Help Me Design My New Selfbow Workshop

[Kirkll]

That unit flat out sucks.
It won't even pull saw dust out of a machine.
It's all it can do to hold a piece of paper against the inlet hose.
From what I have been told, it's just to move some light dust in the air..
So I don't even use it and since I used it once, they would not take it back.

These dust collection systems can be real sensitive to hose size, and run length. I built my own many years ago using a 10" squirrel cage fan out of a furnace that was being tossed out on a remodeling project. That motor lasted quite a few years too. I also built my own cyclone that dumps sawdust into a large garbage can i can empty occasionally.   I did some HVAC research on moving air and volume vs suction power. The bigger the pipe, the more volume you move, and the volume is what picks up the air born particles that kill ya....

What i found works the best is using a 6" trunk line, then reducing it to 4" drops to my machines. If i reduce it again to a  two inch line, it has more suction, and  picks up more of the saw dust, but doesnt get as much of the air born dust.   So it's a fine line to draw..... All my sanders and my router table have 4" lines hooked up.  A lot of the machines out there only have a 2" hook up for saw dust and needs a conversion.

After my furnace fan bit the sand, i bought a 12" blower unit and mounted a 2 hp motor on it.  This thing will suck up a small cat! ..... But...... It's an overhead trunk line, and my table saw is at the end of the line about 30' from the blower, and it just wont pull the volume of dust that saw creates efficiently.  So i disconnected the table saw, and just shovel the saw dust out. I'm more concerned with my sanders picking up all the dust.....

I thought about hooking up another blower below my table saw under the floor, but I don't really want to mess with it.     Kirk

[John Scifres]

Thanks again to all.  Lots of food for thought.  I'm looking forward to putting it to work.

[Roy from Pa]

A lot of insulation too, John.

[wood carver 2]

Don’t forget to install a wood stove so that you can quickly eliminate any evidence of screw ups… 😉
Dave.

[Buemaker]

I have found this thing I made quite use full. Padded with leather on top and fastened to the bench with s clamp. It can be moved around on both sides of the vice.

[John Scifres]

For those who have a post-mounted vise or a bench on wheels or away from walls, how does that work out when really hogging wood off a stave?  Did you just use really heavy stock or do you do something different in those cases?

[Buggs]

X2 on the wood stove, or another good source of heat. My shop is cold, and takes a while to heat up. Which can be a deterrent, especially when the temp is supposed to hit -28deg, like tonight!