First of all my set up consists of a shaping shed inside the garage so I can glass outside of the shaping shed. I have a cheap ($199) HP general international dust extractor that has the micron filter bag system. I had it inside the shaping shed but when my air compressor (which was also inside the shed)blew because I believe that the motor burnt out because of the fine dust that accumulated, I decided to take the dust extractor out of the shaping shed. Is this a good idea?? Is the glassig area going to be contaminated now with particles from the dust extractor. I don’t want to replace this one with a better system until this one gives. Is it worth just investing in a whole new set up? I want something not as cumbersome and this one and with a better system. Is a shop vac better?
I just hook up a shop vac to my planer and it seems to work really well. However, I’m not sure if people use these extraction systems also for dust in the air that occurs while sanding. I am naive and new, so still learning.
Shop vac is probably the cheapest route to go, but if you are intending this thing to filter all of the air in the shaping room, then obviously this would not be ideal. Do people even do that?
I find I am just concerned with the bulk of the mess and dont really care about the rest of it. This shaping thing is a very dusty endeavor. I have learned to love the mess already.
Shop vac and hose is way to go. Build a little cabinet for it if you need to have it in your bay. Then insulate the cabinet which will cut down on noise.
what you have is quieter, more effective and safer than a shop vac. Shop vacs dont move as many cfm so while the large dust is collected the fine stuff 5 microns and below still end up circulating in your shop any time you take your mask off or break seal you risk breathing it in. What you have is pretty powerfull and if you ever wanted to upgrade it to 2 phase just buy one of the special trash cyclone lids and run it through a steel trash can before it goes into the filter this will get all the big stuff making you filter work better. no real issues from having it in a seperate room just make sure you use atleast 2" but 3 or 4" piping till its time to reduce to the planer this minimalizes air flow lost to friction. Stumpynubs.com has some great videos on how to upgrade the system you have to make it comparable to one that cost 1000’s of dollars. as far as dust in the glassing room your dc is like 85% effective to like 2 microns anything smaller than that would not effect glassing unless doing a gloss coat. (some of the big glassing factories are much dirtier than you think) shop vacs and a phenominal cleaning wouldnt filter down to 2 microns you need an ambiant air filter or some sort of ehaust fan. or let the trace amount of dust that leaks settle and mop up that is the cheapest way for sure.
PS if you figure out a cleaver way to keep the vac hose out of your way when shaping post detailed pics and youll become sway famous… (im in the proccess of trying to copy barrys swing arm LOL)
its tough to set your hose up in a way you like it i’ve had 2 differnt bays but about 4 or 5 differnt hose set ups. I had a great one in my old setup i had 12’ barn style celings so from the top i 4" flex going down till about 3.5 ft above my racks then the slinky hose. worked like a pendulum and could basically use my planer anywhere in the barn. now I have a smaller bay with lower celings (having it heated is worth it in the northeast lol) still trying to dial in the vac set up here.
Wipeout101, If I had a larger extractor like that, I’d set it up outside my garage and pipe to it so that I am not breathing the fines like Jcyr mentioned. I would also locate the compressor and other power tools where sanding dust is not an issue and dust them off regularly. Right now it’s all in the garage, in my dreams I have 3 bays: shaping, sanding, and glassing.
Currently I am using a 5 gallon Shop Vac with a micro filter, hooked up to a 5 gallon Dust Deputy cyclone, hooked up to some regular hose, hooked up to a Slinky hose, hooked up to the planers. I really like the cylcone: catches most of the stuff, easy to empty, and has a grounding strap to help prevent static build-up.
I also use the same setup (very portable) on the little CNC router but with less hose. In that mode it runs for hours at a time.
