Dust collection improvements and shop tour

[krtwood]

Over the past couple of weeks I have reworked the dust collection in my shop, which is about 300 sqft.  I have an average 1.5 HP DC that happens to have a 6" inlet so I have switched from a small network of 4" flex that was mostly running along the floor to 6" PVC at the ceiling.  In order to do this I am hanging the impeller housing upside-down from a support made out of 2x3s.  I also reworked the ports on all my machines (that are hooked up to it) to be able to run 6" flex directly to the machine where possible.  I am considering this an intermediate step on the path to a cyclone unit which I can't do in this space.  Having already reworked the machine ports and gotten some of the PVC that I'll be able to reuse in the next space will make the next step less painful down the road.  It was important to not have the DC attached to the ceiling and to have short sections of flex hose before the brackets holding the PVC to the ceiling to prevent vibration from being transmitted into the floor above (the kitchen table is directly above).

 

 

I was able to tuck my vacuum with its cyclone separator and my air compressor into the same bumped out area the DC is in.  It didn't take very long for it to be covered in storage for my edge sander belts and air tools. 

 

 

One of the problems with PVC is the flex hose doesn't fit over it, so where possible I used the blast gates as transitions between them.  I made the blast gates out of 3 layers of 6mm baltic birch, with the sliding part run through the drum sander to make it slide easily.  The hose side has two layers of 3/4" plywood while the PVC side has 1 layer.

 

 

My Jet 10-20 drum sander orginally had it's 4" port in the middle of the back of the drum, which is an incredibly stupid place to put it.  All of the larger ones have it in the top where it belongs.  There was no way I could put a hole in the top since it's a solid extrusion that is structural so I had to come out the back with a plywood contraption.  I am hoping the increase in airflow will cut down on the build up dust inside the shroud and drum but I'm not optimistic.  At least it gives me more clearance at the outfeed.

 

 

My shop built drum sander once upon a time had just my vacuum and cyclone hooked up to it before I had a DC and unlike the Jet even just with that there was never really a problem with that.  Going to the DC was a definite step up, and now going to the 6" pipe is another noticeable step up again.

 

 

I have been in an eternal struggle to accomplish decent dust collection on the band saw.  I am trying out transitioning from the 6" pipe to two 4" hoses and a 2-1/2"  One 4" goes to a plywood contraption under the table, one 4" goes to the OEM port just underneath it, and the 2-1/2" goes to the back of the door.

 

 

The edge sander had the most complicated shroud to build since it also has to open to get the belt on.  A quick coat of black spray paint made most of the shrouds look half decent but this cobbled together monstrosity there is no help for.  But it does seem to have helped so I'll live with it.

 

[Eric.]

Some clever work in there!  6" seems big for a 1.5HP DC...how's the performance at that size?  Good looking shop!

[krtwood]

This is quite possibly the ugliest thing I have ever made.  The OEM dust collection attachment for my Makita planer was for a 2-1/2" hose.  The only thing useful about it was the bracket that attaches to the planer.  I had made the lower trapezoid part of this before from which the 4" hose came in to the top.  I didn't want to remake the whole thing, so I cut out as much of the top as I could and then I had to transition from a trapezoid to a square.  I couldn't come up with a more elegant way of doing it than to make layers of MDF.  I used the spindle sander and a rasp to smooth out the interior as much as I could and then joint compound which probably won't hold up very well but it was all I had on hand.

 

 

The biggest project was to make a full enclosure for my CNC Shark. I have tried making a dust shoe for it before but the machine is just not rigid enough to handle it so the only option was to completely surround it.  I was reluctant to do this because of how much extra space it takes up and its interference with the router table next to it, but I had to do something.  I can either leave it closed up or I can take the DC connection off the planer and hook it onto the side of it.  There is an opening on the opposite side so air gets pulled across the table.  This actually works pretty well.

 

 

I cannot get a DC line over to the table saw, jointer, and miter saw because of the large HVAC ducts running through the shop and my wood racks.  So I have the miter saw hooked up to my vacuum network which was completely ineffective.  Being recessed into the wall under the stairs really helps contain the dust though.  I built a contraption to split the vac line to the area in front of the column, which is where the dust mostly hits.  It's gone from getting maybe 5% to 15% for chop type cuts, which is a huge improvement but still totally ineffective.

 

 

And finally I give you the most advanced jointer dust collection system known to man.

 

[krtwood]

Some clever work in there!  6" seems big for a 1.5HP DC...how's the performance at that size?  Good looking shop!

 

I don't have any way to quantify it, but it does seem like a noticable improvement over the same distance of 4" flex.  It certainly sounds like there is a lot more air moving, but I think that's mostly the effect of the pipe just sounding different.  The reason I believe I can get away with it is that the runs are very short.  There isn't more than a 10 foot run to any of the machines that are hooked up to it.  It's theoretically capable of 1200 CFM which isn't that much less than what the Clearvue does, around 1500 I believe.  The difference is as soon as you restrict the 1.5 you are lucky to get half of that.  I'm not sure it would be worth the investment in all of this if you weren't planning on a further upgrade like I am though.

[krtwood]

I like the DC on your jointer.  I'd love to do the same, unfortunately my powermatic jointer will clog up with chips if I don't attach a hose with suction.  And when it clogs it just spews a bunch of chips in my face.  I am surprised it works for you, I would have expected the powermatic and jet to be the same basic design.  I am jealous!  I love using dust collection, but hate tools that "require" it to function properly.  Sometimes you just want to go for a ride with no seat belt, if you know what I mean. 

 

I don't do a whole lot of face jointing.  I buy mostly s2s so It's mainly just one pass on something to flatten it up.  If I do any substantial face jointing it will clog and start throwing shavings backwards and I get to poke around up the chute with a stick.  For edge jointing it works pretty well.  It's that less often that I have to empty the DC bag.

[Spencer_J]

nice shop! I admire all of your custom made shop work. that impact driver holder... WOAH! the cnc cover is cool too! you have made a lot out of the basement shop. I've also noticed your miter saw zero clearance which is a smart idea. I like your hose bracket on the miter saw too... i have a big 12" makita slider which i built a box around with pvc flaps in the front. i had a hose hooked up to the dust port but every time i make a sliding cut, or change the bevel the ribs on the hose get caught on the opening and the hose gets disconnected. I've seen a lot of contraptions but they never get all the dust... 

 

even the rounded edges on your blast gates are pretty! nice work krt... keep it up!

 

how much does your cnc play into making custom shop stuff? 

[krtwood]

Thanks!  I've rearranged the shop so many times.  Once I got the table saw up against the wall instead of in the middle and the jointer next to it things started to work a lot better.

 

The cnc mainly gets used for personalizing things and not so much for fabrication because it's a low end machine.  With it just having a trim router and largely being made out of plastic it doesn't like being asked to cut through 3/4" plywood in one pass, it takes 3 or 4 depending on how sharp the bit is.  So it generally ends up being faster to do things the ordinary way.  So for example I did use it to make the pipe hangers, but when I needed an extra one I just did it on the band saw and it was done much faster, even though it was a little rough around the edges.  But I could go have dinner while it was making the other ones.  I used it for the blast gate fittings and was able to get a nice friction fit into the pipe, but I didn't use it to cut the holes through the layers of plywood in the gate itself.

 

I will use it sometimes to make a template.  I can screw around on the computer until I'm happy with it and then when I'm done I can toss the template itself but always make it again.  The actual cutting of the parts will still get done with the band saw or whatever.  I might use it where I can avoid having to make some odd ball jig to get a router into the right orientation.  I think a lot of people who get their start with access to a high end cnc at work develop a mindset that the entire project should be made with the cnc.  I just use it to supplement here and there.