Sit, Ubu, or stand? AND Dust Systems?

You guys, this is probably the best addition I have done to my shop. Not having it was a limiting factor for my production during the winter months.
Here is the information for the Torit Dust Collectors.
Donaldson Company.
Torit Products.
1=800-365-1331
www.torit.com
What you want is the Cabinet dust collector.
The two larger ones are models #81 and #84. One has a 1.5 hp and the other ones has a 3 hp. motor.
they will run about $2500.00 to $3000.00.
These two machines will run about 1071 to 1231 cfm with a 6" hose.
Their suggestion about sparks into the hose was to have at least a 12' hose to let the sparks cool off.
With the silencer it only sounds like a refrigirator.
Still with mine I get some of those"big" pieces of steel on the ground, but those are not the ones I am worrie about.
Whatever you spend on one of these machines is worth it for your health.
Ricardo Velarde

I guess I really got lucky. Last year at my real job, they were rearranging the fabrication area and reducing some of the excess equipment and i got a 3 hp Torit for the grand total of the price of the gas to haul it home. I had to change out the motor as it was 3 phase and clean it up as it was used on a commercial radial metal cutting saw and was pretty gunky from the coolant mist used on the saw, but it works like a charm now. Like the saying goes, I'd rather be lucky than good.
Mike

You can always figure, Don, that if you choose the dust system over the new grinder, you might be around a while to USE the next grinder that you get, whenever that may be. Your lungs, and life, are worth 2-3K. Your wife's clean laundry room is easily worth holding off on the grinder.
Get one of the bigger capacity machines, if you can. With the silencer.

Mike, that sounds like the kind of deal we all wish we could run into. Glad you were there at the right time and...that you valued your health enough to see the need and jump at the opportunity. Smart move!

Steve's set up:

View of the cast iron tractor seat and duct work for the 1.5 hp Bader.


Showing both grinders, including the duct work, and the small water bucket, (L) on the cart, and the 5 gal. bucket for the older 2 hp Bader (R).


A shot of the Torit/Donaldson dust collector, on the other side of the wall from the 2 hp Bader.
THANK YOU, DOGMAN FOR POSTING THE PICS! Not that bad of an image for an $80 digital camera the kids gave me for Father's Day, huh?

I sit, btw, have an adjustable desk chair with rollers so I can scoot around the shop when grinding and I need to grab something. Can also spin in circles when I get too bored. Or hop up and down on the springy piston. Whee..... :rollin:

But about dust collectors:

On the less expensive side I bought a DC3-5XL portable dust collector from Penn State Industries ( www.pennstateind.com ) it is 850 cfm and comes with a 5 micron dust bag. I placed it in my garage and the hose comes through the wall into my shop; the noise from the motor / fan is non-existent although the suction noise isn't too quiet. I have a 'metal collection grate,' also from Penn State and I simply place it near the grinder. It collects nearly everything and only cost me a total of $207.00 plus shipping. They also have a stand for $55.00 that would allow for versatile placement of the collector.

For added cleanliness I bought a 465 cfm air cleaning system that gets 98% of 3 micron particles and 60% of the .5 microns. It was $199.00.

So for $450.00 I got a -very- clean shop.

One day I'd love a bigger unit with more power for lots of ductwork, but for now, starting out, I don't think this combo from Penn State can be beat.

Sounds great. Do you need a water trap between the grinder and the collection bag, to avoid spark problems?

Are the ducts plastic or metal?

How does the metal collection grate work? Interesting....

Anything that saves a few hundred bucks sounds super, as long as it's as safe. The web page calls them wood working systems, is there a worry, again, with sparks?

Please, no offense intended, I'm just wondering about the possibility of combustion in the ducts or collection bag when grinding metal.

Thank you for the input.

The main worry is with combining wood dust and sparks.

If you have wood dust in the bag and start shooting sparks in there you can get a particulate explosion. What I have always intended to get is one of the dust separator lids ( again at Penn State but I've seen them elsewhere ) that fits onto a 30 gallon trash can lid to help diffuse the spark problem. It basically creates a poor man's cyclone- I also thought I might keep water in the bottom of the trash can. I considered a gooseneck water trap as well but figured it would be too small and just get clogged and a fire would start on top of everything anyway.

But so far, with only eight feet of flexible hose between grinding and the bag I have had no problems... I do empty the bag after using it for wood or other flammables... or excessive amounts of metal filings, since they burn too.

If you can vent directly outside you needn't worry about the bag at all, but here in the Winter when it's 10 below you don't want to do that...

I don't have any ductwork at this point, but I plan on using as much metal as possible - although I have not yet had a single prob with the plastic flexible hose. The grate is essentially a square funnel with a grate in front of the big end. I think mostly it makes a convenient thing to hold on to the end of the hose, but you can move it around and place it wherever you want. I put it in front of me when I hand finish, for example.

I got my advice here from Howard Clark, who swore by a Penn State Tempest Cyclone for metal grinding dust collection. I had big concerns about flammability issues too - his advice concerned mixing metal and wood dust as stated above and I can't say any -collection- system ( as opposed to venting w/o collection ) is going to be 100% prob free, but again, after eight months of use... no explosions yet.

Heh.

Good Luck!

Jonathan, thanks for such a complete report. Sounds like you're covering the bases, with plans to keep on covering them.

I appreciate your information and I'm sure that anyone who's contemplating a dust system (And I hope that's everyone who doesn't have one!) will benefit from your experiance and knowledge about them.

If we can get one maker to consider dust control we can be happy. But many would be better!

Good stuff!

Will be ordering my Torit system next week from MSC. Maybe it will help keep me alive long enough to make enough knives to buy that second grinder.

:cool:

When I get a shop that is big enough I will get a dustsystem.....hm..now I just need a job to be able to get that house.

A friend has just instealled a compleet system in his shop...costed him les than 1000 $ Worth it if you ask me!

Don, good decision. I'm sure your wife will appreciate it! Just keep on making those great knives in good health, OK?

Jens, maybe you can check out your friend's system and report on it. How well odes it work, how much air does it move, h.p. of motor, type of duct work, etc. If yo uhave the itme and he doesn't mind your asking.
Thanks, you two.

I will meet him next weekend and will ask him alot of questions! If he aswers them I will post here.

Don,

I went back to me Alma Mater this weekend and noticed that the sculpture studio has Torit cyclones. This room gets an absolutely incredible amount of metal/ wood/ plaster/ rock dust. And it is pretty near spotless- I think the Torit must be pretty solid if it stands up to Art School abuse.

What size / model, if I may ask?

Jon, the one I am getting is the $1600 one- I don't have the model number here with me- all it lacks is the noise suppressor, and I can live without that for another $500. It's going to make a very big difference in my shop.

Consider, seriously, the model bigger than mine, please. I think mine is the same as the Model 64DST. But...the bigger ones are alot more money, I know.