I won’t be at the meeting tonight, so I wanted to give a quick update on dust collection.
It appears that the original piece of plastic broke/was broken so I’ve replaced that with a thicker piece. It’s been suggested that the screw holes I put through the original caused the cracking, so no screw holes in this one.
Added a plywood chute to the jointer, removing the cardboard, duct tape, and promises original version. Now the chips go into the box.
Add a collector to the back of the radial arm saw. Essentially a floor vent, collects about 90% of the dust spewed backwards.
Added a more permanent attachment to the drum sander, made from parts of the old dust collector attachment on the radial arm saw.
Create an output for the planer. To do this requires a stand for the planer. Currently the stand is in progress. Once it’s done I’ll look into adding a feed from the planer/jointer into the rest of the dust collection system. This would require an additional drop, and could be combined with an additional electric drop on a newly installed pole. Not sure if it’s worth the effort or not. Just chip collection is probably plenty.
Buy an additional brush attachment for the vacuum. These are ~$12.
Open Questions:
Currently we have a 10’ hose on the back vacuum attachment. It’s a bit short to reach the floor under the lathe in some cases. Adding length would also allow us to sweep off the long table near the drum sander. I just used an extra hose that wasn’t in use, but we could buy another 25’ hose for ~$50
It’s been suggested that we not install a port for shoveling in floor debris for fear that something could effect the impeller. Further investigation has revealed that there’s a screen that would prevent this, making any such interactions improbable. I could add one pretty easily to the central column, or some other location (not sure where) for less than $50.
Hey Andrew,
I got to use the dust collection system this past weekend and it worked great! One thing I had trouble with was hanging the vaccuum attachment at the pole. It is really high. I think that is what you are referring to in one of your emails but I am not sure. I also had difficulties getting it around the tables to get all the dust.
Really happy with the improvements you have made and look forward to seeing the further changes you make!
Thanks again,
Tiffany
Glad to hear you got a chance to try it out, thanks for the compliments.
I got to use the dust collection system this past weekend and it worked great! One thing I had trouble with was hanging the vaccuum attachment at the pole. It is really high. I think that is what you are referring to in one of your emails but I am not sure.
Correct. I had some reservations about the height at the beginning, but decided to try it for a bit. I’ve come to the same conclusion, so I’m going to try lowering it a bit, which might result in having to move the on/off switch.
I also had difficulties getting it around the tables to get all the dust.
Which tables? To be frank, my original aim was to cover the tools (bandsaw, router, spindle sander) with the table saw being the longest reach. I figured that most people would turn on the system for a specific tool, and then clean up the tool a bit afterwards with the vacuum, with the idea that the tools were the biggest problem.
I hadn’t really thought much about the tables, since I was thinking that that wasn’t a big source of sawdust, but I could be off. The current system definitely doesn’t work well for say hand sanders or the circular saw.
We’ve also got the shop vacs, and other stuff. If we want to cover the tables we’ll need to think about that. Maybe another duct running down the front of the shelves and another vacuum attachment? A long hose would probably make using it on the tools more awkward. I’m open to suggestion here.
