Cyclone dust collection

I’ve had a Clearvue cyclone for the past 4 years. When I started out woodworking I got tired of coughing up sawdust, and I’d always feel a little short of breath after working in my shop for a few hours. I did a little bit of research and bought a 1 3/4hp single stage DC with a 1 micron canister. I ran 4" flex hose to my machines; I had a very small shop 13×24 with only a couple of machines. The DC made a difference, but I still came in coughing and covered in dust after extended sessions. More reading lead me to upgrade the main ducting trunk to 6" snaplock duct with 4" flex drops. This helped a little to increase the airflow, but not by much, even with the very short runs in my little shop.

The more I read online about dust collection, the more I realized that the power of my DC wasn’t enough to move enough air against the resistance provided by the 4" ducting and the impeller on my DC wasn’t large enough to move enough air to provide fast enough airflow in larger ducting if I upgraded to 6" duct. Therefore I needed both a higher HP DC and one with a larger impeller. I spent a lot of time looking at different DC’s both cyclone and single stage. I gradually settled on a cyclone because basically I’m lazy and didn’t want to have to always be cleaning the canister filter on a single stage (the efficient separation of dust in a cyclone keeps the filters cleaner so you don’t lose airflow if you don’t clean them daily as I had to do with my small DC).

I eventually settled on a Clearvue b/c I figured that if I was going to invest a bunch of money into getting a good DC, I wanted something that I’d never need to upgrade. The Clearvue had power for even long duct runs and a large impeller would let me maintain high airflow while using large 6" ducting.

Today I have a large 25×40 shop with high ceilings and long runs of ducting. The Clearvue performs perfectly; my shop is as close to dustless as I think a shop can be; my Dylos particle counter reads better air quality in my shop than in my very clean, petless house. I can spend all day in my shop and not be coughing or short of breath. I clean the filters on the cyclone every couple of months; typically I have less than a few tablespoons of fine dust that makes it to the filters from the cyclone.

Thanks for the post.

Yes, thanks for the information, Manitario. You’re making me think that we should upgrade.

L/W

All i can do is tell you i bought this system in 1999 and love it. You will not get 2300 cfm out of any other collection system unless you go over 3hp. This system is 3hp.
i have 7 huge machines hooked up and i can use 3 machines at the same time. I could use 4 but the fourth machine would be a bandsaw. So example i leave my 8" jointer, my cabinet saw and thickness planner all open then if i need ill open the shut off valve on the bandsaw but if i need my double drum conveyer belt sander i close everything up and use all 2300 cfm to suck all dust up into the bags. I can tell you you’ll wouldn’t be sorry if you got this system.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/3HP-Double-Canister-Dust-Collector-with-Aluminum-Impeller-Polar-Bear-Series/G0562ZP
http://www.grizzly.com/products/3-HP-Dust-Collector-with-Aluminum-Impeller-Polar-Bear-Series/G1030Z2P

I had an Oneida, three horse Gorilla cyclone. Worth every penny, but not designed to be turned on an off as often as I do. For that reason, I, now, have three units. One is a three horse Jet four bagger, one is a Jet with a canister and one is a little one horse Delta.

The big boy is pulling through a Super Dust Deputy, which I hope to put back on the smaller Jet and replace with the larger version.

The big boy running through the Super Dust Deputy is fed by a six inch flex hose. It would be better with pipe, but my shop is ever changing. It leaves nothing behind on the router table or planer. It does well on the sanding table, even when used for routing, but I do have some mess in front that requires vacuuming, but boy does this thing vacuum.

With the cyclone, I only have to change the bottom bags every couple hundred years. Well, maybe a bit less.

The Super does well on the 1-1/2 horse Jet too, which is tied to the band saw, the spindle sander and the drum-disk.

Then there is the shop vac with its metal Dust Deputy – I wouldn’t be without it.

Purchased a slightly used 3.5 hp Penn state with 150’ of 4" & 6" spiral pipe and fittings. Mostly un-used. Blast gates turn collector on and off. Will be installing in fall and will give a review on it.

Good score Mike. I’m guessing you got some or all of it installed by now. If so, I’m also guessing you’re liking it.

Read too fast.

Going to get the cyclone going soon and hose it, or wait until pipes are all in?

Kelly if I do not finish it all I will procrastinate and not get it done. So I am re-doing my shop and will have every tool hooked up. That said I cut wood on band saw all the time so it will be the first tool to be tested. Probably not until weather turns. I have plenty to do outside.