I thought I had sent this along already but looking through the sent items I
didn't.
Recently I made a stop at the Raleigh Woodcraft store to compare notes on dust
collectors. Before I left, I bought the Steel City 1.5 HP model 65200 dust
collector. True, I don't have any other brands to compare with. But when we
went shopping, we did spend a lot of time comparing the different brands in the
store. There was "portable models" one HP and pulled about 600 CFM. And all
of the big names had models on display to play the what if game.
Noise levels all seemed close enough to each other. Canister or not seems to
be a big argument too. I honestly didn't see the reason to argue that point.
A canister runs an extra $200 or so and doesn't offer anything in the way of
retaining finer dust particles. In fact the models with a canister came up far
short as far as filtering, about 20 microns or so.
What I can tell you is the Steel City model pulls about 1200 CFM through a 4
inch hose. It comes standard with 2 4 inch ports, a length of heavy duty hose
and a one micron dust filter. The filter is washable instead of having to
replace it, and a one micron filter alone is worth between $40 and $60
additional if purchased separately.
Out of the box it is all assembly required. The motor attaches to the base
plate, 4 heavy duty casters need attached to the under side of the base and
then the parts for the collection area go on. All of the hardware is packaged
in separate bags for each section to be assembled. A very nice idea if reading
directions causes a problem like it does with me.
I managed to put mine together in about an hour with no extra help or having to
have anyone read the directions.
This thing really sucks! In a good way of course. I had run my table saw with
a reducer from 4 to 2.5 inches and connected my shop vac to the reducer. That
doesn't work at all well on a hybrid saw with a cabinet. I made the first run
by connecting the hose to the port on my saw and turned the collector on. Wow!
You can hear the chips being pulled through the hose.
Once I had it running, I had to cut some dado joints through some oak plywood.
It did a great job since the wood stopped much of the dust being thrown into
the shop and caused it to fall through the plate.
Going back to a regular blade, I made some dust fly that couldn't be collected.
I got the not so bright idea to use the 4 inch hose as a super shop vac.
Think many times before doing this, and then decide against it.
This is the strongest shop vac you'll ever use. I took a hand broom and
instead of using a dust pan, I was sweeping directly into the hose. Just get
close to it and the dust disappears. I just went to town cleaning the whole
top of my saw. I have a Biesemeyer fence and the flat wide surface of the
fence is too much to resist. As with any flat surface, it makes a convenient
place to set things temporarily. I had set the remote for my air conditioner
on the fence while the saw wasn't being used. And without thinking, I swept
the top of the fence and the remote toward the hose. Yep, it will take the
remote just like a block of wood. Doesn't stand up at all well to the impeller
either.
If anyone is thinking of getting a dust collector for the shop, give the Steel
City model some serious consideration. Standard is a one micron filter, your
choice of wiring the motor to run on 110 or 220 volts. Stock is 110 VAC. A
totally enclosed fan cooled motor and a five year warranty. That is tops in
the industry. I'm sure you'd appreciate this monster if you got one. Unless of
course, you manage to suck up your remote too.
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