Delta ShopMaster AP400 Dust Collector
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For years my dust collector was the shop floor, shelves, tools, etc. And the dust removal was a big broom and dust pan. There are several problems with this method the most important is that the dust can lead respiration problems. In one of Norm Abram’s books he talked about his early days when his wood shop was setup in the basement of his house. He used the floor as the dust collector. After sometime he started to develop serious sinus infections. Ultimately he tracked it back to the amount of saw dust in the air while he was working in his basement shop.
My next evolution of dust collection was to purchase a shop vac. They are nice for vacuuming up dust from the floor. However, they don’t really scale well when collecting dust from running tools. One of the biggest draw backs to the shop vac is its limited CFM. They just don’t suck enough and the filter clogs up quickly. With my shop vac I was able to cut 24 linear feet of 3/4 plywood, then the filter would clog up. I would have to stop cutting empty remove the filter and clean off all of the saw dust that has collected in the filter.
A little tip I picked up at my local home improvement store is wrap an old T-shirt around the filter. It will act like a pre-filter and collect the large dust particles. When the shop vac is turned off some of the dust will drop off of the T-shirt and should give you more run time between empting out the shop vac. The T-shirt will reduce the CFM of the shop vac.
A little over a year ago I finally got a Delta ShopMaster AP400 single stage dust collector. I chose this unit over the competitors for its performance and price point. I needed a compact design, good CFM, mobile. Eventually I will install air ducts so that the collector does not need to be mobile any more. Before I can do that I need to redesign the layout of the shed. The Delta ShopMaster AP400 has a 650 CFM. The CFM is on the lower end of the units that are available but is enough for me running one tool at a time.
A single stage dust collector has one bag that will collect all of the dust. Emptying out the bag is a bit of a pain when you have to deal with the clamping band and positioning it correctly on the dust collector.
How do I convert my single stage dust collector into a two stage? Buy a metal trash can. Don’t get a plastic trash can for two reasons. First the suction that the can will be exposed to will most likely collapse the plastic can and will reduce its usefulness. Second, is static electricity. Having large amounts of dust rubbing against the plastic walls will build up a static electric charge. In the can you already have fuel (the saw dust) and oxygen all you need is a spark to start a fire.
Buy a 30 gallon metal trash can and a dust collection hood. The hood is designed to replace the trash can’s metal lid. The dust collection hood is made out of plastic and has two ports, on mine they are 4 inch in diameter. What you are going to do is put the metal trash can with dust collection hood in between the shop tool and the dust collector.
Shop tool –> metal trash can –> dust collector
What the metal trash can becomes is the first stage in a two stage dust collector. It will collect all of the larger particles. And finer dust will then pass on to the dust collector and in to its bag. A side benefit to this design is that it will extend the life of the dust collector’s impellor (fan blade).
I got my trash can at the local ACE hardware store and the plastic dust collector hood from Wood Crafters.
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[...] Having an adequate dust and chip collection system is paramount to eliminating chip prints. For my Delta bench top planner I have the dust collection hood and it is connected to a two stage dust collection system. The dust collector is a individual stage unit with a chip collection ‘trash can’ in amoung the tool and the dust collector. For more data see Delta ShopMaster AP400 Dust Collector post. [...]