Hi all, I did search on this topic and didn't find anything that quite answered my question, so I'm kicking off a new thread.
Situation
I've got a 1hp Delta AP400 dust collector upgraded with a Wynn Environmental canister filter. It's a mobile tool, but I have it parked in one corner of my basement shop and hooked up to the 4" trunk of my dust collection. It's all 4" duct - actually the medium-gauge HVAC pipe. My basement shop is 26'x13' and it's only me using one machine at a time. The total run of duct is about 20' with three gated branches - tablesaw, router table, and "other." "Other" is closest to the collector and can be hooked up to my dirtiest machines (13" planer, 6" jointer, or 14" bandsaw) using a Rocker "Dust Rite" nozzle. Over this sort of run, this collector is pretty under-powered, I generally shut and lock all the other blast gates to get acceptable suction on one branch.
I also have an ABS chip separator lid (from Woodcraft) on a 30 gallon galvanized can next to the collector. It does a good job of separating out the chips and sawdust, but I also know that this robs me of a lot of suction. A previous poster said that that my separator was like putting an extra 20-40 ft of pipe in the system. I do see a dramatic difference when I bypass it; however, I don't want to rapidly clog up my filter and collection bag so I want to keep some sort of chip separator in the system.
I'm not in a position to invest in a more powerful collector (and all new 6" ducting) at this time, and I know that the next biggest issue after base CFMs is the chip separator.
I've been looking putting something more efficient in there and I settled on the Super Dust Deputy ($10 off at Woodcraft right now). Although I've got the 4" SDD, I'm hoping to keep using it after I upgrade to a tricked-out HFT collector (or something better from my the local used market).
I did not buy the canister setup that the SDD maker sells. My local Woodcraft didn't have it anyway. Online, I see a lot of folks using buckets and other containers for collection.
So here's the question (finally).
If I put that 4" SDD on the 30 gallon metal can (modifying the original metal lid), am I going to suffer the same drop in suction that I experience with the Woodriver separator? Does receptacle size make a big difference with a Dust Deputy? I know that if I pick something a lot smaller, it will fill up rapidly. Is there a sweet spot where I can balance the suction and the collection on a 1hp 4" system? If so, what size is that - 20 gallons? 10 gallons? I've seen some folks going with 50 gallon barrels.
I have not yet experimented with the configuration. I'm holding-off cutting into the lid of the 30-gallon can or my spare 50 gallon roughneck trashcan. I don't want to ruin them unnecessarily - especially if I need to go with a smaller to improve CFMs.
Thoughts or recommendations?
Note: I was at Rockler on Saturday and the local guy was singing the praises of the big-arse $1300 integrated Laguna collector-separator with a levering canister. I noticed that it was only 950 CFM and took up a huge amount of space. That's only 200 CFM more than my dinky Delta AP400 - at 13x the price... Why invest in something so expensive if you still have to roll it around to your different machines and you have only marginal improvement?
Situation
I've got a 1hp Delta AP400 dust collector upgraded with a Wynn Environmental canister filter. It's a mobile tool, but I have it parked in one corner of my basement shop and hooked up to the 4" trunk of my dust collection. It's all 4" duct - actually the medium-gauge HVAC pipe. My basement shop is 26'x13' and it's only me using one machine at a time. The total run of duct is about 20' with three gated branches - tablesaw, router table, and "other." "Other" is closest to the collector and can be hooked up to my dirtiest machines (13" planer, 6" jointer, or 14" bandsaw) using a Rocker "Dust Rite" nozzle. Over this sort of run, this collector is pretty under-powered, I generally shut and lock all the other blast gates to get acceptable suction on one branch.
I also have an ABS chip separator lid (from Woodcraft) on a 30 gallon galvanized can next to the collector. It does a good job of separating out the chips and sawdust, but I also know that this robs me of a lot of suction. A previous poster said that that my separator was like putting an extra 20-40 ft of pipe in the system. I do see a dramatic difference when I bypass it; however, I don't want to rapidly clog up my filter and collection bag so I want to keep some sort of chip separator in the system.
I'm not in a position to invest in a more powerful collector (and all new 6" ducting) at this time, and I know that the next biggest issue after base CFMs is the chip separator.
I've been looking putting something more efficient in there and I settled on the Super Dust Deputy ($10 off at Woodcraft right now). Although I've got the 4" SDD, I'm hoping to keep using it after I upgrade to a tricked-out HFT collector (or something better from my the local used market).
I did not buy the canister setup that the SDD maker sells. My local Woodcraft didn't have it anyway. Online, I see a lot of folks using buckets and other containers for collection.
So here's the question (finally).
If I put that 4" SDD on the 30 gallon metal can (modifying the original metal lid), am I going to suffer the same drop in suction that I experience with the Woodriver separator? Does receptacle size make a big difference with a Dust Deputy? I know that if I pick something a lot smaller, it will fill up rapidly. Is there a sweet spot where I can balance the suction and the collection on a 1hp 4" system? If so, what size is that - 20 gallons? 10 gallons? I've seen some folks going with 50 gallon barrels.
I have not yet experimented with the configuration. I'm holding-off cutting into the lid of the 30-gallon can or my spare 50 gallon roughneck trashcan. I don't want to ruin them unnecessarily - especially if I need to go with a smaller to improve CFMs.
Thoughts or recommendations?
Note: I was at Rockler on Saturday and the local guy was singing the praises of the big-arse $1300 integrated Laguna collector-separator with a levering canister. I noticed that it was only 950 CFM and took up a huge amount of space. That's only 200 CFM more than my dinky Delta AP400 - at 13x the price... Why invest in something so expensive if you still have to roll it around to your different machines and you have only marginal improvement?
