If money is not the object.....

[Les Izmore]

I have learned a lot about dust collection from this forum and how it is possible to rig up a system yourself by using what you have on hand. I am throwing out a question to the members here that references the title of this post.
I am putting together a new dust collector for my 18" drum sander, which puts out quite a bit of fine dust. I have my sander in an unheated part of my workshop and I plan to vent the fine dust outside after some sort of separator, rather than using a canister filter. I am using a Penn State 2 HP DC2000B as the blower. My initial thought was to make a Thien separator for this system, but am considering an Oneida Super Dust Deputy in place of the Thien. The $240 cost of the DD is not an issue, especially when you figure the time to make the Thien Separator. The DD would actually be cheaper in the long run, since woodworking is my profession. The question comes down to effectiveness rather than cost.
I realize that a cyclone or a Thien will decrease the airflow of the blower. So which device, the Super Dust Deputy or a Thien Separator, would place the least amount of loss in the system? The duct run will be very short and have a minimum of elbows, etc.
Thanks.

[coloradotrout]

If this is for the sander only -- and you plan to vent outside -- then I'm not sure I'd worry about collecting ANY of the dust in either a cyclone or baffled container.  Why?  How much sanding will you do?  It seems with sanding the "fines" will be pretty much all of what you are going to collect.

I'd look at Bill Pentz's site for suggestions on dust hoods and using at least 6" ducting.   I'd think catching the dust at the source would be the bigger design challenge.   I'm guessing the cyclone is probably a bit more effective if you do go that route, though I have zero experience to prove that.   Generally the cyclone is considered the caddilac of dust collection.   

My internal baffle on the Jet cartridge single stage collector is impressive.    I just pulled the filter earlier and there is nothing lodged in the pleats.  I did blast it from the outside with compressed air -- but even then, I only saw a tiny amount of dust settle.   Once I did let the bag fill to the top and then it did suck larger pieces up into the filter, but the bag is about 1/5th full now and there was no large particles in the pleats.   It was a "pleasure" to take the cartridge off -- when before it was a miserable experience.