I have asked some questions in the State of the Shop but given the ranging topics I thought I'd start a separate topic to keep the info focused, for me and anyone who might be looking for information.
I've talked with folks at Oneida several times now - very helpful. I'm close to ordering the Supercell with the 14 g bucket that mounts on the wall. I'm fine with emptying the bucket and don't really want to wrestle with the larger drums.
I initially thought to move the tube around, but now am leaning toward running the hose around the perimeter of my expanded shop area with connections/gates at each tool.
Interested if anyone has suggestions on the fittings. I am fine with simple as its just me so one tool in use at a time. The connectors are pretty pricy so was looking into options.
Also I an thinking to run this low on the wall rather than dropping lines down from the ceiling. I realize ceiling drops keeps the wall more "open" but are there other considerations I need to take into account?
I'll be following along. I'm thinking I'm a bit behind you as I am thinking of a purchase early next year.
I have a network of 4" drain lines that I put under my concrete floor for dust collection. My existing Jet DC does okay, but the 5" lines are a bit small for it. The Oneida looks to be the perfect solution.
When you say ‘fittings’ what do you mean? Are you going to use S&D pipe? You mentioned ‘hose’ just trying to put it all together.
I’d recommend 4” metal blast gates. They’re not too expensive on Amazon even and ca be cleaned and retrofitted with other goodies in the future if you wish.
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
i used to use the gates from rockler but had issues with them clogging up so i switched most of mine now to these from woodpeckers. not the cheapest but work great. i still have a few of these from ty tools,, they work pretty good and dont clog either.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
im not much of a kit guy myself, seems you always get a bunch of crap you dont need or want. ive found those gates that slide from one side only get clogged with sawdust a lot so thats why i got rid of all of mine using only the woodpecker or clog proof ones.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I was just using that kit link as a quick way to find the matching tubing! I agree that there's stuff I wouldn't need and looks like some of their kits don't give a price break but rather just convenience of one order number.
just seems expensive for what you get ? you sure you need a DC with the power of that super cell barb ? ive got a 2hp jet and ive got about 80' of 4" pipe run around my shop and it handles it with no problem. but hey im not tryin to talk you outta it ! in a dust collector buy what you need but also figure where you will be eventually and buy that.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I know. Now you have me rethinking. I do like the ability to use this for both large and small tools. Also appreciate the air quality aspect.
I just emptied the bag and then vacuumed the cannister on my Powermatic DC - and it was such a mess. 🙄 Not sure if vacuuming that top cannister filter was the right thing but there was no way to leave it once I pulled the bag as the dust just kept falling. So removed the top and there was a lot of dust (inches) on the cone. Vacuumed it and re-connected. Should that be replaced at some point?
yeah cleaning out a DC once full is gonna be a mess. so which powermatic do you have. sounds like what you have might be all you need barb ? with your size shop i dont think you need some high volume super duper DC ? your not doing high volume work creating large amounts of sawdust ? if what you have will do it why waste money on a system 3x what you need ? 2800 hundred bucks will buy a lot of walnut my friend !!!!
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Barb, you don’t need that kit. The generic green S&D pipe from HD or Lowe’s works perfectly fine. And the elbows that fit it are much less expensive. The pipe is easy to cut to size. I’d go with the Powertech aluminum blast gates. You can get them on Amazon. More expensive but much stronger and easier to keep clean. Use plastic plumbing tape to screw mount the pipe to the walls and press fit everything. Once you’re happy with it, get some proper duct tape (the metal stuff) and tape all your joints. Just my opinion, but kits usually end giving you several things you don’t need, and you pay for it. It’s more work to build your own system, but there’s less waste.
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Ryan - I'm not really ready to go with hard ducting so was looking at the tubing (just grabbed that kit link as it was easier to note the tubing).
The Powertech gate looks similar to the gate on Oneida but may have extra features, or just better marketing.
On a wider view - do you find your SC to work well through the range from large to small (even hand held) tools? That's one of the features that makes the SC attractive.
I wonder if the anti-clog feature on the Powertech gate actually works? That is a common problem on blast gates where the dust gets into the groove that the gate slides in. It looks like there is a slight ridge on either side of the groove that I assume creates sort of a Bernoulli effect to keep dust out of the groove?
I have not found a situation where the SC does not handle the entire range of use. I use it with my shopvac attachments to clean up the shop, my table saw (which only has a shopvac sized port), my bandsaw, CNC, planer, bench belt sander, benchtop joiner and Dewalt 735 planer and it works perfectly with all of them. The only problem really is that it is so strong that it will collapse hoses not design for high suction. The collapsible hoses that Rockler sells for example might be kind of unusable because you will be fighting the machine to keep its length extended. I only have the one Rockler hose that comes with their Flexport system and it is a pain to use even with a regular shopvac so I have not even tried to use it with the SC. Instead I bought a Flexport adapter for a standard shopvac hose.. Rockler now has a Flexport hose that appears to be more rigid to but I have not checked it out yet.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
I have not found a situation where the SC does not handle the entire range of use
Thank you for sharing your experience - very helpful.
I am very cautious with dust vs health. Although my shop is not always (or often!!) neat, I have a habit of stopping in time to clean before exiting the shop for the day. I have many active recreation pursuits (kayaking, hiking, running, weight lifting) that I want to continue without any longterm issues that can potentially result from inhaling fine dust. Woodworking is a hobby I love, but it is not my only interest so trying to set up to maximize "safety." Everyone has a different threshold of concern, and have to say, mine is very low. 🤷♀️
I understand the desire to keep things portable for a bit, but, the 4” hose that comes with the SuperCell is difficult to work with in any sort of confined/limited space. You might get a 6-8’ diameter arc out of it. You’ll want to keep things as straight as possible. YMMV, so you’ll have to try it out. If you find it’s a pain, you may want to consider a single run of S&D pipe to the far end of your shop and a length of hose there so you can hit tools from two sides. The nice thing about S&D pipe is that it’s cheap enough that it’s not heartbreaking to have to modify it later.
I’m sure you’ll find what works for you. I just know their 4” hose is very unwieldy. But give it a shot and see where you end up!
All the metal blast gates are roughly the same, I’ve found. But they’re much more stable (clog wise) than the plastic gates. They’re more sloppy, but when the SC turns on it’ll suck the closed gates tightly into their closed configuration. So much so that they’re a little bit of a challenge to open manually with the SC active.
Not that this applies to you, but when I first installed the GRIT system, I had to let the system turn off between tools as the servos weren’t programmed with enough power to open the gate against the suction of the SC. I worked with GRIT and they upgraded the servos to a more powerful model, completely fixing the issue…but that speaks to how strong the suction is!
I’ve found no problems at all with dust extraction regardless of tool/hose size. That’s the beauty of the SC…ample volume and pressure. 👍🏼
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
barb i dont sell oneida da da, so i wont over sell you on something i dont think you need. and from what ive heard from those that have it, i dont think you need it ! it's way more than you need for what you do ! hell it sounds like it's way more than what i need, and youve seen my shop pic's ? dont over spend on something you'll never utilize ! i wish you were close and i could come and help you setup something that makes sense, money wize !!!! many people love to spend other peoples money ! ive got a big spread of ducting and my dc does all i need with no problem. and it's about 4x what you will do ! pm me if you want !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Barb, you don’t need the power tech fittings, just get the S&D pipe adapters. Much cheaper. These are from Home Depot. They have Tees too.
If you buy one 4” blast gate and one 2.5” blast gate you can take them with you to HD or Lowe’s and fit them to the adapters to figure out what it looks like for your system. The also make rubber adapters (found in the plumbing aisle) tha can sometimes be useful especially for smaller blast gates.
You might also consider a single main run at 45° across the shop, with more Tees and Wyes. That will eliminate two blast gates (to isolate your two separate runs). Blast gates are much more expensive than S&D Tees and pipe. Plus, you won’t have to open/close the main run gates when you move sides of the shop.
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Thanks Pottz- what would you suggest? I'm drawn to the ease of setup, and especially the HEPA aspect and "bucket removal" (really done with the bag on my Powermatic - I deal with it by my overhead door but this will be in an interior room).
Ryan - I was looking to run the "main lines" along the wall rather than going up. The ceiling has two large light fixtures and a ceiling fan - wish that wasn't there but was nice when this area was a workout room. With your note, two gates would be eliminated?
I had a crappy old Delta 1HP dust collector before I upgraded to the SC -- I hated it. I upgraded the old bag to a canister filter to try to improve air quality but it clogged so quickly that I found that I rarely turned it on. My shopvac with cyclone often worked just as well or better. I tried a couple of things to try to clear the filter on the old DC but ultimately I had to take the filter off and blow it off, which was really messy and time consuming so that rarely happened either and once it got clogged, usually sat unused for weeks at a time. A cyclone for the DC might have helped but I did not want to dedicate the extra space or buy one suited for the 4" hoses and a cyclone on a 1HP DC supposedly reduces the suction and CFM significantly so I felt like that would be counterproductive. I decided that I needed to step up to at least 2HP and a cyclone to get the improvement I wanted. So if you are considering something other than the SC, make sure it has a way to easily clear the filter.
The only other unit I seriously considered was the Oneida Dust Cobra but mostly just to save a few bucks. It has a similar pulse cleaning capability as the SC and it also has a HEPA filter. It is sort of a supped-up shop vac as it uses a 2.5" hose but still has a decent CFM. When configured with the wall bracket or stand, the cost got close enough to the SC that I decided not to compromise. Buy once, cry once.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
