Circular saw dust extraction

[SPinonit]

I currently own/use a circular saw for all/most of my general cutting. I've managed ok so far, apart from the amount of dust it creates. Unfortunately, the GMC (MacAllister) one I have, has an elliptical shaped outlet which is nigh on impossible to connect to any kind of dust extraction - in my case at present, a household vacuum cleaner. I have bought the Numatic hoses, which are a bit more pliable than my dyson's hose, but it still will not stay in place.

I'm thinking of trying to use some type of moldable (?moldable?) plastic to create an insert/adaptor so that i can more properly connect the vac. I've searched this forum for other options for circular saw dust extraction and I've searched the interweb for any help - all to no avail.

For my paralysed hand, I have a splint made from a plastic that is malleable at warm to hot water temperatures. The splint is placed in hot water, or heated with a hot air gun then placed over your hand and moulded to shape. As it cools, it gets rigid. I was thinking about using something similar to make an adaptor, but I very much doubt that type of plastic (may be Prenyl) is the right choice, as it is too thick and it softens at low temperatures so not good with power tools. It is also horrendously expensive.

Does anyone know of, or have any experience of making this type of thing, or of using suitable types of malleable plastic? If so, I'd be grateful for any words of wisdom you may be able to offer.

 

[matt]

Surely you just need to round rubber connector, albeit with some ellipse to round bit of maths to work out the diameter?

 

[RobertMP]

Most of my hand power tool dust connection solutions revolve around duct tape

I use adaptors or just bits of plastic plumbing fittings and when the hose fit isn't tight enough just put a bit of duct tape around the joint. I fold the end over for half an inch before I wrap it round then I have a tab to get hold of to unstick it easily.

 

[WoodAddict]

I've seen many industrial and commercial air-conditioning units and extractors "tweaked" with a bit of duct tape. It's great stuff!

Don't be fooled into to buying the cheaper thinner stuff though as it looks the same but isn't as "air proof".

 

[SPinonit]

(homer) Doh (homer) Duct tape - of course! I'd completely forgotten / overlooked that (couldn't see the wood for the trees) :shock:

Thanks guys, as ever your words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

 

[ondablade]

Depends on what the guard is made of a bit too, and on whether i'm reading the picture correctly. If the big circular opening is the dust outlet you might be able to bond a stub of thin wall tubing into the hole, and slip a hose over that.

If it will push down into the hole some distance then silicone sealer might not be a bad idea as an adhesive - it's not as strong as some, but given plenty of area can do a good job, will fill gaps and would ultimately be removable in the event of problems....

 

[SPinonit]

Thanks ian, that's kinda the thing i was thinking of, but not sure what type of plastic would be right. I'll go with the duct tape for now and keep my eye open for the future. Maybe the long-term aim will be to upgrade my saw to one that has a decent extraction port.

 

[Boz62]

A type of plastic that may be of use if you get fed-up of duct tape is Polymorph - easy to use for odd shapes! Like the others, duct tape is my solution of choice, often with a bit of 40mm water pipe as an interface to the vac's hose.

Good luck

Boz

 

[P1tcherthis]

At the moment I use an old dyson in my garage for when I use my power tools, and find if you can get a hold of spare crevice tools (that go on the end of your dyson to get into corners etc.) you can cut the ends off where it starts to go thin and tape these to your tools. Then when you want to use them, you can just click on the tube from the dyson on the end, and click it off again. You can often find these on scrapped dysons at your local waste centre.

 

[Shultzy]

There is a rubber tubing that electricians use that shrinks when heated. I used it to enclose my bike security chain, it doesn't stretch once on.

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

+1 for Duct Tap, and indeed heat-shrink tubing. Somewhere like Axi sells them, but I can't remember who sorry! Cheers _Dan.

 

[Shultzy]

Found it.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/heat-shrink- ... t%20shrink