Official Luthiers Forum!

Has anyone here had experience with Penn State Industries dust collectors? I have a small basement shop and am thinking about buying this 1 hp unit. I'd appreciate any feedback about the machine, or about Penn State equipment in general.

Thanks.

_________________
John Cavanaugh
Saint Paul, MN
"What could possibly go wrong?"

I have heard several people mention good things about Penn State equipment, and never heard any complaints about the brand. None of that is first-hand experience, though.

If you're still shopping around, here's a comparison chart of sub-$300 DC systems I made about a year ago. The prices are probably out of date, but the specs should still be useful.

I've got a 3 hp Penn State cyclone that I love. Very heavy guage metal and quality construction.
I used to have a 1.5 horse Penn State blower on a home made cyclone that worked great as well. I just out grew it so it sits lonely on a shelf.
I'd highly recomend any of their products. Check the specs on the bags however. I think they use the larger pored 1 micron (or maybe bigger, I"m not sure)bags. That won't hold the extra fine dust that will kill you. So you might need to upgrade the bag.

or upgrade to the pleated filters...little more $

John,

If Bill Pentz's info at www.billpentz.com is to be believed (and I have every reason to think it should be), your choice puts you barely at the edge of acceptable air moving capacity for protection from the deadly stuff Paul mentioned. The impeller size, CFM and motor power look just a bit weak. The .5-micron spec looks very good provided the cannister filter has a few hundred square feet of filter area, but I would use this one only if it were connected directly to a tool in use, not to a duct system, using the 6" outlet rather than the 4". Yeah, most tools have a 4" outlet, but according to Bill, that won't provide the CFM needed at the tool. I would heed his advice -- it's considered the bible of dust collection.

I'd try just a step up, 11" or larger impeller and 1-1/2 HP.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Equipment.cfm#Dust% 20Collectors

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DCConversion.cfm

Just my .02.burbank38761.6596527778

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Yes, Bill's stuff is indeed THE word on dust collection. He's pretty gratious about answering questions too. Though they are usually in a language I can't understand (Very technical).
there's a very easy way around the 4" ports from your machines. If you use a 4"-6" adapter right at the machine and go 6" everywhere, there is very little volume lost.
Read Bill's stuff. You'll learn a lot.

John, Maybe Paul would sell you his old one?

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Now that's not a bad idea. It's only the motor and impeller but it's not being used.

The latest issue of Fine Woodworking magazine has a review on 1 1/2HP dust collectors. Might be worth checking out.   

Hey Paul, what size is the impeller? is it a straight vane or are they curved?

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Paul,

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I have to differ with you. Using an adapter or introducing anything that would put a minimum dia. of 4" into the setup will seriously reduce the volume of air that the collector can pull. The major factor in the ability to pass air through an opening such as a dust port is the area of opening. With a 6" opening the area is about 20.5", but with a 4" opening, it's only about 12.5" That's a 40% loss in area, with a similar loss in volume. See the Resistance part in Bill's Ducting Introduction.

I spent weeks poring over Bill's site and learned that, much to my dismay, there aren't any easy ways out of this if you want air that's free of the invisible fine stuff that can cause the most damage.

Rod has a good idea!burbank38761.8509837963

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Pat, you are right. I guess I was trying to say that it's better to but a reducer right at the machine than it is to run 4" pipe everywhere.

John C, Penn State cyclone...PM me if you're curious...

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

Aw, come on Larry, we're all curious.

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Well, it's not exciting or anything...I just have one I wanna get rid of...it was great when I was building cabinets and furniture, but many of those operations that really made dust/chips aren't done with guitars...which are all I'm making now...now to figure out what to do with all that 5" PVC....

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

I second Robbie's recommendation to read the review in Fine Woodworking.

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks, everyone, for your input. I have seen Bill Pentz's excellent Web site--it was one of the first things I ran across when I started doing research into buying a dust collector. It is also the thing that convinced me that I at least need to have a dust collector with a cartridge filter.

I have pretty limited space and not a lot of power tools (small band saw, drill press, mini-lathe). I'm planning to only use the dust collector on one machine at a time (since I have my tools mounted on casters and shoved behind the furnace). I'm actually most concerned about catching the dust from sanding, since that's how I expect to make the most dust.

I sent a couple of personal messages in response to your posts. Thanks again for your attention.

_________________
John Cavanaugh
Saint Paul, MN
"What could possibly go wrong?"