Just a quick follow-up to a recent thread on the same topic...

I was taking advantage of the spring like break in the weather here in
western PA (61 outside at 7:00PM)
to plane some boards and clean the garage / workshop, before winter returns
tonight.

I have a 5hp 12gal Ridgid shopvac attached to a Delta 13" planer, with a
dust separator between the two.

I just emptied a nearly full 30 gal trash can of planer shaving, being used
with the dust separator.

The shop vac barely had anything in it.
There was some pretty fine dust caked around the filter though, but not too
much.

My set-up..
I run the shopvac 2.5" hose to an adapter (2.5 - 4") and attach it to one
side of the dust separator lid.
I run a 4" hose from the other side of the DS lid to the planer.

Simple but Noisy. Ear protection a must. The shop vac is probably louder
than the planer.

But it does work and collects probably 80-90% of the shavings from the
planer.
Some does blow out the front, especially on thinner (width wise) boards.

A read DC unit will definetly be my next major tool purchase, leaning
towards the PSI units although
the local Rocklers has just lowered the prices on several Jet models..

HTH,

Ron

What type of separator do you use? I've been eye-balling some cyclones on
eBay, but they seem kinda' pricey.


"Ron" wrote in message
. ..
Just a quick follow-up to a recent thread on the same topic...

I was taking advantage of the spring like break in the weather here in
western PA (61 outside at 7:00PM)
to plane some boards and clean the garage / workshop, before winter
returns
tonight.

I have a 5hp 12gal Ridgid shopvac attached to a Delta 13" planer, with a
dust separator between the two.

I just emptied a nearly full 30 gal trash can of planer shaving, being
used
with the dust separator.

The shop vac barely had anything in it.
There was some pretty fine dust caked around the filter though, but not
too
much.

My set-up..
I run the shopvac 2.5" hose to an adapter (2.5 - 4") and attach it to one
side of the dust separator lid.
I run a 4" hose from the other side of the DS lid to the planer.

Simple but Noisy. Ear protection a must. The shop vac is probably louder
than the planer.

But it does work and collects probably 80-90% of the shavings from the
planer.
Some does blow out the front, especially on thinner (width wise) boards.

A read DC unit will definetly be my next major tool purchase, leaning
towards the PSI units although
the local Rocklers has just lowered the prices on several Jet models..

HTH,

Ron

Have you looked at Bill Pentz's cyclone webpage? He has a ton of info
on cyclones, and basically says that almost all consumer-grade dust
collector/cyclone stuff available now is OK for collecting chips, but
does nothing to help with fine dust, which is the dangerous part. If
you keep working outside, you're probably fine, but it's something to
consider.
Andy

I use a similar setup for my table saw and Dewalt planer. The dust
separator is a galivized trash can (30 gal?) with special "cyclone" lid on
top from Rockler.

One minor annoyance is how messy it is to empty the trash can. Then I saw a
little tip in AW magazine that works great. Line the trash can with a
heavy-duty plastic yard bag, then cut some wire fencing (not chicken
wire...not rigid enough) and form into a circle that just fits into the
trash barrel. The wire holds the plastic bag into place and prevents it
from collapsing. To empty, gently shake the wire form as you lift it out
and then lift the dust bag out and tie it up. No more mess. Works great!

Joe T

"Andy" wrote in message
ups.com...
Have you looked at Bill Pentz's cyclone webpage? He has a ton of info
on cyclones, and basically says that almost all consumer-grade dust
collector/cyclone stuff available now is OK for collecting chips, but
does nothing to help with fine dust, which is the dangerous part. If
you keep working outside, you're probably fine, but it's something to
consider.
Andy


What is dangerous about the fine dust?

Locutus wrote:


"Andy" wrote in message
ups.com...

does nothing to help with fine dust, which is the dangerous part.


What is dangerous about the fine dust?


To make a long story short, it clogs up your lungs.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

I'll second this capability.

A couple weeks ago I was using my ShopVac brand 5 HP (peak) machine on
my General International 15" planer. Planing 6-8" wide poplar, 7'
boards, I was capturing easily 95-98% in the trashcan separator. Using
the Lee Valley/Veritas clear 4" port lid.

I didn't know how well it was going to work at first, so I set it up
like this: put the ShopVac on a stool, so its port was at the same
height as the top of the trashcan; put the 2.5"/4" converter DIRECTLY
onto the ShopVac port, and ran 18" of 4" to the separator; the can was
as close as possible to the outfeed of the planer (off to the side), so
only had to run 24" of 4" to the planer. With short hoses like that, I
could keep them in straight shots to their ends.

Pleased as I was, this is a stopgap measure for now; I have a Grizzly
2HP DC, but only one 220V outlet in the shop :^) (planer). So, until I
get an electrician in (other electrical work needed, too), I gotta do
it this way.

If you (Ron) were getting fine dust caking your shopvac filter, makes
me wonder how sharp your planer blades are; should really be getting
just chips.

-Chris

Ron wrote:
I have a 5hp 12gal Ridgid shopvac attached to a Delta 13" planer, with a
dust separator between the two.

I just emptied a nearly full 30 gal trash can of planer shaving, being used
with the dust separator.

The shop vac barely had anything in it.
There was some pretty fine dust caked around the filter though, but not too
much.

My set-up..
I run the shopvac 2.5" hose to an adapter (2.5 - 4") and attach it to one
side of the dust separator lid.
I run a 4" hose from the other side of the DS lid to the planer.

I didn't know how well it was going to work at first, so I set it up
like this: put the ShopVac on a stool, so its port was at the same
height as the top of the trashcan; put the 2.5"/4" converter DIRECTLY
onto the ShopVac port, and ran 18" of 4" to the separator; the can was
as close as possible to the outfeed of the planer (off to the side), so
only had to run 24" of 4" to the planer. With short hoses like that, I
could keep them in straight shots to their ends.

I've been using the full 8' run of sv hose, plus 10' of 4" hose.
Maybe I'll try to reduce or eliminate the thinner (2.5") hose also.


Pleased as I was, this is a stopgap measure for now; I have a Grizzly
2HP DC, but only one 220V outlet in the shop :^) (planer). So, until I
get an electrician in (other electrical work needed, too), I gotta do
it this way.

If you (Ron) were getting fine dust caking your shopvac filter, makes
me wonder how sharp your planer blades are; should really be getting
just chips.

I didn't mean to suggest that the dust was that fine.
I just meant that it seemed as only the 'finer' dust made it through the
dust
separator and all the was to the filter.
Previusly, with out the separator the filter on the shop vac would clog up
with the larger chips pretty quick. Kept having to shake the vac to knock
them off.

Ron