Dust Collection Piping

[measure once cut remeasure]

Snap lock can sometimes be found thru craigslist or classifieds.  Home depot is reasonable for pipe and simple fittings like 90's and reducers. Wye's are tougher to find from the big box stores.

I bought wyes from R & J sheetmetal on Sheridan ave in Albany. They are reasonable for Wye fittings not found in the big box stores. They have an extensive inventory and can make anything you want.  Saddle Wye's are a more work for you, and less expensive.

Aluminum blast gates are nice at machines and quite reasonable for 4 " 6" are a little more pricey and not as readily available.  You can make blast gates which is more cost effective when doing so for larger diameters.

POWERTEC 70128 4-Inch Flexible Dust Collection Hose from Amazon is nice way to connect galvanized to a machine.

Seams in fittings (like flex 90's) are easily sealed with a mastic type caulk found at home depot.  one caulking tube will do a shop.

[rwe2156]

IMO there is no reason to use metal ducting over PVC in a home shop other than looks. PVC is easier to install & modify, saves a TON of money & I've heard it has less friction loss than metal pipe.

But, static electricity can be in issue if humidity is low. I've been zapped and routinely feel my arm hair rising close to a pipe only during the winter. I recommend grounding metal blast gates.

4" pipe is a mistake for anything over 1 1/2HP. 6" S&D pipe is available from commercial plumbing supplies and many will sell OTC.

Sweep fittings are crazy expensive. Use Y's instead of sweep T's and 2X 45's instead of sweep 90's.

[Philip1231]

I think the snap-lock metal duct work has some advantages. Its far lighter than PVC and therefore easier to handle, particularly when you are working alone when building your dust collection system. My DC come with specs from Oneida that called for fairly large diameter duct coming out of the cyclone, and gradually reducing in size as you get closer to the machines. IIRC some of the duct I am running is quite large: I am not sure you will find PVC in these sizes, and if you do, I would guess that schedule 40 in a, say 10" diameter might be cost prohibitive. Connecting the metal duct sections is pretty easy with self tapping screws and some foil duct tape. My perspective on ducting, FWIW.

[Tapper]

IMO there is no reason to use metal ducting over PVC in a home shop other than looks.  PVC is easier to install & modify, saves a TON of money & I've heard it has less friction loss than metal pipe.

But, static electricity can be in issue if humidity is low. I've been zapped and routinely feel my arm hair rising close to a  pipe only during the winter.   I recommend grounding metal blast gates.

4" pipe is a mistake for anything over 1 1/2HP.  6" S&D pipe is available from commercial plumbing supplies and many will sell OTC.  

Sweep fittings are crazy expensive.  Use Y's instead of sweep T's and 2X 45's instead of sweep 90's.

^^^^^^^+1

Just finishing up the revision of my DC system and will post some pics later. Smallish shop so I decided to NOT run a drop to every stationary machine, opting instead for the Rockler DustRIGHT system. For those who have larger shops and can invest in the Oneida (or other upscale metal ducting system) more power to you. I recently saw a pic here of a large shop that had a metal drop to every machine, it seems. Lotta dough in that system.

BTW, you NEVER want to run schedule 40 PVC for DC in a shop - waaaaay too heavy. Schedule 20 is what you want, i.e. S&D, much lighter. 

Doug

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

+1 on schedule 20. Cheaper, lighter, easier to install by yourself, and plenty adequate.

I'm a fan of DustRight, too.

I've only recently added full-shop ducting. You've probably seen the recent thread on it: https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7359083