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Well the shop is getting closer and closer, I finally got the shed finished and all the mechanicals installed, here is a before shot on the shed when they delivered it with the wrong specs We argued with the builder and even offered to pay to have it fixed and they wanted nothing to do with it, I'll certainly never do business with them again.....



So out came the nail guns and saws all and away we went, we split the roof in half, re-shingled, moved it into place where we wanted it in the first place. Then we ran electrical (both 110 and 220), insulated and then I drywalled, painted and put in some flooring and ended up with this:





last week I got the delivery of my Temptest Dust Collector from Penn State. Woolson has one and highly reccomended it, so here are some stats on it:

2.5 HP Motor running at 220v
14" Impeller
1450 CFM
12.5" Statis Pressure

By this point the UPS guy knows me pretty well and was laughing when he delivered saying it was probably some expensive tool I bought

But as fate would have it we had planned to go on a trip to get a quiet weekend for just Michelle and I so it sat in the shed in boxes until the following monday





So monday I grabbed my oldest son and we started working on it:





It took us a couple of days to assemble it, not because it was hard but because I had to build a brace for it, assemble things with Silicone and let things cure. I also had to wire in the Remote Control system and lots of little details and I didn't want to rush. Here are some finished pics (I still haven't run all the DC pipes just yet, still need to work out a few little details:




So Paul was right this thing is an absolute monster, we ran just the impeller in the shop when assembling and it's so powerful it's just scary. I finally got the last of the pieces in last night and hooked up a switch this morning and fired it up...

WWWWWOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!

It's like an F-15 taking off in the shed, it's beyond powerful. I had a 1.5hp delta dust collector before and it was pretty powerful but it was NOTHING compared to this monster!. My scientific test was to put my hand near the intake and quickly pull it away because I was worried about it getting pulled in, I'm working on laying out the DC pipes to place my order, I used Penn States design service and it was very helpful but I have to make some tweaks to make sure I get all the right parts. The one downside is I'm going to have to run a 180 deg elbow to get it out of the shed and into the shop so I'm researching the longest curve I can make to do that.

So if your thinking of getting a good dust collector I highly reccomend you check out Penn State, the quality was top notch, the instructions where easy and the product is beyond what I hoped for.

In other happenings I got another request this morning for another Fanned Fret guitar, I just can't seem to stay away from the dang things

And finally if your interested I've been doing some tinkering with HDV video, I shot some footage from our trip to the mountains put together a little video to show where we stayed and how full the river and lake was this time of year, you can see the video here:

McCall HD Video

Or for those with lower bandwidth:

McCall Video

Sorry Mac guys it's in Windows Media only (although if your using OSX you should be able to play it)...

I have some new projects coming up that will require me to do some video work so we invested in a good HD camera and I've been learning my chops with it. Lot's of fun

Cheers

-Paul-

_________________
-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Looks very similar to an Oneida. The Oneida will also suck you in.....gotta get me one of these!

So how much does this unit cost including delivery?

Inquiring minds want to know...

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Lookin good Paul, When do you expect to get back to work?

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Holy crud that looks expensive. Very nice but expensive.
Cheers
Charliewood

Don the unit was about $900 total, I ordered the remote control system with 8 gates at the same time and a hood for the table saw and I think the total order was still under a grand. I'm pretty sure the next time the neighbors dog goes on a barking fit I can just snake some 7" pipe over the fence and take care of the problem I figure all the metal tubing will be about another $800 total...

Good Question John, I have orders stacking up now along with other projects, we are shooting for July 1st to be back in full production mode. There's just been so much that has been slowing me down, that stupid shed, ordering tools and building things, and of course all this costs money. With the CNC we are on the verge of going broke on the shop, but we decided that it was time to invest in this and make a real run at it.

I've spent more on this shop than I have on anything else, everyday it gets closer and closer to being up and running...

-Paul-

_________________
-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Niiiice...

I've more or less settled on cannibalizing a blower/dust collecter for the impeller/motor section, and using Bill Pentz's plans to make myself a Cyclone. Don't have the cash/build enough to warrant the outlay to buy one, but I am rather fond of my lungs...

I tell you what though Mattia

900 USD is a great price for that extractor don't you think ?

I've not seen anything in Europe that compares for less than the 1600 Euro Mark.

[QUOTE=RussellR] I tell you what though Mattia

900 USD is a great price for that extractor don't you think ?

I've not seen anything in Europe that compares for less than the 1600 Euro Mark.[/QUOTE]

Well, yeah, that's pretty much the point. First of all, I've hardly seen ANY extractors that look like they handle fine dust (which is my main worry, honestly) properly, let alone at any half-way sane price point. I'll spend 1600 (or more) on a bandsaw, but not on a dust collection system for a small (tiny) shop...900, which is about 700 euros at today's exchange rates, will get you an Elektra-Beckum bag-type collector over here, albeit one of the bigger ones; after reading the docs and Bill Pentz's website, I'm not convinced it'd do much to help my lungs stay healthy. Alternately, import-blower, large motor, for 200-300, sheet metal, bit of welding/riveting tools for another few hundred, a couple dozen hours of work....

we'll see :-)Mattia Valente38843.7627546296

Don't forget to install a return air duct from the shed back to your shop, or you'll suck out the heat/ air conditioning along with the dust.

Al

Wow, great looking video, and beautiful guitar music!
Is that you playing?

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Mattia... Your right it won't get all the fine stuff, I'll be adding a central filter unit to the shop as well (hanging from the ceiling) to try and get some of that, but this certainly can't hurt ;)

Good point Al, didn't think of that :)

Thanks Don... but that's certainly not me....

There are three Artists in that track:

Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek
David Ragsdale who played with Kansas for a while
and Steve Morse is the last piece.

All great players...

-Paul-

_________________
-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

At 1450 CFM, it won't take long.

Al

Thanks for sharing this follow up on your shop and dust collector Paul, it was really interesting! I can't wait to see what you'll be building soon!

Thanks also for that great video and the lovely music, this place is just awesome and peaceful!

Wanna see more!

Serge

Paul: with that much CFM and good hoods, methinks it should do a pretty decent job. It's the fact the filters will catch out the nasties that helps, but yeah, extra air cleaner's always a good idea.

I've emailed Penn State with an inquiry regarding possible shipping, but I fear that unless they're willing to pallet ship it over, it's going to double the price, at least...that 'standard style' 12" version looks tempting...but I'll probably just roll my own, seeing the weights of the various components, and the statement on the website about only using UPS Express shipping for international orders (eek!)

Heavy duty! Looks like top quality stuff!

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Todd: good point. I always wear a mask when cutting (a 3M respirator, actually; doesn't fog my glasses, nice, lightweight, comfortable), but I want to have dust collection/air cleaning to clean the air so I can take it off a few minutes after I'm done working the stuff :-)

Todd...

Good idea... Penn State sells a sensor that warns you when the canister is getting full, they also have a little adapter you can add that will do two collection cans at the same time. Haven't decided exactly what to do with that just yet, I do agree on the exotics, I have a fully hooded dust max that I use when cutting something that's not good for me.

Once I finish getting it all hooked up then I'll start playing with some more options in the shed, Woolson told me his fills up really quickly and I believe him and I know I'm going to have to do someting about it, just not sure what yet.

Cheers

-Paul-

_________________
-Paul-

Patriot Guitars