Hi Phil, just joined and read the entire forum. Thanks for the effort you have put in on this subject. Now the question. Appears you've had experience with both the HF motor/blowers. The universal motor powered 1hp, and the 2hp induction. I'll be going down to the local HF tomorrow to purchase one or the other and while I think the smaller one will suit my needs, as most everything I own has 2 1/2" dust ports, I'm a bit concerned with the apparent excessive noise level. A. Is it really that loud? B. Will the 2hp unit work OK with a primarily 2 1/2" system. I already have the chip collector built that I have been using with a shopvac that works pretty darn good, but will install your baffle set-up when I'm switching blower/motor units. Again, thanks for all your time and effort on this project. I'll post pics when it's done. Don Inghram.