# Homemade dust extractor



## kevinchristoforou (26 May 2011)

Take 2 used vacuum cleaners, add a frugal attitude, some ingenuity and a little work.

Can this be done? Surely the cannibalised parts of a household vacuum cleaner can form the basis of a workshop extraction system. I have tried a few google searches to no avail. Any ideas?


----------



## Dee J (26 May 2011)

Well you'd end up with something that would extract some dust for a while - but whether it would remove enough dust for as long as you'd want it to is another matter. Just pulling some dust from a small machine is something many larger vacuum cleaners would do - I've used discarded vax and numatic machines on portable planers, wall chasing machines all sorts. But it will be noisy and short lived. Cyclones and drop boxes help, but you're still working with a rather flimsy motor and an undersized fan. There are many cheap fan/extractor units available new and secondhand - might be better starting from there.

Dee


----------



## AndyT (26 May 2011)

Hi Kevin, 

You've come to the right place - there are loads of threads on here covering dust extraction 'solutions' from the cheap and cheerful to those which could clear the skies over Iceland. 

I suggest you have a look at this thread for starters and do a forum search on the word 'cyclone'.


----------



## chunkolini (26 May 2011)

Be careful using vaccuum cleaners as dust extractors.
I used one for ages on my home built table router, very effective.
The I connected it to my new 12" disc sander, worked for about 15 minutes then caught fire.
I was having an open studios event with public visitors, a car full pulled up just as I flung the burning vaccuum cleaner out of door and kicked it to death.
They did not stay very long. I would love to have seen myself doing this.

I think the problem is the filter clogs up with ultra fine wood dust, over heats and goes up in flames. Used for ships they seem fine, or as an extractor vented out of a porthole or whatever.
As said be careful on this one.
Utube clips please when it blows up.

Chunko'.


----------



## 9fingers (26 May 2011)

Someone on another forum had found a cheap blower designed for inflating bouncy castles. These will be designed to run all day every day and a much better starting point for workshop DIY extractors. These will use induction motors and so much much quieter than universal brush motors.
Totally agree with Chunko. Domestic vacs are not a good starting point. 
That said, the cyclone guts of a Dyson might be worth playing with for a sander or other small tools.

Still a DIY solution but at the other end of the dust collection spectrum is my set up here http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n313 ... i_0217.flv

hth

Bob


----------

