dust collector

TOOL NEWS: Clear Vue Cyclones out of business

Written on May 3, 2010 at 3:02 pm , by Bob Hunter

As of May 1, Clear Vue Cyclones, makers of the see-through two-stage dust collectors, closed its doors and will no longer sell new dust-collection equipment. According to an annoucement on the company’s Web site, Clear Vue will fill existing orders and continue to support previously sold units for an unspecified length of time.

Shop Re-org Chapter 7

Written on July 27, 2008 at 9:30 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

Finally, a weekend of real progress. After finding sewer and drain line in white, I got down to plumbing in the duct work. I’m using 6″ ductwork with 4″ wyes on three of the four drops. (The fourth is a 6″ wye.) The toughest part was getting the duct from the DC down to the sill where the main line will run. I puzzled over how to do this with the fewest turns, then realized that simply by turning the DC 90°, I could get the angle I needed:

DC hookup

This is the first wye. I installed another 4x4x4″ wye below it to branch off to the disc/belt sander and to the bandsaw. Read more

Shop Reorg, Chapter 4

Written on June 30, 2008 at 9:46 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

This weekend was gorgeous! I should have been out on the bike exploring backroads, and searching for great pie shops, but with $4 gas and a shop in the condition mine is in, it wasn’t hard to spend time working on my cabinet.

I got a lot done. A third old cabinet was sold, my daughter unloaded some of her old toys that were taking up room (thank goodness for  Craigslist. I’m not affiliated, but certainly a satisfied user!) and that made it easier to move around the shop/garage. Here’s the cabinet with drawers installed:

Drawers, no fronts

Read more

Shop Reorg, Chapter 3

Written on June 23, 2008 at 9:50 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

Shop Reorg – The cause, the solution

Written on June 16, 2008 at 9:53 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

Oh man, do I want this cabinet built and done with. My shop looks like it’s been turned upside down and shaken.

To ready the old cabinets for sale, I had to empty the contents into boxes. Those boxes are piled on and around my second bench. The cabinets then went to the front of the garage, leaving j-u-s-t enough outfeed space at the jointer. The motorcycle had to be moved over to within inches from the sheet goods rack. And I only sold one of the old cabinets, so the larger of the two still sits in the garage. The carcase of the new cabinet lies on its back in the middle of the floor by the main bench. There’s j-u-s-t enough room for me to squeeze around it. And that’s only possible because I’m not a very big guy. The bench is piled with tools and hardware. The wing of the table saw is piled with drawer parts. And I still have to step over that #!*% DC duct a hundred times a day!

I’m able to work and find what I need, but shimmying sideways around the cabinet carcase is getting old. And that cabinet is the key to getting everything reorganized. Odd isn’t it? The cause of the problem is also the solution.

Craig Ruegsegger

Shop Reorg – Chapter 1

Written on June 9, 2008 at 9:55 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

Okay, here’s a photo of the shop as it stands now. Believe it or not, I tidied up before taking this. The new DC is in the foreground. The arrow points to the hose I have to step over every time i enter the shop. Not good. Plus I have to wheel it around to reach the bandsaw. The arrow toward the top of the photo points to the old cabinets back in the corner that are going bye-bye to make room for the DC back there. A run of 6″ duct from the DC, along the wall under the window will allow for branches to each machine.

Here’s a look at the old cabinets. Just salvaged from friends when they were remodeling. Think I paid $35 total for both. They’ve served well, but they’re sure ugly. Read more

One thing leads to another

Written on June 2, 2008 at 10:03 am , by Craig Ruegsegger

I’ve acquired a new dust collector, a 1 1/2hp Jet. It’s just enough bigger than my old machine, footprint-wise, that I need to do some rearranging of the shop so I’m not tripping over the hose. So I measured all the tools, cabinets and my bench, made scale drawings of them and my shop and then proceeded to start arranging things on paper. Much easier than pushing machines around. It’s also something you have to really think about. One factor I neglected to consider initially was room for me! So I made an additional scale of about 30″ square and called it “My Space”. Then after getting machines in the positions I thought would work, I moved “My Space” around to see if I could fit between the machines and had enough room to work. I also made a scale of a 4′x8′ sheet so I could test whether I’d have enough room to move sheet goods.