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I posted an inquiry about a Penn State dust collector a few weeks ago. After dithering for a while, I bought a Jet 650 dust collector. I thought it might be useful if I explained what I bought, and why.

My "shop" is just a corner in the basement (although I might have a little more room than Hesh has in his bathroom ). I have a 10" bandsaw, a mini-lathe, and a drill press (the bandsaw and lathe are on casters so I can move them out of the way when I'm not using them). Since my shop is in my house, it's important to capture the dust, but I have limited space and I needed something that's reasonably quiet (my shop is right below my son's bedroom).

I found Bill Pentz's Web site on dust collection early on and learned a lot from it. Robbie O'Brien mentioned that there was a review of 1.5 hp dust collectors in Fine Woodworking, so I bought a copy. These, along with manufacturer's Web sites, were my main sources of information.

I looked at cyclones, but I don't have room and they're all bigger than I need. So it came down to either a 1 or 1.5 hp unit. These all have casters, so they're easy to move around. But the Fine Woodworking review convinced me that all the 1.5 hp units were too noisy to be inside the house.

So I bought the Jet 650 (1 hp, 650 cfm) and got a cartridge filter (9E300BL) from Wynn Environmental and a couple of dust hoods from Penn State. It wasn't hard to get the cartridge filter mounted and the Jet is quieter than my old shop-vac was. Different circumstances would require a different solution, and I know I may have to upgrade if I get more power tools, but I'm happy for now.

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

John,

I think you made a wise choice. I went just a little bigger, with the Jet 1100 and Wynn's cartridge too. I have a 14" BS and 10" TS in a 1-1/2 car garage, about 200 sq ft, and am very pleased with the whole setup.

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

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]How loud is the one that you bought? If it was 5 feet away would it be to loud for you?
[/QUOTE]
The Jet Web site says 60 - 70 dB; somewhere between normal conversation and the loudness of a vacuum cleaner. I think that's accurate. I've stood next to it while using my bandsaw and it wasn't bad at all. I think the bandsaw is louder. I'm not sure how it would be in a small room. While my shop space is small, I'm in the corner of a fair-size room.

Hope this helps. I find it a hard thing to be precise about.

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

This is all great to hear. I am about to build a shop in my basement and have just started looking around at dust collection. I will have to check out the Jet. Actually have settled on a Jet band saw and 6" jointer so its good to see other like the Jet name.

Hesh, what tools do you need dust collection for? I ask because I have a 500 cfm dust collector with a cyclone trash can, and a fein vac. The fein vac goes to the drill press for drum sanding and the band saw, and of course general shop cleaning. The dust collector I use on a table saw and I have a hood I sand in front of. For a small shop without a drum sander I thinkk I would just get the vac. It does not sound like shop vac.
Oh yeh, jusy bought a ROS and it hooks up to the vac also and it sands dust free. My .02$. forget the vac for planers, jointers, big wood eating machines.
Mike

I was having the same debate as many of you about dust collection, so here's what I did: Right now, I just use a heavy duty shop vac that I can wheel around to each of my tools, but then I have the biggest JET air filtration system in the shop. My shop is a large closed off area in the basement. My main concern is that I move every 2-3 years in the military and didn't want to setup an elaborate dust collector until I retire into a permanant house, but I didn't want to be sucking dust. The shop-vac doesn't really gather fine dust, it just cuts down on the sweeping I have to do. The JET air filtration system gets all the little stuff, but it takes a little longer. Anytime I make sawdust, I wear a dustmask the entire time and run the JET. The JET can filter all the air in my basement in 8-14 minutes, so usually after 30-60 minutes I take off the dustmask and everything is great. I have lots of other things stored in the basement and so far, I've done the white glove test and haven't seen any dust. I think the key for me is to use the mask in conjunction with the filtration system. That is probably good advice for most of use.

Cheers!

John

John C. was wise to get the cartridge filter for the Jet 650. John E.'s method, wearing a good dust mask at all times (while generating dust) and filtering the fine dust out of the air, also sounds good. The point is, to protect your health, you've got to have _fine_ filtration, much finer than machines like the Jet 650 can do with its factory bag on top, between your lungs and the dust. I'm just saying this as a general reminder.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

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

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