Valleywood
Member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2013
- Messages
- 24
I really don't want to argue about any of this stuff. I'll just relay what I have learned and my solution.
We retired to a quiet farming community after a long career in Atlanta. As a result of health concerns that are not worthy of discussion, I had a pulmonary physician inform me that I had a choice: 1) all HEPA filters everywhere in my shop or 2) give up woodworking. He also informed me that if I can see sawdust it most likely won't hurt me. The dangerous stuff is nearly invisible and the biggest culprit was sanding. He is a woodworker. He told me to use Festool sanders.
Somewhere is a discussion of Oneida dust control but darned if I can find it, so I'm re-opening the topic. I have a HEPA Fein vacuum. I prefer Fein as a vacuum because I have had one for so long. Prolly just used to it. I use it to pick up off my Kapex and DeWalt track saw. It does really well. It is also my go-to vacuum for the shop. I have it set up to use bags before the dust gets to the HEPA filter. HEPAs are expensive.
I have two sanders, both Festool. They are hooked up to a dedicated Festool CT-36 (right designation?) with snorkel. I sand on a downdraft table I made (actually side-draft) that is hooked up to a Oneida mini-gorilla. Between the two filters I feel well protected. The mini gorilla also can be moved around to other stuff if necessary. It also is HEPA with associated expensive filter replacement cost.
All of my floor equipment is hooked up to 6" spiral pipe that leads to a 3-HP Oneida V-System and it also is HEPA. I try very hard to run it only for stationary equipment. Talk about expensive . . . . THAT filter is really big bucks.
Additionally I have a JET shop filter. It sits up high and is great for keeping the shop clean, but not useful for sawdust that is damaging.
Here's my rational: The JET helps to save the filter on my mini-gorilla with its expensive HEPA filter. Why not make a connection of my sanding table to the big V-system? Because the HEPA for that is crushingly expensive. It is far cheaper to replace the HEPA on the mini-gorilla repeatedly than to replace the V-system HEPA once. Plus it's movable.
Customer service for Festool is excellent. Fein is good. Oneida is great and execution of purchase orders is even better. I love all three companies. Oneida gives out free advice and will help with dust control plans. I can't say enough about them.
FWIW, Oneida engineers are still engineers. I asked them to design and sell a shop filter. Their response was WTTE, well, you have that big V-System, just let it run and it will clean up the air in your shop in a jiffy. Fair point. Nevertheless, that HEPA is expensive and the system makes noise. I hate noise. I'm trying to convince them to build a HEPA HVLP quiet filter that I can run constantly. So, no, I don't think they're perfect. But they are pretty bleep good. And their products in my experience are great.
So there you have it. Three companies & three great products with great customer support. They have my support and I buy stuff from them on faith because I live in the country. Great results so far and I tend to be very very cranky.
Fair Disclosure: I am retired. I saved money for 40 years to build this shop. I don't sell anything but do make stuff for charity auctions. Cost is almost no object but I try not to be silly. And no, I can't justify spending any of this money except that I have waited so long.
And I love this site for all the good advice.
We retired to a quiet farming community after a long career in Atlanta. As a result of health concerns that are not worthy of discussion, I had a pulmonary physician inform me that I had a choice: 1) all HEPA filters everywhere in my shop or 2) give up woodworking. He also informed me that if I can see sawdust it most likely won't hurt me. The dangerous stuff is nearly invisible and the biggest culprit was sanding. He is a woodworker. He told me to use Festool sanders.
Somewhere is a discussion of Oneida dust control but darned if I can find it, so I'm re-opening the topic. I have a HEPA Fein vacuum. I prefer Fein as a vacuum because I have had one for so long. Prolly just used to it. I use it to pick up off my Kapex and DeWalt track saw. It does really well. It is also my go-to vacuum for the shop. I have it set up to use bags before the dust gets to the HEPA filter. HEPAs are expensive.
I have two sanders, both Festool. They are hooked up to a dedicated Festool CT-36 (right designation?) with snorkel. I sand on a downdraft table I made (actually side-draft) that is hooked up to a Oneida mini-gorilla. Between the two filters I feel well protected. The mini gorilla also can be moved around to other stuff if necessary. It also is HEPA with associated expensive filter replacement cost.
All of my floor equipment is hooked up to 6" spiral pipe that leads to a 3-HP Oneida V-System and it also is HEPA. I try very hard to run it only for stationary equipment. Talk about expensive . . . . THAT filter is really big bucks.
Additionally I have a JET shop filter. It sits up high and is great for keeping the shop clean, but not useful for sawdust that is damaging.
Here's my rational: The JET helps to save the filter on my mini-gorilla with its expensive HEPA filter. Why not make a connection of my sanding table to the big V-system? Because the HEPA for that is crushingly expensive. It is far cheaper to replace the HEPA on the mini-gorilla repeatedly than to replace the V-system HEPA once. Plus it's movable.
Customer service for Festool is excellent. Fein is good. Oneida is great and execution of purchase orders is even better. I love all three companies. Oneida gives out free advice and will help with dust control plans. I can't say enough about them.
FWIW, Oneida engineers are still engineers. I asked them to design and sell a shop filter. Their response was WTTE, well, you have that big V-System, just let it run and it will clean up the air in your shop in a jiffy. Fair point. Nevertheless, that HEPA is expensive and the system makes noise. I hate noise. I'm trying to convince them to build a HEPA HVLP quiet filter that I can run constantly. So, no, I don't think they're perfect. But they are pretty bleep good. And their products in my experience are great.
So there you have it. Three companies & three great products with great customer support. They have my support and I buy stuff from them on faith because I live in the country. Great results so far and I tend to be very very cranky.
Fair Disclosure: I am retired. I saved money for 40 years to build this shop. I don't sell anything but do make stuff for charity auctions. Cost is almost no object but I try not to be silly. And no, I can't justify spending any of this money except that I have waited so long.
And I love this site for all the good advice.
