Dust Collector Systems

[tauscnc]

Hey guys,

I did not exactly know where to place this so here goes. How many of you use a dust collector (not at the router) but in the general area your working in. I was wondering how loud they are....like this one:

1 HP Mini Dust Collector

I am using a shop vac and its loud, combine that with the router and the bit cutting in the materal its "baby waking noise." Not good when she has just gone to sleep and the wife says "its quite time"

I assume many of you might of just made your own? Worth it? Yes, No? Stick with the vacuume close to the router?

taus

[JavaDog]

I've been thinking of getting one like that too. My Shop-Vac is far too loud as well.

I've never heard these run, are they much quieter?

[ger21]

My dust collector is about 1/2-3/4 as load as a shop vac, but it's not as irritating as a shop vac.

[tauscnc]

Gerry,

Which one do you have? Is it just in the corner "collecting dust"

taus

[ger21]

Similar to this one, but I've had it for at least 8-10 years.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00921336000

I don't use it on a CNC, since I can't find the time to finish mine. Most of the time it's hooked up to my table saw, but I also use it for my planer, jointer, and disc/belt sander. I plan on using it for the CNC when I get it done, and getting a bigger one for my other tools.

[CNCRob]

Im glad you posted this question, This is something I have been wondering about also.

[murphy625]

I dont think there is any such thing as a quiet dust collector...

The only quiet dust collector is the one that is outside as far as my experience goes..

As for the shop vac.. I would think that just building a simple plywood shell around it like a dog house will get rid of ~60% of the noises that bother you the most.. (high frequency)..

Murphy

[Hack]

I've got one of the Jet model DC650 as in 650 cfm. Had it for about 5 years now. Bought it off ebay for about 100 bucks. Works great, very quiet. Use it for 1 machine at a time only though as the cfm are not up to snuff for multi machine purposes. I can still hear the radio over it when it is running and carry on a conversation. Only problem it has is that the bags fill up quickly as they are quite small. This is only a problem when planing lots of stuff.

Get a unit with verticle bags, not horizontal as shown. Everytime you go to empty that one you mention, I got to beleive that it will probably dump alot of dust out of the bag as you open it.

Dan

[sol]

To cut down noise I put a speed control on a regular vac for the CNC router. I just set it to the slowest speed that works. Different bits = different speeds. The sound's volume difference is amazing.

A good idea posted by Balsaman (I think?) was to use a clothes dryer blower, high enough volume of air moved at quiet noise levels to work with a small homebrew CNC.

Regarding that Harbor Freight dust collector. I have the equivalent they sold a dozen years ago. It is much quieter than a shop vac. I use it for a plane, molder and stationary sanders. Still going too, I am pleasantly surprised since HF tends to use cheap motors.

These small-shop dust collectors post their volume (cubic feet / minute) but are quiet about the amount of vacuum (inches of water) the collectors pull. They don't pull squat compared to a shop or house vac. They can move a lot of chips but can barely pull a coin off the floor. Throttling one from 4 inches to a two inch shop vac hose gives disappointing results, decreased volume does not give a matching increase in suction.

I vent all dust and chips behind my shop, no dust bags. This GREATLY improves performance. Do the same for the whole house vac; vent it into a screen cage so pet hair isn't broadcast everywhere. The lack of a filter or bag makes a world of difference in suction. Put a cyclonic separator in front of the vac to keep crud out of the impeller, or use a Kirby which, like a dust collector, is designed to pull the dust through the impeller.

Picture of simple home-made cyclonic separator here, page bottom. http://solsylva.com/cnc/9acnc54.html

[tauscnc]

Here is a site with many SURPLUS BLOWERS and motors, etc.

Update: As I look more one might as well buy the HF mini dust collector. You could always build a small table for it and mount it on the side so the bag hang down.

taus

[solarchimesam]

I have (from cnc router) attached a vacuum hose which goes to a 3 inch pipe which routes to another area. The PVC goes out the wall into a "sealed" wood box that has a small canistor vac inside with NO vacuum bags.

All the dust and chips are sucked into the wooden box but they have to strike a pan full of water first. The entrance area is focused straight at a pan of water.

The water captures stuff before it can reach the canistor vacuum directly.

The canistor vac is exhaust leaves this box via a pipe which also has a PVC around it for more sound buffering which also keeps noise down. This works very well..it is not good enough for using at night in a house full of sleeping people however it is (guessing) 60-80% better than a vac without a wooden box...hope that was of some use.

[strat]

just an idea for the noise ...... the room i play my music in is a room inside a room theres like a 6 in gap between walls now if you took your vac and put in a box in a box it might help the biggest thing i have come to learn on sound proofing is it need to be in an air tight box sound can sneak out of a slit as small as 1/16 in .... build your box for your vac seal with silicone between each board before you screw/nail em then drop in bigger box again seal with silicone and if poss. make sure your hole for you hose is sealed also