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So my predicament is one that is not typical. I have multiple options Easily available to me
A few years ago I upgraded to a 5hp ClearView Cyclone. Since then my old 1.5hp dust collector has been collecting dust in the corner and not in its intended purpose. Lol.
So I have an extra dust collector. But I also have 5 different shop vacs. And I also have the mini cyclone from clear view.
I do not want to hook up my CV cyclone to the cnc. It pulls way too much power. More power than everything else combined.
I also have to have two 4" ports open at one time, to allow enough airflow.
The CVMax is out of the question.
So I am left with the 1.5 hp DC or a shop vac. Each has advantages/disadvantages.
I have the option to install a cyclone under the table with either system.
I am considering using Loc Line. I assume if I do use the Loc Line that a shop vac will be more beneficial.
Either method takes different size hoses, so installation for both will be different.
Fortunately I have nearly all parts for either method laying around. I just need to make a decision on which method to use. That is why I wanted to ask the community here which method they would choose.
The machine can still make dust that doesnât get captured by the dust shoe, so you could always use the second 4" port on your CV cyclone to act as an âair filterâ. It would keep the shop air cleaner, and give you a free connection to do some local vacuuming without having to disconnect the dust shoe line.
If I had that much airflow available? Iâd use the big dust extractor and build a downdraft table for it! Get all the dust, plus extra hold-down force.
Iâm using a shopvac with the 2 inch hose. I ran some 2 inch pvc across the ceiling with the 2 inch shopvac hose supported by some elastic dropping down to the xcarve. The PVC passes through the wall so I could keep the shopvac out of the shop to reduce the noise. Now my xcarve with the dwp 611 is louder than the shopvac. Plenty of suction with the 2 inch hose/pvc setup. I also incorporated a dust separator using the 5 gallon bucket method with at thiem baffle. It works amazingly well. I have emptied my bucket 3 times now and still no trace of debris in the shopvac.
My concern is that with a ârealâ dust collector, is the size and weight of the hose attaching to the dust shoe. I donât want to add any additional source that could cause any deviation in the cutting accuracy. Admittedly, I have never put my hands on a 4 inch dust collector hose so I may be concerned over nothing. Still, the shopvac is working great⌠so far.
Iâd think your best bet there might be to reduce the 4" hose to a 2" at the ceiling, then drop the 2" hose to the shoe. The 4" hose would be too large to actually attach to my shoe without massive modification anyway - the whole shoe isnât that wide.
I have had no problems at all with it. I replaced the 5 micron filter bag with a 1 micron filter bag ($25 on Amazon) and now it really keeps the air clean.
I have one of the harbor freight 1hp ones rigged to mine right now. I have it run through a cyclone, then out of the shop through the wall, so any fine dust that gets past the dust deputy ends up outside. It is⌠adequate. Barely. I think I actually got slightly better dust collection with my shop vac, the 2.5" line just doesnât seem to move enough air to make a dust extractorâs low-pressure-high-volume method work well. If I didnât have the dust deputy in line, itâd probably work somewhat better since that adds a fair bit of backpressure to the system⌠but then Iâd have to filter it some other way.
Really, I think I need a bigger cyclone if I want it to do better.
@DanBrown, if you add another opening to your dust collection system, it should work better. It doesnât make sense, but you will actually get more suction if you have the dust collector pulling a suction on multiple lines.
I think I understand what Angus is getting at, the venturi effect or something along those lines.
The air rushing past the opening in the pipe that leads to your dust shoe increases the draw on the smaller line.
He is on tack with the smaller the hose the less draw you will have. And the corrugated hose will reduce that further so it should be as short as practical.
I fiddled with this a bit recently but my dc connection for the xc is at the end of the line and for it to really work I think you need to have some line further out from the dc and the xc connection to stabilize the air flow to really take advantage of it. My line is nearly to the far corner of the shop already.
I was really surprised how much better my 2.5 inch hose to the dust shoe worked when I opened the second 4 inch port on the DC. It easily doubled the volume of air moving up through the dust shoe.
