to own one this nice.
But one of the reasons
why you would wanna buy a higher end vac
is because that they have a variable speed motor.
Without a variable speed motor
you can't decrease the amount of suction.
And with some tools like sanders, for example,
too much suction can actually pull the tool tight
to the material causing some issues.
So having a higher end vacuum that has variable speed
is a nice option but to get started,
most people can make a small shop vac work just fine.
As you can see, these smaller vacs are extremely beneficial.
They're small, they're portable,
you can use them for other cleanup tasks around the shop,
and they do a fantastic job a quickly removing saw dust
from smaller woodworking machines.
The next system is known as an air filtration system
or sometimes called an air scrubber.
These units normally hang from the ceiling
and use a set of filters to remove the fine saw dust
that is floating around in the air.
These units are easy to install
and most of them come with a variable speed motor,
a remote, and the filters are really easy to change.
Many of them also have timers that you can set them to run
for a few hours after you've left the shop for the day.
And as you can see from this side of the filter,
which I haven't cleaned yet, they work really well.
Again, we do our best to collect the sawdust at the source,
but regardless of our best efforts,
sawdust gets into the air
and that's where these units really shine.
The next strategy to reduce sawdust is to work outside.
Now, this may seem very obvious,
but you'd be surprised at how many people forget
that this is an option.
For example, working outdoors is really great
for breaking down large (indistinct) material
with a circular saw or when cutting or sanding material
that is very messy, like MDF.
As a beginner, you most likely
don't have all the dust extractors
and dust collectors and filters
that we're talking about today.
So moving your most messy projects outside
should help out tremendously.
Lastly, number five, if you do not have any means
to control or collect saw dust,
a respirator and the mask is all you need.
Listen, dust collection is mainly about
reducing the amount of saw dust
that you inhale on a daily basis.
Finding the right respirator is key.
And if you need help with that,
I do have a video that covers dust masks and respirators,
and I'll leave a link below and at the end of this video.
Obviously, if you can implement more of these strategies,
the better you're going to be.
But don't feel like you have to have them all right now,
you're just getting started.
My recommendation would be that first by a good respirator
if you don't already have one.
And you gotta comfort is key
when you're buying a respirator.
Next, I would get a good shop vac with a HEPA filter
and use that wherever you can in the shop.
From there, if you plan on using larger power tools,
I would recommend getting a single stage
or a two-stage system.
Just all depends on your specific needs.
But if you plan on keeping it simple
with smaller power tools,
you might be able to get away with a good dust extractor
and an air filtration system.
I hope this was a good introduction
into the world of dust collection.
Hopefully now you have a better vision
of where you need to go as your shop progresses.
If you have any questions,
you can always hit me up in the comments,
find me on Instagram.
That's a great platform
to share information with me as well.
Thank you so much for watching today's video
and supporting Training Hands Academy.
I'll see everybody in the next video.