"I purchased an Oneida V-Systems 3000 back in the fall of 2013 to use in our newly constructed workshop. My company, LeHay's Shaker Boxes, has been handcrafting Shaker boxes and carriers since 1993. Since then we’ve sold products to individuals, museum and retail shops, catalog companies, as well as a couple of appearances on QVC - to name a few.
To produce the lumber for the boxes I elect to start with raw logs and hire a local sawyer with a portable bandsaw mill. The material for the bands will be sewn slightly over 1/8” of an inch thick. Since the material is so thin it can’t be run through a typical planer – and instead needs to be run through a sander to be abrasive planed.
With all the abrasive planing required to mill out my own lumber, as well as shaping of the tops and bottoms, I get a lot of fine dust. In the past I've always used a bag type dust collection system - however it didn't do a good job with fine particles. With the construction of a new workshop in 2013 I decided to upgrade to a cyclone dust collection system. After doing some research it became clear that Oneida Air Systems was the company to deal with.
I sent a simplistic hand-sketch of my workshop along with a list of my equipment to Oneida. After performing some calculations they determined that a V-Systems 3000 would handle my dust collection needs. They also performed a ductwork design and provided me with a detailed bill of material for the proper sized duct, blast-gates, fittings and so forth.
The cyclone collector arrived promptly via UPS in a few light-weight packages. The collector went together very easily. Although they recommend having two people to put it together I was able to do the assembly by myself with no real issues.
The ductwork also arrived via UPS. I took my time and worked on it over the course of a few days. I must say that with the crude hand-sketch that I sent they did a remarkable job putting together the package of materials required. I only ended up having to order one extra 90 degree elbow and had three 2’ pieces of ductwork left over. The detailed design plans they sent were a huge help as well – there was no guessing required on my part.
The cyclone started up with no issues. The suction at each of the blast-gates is unbelievable compared to what I had been working with. I no longer have fine dust floating around in the air which will no doubt lead to better long-term health.
If anyone would like further information or recommendations please feel free to contact me. All my contact information is on my website at www.lehays.com."
