The vortex effect that is created reduces the loss of suction caused by prematurely clogged filters. We also tested the separation ability of the various dust collectors and cyclones. The top magazine rated dust collector vendor puts a warning on their dust collectors that they will burn up if run without at least 10' of flex hose attached. Again, the average cost of a new dust separator is between $$ and $$$. Those with no ducting who move a 10' flexible hose between machines end up with about 4" w.c. resistance for their systems. Another advantage to using cyclone style separators is that your bottom bag on dust collector machines or shop vacuum containers wont fill up nearly as quick than they would without a cyclone style separator. Independent medical school testing on my cyclone design found the same results as our testing. Should there be some metal in that pile that strikes a steel impeller or steel blower housing with the air dust mixture close to critical, the resulting explosion can level a shop or garage. Every 1% missed lets enough fine dust escape to fail 151 typical sized shops, yet OSHA testing shows most small shop dust collectors and cyclones miss collecting at least 15% of the fine invisible airborne dust. This assures the filters will provide through each loading cycle a given level of filtering. Is finding an excellent dust separator a stressful experience? The AAF table I shared above shows that 800 CFM is ample for all larger hobbyist sized woodworking tools. COLLECTS VACUUM DUST TO PROLONG FILTER LIFE - The Delmar Tools dust separator separates vacuum dust into a separate container, keeping your filter clean and your vacuum running for longer. Meanwhile it quickly spreads getting carried in any shared air and on our skin, clothes, and hair into our homes, offices, and vehicles to also expose all close to us to significant fine dust. I keep mine in one place and don't want to move it around, I just want it to have several tools attached at once without a separate splitter. Normal room air currents will keep fine dust airborne and these same air currents will launch previously made fine dust airborne repeatedly. Airflow requirements for good dust collection seem a paradox. On my Deciding Dust Collection Needs web page are the detailed steps along with a resistance calculator to walk you through deciding your own blower requirements. The 10-gallon capacity of the Vortex doubles that of the Dust Deputy and other 5-gallon separatorsso we were able to go twice as long between emptying. Except for a few very well designed tools, most power tools have blades, bits, cutters, belts, cooling fans, etc., which create powerful air currents that spray dust everywhere before it can be collected. Products that received mainly negative ratings are discarded from our top rated dust separator list. When downscaled for small shop use, these designs sell well because they look pretty and give a small shop a professional looking large shop feel. We do a resistance calculation to get a reasonable approximation of the overall resistance of our system. Only those who buy from reputable vendors are going to get home with a motor that actually delivers its promised advertised horsepower; Filters can simply build up enough dust cake to prove any level of filtering desired as long as they don't also have to pass any air. The peer reviewed medical research shows fine airborne dust of any type so unhealthy that if more than 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter goes airborne the EPA can shut down monitored buildings until the air quality is restored. With "chip collection" only moving about 400 CFM these filters only need about 15 square feet of filter area. Moving enough air is not enough. It separates off over 82% of the airborne dust that other cyclones pass right through, plus it provides 99.9% separation of the unhealthiest invisible dust down to 4.7-microns. Worse, the cheapest 30-gauge HVAC piping is too thin and will collapse if you have a larger dust collector and all the gates get closed at once. Again with larger hobbyist stationary tools identical to smaller commercial tools we can use their same recommendations. The resistance of our ducting pipe and hoses is so high that a 1 hp dust collector will only give us a real 195 CFM with a 3" pipe, 350 CFM with a 4" pipe, and 550 CFM with a 5" pipe. There are static pressure calculators that will compute the total resistance for our dust collection ducting and other components. The maximum dust cake is important in sizing our filters because this is when a filter has the most resistance. long, JET JCDC-1.5 Cyclone Dust Collector, 1-Micron Filter, 763 CFM, 1-1/2 HP, 1Ph 115V (717515). Airborne dust when vented outside settles slowly enough in typical outdoor breezes that it dissipates without a trace. With tools designed and built from the ground up to protect and control that fine dust for collection, the prior "chip collection" air volumes work well. Therefore, we have taken the time to compile a list of the top dust separator products on the market, for your benefit, so that you dont need to worry. US Pat. This is less dust than we get from slapping a dusty apron or hand sawing just over seven inches of typical three-quarter-inch thick wood. Our 6" that supports 785 CFM at 4000 FPM only supports 50 FPM out to about 13.42". We hope, therefore, that there is a product in our list that will meet your needs. To work without wearing a mask all the time we need to collect the dust at its source before it escapes then get rid of the dust. The medical community has been pushing hard for nearly twenty years for a fifty times tougher than OSHA air quality standard and that only takes moving about 25% more airflow. When used with most power tools and shop vacuums, the Dust Right Separator captures sawdust, wood chips, and other debris before it enters your vacuum, preventing the loss of suction power caused by a clogged vacuum filter. They can demonstrate any filtering level as long as they do not also share the airflow at that filtering level. This resistance has two major concerns in dust collection. The five-caster base makes it stable and easy to maneuver around the shop. For any given CFM you can measure the resistance of each component or entire ducting runs. This dust cake initially improves filtering, but as it gets thicker the air pressure increases forcing the finest unhealthiest particles to tear their way the filters. The only real advantage of these cyclones is at higher airflows than needed for "chip collection" all these cyclones continued to provide the same separation meaning close to 100% of the airborne dust went right into the filters. Filters used outdoors where the fine dust that escapes the filters just blows away harmlessly outside are rated by the filter material makers based upon reaching their maximum seasoning. I believe as we move toward the far more stringent medical air quality standards already adopted by the European community, the only way for commercial firms to meet these standards will be to buy new tools with good fine dust collection built in. When the airflow is restored from opening a larger gate the pile breaks loose and surges all at once down the ducting. Because of that growing number, the manufacturers should be able to provide better after-sales service and quality. read more. The cutting shatters and launches all kinds of tiny airborne shards such as the particles shown on the electron microscope picture on the right. If we have filters, a trashcan separator, or a cyclone we must use a larger blower to overcome that extra resistance and that opening may not work for sizing our ducting. Air at typical dust collection pressures will hardly compress so duct diameter and resistance sets maximum airflow at a given pressure. Our tools often have tiny dust ports far too small for our dust collectors and often even too small for our vacuums. Our testing found many vendors who claimed to sell 0.5-micron, 1-micron, and 2-micron filters sold filters that freely passed 10, 20 and 40 micron particles through filters showing the same roughly 20 fold difference between the best and worst filtering levels. All of the major brand name dust collector and cyclone vendors remain caught in a nasty game of their own making. Sadly, the "truth in advertising" laws let any vendor claim any level of filtering that they can demonstrate. Filter resistance changes as the filters get dirty. This table intentionally does not address the airflow needed to capture the fine dust at smaller and hand held tools. But isnt it not always easy to do that? Although it only takes a little air volume to collect the finest unhealthiest dust from tools engineered from the ground up with good fine dust collection built in, almost none of us use or can afford such tools. Wanting to ensure good dust collection without buying and paying for running too large of a blower, most air engineers recommend we design our dust collection systems to maintain a duct speed of 4000 FPM in our mains to keep our ducting clear and keep the chips and sawdust entrained, meaning airborne. The renowned brands are more concerned about maintaining their reputations, while others are not. We can get by with smaller filter sizes, but doing so causes the filters to wear out and fail far quicker. The cheapest thing is never the best. Some vendors went one step further claiming filtering levels that all but kill airflow before that filtering level can be achieved. Fortunately again we can address these concerns by borrowing heavily from work long ago done and shared by air engineers (see my ducting page); and. Larger cyclone models provide greater airflow volume and the ability to service multiple dust producing processes simultaneously. Vendors then offer the same diameter ducting and much more expensive smooth interior walled pipe, but the result still works terribly. At first these larger air volumes do not make sense because we know it takes 50 FPM to move the fine dust and 4000 FPM to move the heavier sawdust and chips. This fine dust is launched and kept airborne by the lightest breeze. to blow the fine dust away before it can be collected. In choosing the top dust separator, we look at the features that really matter. We can open other gates or use special weighted trap doors called hyperbaric dampeners that will open when the pressure grows too high to avoid these dust pile problems, but most find we get the best dust collection when we use all the same sized duct pipe, tool ports, and flex hose to prevent these problems. OSHA testing shows on average every twenty pounds of sawdust makes over 151,197 milligrams of fine dust which is enough to cause 15,119 typical two car garage sized shops to fail an EPA air quality test. To stay competitive many firms engage in an ugly advertising war. At first it was assumed the workers getting ill had problems from previously high dust exposures. a part time hobbyist woodworker in a few hours work gets exposed to far more dust than most workers in larger commercial facilities receive in months. DIY product contains the cyclone separator, gasket, and mounting hardware. Good deal, on sale recently for $59. I have to admit giving bad advice myself for far too many years before this whole fine dust issue reached up and bit me in the tail hard. Pay particular attention to the building instructions for each as they have been refined from thousands successfully building their own units. Browse our equipment to find the system that meets your needs.