Dust Collection Pipe Hanger Brackets

The shop is all moved and now I’m actually setting up the space. I’ve already ran new electrical circuits and upgraded the lighting (full article from beginning to finish on the new shop soon) and I’m at the point where I need to setup the dust collector. It’s the only tool that has me really scratching my head on how I want to proceed. In the old shop it was very easy for me to exhaust the fine particles outside via a plywood panel in the window. Here in the new shop I really do not want to make any large holes in the walls for the dust collection pipe so I may end up buying a canister filter. But that’s a project for another day. Today lets talk about running the dust collection pipes.

Previously I used some perforated plastic strapping to hang the pipes. While it worked just fine in supporting the pipes it was a big pain in the rear every time I wanted to change the pipe layout. So to eliminate the plastic strapping completely I decided to make a few plywood brackets.

dust collection pipe brackets (1)

I cut squares that allowed enough space to get two brackets per square. After they were all cut I clamped them together. And used painters tape to hold them together through the bandsaw.

dust collection pipe brackets (2)

I was able to make a pattern in SketchUp. A little spray adhesive will secure it to the plywood squares.

dust collection pipe brackets (3)

Then it’s just a matter of cutting out the pattern. Having all of the squares stacked like this really saves time when cutting these out. Otherwise you would have to cut out every shape individually. I made ten brackets so that would have been 20 patterns.

dust collection pipe brackets (4)

Once the pattern is cut out one of the new bracket pieces could be transferred to the waste side of the squares. While cutting the pattern on the rest of the material I broke my good bandsaw blade. Luckily a bandsaw blade break isn’t too eventful and isn’t incredibly dangerous. It will scare the crap out of you though.

dust collection pipe brackets (5)

With the bracket sides cut I could cut the center spacers. The only scrap I have in the shop is some 3” wide 1x material. I cut a few 8” lengths first.

dust collection pipe brackets (6)

And then ripped all of my 8” pieces to a bunch of 3/4” strips. Ten of these will be used at full length and a couple will be trimmed to 1-1/2” for the front support blocks.

dust collection pipe brackets (7)

After all the pieces are cut the assembly goes pretty fast. The small block is glued to the front “arm” part of the bracket and the 8” spacer piece is glued to the wall side of the bracket. These blocks are sandwiched between two bracket pieces and held on with glue and brad nails.

dust collection pipe brackets (8)

I drilled two pilot holes in the back side of all the brackets for the screws. I also added a chamfer to the holes on the back side instead of the front. When these brackets are installed the screws will actually mushroom the drywall slightly when they are driven into the wall. This chamfer serves as a relief hole for the mushroomed drywall.

dust collection pipe brackets (9)

To secure them to the wall I used two 2-1/2” Kreg screws per bracket. I went with the Kreg screws because they have a nice sized washer head that will really pull the bracket to the wall.

dust collection pipe brackets (10)

Once installed they worked out great. The pipes are simply held in place by gravity. No need to strap them down as they won’t be jumping out of the brackets. This allows for greater flexibility when the time comes to upgrade or modify the system. Simply pick up the pipe and modify as needed.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Glad you’re OK after that band saw blade breaking. I saw one break way-back in high school and I have never forgotten that blade flying across the shop. I really enjoyed the video on sketch-up, I am going to have to take the time to learn how to use that tool. I am old school. BTW – What’s with wearing flip-flops in the shop?

    • I’ve never seen a dangerous bandsaw blade break. They just snap, jump the wheel, and stop. I wore them when I started the video and changed to shoes because I knew someone would say something about it ;) I don’t have a problem with wearing them in the shop. As long as I’m not working with chisels…

  2. I just had a bandsaw blade break on me for the first time a few months ago, and it scared the *@#& out of me. lol

    Are you still using the Harbor Freight dust collection system? If so, what size white pipe are you using to hook up to it? I’ve tried two sizes from Lowes and neither of them fit very good.

    Nice to see a video again. Can’t wait til you shop is put together so we can see more!

    • I know it’s 4″ pipe, but I was wondering if there was a specific type/brand that you’re using. The 4″ pipe I bought didn’t fit right (1 was too tight & 1 was too loose). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

  3. I’m still using the Harbor Freight dust collector but I may make some changes to filter the air back into the shop instead of exhausting outside.

    PVC is standard sizes. I do not use DWV pipe though. It’s the thicker drain pipe. I use “sewer and drain” PVC (SCH20). I use a piece of Harbor Freight dust collection hose to connect the dust collector to the PVC. The HF hose fits snugly into any 4″ fitting and slips over all of the 4″ hookups on the tools.

  4. Jay … I gather that you do NOT ground your PVC dust collection piping. I have heard that it is kind of important to do this if you opt to use PVC in a dust collection system. What is your take on this?

    Marty

  5. Hi Jay, I wanted to ask you about the cordless ryobi nailer. Can´t find any real review about it. Thanks!

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