W/ everyone having WW shops Herb and I thought we’d put our two cents in on this important topic…
attached is some practical knowledge w/ all the research having been done for anyone that in need…
The cost of hardware and fittings for a DC can hurt the brain…
for take offs and wyes I like to use saddle taps to conserve money as they are easily relocatable on your trunk lines…
taps are something w/ a little practice you can make from your scraps and drops…
I built an alcove outside my shop and installed the dust collector and filters in it. It is insulated with 3 1/2" FG batts covered with harbor freight moving blankets to reduce the sound. This way the sound inside the shop is not a problem like it was previously. Also the air compressor is in there too.
Added connectors to attach a 2 in extention tube and handle inlets to both hoses. The small handle will also except shop vac fittings, letting it double as the shop vacuum. Unfortunately I had to pay retail for the fittings
I added a 3 channel smart switch for remote operation. It also controls the track lights overhead. The rig is very quiet and the hosing is long enough to span the entire shop. The large hose takes care of the router, planer, drum sander and band saw. The small hose takes care the table saw and the small sanders. Have not hooked anything up for the lathe yet.
All said and done I am out far less than $500 for the whole system which I don’t think is too bad in this day and age.
Very open to improvement suggestions.
Thanks,
Bill
Thanks for posting your system, those Jets are quite popular. When I first put my system together was about 15 years ago in my first shop, there were very few options except to do it piece by piece.
Now there are lots of systems to choose from. It sure is nice to have a DC system,isn’t it?
Herb
CORRECTION:
I used 3 1/2" thick RockWool Sound Batts for sound insulation, not Fiber Glass, in the alcove. Since I have neighbors close by, i needed to get a good sound barrier.
Herb
I have a Radial Arm saw set up for JUST CROSSCUTTING, not for miter cuts. It has an 80t 10" blade on it and does a suburb job of cross cutting. The problem was the dust collection, it creates lots of sawdust.
I made a box that the blade buries itself into when not cutting, and connected a 6" DC outlet to it. As the blade comes out of the box there is an insert in the tabletop that the blade runs in that has a dado slot underneath that goes full length, The air being pulled through the dado catches 95% of the sawdust off the blade. I found that my air flow was restricted ,because of not enough open area to suck air thru, so (2) 1 1/2" holes were added to the end of the box to supply some make-up air to increase airflow in the duct.
Nothing comes out the upper outlet in the blade guard.
HErb
After you struggle for a while trying to get the wire reinforced vinyl hose ends on to your fittings go and find several metal shoe horns and use them to facilitate getting the hoses on to the fittings…
use a faint fuzz of soap (dish soap) to help things along…
