Art Greenberg wrote:
On Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:46:02 -0700 (PDT), SonomaProducts.com wrote:
OK, so I figured when I formalize my dust collection for the home shop
I'll just go to Grizzly and order all the metal pipe, fittings and
blast gates I need. Going all metal I'll avoid the static problems.
Going with smooth pipe I avoid the friction loss of flex, yada, yada.
Well even with a very conservitive 2 branch run it is a bit costly.

So if I go plastic and religiously run the copper wire, etc. can I
just use standard ABS or something of the sort?

I used PVC sewer & drain pipe, 6-inch for the run up to the ceiling from
the DC (a Jet DC-1200CK) and for the horizontals along the ceiling.
4-inch for the drops. Cast aluminum blast gates (the gate itself is
steel) mounted using plastic electrical tape as a gasket (the ID of the
pipe is a tad larger than the OD of the blast gate flange) and pop
rivets to hold them in, about a foot off the floor. PVC flex pipe from
there to the machine (no more than a few feet). No ground. No issues. In
use for about 3 years now.

The S&D pipe is a thin-wall (lighter than SCH40) with bell ends so no
coupling is needed to join straight runs. I found it very easy to work
with.

Since I was gluing up plastic pipe, I included a few clean-outs. I
figured they would come in handy if for some reason I had a jam. I just
used a Y fitting instead of an elbow in a couple of places, and I put a
threaded cap fitting on the open port of the fitting. I have to say that
I've never had the occasion to use them, so maybe they were not really
necessary.

Seems that if you use a larger pipe for the horizontal runs the air
flow is going to slow down and drop a lot of it's load of sawdust.
I used the same type of pipe and glued only every other joint. The
others I sealed with duct tape. When I had the wire inside it would
snag stuff and start a blockage. Got rid of the wire and no more problems.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

Don't abandon hope: your Tom Mix
decoder ring arrives tomorrow.