Sawdust Studios is a community woodshop in Columbia, Missouri, founded by Cruz Chavez in 2020. Members pay to access the workspace, with Chavez and his business partner offering guidance on all machinery and tools. The shop also offers an apprenticeship program, stall rentals for aspiring commercial woodworkers, and classes. Wood for projects can be purchased on site from the shop’s selection of 100% locally sourced black walnut and white oak.
Annual Revenue: $360K
Facilities: 7K square feet
Employees: 3
Members: 1200
Equipment: Lathes, bandsaws, table saws, planers, handheld routers, drill presses, wide-belt sander, miter saw, jigsaw, and brad nailer.
Product Featured: Oneida Air Systems' 10HP Direct Drive dust collector with air lock
Dust Collection Conundrum
Sawdust Studios had been trying to make do with a 10HP collector, which was anything but effective. “I used to say we didn’t have a dust collector but a dust redistribution system,” says founder and owner, Cruz Chavez. “There was always so much dust in the air and covering everything in the shop,” he says. At night, the shop used an infrared camera for security. “If you looked through the footage, you couldn’t see more than a few feet into the shop. That’s how bad the airborne dust was,” Chavez says. “After being in the shop all day, I’d have to take a hot shower just to clear all the dust from my sinuses,” he says.
Although their collector had decent pick up of wood chips and shavings, it failed to effectively capture the fine dust, which would then escape into the shop air. It was clear the unit’s filter was inadequate. Chavez had to clean it weekly to prevent the collector from completely losing suction.
The collector’s bags were another source of frustration for Chavez. Each month the shop generated about 1400 gallons of material. “I dreaded having to swap out bags once they were full,” Chavez recalls. “When I’d remove them, they’d spew gallons of dust into the air. At one point, the bags became such a hassle that I started to question if I wanted to stay in the woodworking business,” he says.
Another issue with their collector was downtime.This often occurred when the collector sucked up a larger piece of debris. Immediately, the system’s suction would flatline and the debris would rattle around inside of the collector. The only way to get the collector back online was for Chavez to disassemble it, which took several hours.
Finding a Solution
With the reasons to replace their collector piling up, Chavez and his business partner started their search for a better solution. Their quest began with touring local woodworking shops and their dust collection setups. Unfortunately, each shop they visited had the same problems they did, with dust covering every surface and hanging in the air. They knew there had to be a better way to achieve a clean shop.
After researching multiple brands and reading products reviews, Chavez zeroed in on a 10HP Direct Drive dust collector and air lock package from Oneida Air Systems. The combination was appealing to Chavez for several reasons.
- Better suction performance. The Direct Drive’s cyclonic design pre-separated a majority of the material, with only a small percentage of the finest dust reaching the filter. This meant less chance of dust filling the shop air, like the current collector did.
- Expanded waste container options. With the air lock providing an airtight seal to the cyclonic collector, Sawdust Studios would no longer be limited to burdensome bags or pressurized dust drums. This would allow them to use a dumpster as their waste container.
The Results
“We can breathe,” says Chavez. “There’s no more dust in the air,” he says. Upon installing the new Oneida Air collector, members immediately took notice of how clear the shop air was. Such an improvement in workshop conditions allowed one member, who suffered from environmental allergies, to finally attend their classes. Yet the benefits of their new collector extended beyond better air quality.
- Better suction. In comparison to their old 10HP unit from a competitor’s brand, the Oneida Air collector delivered substantially better suction. With their old system, if they missed an open blast gate, airflow would rapidly decrease and disrupt the entire shop’s workflow. However, with their new collector, this anxiety was greatly relieved, allowing the shop more flexibility with blast gates.
- Less disruption from larger debris. Since the Oneida Air collector was a cyclone, sucking up larger debris was no longer an hours long ordeal requiring complete disassembly of the collector. Their Direct Drive air lock package also came with a convenient clean out cone, providing direct access to the inside of the cyclone to retrieve debris.
- No more bags! “The air lock is life changing,” says Chavez. Once installed, it liberated Sawdust Studios from wrangling with leaky, cumbersome dust bags. Instead, waste material would now be deposited into a dumpster, which could be emptied in just a few minutes.
- Massive reduction in monthly cleanup. Prior to installing their new collector, Chavez and staff would spend 48 hours every month cleaning the shop. With the new Direct Drive system effectively capturing dust and debris, this time sink drastically decreased to two hours a month, a 96% reduction. “Now, instead of spending all that time cleaning, we can spend time building,” says Chavez.
Overall, the 10hp Direct Drive collector and air lock package vastly improved Sawdust Studios’ shop environment, while reducing downtime and the amount of time spent cleaning the shop every month. “We have visitors who come from out-ofstate to ask us about our Oneida Air dust collection setup,” Chavez says. “I’m proud that no one within a 500 mile-radius has better dust collection than Sawdust Studios,” he says.
Are your shop’s dust collection dilemmas keeping you up at night? We can help. Call Oneida Air Systems today for a free dust collector consultation at (800) 732-4065.
Learn more about Sawdust Studios from their website, here or check them out on Instagram @sawdust.studios.
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