Hard-Line Dust Piping: Best Practices

Follow these best practices to get the most out of your dust collection system.

- Logan Wittmer

I don't think that there has been something that's increased my enjoyment in the shop as much as getting a good dust collection system in place. I enjoy working in a clean space, and any rogue dust drives me nuts (let alone is a health hazard and isn't great for our video and photo equipment). So, as we moved into our new shop, I knew that getting the right system in place, and planning the proper layout was a key part of this journey.

Having a lot of questions, I started researching and planning out this system. However, there is a lot of information (and misinformation) out there. Luckily, I know some people. So, I reached out to Jeff Hill, CEO at Oneida Air Systems to pick his brain on dust collection layout and best practices. Here's what I learned.

BEST PRACTICES

Rule #1. The first rule is to do your research and make sure your dust collector is sized for your tools and air requirements. Unfortunately, for us, this meant upgrading from a Supercell (which I loved) to a 5hp Dust Gorilla Pro with Smart Boost. We have bigger tools, with bigger ports, and oftentimes have multiple people working in the shop. We just needed more air. I'm also going to throw in here that you should place your dust collector where it can have as straight of a run as possible into the dust collector- this helps with the separation.

Rule #2: Place the tool with the highest demand closest to the dust collector. For most of us, that is the planer and the jointer. They produce the most shavings and need the most airflow and pressure to get everything to the dust collector.