Extraction mine field !

[Tazio]

Hello i have been in the process of selling off all my big joinery kit and moving to a much smaller workshop with just me in it as opposed to the 4 joiners i used to employ sort of semi retirement i guess however i will still be doing quite a bit just scaled down but the 24" thicknesser has gone the 17" jointer is for sale and the spindle has also gone .. these have been replaced with a Hammer a3 31 spiral block planer/thincknesser and incra router table so hopefully this gives an indecation of what sort of kit i will now be using ... when the thicknesser was sold the Airplants extraction system went at the same time so now i am left with a pretty basic 3hp double extractor that was hitched up to the watkin PBR resaw.
So anyway i need a new extractor i will be using my Mafell s35m extractors to service the rail saw ,kepex and duo dowller plus domino ect but the new Hammer a3 31 and incra router table with bottom clean easy box requires a bigger beast . Anyway i have cyclones fitted to my mafell extractors and have been very pleased so thinking of a compact/short Cyclone for the bigger one .
I have after much research narrowed it down to 2 the Axminster AP176CEH and the Laguna P flux 1 Hepa i want to go hepa whatever i choose and both of these are! obvously i am only extracting off these small mechines with short 125" spiral ducking runs to each so both should be big enough for the job the intersting thing is looking at the specs the Laguna is much more transparent over the specs with alot more detail including impeller size of 340mm and the fact it is balanced and steel as opposed to Axminster that simple states the impeller as alloy ! whats interesting is the airflow figures although the Axi has the bigger 1.5KW motor with the Laguna weighing in with a 1.1kw motor the Laguna still has both better flow rates including higher static pressure !.. which makes me think although the Laguna has a smaller motor it is more efficent .
Do any of you have any expereince of these mechines because it would be good to have some feed back before purchase the Laguna is quite a bit more expensive than the Axi but has some nice additonal features so maybe worth it .. anyway i am only uesd to large purpose built extraction so any imput would be appreciated .
As for the arguments over short cyclones and there effeicncy i am aware of those but to be fair any system that helps relieve the hepa filter is good even if not 100 percent of the taller full sized cyclones which of course require alot more space and i am in the process of sliming down hence the compact cyclone.

 

[Doug B]

Have you thought of converting your existing 3hp extractor to a cyclone, I’ve just done this with my old Axminster extractor which I would have preferred to be 3hp as you do lose some suction.
I managed to to keep my design to roughly the same footprint as the old extractor this was important as I’m really tight for space, this is the extractor as it was

& this is the cyclone version

There’s still enough suction to clear the waste from my A3-41 which was my main concern but another 1hp would have been nice, that said very little gets through to the bag with the vast majority ending up in the bin.

This was really well worth doing particularly as I’d previously altered the extractor to a single 6” pipe extractor & whilst it sucked like the proverbial cheap hooker the fine filter clogged at an alarming rate & I was spending way too much time cleaning it out.

 

[Tazio]

Oh many thanks yes i had considered it the problem with that is this is out in a room where the resaw is and so not connected to my main airplants system so the unit is a simple double bagger as supplied by blyth mechinary with the resaw so i would have to purchase the Hepa filters plus a cyclone and all the gubbins which i think would pretty expensive ... is that a oneida cyclone ? did you have to purchase the filter ?

 

[Doug B]

It is a Oneida cyclone I’ve been using their Dust Deputy for many years & am well pleased with it which is one of the reasons I opted for their large version.
I’ve had the filter since I got the machine about 15 years ago, it more than likely wants replacing but it still seems to work well, though I’ve now found a local place that sells filters at a reasonable price so will be looking into getting a new one from them before to long.
Before I do I’m thinking of upgrading the impeller/motor assembly to a 3hp unit & as this might alter the filter I need I’ll hold fire for now on getting a new filter.

 

[baldkev]

You'll find the manufacturers specs are at best unreliable. If you have a chance to see one working near you, do that. I'd pick the laguna out of the two.
I bought a 2nd hand tripple bag industrial extractor off ebay ( cheap ) and made my own 'cyclone'. I previously used a blue feed bin with my inadequate axminster extractor and nothing much got past the bin! I didnt need to empty the axminster bag.

So i did a similar thing with the new setup, which was crudely put together to get it functional. Turns out the 'cyclone' is totally pointless on this system, with the bottom of the red bin in the photos open, and the 3 6" ports, it suck chips up off my hand at the base of the red bin! Its 4' away!!!
I had made an exhaust chute going outside for the air, but now ive got to built a dust shed and do away with the bin and tower arrangement.

The photos are in the middle of putting it together, so the workshop was a bomb site

 

[Fanous]

I can't comment on those two, I have the cheaper axminster extractor AW118CE, which serves me well. Only using it for my jointer thicknesser. The cyclone works well, barely any dust in the bag under the filter. The only thing I was unhappy about was the bag under the cyclone, which I've replace with small cubboard and a drawer. Hustle free now.