While I was visiting my folks, one of the larger projects that needed to be done was assembling the Grizzly G0862 3 hp dust collector (completed in the center of the photo above) for his planer, edger, and table saw.
It began with these three boxes and their contents.
Then, I made space to put the dust collector together in a space near all three machines. Note the stack of thick rough cut boards on the left side. These will be planed and edged before being installed as the stair treads in my folks’ house.
The instructions call for having two helpers to lift the top motor assembly while a third person secures it to the supports with bolts. Thankfully, my dad’s forklift was running, so we repositioned the forks close together, picked up the top motor assembly, and positioned the stand beneath the motor assembly while we threaded the bolts.
The only trouble that we had during assembly was securing the collection drum to its lid. It only has two buckles that lock down to secure the drum to the lid. Then, you raise the drum off the floor and the suction during option keeps the lid and drum mated. However, the two buckle system–despite adjusting the buckle lengths–didn’t always hold the drum and lid together. I removed the two drum bumpers from the base, which helped the drum better align with the lid for a more secure connection. It seems that adding one or two buckles would avoid this problem. Another solution would be to run a nylon tie strap around the drum over the closed buckles to keep them from releasing.
After connecting the dust collector to 220v, we did a test run with the planer and it worked spectacularly. Now, my dad will use this to plane and edge the stair treads out of rough cut cypress boards sourced from trees that he cut down on.
Eventually, the new cypress stair treads will go on the currently roughed-in stairs between the first and second floors.
