5 Dust Collection Blast Gates Compared + 3D Printed Valves

[@ARIAVIALLE]

Per the instruction on metal blast gates states the locking screw should be installed on the opposite side reference to the vacuum. The gate is draw to the suction and closing of the opening. The screw as shown on the video will keep the gate from sealing completely I believe. This is per Spiral Mfg in their blast gate instruction.

[@chuckm3520]

Great video. Thanks for doing the testing.

[@seangornell4197]

Really appreciate the work you put into this I tried the old powertec plastic gates and did not like how much air they leak when closed. I am going to install the new orange powertec gates and let you all know how well they work.

[@chrisperry3525]

thanks for the testing. i was wondering about ball valves... but you didn't test the 'self cleaning' gates where instead of a hard stop it pushes out on both sides. Next, saw a vid where a guy demonstrated how dust accumulates against the back side of ALL gates in a system (for a few reasons) and that to avoid the dirty gate the gate must be mounted "up", not 'down' as most everyone does..so that all dust falls into a 'dust trap' like you see on gas lines. makes a huge difference

[@jb510]

TY for doing the work to test all these. Printing some ball valves while I watched : ) Very good test, I love that you mounted the anemometer for consistency... see so many folks just hand hold it. I think the one thing not considered in this test though (should you or someone else redo it) is that when there is restriction of some kind at the suction end, as there is in real world use, then some of the valves designs leak a lot of air in from the outside, loosing suction in the process. To better represent reality you'd need a length of restrictive pipe/host between the valve and where you test, or do something like restrict the outlet on the other end of the anemometer 50%. I don't think you'll see much of that loss with a wide open end after the anemometer the way you tested. Alternatively setup a wye, where you can close a gate and then test the other leg of the wye to see the effect of air leaking into the gate.

[@nicholasmarshall3191]

Excellent review!

[@franktaccetta784]

Great test! Thanks.

[@cottagemail4066]

Would love to see you test some of these DIY magnetic ones people are just starting to make.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

I designed a vertical rotary valve blast gate- allows choice of two inlets, or off. Halves the number of gates that you need. Motor driven, of course.

[@studiogerk]

I've been using the valve style 3d printed ones for a while now. They worked well at first, but they are slowly degrading. They don't seem to take the wear and tear well and I've snapped off the turning handles a bunch of times on several different ones. So while they do work nicely ... it's short lived, or at least it has been for my setup. As they age there's more and more resistance in trying to turn them. Not sure which I'm going to next, probably another DIY something-or-other!

[@DanielGeorge-c7t]

Did you test the woodpecker full throttle blast gate? what do you think

[@RaskGuitars]

Awesome info!

[@peterkappelhof151]

Also curious if you have seen or evaluated the Taylor Toolworks ABS 4" OD Self Cleaning Anti Clog Blast Gates?

[@peterkappelhof151]

Have you evaluated the new Woodpeckers Full Throttle (butterfly) blast gate?

[@MarkJonesRanger]

On the cheap blast gates open the gate and drill a quarter inch hole maybe 3/8 inch hole at the very corner of the blast Gates so that the sawdust is pushed towards that and it'll be self-cleaning and will close again.

[@AdamKirbyMusic]

What is your guess as to why the ABS gate performed much better than the metal one? Is the metal ID smaller?

[@LRN2DIY]

I think it's the inside diameter of the flanges. The aluminum flanges are much thicker and I think that has a big impact on the air flow. It's deceptive though - they open up more than the ABS ones so it definitely looks like the aluminum ones should win but they never did.

[@Beef4Dinner22]

@@LRN2DIY It may also be that because the sliding portion blocks some of the opening, which then has the effect of increasing the velocity in the remaining opening. I noticed that you used the same cross sectional area for all your feet/minute to ft^3/ min, but given that the ABS one blocks off some of the opening it should have a smaller cross sectional area which would lower the ft^3/min.

[@dondixon3340]

Excellent video! I just ordered several of the ABS Blast Gates a few days ago, then watched this video, good choice on my part. What is the quick fix for the ABS Blast Gates for addressing the clogged issue? You mentioned a piece of duct tape, details? Video coming soon?

[@LRN2DIY]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Don! As for the ABS Blast Gate fix, I'm just finishing that video up and it will be released Saturday morning so stay tuned!

[@LRN2DIY]

The new video is out this morning, if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppDYppKKpLyBl7c

[@jriis2010]

Around 6:00: Gold Leader. You may start your attack run on the Death Star :-)

[@seangornell4197]

What is the black liner you put into your 4 inch pipe? I been using flex tape around my blast gate and hate using flex tape as it is sticky and messy and hard to work with.

[@LRN2DIY]

I didn't add any liner into the 4" duct, that's actually a liner that comes with it because these are drain pipes that come that way. They're a little more flexible and cost less than standard 4" PVC. Around 4:38 in the video you can see that I used electrical tape to adjust the OD of the gate. I like that it's a little rubbery and compressible and has held up well.

[@chrissantos7865]

Would have been nice to use the anemometer between the valve and vacuum to check for leakage

[@buzzlindgren8601]

Very good test video. It's cool to know in advance how different solutions will perform, so one doesn't waste money or filament. I'd like to know what system you use to extract the air/dsut, i guess it's a professional grade one? I'm trying to build one myself for my DIY Workbench from a duct fan as cheaply as possible and would like to know what i can put in between it and the suction end, besides a cyclone seperator. Im thinking of several removable grid-plates with the holes getting progressively smaller and a filter mat right before the fan. Can you give some usefull tips? Thanks!

[@LRN2DIY]

Hey Buzz, sounds like you've got a cool project on your hands. I'm using the $200 Harbor Freight 2 horse power dust collection system. I'll be posting a video about my setup because I've learned a ton in the last several weeks. I don't know how much help I am on the DIY dust collection front but, if you haven't already, do a quick KZbin search for Mathias Wandell Dust Collection and you'll find a host of videos on the topic. He's a total genius and has some really clever solutions that I think will serve you well. Best of luck!

[@buzzlindgren8601]

@@LRN2DIY From the first looks, wow, this guy is serious about that particular topic ^^ Thanks for the resources and the heads up, this helps a lot edit: i actually had a subscription already from other wood projects he did (i think marble-related or something), but wasn't aware of the dust collection videos/projects

[@ejholbs3730]

I am in the midst of printing out the 2.5" ball valve for testing. Question: do you recall your print settings? My first print came out great. however, when I place mouth on inlet and blow (not too hard either), air leaks around the ball and escapes the outlet.

[@LRN2DIY]

I can't recall what the settings were at all since it's been so long. I do remember that the ball valve, while pretty fun to use, was difficult to get to turn smoothly. The print has to be pretty perfect (or a lot of post cleanup) in order for it to move as it should. Too much cleanup and you'll create gaps, so it is tricky.

[@ejholbs3730]

@@LRN2DIY that is what I suspect...too much sandpaper done on the inside. Plus, I did oversize it (inlet/outlet & ball) from 100% to 102% to easily couple with 2 1/2" green sewer & drain PVC pipe. I am reprinting to original 100%, using 0.12mm instead of the original 0.2mm (hopefully that means less air gaps per line). I have it in mind to try out servo motors + ESP32 for automation. Will also try adding fiberglass repair bondo to help with the air gaps.

[@LRN2DIY]

@@ejholbs3730 Sounds like those changes should certainly help. I'd love to hear how it works out! I still have a couple of these variations in use in my shop but I haven't spent the time to really perfect them so I'm mostly using the traditional $6 gates with the tape flap. The 3D printed ones look about 100x cooler though :)

[@ejholbs3730]

@@LRN2DIY one of the Pro's of such a ball valve setup is not external pieces to be broken off or run into or snagged. I did DIY self cleaning blast gates for 6" and 4". All middle flat pieces eventually broke off.

[@raymondjoly2568]

Hello Who sells the 3d printed valves

[@LRN2DIY]

I haven't actually seen these for sale anywhere, so I'm not sure. Sorry!

[@markkoons7488]

Good research. Is anyone printing and marketing them in less common sizes like 5", 8", and 10"? I suppose they'd be very expensive, wouldn't they? I'll probably settle for shop-built segment of a circle like the recent Katz-Moses design.

[@LRN2DIY]

Good question. I haven't seen any but I've been focusing on the 4" and 2 1/2" stuff. In those cases, I think you're right - the shop-built options may be best. I saw the Katz-Moses video on his blast gates and they looked pretty cool.

[@nightterror007]

Very interesting products and topic! But heads up, the 3-4 ads playing during this video are very distracting. I don't know how much say you get in the ad amount, but 2 is plenty.

[@LRN2DIY]

Ah - good call. We usually turn those off and must have forgotten. Removing those now.

[@meganandryanquick88]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I Think your flow numbers are being inversely represented. Your measuring air velocity not air volume directly. So by putting a restriction in front of the meter you are increasing the velocity but actually reducing the cfm.

[@foleysshop4258]

How on earth are you getting 1750 cfm out of 4” pipe?

[@Theroux1989]

I think his math are wrong. He calculated Pi*D2 instead of Pi*R2 and so his calcul are for an 8 inch pipe instead of 4 inch.

[@NeilvanGeffen]

You missed a very important test though! Should have measured between the gate and the dust collector closed to see the actual flow including leaking, as you completely missed any leaks from places that are not the hose on the other side of the blast gate

[@BigDan1190]

But he isn't testing the whole system, hes testing solely the blast gate. Otherwise it wouldn't be a fair comparison would it?

[@davidbroadfoot1864]

5060 feet/min is not 1766 CFM for a 4" diameter pipe. You forgot to divide the diameter by 2 to get the radius. The correct calculation is 5060 * pi * (4/2/12)^2 = 442 CFM.

[@chuckm3520]

Also noted the math error. Always double check your calculations.

[@guitarchitectural]

Holy crap this was bothering me so much!!! That and putting the metal blast gate on backwards

[@mitchfaatz]

I'd love to see this updated using 5" aluminum blast gates on the 4" pipe. They end up not restricting the flow since they slide over the outside of the 4" pipe instead of going inside and decreasing the volume. I also disassembled them and put some strips of gorilla tape inside to help seal them when they are closed, as seen in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6KwqIltapeKiZo (not me).

[@guitarchitectural]

The area of a 4" pipe is ~12.6square inches which is 0.087 of a square foot. Velocity of 5000ft/min through a 4" pipe is ~435cfm. I think you bungled your math...

[@tamas7555]

Assuming a steady blow, the higher the fpm the smaller the cross section. So the 6 dollar gate has the smallest cross section. It does not make it a winner but a loser. If you want cfm, messure the true cross section, and multiply with the fpm. So you get a theoretically cfm. Not a true one, as you also need to calculate static pressure.

[@fluxcapacitr121]

Thank you. I thought I was the only one who noticed the “science” here. Also, your cfm values are insanely wrong. Your anemometer apparatus is blocking a substantial portion of the 4” port. This will give you a much greater measured velocity, but you are effectively reducing the duct to maybe a 1” or 2” diameter pipe. So yeah, 4500fpm, but you have to plug in the actual area of your duct with the anemometer in the way into your cfm calculation. IRL a 4” pipe maxes out at 350-400 cfm.

[@drakeswake]

The mask while digging through sawdust is astonishing.