Popular Woodworking 2000-11 № 118, страница 34

PW

collection system is an air cleaner. It plucks from the air the fine dust that a dust collector can't get. While most dust collectors trap dust as small as 10 microns, air cleaners remove dust as small as half a micron. For a truly healthy shop, get both.

Single-Stage Collectors

When buying a dust collector, ignore the horsepower rating. Instead, check the cfm (cubic feet per minute) rating. While this rating is stretched by some manufacturers, the exaggeration is nothing like what takes place with shop vacuums.

If you're not ready to set up a fixed dust collection system of pipes and blast gates, then buy a 1-hp collector and roll it around from machine to machine. If you want a permanent setup, add up the cfm needs of all the machines you could have running simultaneously, then buy a dust collector that sucks a little harder than that.

Another key factor in selecting a single-stage collector is how efficient the bags are. The least efficient bags trap dust up to 30 microns in size. The best will trap as small as .5 microns. Buy the best you can

afford, or plan to buy better bags later.

All dust collectors are noisy, but some are less so than others. Check the decibel ratings on the machine, but then con the salesperson into turning a couple units on so you can get an earful yourself.

Finally, check out the clamp that holds the bag to the collector. Releasing the clamp can be as easy as flicking a lever or as painful as turning a screw 40 or 50 times. Get a quick-release clamp.

Air Cleaners

These machines are not connected to tools, but rather extract dust from the ambient air in your shop. They pull dust through a series of filters at the front of the unit.

Like dust collectors, air cleaners are rated by cfm, but you need to do some math to figure out which unit is right for you. As a rule of thumb, the air cleaner should circulate the air in your shop every six minutes. First figure out the square footage of your shop. That means a typical 15' x 20' shop will have 300 square feet. Multiply this by the ceiling height to get the total volume of the room (300 x 8 = 2,400). Divide that volume by six minutes, and that will give you the cfm rating you need for your shop (2,400/6 = 400 cfm). Also, consider how much dust the finest filter can remove. Get the best you can. Filters that remove 95 percent of the dust will serve you well, Ay- '~ PW

THE BEST $35 YOU'LL SPEND IN DUST COLLECTION

Most home woodworkers can't afford a cyclone system, which separates out the big chips and then sends the fine dust into the bags. But you can convert your single-stage dust collection system to a cyclone for the cost of a $35 cyclone lid and a garbage can.The cyclone lid fits on top of the garbage can and has ports for two hoses. One goes to your dust collector,the other goes to the machine.

The debris from your machine is forced into the garbage can where the heavy chips swirl down to the bottom and the fine dust is sucked up to your dust collector.When the garbage can is full,you simply set it at the curb.You'l empty the bags on the dust collector far less frequently as a result.

Where to buy one:

• Veritas Cyclone Lid, $29.95, item # 05J30.02, phone 800-871-8158

• Grizzly Cyclone Separator, $29.95, item # G3376, phone 800-523-4777

• Two-stage Collector Lid,Woodworker's Supply, $36.95, item # 881-860,

phone 800-645-9292

The following dust collectors and air cleaners have been tested or used by the editors of Popular Woodworking and have earned their recommendation.

Occasional User

If you're on a budget and don't make your living at woodworking, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a better deal than the Grizzly G8027 dust collectorThis 1 hp collector is rated for 500 cfm, has the inconvenient screw-type clamps for its bags but has the great price of $130 plus $20 shipping.The G8027 was named one of the Best New Tools of 1999 by Popular Woodworking.

Serious Home Woodworker

If you can spend a little more, we recommend the Penn State DCIB-

XL dust collector for $210. It pulls 850 cfm, has 5-micron bags, two 4" inlets and a quick-release clamp. Also highly recommended is the Grizzly G1029 2 hp dust collector for $250.This 230-volt machine pulls 1,550 cfm, has 30-micron bags and includes a free cyclone lid.

If you're a serious woodworker it's time to buy an air cleaner We recommend Delta's 50-860. Though it's pricier than some of the other entry-level cleaners, it also performs better

Advanced Woodworker or Professional

The Powermatic 75 3-hp dust collector ($650) is a workhorse in professional shops. Rated for 1,900 cfm, it should solve the dust collection needs of a small commercial shop.The Powermatic 75 comes standard with 5-micron bags, one 6" dust inlet and three 4" inlets and weighs a whopping 21 5 pounds. If you're on a tight budget, we also recommend the RBI 1900, a 3 hp model. It also is rated for 1,900 cfm, but comes with 20-micron bags. Check it out for $500.

In air cleaners, we recommend the Air-Tech 2000 model 750 from JDS.This variable-speed model allows you to control the cfm it pulls between 200 and 750 cfm.The filters remove 99 percent of the dust as small as 5 microns and 80 percent of the dust as small as one micron.The machines are highly reliable — we have three in our 2,000-square-foot shop.