3hp Dc what Gauge for spiral piping

[Juss1]

Leaning towards spiral ducting to pipe my dc. It’s a 3hp laguna C-flux. My local hvac place has them at 28 gauge. Is that thick enough? What do you guys use?

Also if can disuade me from using spiral I’d like to hear the arguments. Pvc better? Or? I’d love to use nordfab but way too expensive for me.

[Tapper]

May be in the minority here but last year I decided to get serious about DC in the shop, which is ~24'x30'. I had cobbled together some temporary PVC piping that was basically doing the job but wasn't very handy.

After quite a bit of research it came down to three factors for me:

1) Simple, i.e. do not make it complicated. Complicated for me would be running a separate line and blast gate to every individual stationary tool in the shop. Did not do that.

2) Flexible - make sure the design can cover all tools necessary in the shop.

3) Cost - Along with #1 and #2, ruled out metal piping, at least for me.

I began to take a hard look at Rockler's "Dust Rite" system. The more I looked at it the more I liked it. The handle that fits on a receptacle on any tool was attractive. So here's what I did. I ran an 8" PVC main trunk line in the ceiling of my shop in a joist bay (open ceiling) from my 2HP Penn State DC (which is located in the corner of my garage, which is contiguous to the WW shop), to the area in my WW shop where it branches off in two directions. This distance is approx. 15' max. PVC fittings to make the turns are available for the connections/turns. I used screws to secure the connections so as to be able to change them later if necessary.

I have a station on one wall that the main Rockler Dust Rite hose and handle are attached to and on that same wall I permanently hooked a branch to my 8" jointer, which stays in same location always and has its own blast gate. On the opposite wall across the shop sits my Dewalt GA radial arm saw, which has its own branch and blast gate. These are the only two 8" PVC branches I have in the shop. The main hose with the handle is 28' long and can reach any area of my shop.

I also bought enough fittings from Rockler to attach to every stationary tool in my shop (everything, including two router tables is on wheels). Forgot to mention that I necked down everything from the main 8" line to 4" to be able to make the connections. In the end when I finish the RAS station (refurbishment on the Dewalt GA is nearly complete) there will initially only be three blast gates, i.e. one for the RAS, one for the jointer and one for the main Rockler flexible hose with the handle on it. With this system the hose and handle are moved to the machine in use. I am amazed and pleased with how well it works and how flexible it is. When not in use, the hose is hung on a hook in the ceiling and doubled up with a bungie cord and totally out of the way. With the dust collector in the garage (a separate area with a wall and doors in between it and the shop) for me this is the best of all worlds.

I still haven't finished up with the shop configuration along the walls where there will be tables to support the RAS left and right, and will include a miter saw station inline with the RAS. Rockler makes fittings that will allow you to run the piping from the tool (miter saw in this case) underneath the work table with a fitting flush with the front edge of the table that will accept the handle. You can use this method for any table top tool that needs dust collection and with a separate blast gate makes the entire system very flexible and handy. With all the tools on casters and using the Dust Rite system, they can be rolled out of the way when not in use and thus increases available shop space.

This system meets all the criteria above and I have been very pleased with the outcome.

Good luck,

Doug