Venting outside and ducting - I am brand new to dust collection

E

egbell

New member
My home is a double-wide mobile home on a full foundation. That means other than ductwork and the cellar door, my living space is closed off from my unheated (finished) basement. We use propane, and only for the furnace. My shop is a 16x25 section of the basement with a ceiling just over 7 foot. The whole basement is about 1100 square feet, all with roughly the same ceiling height. It is ‘suspended’, but I used tracks and the ‘suspension’ is VERY minimal. There are two offices and a common area in my basement in addition to my shop. Everything is in its own closed area. We heat our offices (2) and my shop with electric heaters and it is not air-conditioned. It is cool all year without that.

I have a 10 inch radial saw, a 10 inch table saw, a 12 inch compound miter saw, a 6 inch jointer, a 12 inch planer, a portable jigsaw, a bench size drill press and a small belt/disk sander, a Greenie ShopSmith, and two routers, one bench mounted and one I use for dadoes, etc. I also have portable power tools (belt sander, orbital sander, and circular saw) that I will deal with in time.

I have decided on Clear Vue CV1800 for dust collection. I’m going to do my whole setup with 6” PVC as much as possible and the absolute minimum of flexible pipe. I believe I can cover all of my tools/needs with two main runs, one about 6 or 8 feet and one about 16 feet. The drops will be short because the ceiling is low.

I have some questions I hope this forum can answer. I don’t know if what I am going to do is overkill, but I believe in buying the best I can afford and only crying one time. I have no dust collection in my shop right now and absolutely no experience with it at all.

1) I want to vent outside. The technician at Clear Vue said I would need a door or window open while running the unit to allow for air circulation, which probably makes venting outside impossible, but I have to ask… since I will only ever use this system with one machine at a time, and for limited amounts of time, is opening a door really necessary. (Her recommendation was side by side filters with a plenum to connect them and exit ports into a shared, air-tight hopper. )

I’m willing to buy the filters if that is absolutely necessary but I’d like to hear that from more than one source. I’m not minimizing what I was told. I just need to hear it from more than one authority because the cost difference is significant and the little I've read so far indicates that outside is the best option. I get the high change of air number, but it seems to me that that is based on a snapshot of air movement passing through an opening at a given point at a given moment and not something that is going to make my shop implode after 5 minutes running. I would prefer to vent outside. I don’t want to give that up until I hear from more people on running a dust collector without opening door/window.

2) My research indicates a five foot straight run is necessary/recommended right off the collector. Can there be drops from this or must this be an uninterrupted 5 foot run. My shop IS small and my current plans would make this inconvenient. I intend to have the best I can have but I don’t want to go off the deep end for perfect when very good is a better use of my money.

Any help or advice will be much appreciated. It may raise other questions. Everything will help!

Thank you!
e.g.bell
 
Hi e.g., welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have a good plan for your situation. Here are some thoughts relative to your two questions:
  1. If you vent to the outside, you will get the best air quality possible. But, you will have to plan on how that air gets replaced. The blower is powerful enough that it's going to pull replacement air from somewhere. If it can't pull replacement air, you create a backflow restriction on the blower and risk reducing the overall air flow of the unit. This is why the general recommendation is "open a door or window". And, you would not want that door or window to be right adjacent to your vent for the exhaust or you'll be sucking unfiltered exhaust air back into your shop. FWIW, I looked at doing the same for my basement shop, but decided not to vent directly outside but to use filters because of all of this.
  2. For best performance, keep that five foot straight run off of the inlet uninterrupted. The point of the five foot straight run is to have smooth non-turbulent air flow into the cyclone for best separation performance. Placing a wye along that straight run for a drop will introduce turbulence, so if you must do it to accommodate your space limitations, keep it as far from the inlet as possible so you still have several feet of uninterrupted straight run - ideally five feet!
Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out for you. We all learn from our shared experiences.

Best of luck on your installation,
​​​​​​​Rush
 
Thank you!

That is an excellent answer. It does help a lot because, however I go, I plan on acting within the next 5 days. Since Clear Vue does not seem to have weekend hours, I was resigning myself to having to wait until Monday to place the order. Your turnaround response changed that.

The note about the 5 foot 'quiet' zone was definitive, at least for me. I do have a question about the venting, though your answer is pretty compelling. My door to the outside would not be adjacent to an outside vent, though it is something I had not thought about. It would be about 25 feet away and around a corner.

My cellar wall is cement block. I framed the entire perimeter with 2x4s and insulated with 3.5 inch fibreglass insulation. My shop walls are 7/16 flakeboard on top of that. I have one door to the outside, but if I were to have a hole cut into my block wall for venting for the same diameter as what I am going to use for my duct work (6"), would that be enough to accommodate the needed replacement air? I came to that as I contemplated having a small venting window installed just for all of this. Does any of this seem to be more trouble than whatever I would gain by the outside vent? Obviously the cost of that window would probably equal or exceed the cost of the filters. That would be ok if it would be worth the cost. I'm already thinking that with the duct work and the modifications I'll have to make to the dust collector (plenums, dust hopper because of my low ceilings) and my tools to attach to the system I'm looking at late fall or winter before being totally done. I just don't want to get there and wish I had explored that one last alternative. Even asking this has made me think it might be wise to get an estimate on such a window/vent. But still, any observation would be very valuable from someone who has already weighed all of this.

There is one other bit of information. I am in north western Pennsylvania, just an hour out of New York. I am not in a warm-all-year climate, so any open window or door does have another impact on my unheated shop, though I don't anticipate running this that long on any occasion. I'm just heartset on the best possible air, within reason. I'm looking for reason.


Again, thank you for the response and for making it so quickly.
 
You're welcome! I live in Virginia and have to both heat in the winter and cool in the summer, plus high humidity during many times in the year. I didn't want to lose by "conditioned" air to the outdoors so I went with filters. I'm also in a low ceiling room and will be building a manifold to house the two filters side-by-side. I'm also using 10" HVAC insulated flexible duct from the straight line clear PVC exhaust transition that Clear Vue provides. When I ordered the standard "bundle", Cathy was happy to make swap of the standard 90 degree transition for a straight transition at no additional cost. At first she sent a transition with a steel ring intended for attaching 8" flex because the straight clear PVC transition is sized for 8" PVC pipe. With the 10" flex hose, I'm betting that the straight transition will be a good match for my installation. I should find out in another couple of weeks as I get this all installed. Electrician is coming tomorrow (hurray!) and I've finished building my free-standing mounting stand for the cyclone that will also me to raise the motor up between the floor joist to gain a bit more height.

Good luck!
 
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I just placed my order and will start the actual adventure next week. Cathy, the technician, said many people with side-by-side filters just get 2 clean out boxes, which had not occurred to me. I did that. The cost is just a bit less than the difference between the plenum and one of the boxes. I had figured on making a clean out box attached to both filters and requesting substitution of the plenum for the clean out box that comes with the bundle. I got dimensions for that box and this is going to work out very well for me. I'm thinking I can make it out of PVC boards.

I have lots more to buy...pipe, blast gates, etc. and I will research each step. I expect to have a lot more questions. I truly hate shopping but I could not push this off on my wife. The biggest bit is done now though. Thanks again for the help. It made the difference between ordering this week and next week, and I'm sure I'm going to be back with more questions. They will be other topics.

I do have one other question about ducting that I forgot to ask Cathy. The site offers flexible pipe at 6" diameter for $70 and says it is either 10 foot or 25 foot. Is it $70 for either or am I just missing the price on the site?
 
Thank you for your purchase with us!

A 10' length of 6" hose retails for $70 plus shipping. A 25' length retails for $165 plus shipping.
 
e.g., congrats on making the leap! As to your blast gates, I encourage you to consider using the Clear Vue blast gates. I like them because the fit on the outside of the pipe thereby retaining the full inside diameter of your line. The Lee Valley aluminum blast gates are very highly regarded, but they fit on the inside of the pipe, thus reducing the diameter a bit at each gate. Also, if you are using the white 2729 PVC S&D pipe, you will find the the Lee Valley blast gates a bit of a sloppy fit since they are sized to fit the inside diameter of the SDR35 green PVC pipe. The outside diameters of the 2729 and SDR35 are the same, but the SDR35 has thicker walls, resulting in a slightly smaller inside diameter.

A further thought: if you update your order to include the blast gates, Cathy may be able to get them packaged inside one of the other shipping boxes to minimize your shipping cost.
 
I like the idea of the blast gate pipes fitting outside. That is something I wondered about anyway. It seemed like there would be a ledge in the pipe and you have confirmed that it would be better without one.

I looked at the 'blemished/factory seconds' blast gates for sale on the ClearVue site. I toyed with getting 5 or 6 with my order. What held me back is just how I approach things like this. The research is overwhelming, but I do it. I don't know how many for sure I'll need. (one or two for my radial saw? One or two for my table saw. How many for my mitre saw, etc.) I'm planning on 6" ducting for as much of the system as possible, with an absolute minimum of flexible hose, but what if I have to change that? There are a LOT of things new or unknown to me here and I'm just very cautious about things until I'm satisfied I know what I need. I'm not there yet when it comes to buying blast gates.

I am seeing videos and plans for auto-actuated blast gates... probably too pricey for my taste. I see a lot of plans for blast gates I can build myself, one, a 'rocker' type that is quite clever. I saw a video yesterday where a guy made an MDF die, heated (with a heat gun) green PVC pipe (small sections) and flanged them, which would enable me to do what you suggest with blast gates I build myself that would fit over the pipe. That one bit of information you offered about the fit on the outside of the pipe is very compelling. This technique would enable me to do that. I have wondered to myself if Y's and elbows could be made using the same technique. I am doing LOTS of research and thinking on these things.

Right now I'm researching the duct work and it is daunting. I was determined to go PVC but the prices on 6" fittings is having some effect. I don't anticipate needing many elbows (45 degrees or less), but I will need quite a few Y's. The gentle angle suggested is proving difficult to find. I found a link suggesting stove pipe. I have not gotten very far with that research yet. I ran out of time and energy yesterday, but I will be looking at the fittings available for that too.

I would still prefer PVC, I'm just working right now to find a source for what I need. I know I'm not the first person to do this, so the stuff is out there. Right now, it is feeling a bit overwhelming. Can you make any suggestions about where I can look for the pipe and where I can look for PVC fittings. I have seen people say that once fittings are factored into the equation, the cost between metal and PVC is a lot closer. What stores sell the pipes and fittings I need? What sites? The 6" pipe is another thing that seems to make the search a little more difficult.

I expect this to all cost and I'm not going to get the best dust collector available and then the worst, or mediocre, duct work or accessories in the name of a couple hundred dollars. I'm focused on availability and quality, not money. Again.. buy quality the first time and only cry once.

And thanks (to cvcsupport) for the price clarification on the 6" flex hose. I'm not planning on needing a lot, but I will need a source when I figure out how much I do need.
 
It occurred to me after I posted the previous reply that someone else might like the blast gate link I mentioned. There is a flaw in the dimentions on the drawing at the end of the video that was called out in the comments. I will change the design for 6" pipe if I make these, also making the attachment flanged for the outside diameter of the actual pipe. Anyway, this is worth watching if you have not seen it before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oulc3cTy-XY

I hope it is ok to post this link. This really is the most clever idea I saw in everything I've seen so far for home brew blast gates.

I'm finding a lot of sources now for PVC fittings, etc. Menards so far seems to be a good source for reasonable priced 6" PVC 45 degree elbows and Wyes, given the quantity I anticipate needing.
 
e.g., you are doing all the same research that I've done over the past year. LOL! I think we must be kindred spirits. I considered making my own blast gates - not hard to do. The best design I found is the design by Alan Schaffter ("Alan in Little Washington") posted in the North Carolina Woodworker forums. His design uses plastic laminate and the reports I've read about the design in use are very positive: simple to construct, very easy to open/close, very air tight when closed. Bill Pentz endorses the design with the further suggestion of using 6" PVC coupler so the pipe can fit inside the fitting (like the Clear Vue design). See: https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/...ad.php?t=26613

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Blast_Gate-exploded.jpg



When I considered my time versus the cost of purchasing blast gates, I decided to simply buy an initial supply of gates to get me started.

For PVC pipe, look for a store that sells to the irrigation trade. A regular plumbing supply store is not likely to carry the 6" PVC S&D we use, but someone selling to the irrigation trade will have it. You pretty much need to purchase the 10' sticks of pipe locally because of the impossible cost of shipping. For fittings, the best pricing I found was the Genova brand sized to fit 2729 pipe at Zoro.com - free shipping over $50 and they readily accepted return of some fittings I incorrectly specified. Here's a link to their listing:
https://www.zoro.com/search?category...es.209600=6%22
 
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egbell said:
I saw a video yesterday where a guy made an MDF die, heated (with a heat gun) green PVC pipe (small sections) and flanged them, which would enable me to do what you suggest with blast gates I build myself that would fit over the pipe. That one bit of information you offered about the fit on the outside of the pipe is very compelling. This technique would enable me to do that. I have wondered to myself if Y's and elbows could be made using the same technique. I am doing LOTS of research and thinking on these things.
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If you decide to try heating PVC, please do it only in a well ventilated space (preferably outdoors!). When heated, PVC gives off harmful vapor that you should avoid breathing - notwithstanding what you saw the fellow in that video doing.
 
I found a local plumbing supply. It is about 25 or 30 miles away, but when you live in forest, most everything is. My wife and I took a ride yesterday to check Carter Lumber, Lowes, Home Depot, and a lumber yard in Tidioute. That last was the first we visited, and the guy there did not have what I needed, but he recommended a supply house in Titusville. (These are all in northern Pennsylvania). Carter Lumber had what I need at prices I considered quite acceptable. I was only out to source, though, not to buy. Some time later, I got to the plumbing supply. They had everything I needed and the exact same items will be $100 less. Even more acceptable. I have a question here. I have the option of either getting the white or the green thin-wall PVC. The difference is apparently the strength. I am willing to buy the green, which is more. I only need 3 or 4 pieces at very most, but the green pipe and white fittings would drive me crazy. Can either be used with the CV1800 system? I believe so, but it would be good to have that confirmed before I get things in place.

When you say plastic laminate, are you talking about formica? I would not have thought about that, I do work with it. I have a huge piece in my shed I bought for $1 at an auction last year. I guess the formica is glued back to back with contact cement? I like the design and I believe I'm going to try it with the rocker design, which I like. The laminate seems like it would seal and slide better and be a little easier to work with (than all of the plywood and trammel work, and I don't have a bandsaw (yet)) I wonder if it would slide a little too easily to be used in the 'rocker' design. I'll maybe try a prototype.

I have worked with MDF but I always worry about strength and durability. How does it work with contact glue... again presuming that is what is used. I would be a little afraid of it peeling a layer off of the MDF. Living in a forest, humidity is a constant concern too, for MDF. I used it for fences for my mitre saw cabinet and a really slick expanding table for my drill press, and I have plans for a router table that can be used either vertically or horizontally. I'll build it, but not out of MDF. I probably have enough on hand to use for blast gates right now, though, so this is a very welcome, timely suggestion. I guess a couple coats of oil-based poly would address my concerns about the MDF.

As for the PVC forming, I saw another video where a guy put a short length of PVC on a piece of aluminum foil and baked it in the oven for 5 minutes or so to soften it, again to fit over the dust exhaust tube on one of his tools. My wife requested that if I do that, I do it when she is not at home. I'll keep this all in mind. Probably won't do either.
 
The two common Sewer and Drain PVC pipe types are defined by ASTM Statndards D-2729 (white thin wall) and D-3034 (lite green).. The standard includes both bell end and gasketed versions in 4" and 6" (plus other sizes); for dust collection, use the bell end versions. Both have identical exterior diameter so the fittings that you find at big box stores and plumbing houses are usually marked to be compatible with both versions since they have female (socket) connections. Most important for the dust collection realm, the white thin wall pipe still has 3000 pound crushing strength and is perfectly acceptable for our application, plus all of the fittings you'll find are the same pleasing white color. The other benefit is that the wall thickness is thinner so the thin wall white pipe has a larger interior area and more air can flow through it. To the extent possible, use 6" pipe, buy 6x6x6 wyes (you will also find 6x6x4 wyes which can be used for a 4: take off), 6" 45's, 22-1/2 degree elbows, 6" couplings and simple end caps. The 90 degree elbows you find most cases are unacceptable since they are short radius and cause significant static pressure loss (use two 45's and a an 8-10" segment of straight pipe to form a 90 degree turn). I use wyes for every drop and couple a short straight segment to a 45 elbows to complete a 90 degree turn (all wyes must be positioned facing away from the cyclone). Minimize the amount of flexible duct you use as it also has high static pressure loss -- reportedly each foot of flex equals 10' of straight pipe).Like others have sugested, I use ClearVue's blast gates since they fit PVC pipe well and are self-cleaning. Place blast gates as close to the dust source as possible to keep the flexible duct to a minimum. By the way, a good source of flexible duct is from McMaster-Carr; their "very flexible" duct is under $100 for a 25' roll. Since the wall thickness is only 0.015" thick, it is easier to stretch that the thicker flexible host from Wynn Environmental.

Hope this helps...
 
Great summary, McRabbet! Clear Vue would do all of us a huge favor by putting your summary into an FAQ on the site somewhere.

I have the option of either getting the white or the green thin-wall PVC. The difference is apparently the strength. I am willing to buy the green, which is more.
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As McRabbet says, get the white. It is more than adequate for use with a CV1800 or CV1800Max. And it has a larger internal diameter! The white is what most of us use unless we can't find it locally and have to accept the green.

When you say plastic laminate, are you talking about formica?
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Yes, Formica is a brand name for a plastic laminate. Read Alan's article posted at the link I provided earlier and you will have all the information I know about his design. As I said, it has gotten great reviews from others who have followed his instructions to build their own blast gates and is also recommended by Bill Pentz. Alan has used this design in building his remote activated blast gates because they move easily, close securely and are light weight.

I have worked with MDF but I always worry about strength and durability. How does it work with contact glue... again presuming that is what is used. I would be a little afraid of it peeling a layer off of the MDF.
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I'm not a user of MDF but have no concerns about it for many purposes - certainly fine for these blast gates! I'll be making a table for my radial arm saw from laminated pieces of 3/4" MDF because its flat and very stable. As you observe, it will absorb moisture, so a finish like you've described is a very good idea to seal it. Contact cement will work just fine for MDF from all the projects I've seen. My commercial cabinet shop client used contact cement to apply laminates to it. Regular PVA glue works great also when bonding MDF-MDF or MDF-wood.

As for the PVC forming, I saw another video where a guy put a short length of PVC on a piece of aluminum foil and baked it in the oven for 5 minutes or so to soften it...
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Lots of different solutions out there. Placing the end of the pipe in hot water is another technique I've seen.
 
Thank you all. This is ALL very helpful. I have been rearranging my shop all day in preparation for the dust collector and mapping/installing the duct work in my mind. Everything I've learned here has helped!

I have another question about ducting. Somewhere in my travels I read that Wyes should not point down, but rather 'out' and then down. Is this correct? I believe the rationale was that when they face down, dust can fall down into the drops. I'm new to ALL of this, so everything makes sense. Is it a big issue? Is it an issue at all? It would be more convenient and cost less to go down from the main, but I had figured I would have to do what people said was best practice. That would mean out (from the wall) then down and gradually angle back to the wall to get behind my saws. However, I also believe in hearing things from more than one source. Can anyone offer any advice on this?

It is my intention to use only enough flexible hose to allow me to move my tools out from the wall when necessary... to work with longer boards on my jointer, for example, or to raise my extension tables on my miter saw for long work, etc. My shop is small and I have to adapt sometimes when working with longer material.

I do not have a table saw guard with a dust collection port. Is there one anyone can recommend? I buy a lot of stuff from Rockler but I have not started looking at this in earnest just yet.

I see some people have housed their units in closets or some other enclosure to address noise. I wear hearing protection most of the time I'm in my shop, but I have been considering enclosing the unit with some 2x3 framing and some kind of noise dampening material. I have not researched this yet, but I have another question related to venting and such enclosures. When I first contemplated it, I had intended to vent outside. I have since changed that to side x side filters. My question has to do with venting though. I don't have a lot of room in my shop, so any enclosure would be the minimum footprint, at least as I envisioned it, and that brings me back to my concerns about where the air goes from the filter. Is a closet/enclosure really out of the question for me? I'm fine with my hearing protectors, but I don't know what the cumulative effect will be of the dust collector and whatever machine I'm running. I just don't want to engineer a problem for the future by doing something that makes it harder on my device. Are there any resources (or opinions/insights/experiences) that discuss this... what is needed, what to look out for, what to avoid, etc? The easiest is to do nothing. I'm looking for some balance of the best and most effective in terms of cost and effort.

I apologize for all of the questions. They never seem to end, but I DO listen and I AM learning and I always appreciate what I get.
 
Somewhere in my travels I read that Wyes should not point down, but rather 'out' and then down. Is this correct? I believe the rationale was that when they face down, dust can fall down into the drops.
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e.g., I have read this same comment and it was probably on Bill Pentz's website. I asked Cathy about this and she said most of the installations are with the wyes facing down directly off the main line and that dust build-up in the drops have never been reported to Clear Vue by users as a problem. Alan Little, whom I've referenced before, gave me some very helpful advice on my duct layout (it's in an earlier thread here on these forums), told me he didn't see this as a problem for home hobby workshops. He believes the value to airflow of the direct down drop with the wye far outweighs any theoretical issue of dust build up in the down drops; he said he'd never had a problem with it.

I do not have a table saw guard with a dust collection port. Is there one anyone can recommend?
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I've seen "Shark Guard" recommended by many table saw users, including Bill Pentz. See link here. I use a radial arm saw so have no experience with this product.

I see some people have housed their units in closets or some other enclosure to address noise. I wear hearing protection most of the time I'm in my shop, but I have been considering enclosing the unit...
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Lots of recommendations for designing enclosures are available in the Forum here if you do a search; also look in the Gallery at the photos posted. I also have a small shop and use hearing protection with all my power equipment. I will not be building an enclosure to start out. Instead, since most of the noise comes from the exhaust side of the unit, I'm going to see how 10" R-8 rated flexible HVAC hose works on dampening the sound. Since I'll only be running the dust collector when I'm also using power equipment (and thus will have on hearing protection), my guess is that there won't be an issue with the noise except as it may bother others in the house. But I figure the power equipment is likely to be as loud or more so in any event. You might watch some of Jay Bates' YouTube videos with his non-sound-insulated CV1800 in operation. The power equipment always is louder than the cyclone.

For a video with the cyclone in a cabinet demonstrating the noise with cabinet closed vs doors open, take a look at this video from Andrew Pitts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvUM...youtu.be&t=313

If you build an enclosure, you will have to plan for returning air into the shop and having air flow around the motor for cooling.

Now time for me to head back down to the shop to work out my lift system to be able to lift the motor/impeller into place on the mounting brackets. Since this is going to be a one-person operation, I'm setting up a jerry-rigged hoist to lift and then move the unit with some ropes and ceiling mounted bars to serve as a gantry.
 
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A few added comments. I would point all wyes down, not the the side -- due to the velocity in the duct passing to the cyclone, there is little or no loss of dust down drops en route, plus you would add extra fittings (and S.P. drop) with a sideways drop. Furthermore, any dust left in a drop would be sucked up the next time that drop is used. My "drops" all face up because I collect from blow my shop and they are "ups".

Second, "Alan in Little Washington" is Alan Schaffter of Little Washington, NC. Alan is a very capable retired engineer who designed and patented both the Incra I-Box jig and the Infinity tools Miter Lock router bit setup gauge and has a fully automated shop dust collection system to die for. He also has a great article in the January 2010 issue of American Woodworker on his adjustable Torsion Box Assembly Table and his workbench. Sadly the video he produced is no longer available (I have a PDF version of his Assembly Table article if interested.

For serious dust collection at the table saw, Shark Guard makes an effective overhead guard for a variety of table saw brands with a 4" port -- I have one for my Grizzly table saw.

If you do a search on this site, you should find information about building a cyclone closet and building a noise deadening return air plenum in the wall to return air to the shop. I don't need one since my cyclone is in space below my basement shop.
 
Thank you. I don't know what a torsion box is, but I would certainly be interested in reading about it if it will help me with anything I'm doing. I have seen some of the videos referenced here, on this site and You Tube. (one for noise reduction with a closed area... door open/door closed) and at least one of Jay Bates' videos. Some of them have gotten me thinking (and asking). This last bit of information about the drop configuration is VERY helpful. It is going to save me time, material, work, money, and space in my shop. I would have been fretting about not doing what I thought I should be doing long after I did it. (or didn't) I just found out there is going to be a delay of shipment because of the brackets so I believe I'm going to get a load of pipe and fittings and start roughing in my mains and drops. My plan is pretty spartan because my shop is so small. Maybe a delay will actually expedite the whole thing. The electric part of the package is to be delivered on schedule, so....

I now have to find a forum to prepare for doing the wiring. I'm not a professional, but I do have a lot of experience. I know what I know and also how much I do not. I have a developing set of questions for that forum. Is there one best for preparing for what I'm setting out to do? I've been looking already, and feeling overwhelmed, but I look at the dates of the post as well as the information, and I don't know if some of the information or questions have become obsolete.

After that it will be collection at the tools. I have ideas but I like seeing what others have done.

I'm definitely a little smarter after these last few visits than I was before I made them. I do appreciate all of what has been offered!
 
I now have to find a forum to prepare for doing the wiring.
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I suggest you at least start here with your questions. Lot's of knowledgeable folks here who can chime in or direct you to some other resources once you share your questions.
 
Egbell,

A Torsion Box is a very stout work surface that has a "honeycomb" set of partitions glued between the upper and lower "skins" -- many hollow doors are similar but made of very thin materials yet have adequate strength. Here is a link that closely resembles the style of bench that Alan built in his article. Alan's version has ratchet legs that allow one to raise or lower the top to a broad range of heights. Send me a Private Message with your email address if you want more information.

Rob
 
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