BT3Central Forums - Shop Setup, Layout, and Design http://www.bt3central.com/ en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:39:09 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.bt3central.com/images/misc/rss.jpg BT3Central Forums - Shop Setup, Layout, and Design http://www.bt3central.com/ shop DC and Dust Separator Setup in Place! http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51905&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:15:05 GMT well, i havent gotten any ww done in while and so just about three weeks ago, some asked me to make them a round coffee table (simple one - they were... well, i havent gotten any ww done in while and so just about three weeks ago, some asked me to make them a round coffee table (simple one - they were going to put some type of cloth over the top)...when i cut the circle, i had tons of dust all over the place and that is when i said "this is enough!"

i had collected a cardboard 24" round canister from work about a year ago that wanted to use to make the dust separator and wanted to get some piping hung on the wall so that i could start using delta DC effectively.

well the journey then begun...instead of cutting the horizontal brace on the DC, i thought why not go ahead and make a 17" diameter (inside) that can be placed under the DC without modifying it. as i started to construct the separator, i asked Phil a ton of question and he promptly answered every single of them. so a big thank you Phil for all your help!

so i took the 24" diameter canister and made it 29.5" tall with an inside diameter of 17". since i was cutting down the canister, i got the wild idea of putting in a slit that shows how full the canister is. then when i was putting the fittings into the lid of the canister, i thought why not put windows in there to see whats going on....so i added a layer of 3/16" poly carbonate to the bottom of the lid. its pretty cool to be able to see the dust swirling around in the lid and falling out through the slot....see pics below...

i used 4" thin wall PVC piping and fitting for this project. was way cheaper than anything else out there (pipe and fittings). i used a 4" to 4" coupler (PVC to cast iron) to transition from the 4" outlet in the separator to the 5" inlet of the DC. all of the joints are not glued right now, but there doesnt seem to be any leaks, i did a mock up first and tested the joints quickly to see if there were any leaks, but i will test them later to make sure that there are no leaks. see pics below...

now there was only one problem...how do i transition from the 4" DC hose to the 4" thin wall drain piping? so when i went from a fitting to a 4" DC hose, this is how i transitioned: fitting with a 2" long piece of 4" thin wall PVC pipe with a 3.5" long piece of 4" thick walled PVC piping cut to just under 4" diameter. see pics below....

by doing this project, there are two things that i would do differently:
  1. make the separator wider than 17". i dont think i would go less than 20". just seems to small. it is working fine so far, i cleaned up all the dust in the shop from making the table and dust separator, but still i can see a lot of dust swirling around in the lid constantly. if the canister were wider, the outlet from the cansiter would be farthur from the sides and thus the particles may fall out faster into the canister....i may be wrong about this.
  2. the narrow piece of poly that i put in there to show the level of the dust in the canister may not work as effectively as i though it may have...its narrow and the dust seems to like cling to the walls in a downward spiral hence giving a false level of dust in the canister. after i removed the lid to take the picture, in the process i knocked the canister which caused the dust to fall and in the final picture you can see level of dust inside the canister. time will tell how this feature works for me :)
  3. i would make the top out of like 3/8" or thicker poly carbonate to get a total view of whats going on when the DC is on!
well i cant think of anything else, so here are the pics:



some pics of the Dust Separator:





]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design footprintsinconc http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51905 Pipe clamps http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51898&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:08:51 GMT There is a post on craigslist for some pipe clamps. The seller claims them to be pony 3/4" pipe clamps on galvanized steel pipe, (7) 3/4" of various lengths and (5) of 1/2" again of various lengths. What would be a fair price to offer or expect to pay? Anything to look for when inspecting, aside from cracks in the castings? ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design chopnhack http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51898 Vertical Plywood Storage Rack http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51860&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:58:05 GMT It's interesting to see how much our plans change from start to finish. I originally wanted to build this:
but after realizing my size constraints and current shop conditions, I ended up with this :eek::eek::eek:

I know, its a stud wall.... The planned item was really cool, but I didn't have the height for it nor could I figure an easy way of installing casters and still keep in under 100.5".

I have come to the conclusion that waiting to build the ideal shop means basically for me not building at all! I will just have to start making do, no move everything out into a pod, epoxying the floors, etc. LOL Hopefully by organizing the shop with a dedicated sheet good storage and then lumber rack, I will find enough floor space to perhaps renovate the rest of the wreck! ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design chopnhack http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51860 The effect of damp sawdust on tools http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51822&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:17:57 GMT A friend of mine has frequently said that it was a good practice to leave the floor of a shop covered in sawdust. He said that this prevents the... A friend of mine has frequently said that it was a good practice to leave the floor of a shop covered in sawdust. He said that this prevents the tools from rusting. But, I'm of the opinion that once the sawdust reaches a state of equilibrium with the surrounding air that it's a wash - the sawdust has absorbed as much moisture as it is going to. He has an unrealistic attachment for this feeling because this was the belief of his grandfather who raised him. ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design ironhat http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51822 Effect of No AC on Woodworking Equipment http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51816&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:55:20 GMT I am thinking of building a large storage shed in my back yard. In doing so, I will free up one bay of my garage and have a dedicated space to work... I am thinking of building a large storage shed in my back yard. In doing so, I will free up one bay of my garage and have a dedicated space to work without moving stuff around all the time. However, this will not be air conditioned. Besides me possibly having a heat stroke (I live in Houston), what effects is this going to have on all of my equipment? I have a table saw, band saw, drill press, and planer are the big items along with various other small hand held tools.

Thanks in advance for the advice. ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design chris64 http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51816 Dust/Chips - What to do? http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51777&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:10:35 GMT I touched a bit on this in my shop thread, but I wanted to get your thoughts just on this issue.

If you've read my thread, you'll know I'm dealing with a tiny 12x12 space where I share space with various household goods. I roll the saw outside, as I do with the planer (which is missing the dust hood, BTW - didn't realize this when I bought it). The drill press obviously stays inside and I do all my routing inside. The miter saw currently goes outside as well.

Now, I'll be making a table for the MS and planer (the Ultimate Tool Stand I posted about), and will probably be using those inside for awhile until I get some ground leveled out. The dust chute will be bought for the planer, and I'll figure something out for the MS. The problem I have right now isn't so much dust in the air, it's the mess on my floor, and in the case of the planer and table saw, on the ground outside. I have this patch of ground that's covered in a few mm of sawdust. I'd rather not continue this practice.

I have two issues here - dust on the outside, and dust inside. Note when I say dust, I'm referring to dust, chips, etc. Not just particulate matter.

The first question is a simple one - if I were to have a dust collector of any kind hooked to a machine, but not on, would that hurt the machine in question? I know you can use dust bags on most things, but I wasn't sure if there was any difference in pressure or such involved that would cause any damage. The reason I ask is that unless I run an additional extension cord from off of another circuit (which would be near 100ft) I wouldn't be able to have the DC running at the same time. But once I'm done I could turn it on, clear the line, and not have any mess

The second question is to see about adding some equipment to deal with the mess. The router table generally stays in one spot, but is mobile. The drill press isn't going anywhere. The downdraft table (on the UTS with the MS and planer) will be mobile, but will probably be used in one spot if at all possible. Right now I have a 6gal, 3.0HP Shop Vac, with a dust separator on the inbound side. It's done fairly well, but it's bulky and tedious. They sit under a table, and I have to route it behind the table and onto the router table, then disconnect it, unfurl it, and take the end to where I need it next. That I don't like. I'd like to have some way of having a port in the three places I need them. I had considered getting some 2.5" clear straight pipe to run up from the separator, then branch to the stations. Obviously, no matter what I do I'll need blast gates. I just don't know if I could get the pull I need to clear the debris.

Now, I've read what the differences are between a true DC and a vacuum system. I'm also aware of the CFM needed in an ideal situation thanks to Bill. But I'm also looking for other thoughts.

- Would using that straight clear pipe over the course of say, a 4-6' run tops, be sufficient to clear the debris?

- I could upgrade my shop vac to something with a bit more power, but I don't know if that would make a difference. Some say no.

- I could conceivably upgrade to one of the smaller DC units. I'll never fit a full size one, and even the portable ones would probably be pushing it. The Rockler wall mount one might work, or either of the two HF portable ones might. Basically anything large and more than 15amps isn't going to be an option, probably ever. But something smaller and something that doesn't draw as much of a load might be an option, assuming I can get a second source of power out to my shed. But if I couldn't run it and the big tools at the same time, I'm back at that first question - would it damage anything? ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design CocheseUGA http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51777 More shop progress. Been really slow... http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51767&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:23:59 GMT As you may recall, I was burning out stumps to prepare for getting all of that fencing material out of my garage shop, well the stumps are gone, and... As you may recall, I was burning out stumps to prepare for getting all of that fencing material out of my garage shop, well the stumps are gone, and I am at a point where I feel I am really making progress, however that progress might just be to the therapists office!

So far this is what I have managed to get done since my last entry.

#1. Finish burning out the *&#%! stumps that were right along the fence line.
#2. Level up the ground some, measure and mark for the fence post holes.
#3. Auger the post holes. This took quite some time as the auger kept breaking. Many lessons learned on that one, hope I don't have to do it again...
#4. Set the posts in concrete, made sure they were level, forgot to make sure they were square to each other. Oops...
#5. Leveled up and trimmed the posts, installed 3 rails.
#6. Mostly built the frame for the gate. Busted a couple of critical screw heads off that I need to get after with Vice grips to back those screws out now...

In the time since late may that I last posted my progress, I have been on vacation, training, or dealing with extended family issues, or unworkable weather for 6 of those weeks, so the progress isn't all THAT bad...

With any luck, soon I will be able to get the rest of the insulation done, and run that electrical I have been dreaming about... ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design dbhost http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51767 My work space http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51751&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:23:45 GMT I use my carport 20' x 24' with attached 16' x 20' canopy as my shop. Except for rain, we have mild weather in Hawaii so its possible for us to have an open workspace. I haven't been doing any work since my injury in 07, took these pictures after cleaning & polishing my machines. Only my Saw Trax panel saw & Dust collector stays put, everything else is on casters.

Attachment 15953 My truck under the canopy

Attachment 15954 SCMS on stable mate stand & panel saw

Attachment 15955 SawTrax panel saw with Delta 1 1/2 hp DC.

Attachment 15956 Blum mini drill press, PC router table bot of cabinet.

Attachment 15957 Ridget planer R4330

Attachment 15958 View of my TS and tool closet

On attached photos, my new sander and view of mid fence on panel saw
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]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design jabe http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51751 Need some advice on shop floor http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51732&goto=newpost Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:25:55 GMT I have a dilemma. My old, 2 car detached garage developed some serious cracks and heaves. To the point I could no longer walk across it. Over the... I have a dilemma. My old, 2 car detached garage developed some serious cracks and heaves. To the point I could no longer walk across it. Over the last year, I busted the remainder up and slowly hauled it off. The intentions being to remove, level with gravel and pour a new concrete floor. However, the reality is I will park a car in it. The rafters are low and then entrance (sliding barn style doors) is fairly low also. An SUV isn't going in there (don't have one anyway). I want to use the space as my wood shop.

The problem. I have already hauled and spread and even compacted crushed limestone. Ready for the vapor barrier, wire mesh and then the pour. Working with a seriously tight budget so laying out the $500 for the pour and bringing the neighbors in to help finish it, may have to wait a little while longer. In the meantime, I have the bright idea of going for a wood floor instead. Specifically, building a deck frame, inside the structure and laying OSB subfloor. This I could do a little at a time and it most likely would be easier financially as I don't have to pay for the pour right up front. Before any flames on spending money start, realize I work for a living and 1/2 still goes to child support.

Despite having $200 in limestone (over a several month period, one truck load at a time) and no way to recoup that money, I am toying with the idea of building the wood structure.

Advantage: Easier on my back. Lower initially outlay of funds (can buy wood little at a time). Easier to run dust collection. Easier to insulate.

Disadvantage: Already have the gravel laid. The garage wouldn't have a concrete floor for future resale (questioning how big an impact that would really be, the structure is, small, etc.)

I guess I am really looking for some opinions. This is running through my head and I've been up all night. Help a brotha out and chime in with your advice.

Thanks. ]]> Shop Setup, Layout, and Design bigdaddyjohn http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51732