Just a quick update. I’m finishing up the drawer cabinet under my new Roubo workbench. It is going great.
I also found another project because my dust collection filter cartridge clogged the other day. Or it finally slowly slowed down enough that I noticed, when my jointer, then table saw, then garbage can thien filter all clogged on me. I was slow to get the point, but finally checked my cartridge filter and saw a thick cake of fine dust covering the inside.
A few years ago, I upgraded my Jet DC-650 dust collection system from the bags, to a Wynn cartridge filter. The bags are known to put a lot of fine dust back into the air. The fine dust is the worst for your lungs. So I upgraded to the Wynn 35A cartridge filter, their MERV 15 Nano filter, a very good filter.
When the cartridge clogged up, I thought it would be nice if there was something that would tell me way before the point I let it get to, that it was getting clogged. I looked up and found some videos on making a manometer, a clear tube filled with water in a U shape, that you can make marks on the board it is mounted to, to tell where it is when clean, and where it gets to when it is super bad, and then I can see how clean the filter is. I thought about that, and wondered about the water evaporating, or getting all gunky in the tube. That didn’t seem good.
I wondered about some sort of electronic solution, and came across some Arduino projects. That seemed like what I wanted. I’m a programmer and love little electronic projects. I haven’t ever used an Arduino before, but I ordered one and got started learning. I’ve used the C language for many years, so that was easy to get used to. I got a 3.5″ TFT LCD touch screen for it also.
I’m in the middle of a very cool project to monitor the dust collection cartridge. It monitors the pressure inside the cartridge. When the filter is clean or new, there will be very little pressure build up. When the filter gets dirty, the pressure inside the cartridge will go up.
If you think you might be interested in a project like this in your shop, stay tuned. I’m also adding a real time clock, and a little sensor that gets the temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. I might as well have something interesting to display when the dust collection system is off! I’ve also thought of a couple other Arduino shop projects I will be working on. The second project will add onto the same dust collection hardware in my first project, the other project will have its own Arduino.
For those of you interested in this project, I’m going to be selling the Arduino software along with the detailed wiring details needed to hook this up. You will need some soldering skills. But you won’t need to know how to program. You’ll be able to choose Fahrenheit or Celsius, 12 or 24 hour clock, Barometric pressure units, and the pressure units inside the cartridge filter (depending on what you use in your country).
I expect to have a YouTube video and article (and code) available sometime in May 2018. It’s going to be fun!
Big Tools I use:
Table Saw, SawStop PCS: http://amzn.to/2H3ySLb
SawStop Industrial Mobile base: http://amzn.to/2spo6f6
Overarm dust collector: http://amzn.to/2CdfRlR
SawStop 80 tooth blade: http://amzn.to/2Cenngl
SawStop 40 tooth blade: http://amzn.to/2CdLRXh
SawStop Dado safety cartridge: http://amzn.to/2H8e7ye
DeWalt Dado: http://amzn.to/2CeqLrs
SawStop Cast Iron Extension: http://amzn.to/2Cdtj9s
Bench Dog Router Extension: http://amzn.to/2Bpcbkr
Router: http://amzn.to/2H5YK9v
Router Lift: http://amzn.to/2Ejz3En
Band Saw: http://amzn.to/2Eh9pQG
Smaller Tools I use:
DeWalt Drill/Driver set (very nice!): http://amzn.to/2BpDMC7
Clamps: http://amzn.to/2H6tG9t
Bessey REVO Clamps: http://amzn.to/2CeGEOJ
FastCap Glue Bottle: http://amzn.to/2Cf25z5
Chisel set: http://amzn.to/2EVBUAD
Brad point drill bits: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=42247&cat=1,180
Forstner Bit Extension: http://amzn.to/2CdxB0r
Bubble Level: http://amzn.to/2Elvr50
Sharpening Stones:
DMT 8″ Course (D8C): http://amzn.to/2hZ8AOO
DMT 8″ Fine (D8F): http://amzn.to/2hY4tCT
DMT 8″ X Fine (D8E): http://amzn.to/2Agtofq
DMT 8″ XX Fine (D8EE): http://amzn.to/2BwMziU
Safety Equipment:
Dewalt safety glasses: http://amzn.to/2Dp5ZpW
Dewalt safety glasses Rx-BiFocal (choose your power): http://amzn.to/2FFV2lw
Dust masks N95: http://amzn.to/2HynRRH
Hearing protection: http://amzn.to/2FPrV3v
Camera Equipment:
80D: http://amzn.to/2EUq5KV
Lens: http://amzn.to/2CdJKCs
GoPro: http://amzn.to/2BnQa5h
Sandpaper:
3M 100: http://amzn.to/2EiI94g
3M 220: http://amzn.to/2H8us5K