Dust Extraction Advice please

[AndyP]

Hi, I'd be grateful of some advice and other people's experiences with dust collection. At the moment I use a Titan vacuum cleaner that switches on with the power tool, connected directly to the tools dust extraction port. I use this for a mitre saw, homemade router table and bench top belt sander. I wear a mask as a matter of of course and my main consideration is to reduce mess. My thoughts/questions are as follows.
1. My plan is to run rigid pipework to a couple of places using 40mm push in waste pipe, I can then dismantle easily in case of blockages. My thought was this will replicate the vacuum hose but without hoses draped around. I don't have a run longer than 2 metres from the vacuum cleaner. Is this pipe too small?
2. Mitre saw, even connected directly the extraction is not great and makes a lot of mess, I have a very small work area so tools etc get covered with dust. What are people's experiences with some sort of shroud? Even just catching and containing the dust would help I think.
3. Should I invest in a better dust extractor and cyclone set up, would this give much benefit as I would only be able to have quite a small unit in physical size.

Sorry this has turned in quite a long post , any thoughts gratefully received.
Andy

 

[robgul]

Hi, I'd be grateful of some advice and other people's experiences with dust collection. At the moment I use a Titan vacuum cleaner that switches on with the power tool, connected directly to the tools dust extraction port. I use this for a mitre saw, homemade router table and bench top belt sander. I wear a mask as a matter of of course and my main consideration is to reduce mess. My thoughts/questions are as follows.
1. My plan is to run rigid pipework to a couple of places using 40mm push in waste pipe, I can then dismantle easily in case of blockages. My thought was this will replicate the vacuum hose but without hoses draped around. I don't have a run longer than 2 metres from the vacuum cleaner. Is this pipe too small?
2. Mitre saw, even connected directly the extraction is not great and makes a lot of mess, I have a very small work area so tools etc get covered with dust. What are people's experiences with some sort of shroud? Even just catching and containing the dust would help I think.
3. Should I invest in a better dust extractor and cyclone set up, would this give much benefit as I would only be able to have quite a small unit in physical size.

Sorry this has turned in quite a long post , any thoughts gratefully received.
Andy

I "plumbed" my workshop with a run of 40mm plastic waste pipe that's then connected through a cyclone (mounted on wooden box to catch the dust) powered by a Henry - with home-made blast gates. Works fine for hand tools, track saw, band saw, mitre saw, planer/thicknesser etc. The tools are connected with flexible pond hose. Getting everything connected was a bit of an issue with different sizes of adaptor etc and partly solved by my brother making some bespoke connectors with a 3d printer.

The mitre saw is enclosed in a box made from OSB with two dust extraction pipes - one connected to the saw's port and another that's a hose cable-tied to the fence immediately next to the blade - it works but not that brilliantly - BUT the box catches a lot of dust that can then be vacummed up from time to time.

If you want to PM me I can send you some pics and a working diagram.

 

[Rich C]

Interested to see this, my mitre saw sprays huge mounts of dust out as well even with a hoover attached. I think it's a common issue with them.

40mm waste should be fine, or run 50mm if you like - most hoses are only 40mm so it won't make a huge amount of difference. You'll want compression fittings if you want to dismantle things often as push fit can be a pain to pull apart and is not really designed for it.

 

[robgul]

Interested to see this, my mitre saw sprays huge mounts of dust out as well even with a hoover attached. I think it's a common issue with them.

40mm waste should be fine, or run 50mm if you like - most hoses are only 40mm so it won't make a huge amount of difference. You'll want compression fittings if you want to dismantle things often as push fit can be a pain to pull apart and is not really designed for it.

Mitre saw shroud - showing pipe run and the blast gate (orange connector was 3d printed) The swivel on the saw is restricted to about 20 degrees from 90 - any more than that (seldom - I have another chop saw I take outside) and I remove the box. There is a Y-piece inside the box for the two hoses to join and exit into the blast gate hose

 

[Rich C]

Is that a sliding mitre saw? I considered just boxing in the back, but I feel like when the slide is at full extension it might not do much.

 

[robgul]

Is that a sliding mitre saw? I considered just boxing in the back, but I feel like when the slide is at full extension it might not do much.

Yes - it's an Evolution Rage 3S - the dust port that you just about see on the crown guard in the picture has a hose connected to it and that's fairly effective even at full extend - the second hose's opening is fixed right by the gap in the fence and that collects a fair amount of dust. If cutting wide stuff I do tend to make the cut fairly slowly in the hope that the dust doesn't spray too far from the suction.

From the amount of dust that is captured in the box (i.e. doesn't get sucked up) the box is pretty effective - it lifts off fairly easily to be able to vacuum out the area behind the saw now and then.

 

[Rich C]

Sounds like a good solution.

I was doing some wide cuts earlier and looked at the dust spray - a lot of the dust just shoots straight backwards during a plunge cut at present because the only built in suction is from the blade guard which is too far above the blade as it meets the top surface of the work. An intake at the fence and the box should collect more or less all of that.

 

[AndyP]

Robgul, thanks for the information, your setup is just what I was thinking of doing. Nice to see that it works well .
The shroud is something I think I will look into and as you say just catching the majority of dust would be a definite improvement, I too have tried the slow cut method to try and allow the vacuum to keep up .
I did see one interesting idea on YouTube where the front had sliding panels to allow angled cuts but I guess there will always be a compromise.
Thanks all for your feedback.

 

[robgul]

Robgul, thanks for the information, your setup is just what I was thinking of doing. Nice to see that it works well .
The shroud is something I think I will look into and as you say just catching the majority of dust would be a definite improvement, I too have tried the slow cut method to try and allow the vacuum to keep up .
I did see one interesting idea on YouTube where the front had sliding panels to allow angled cuts but I guess there will always be a compromise.
Thanks all for your feedback.

The sliding panel idea, I think, was Keith Brown? - I looked at it but it was a bit clumsy.

The other thing you should consider is an air cleaner - the Record AC400 seems to be the beast of choice (also available rebadged from other brands) - mine sits in a cradle attached to the ceiling, works with a remote controller (as does my Henry on the dust extraction)

A few pics (which have appeared here beore) might be useful:


Home made blast-gate - polyprop sheet and a cut down 40mm waste pipe connector

Henry, cyclone and dust catching box (I tried a plastic drum but had trouble with it collapsing)

Air filter (grey shrouds are my push-bikes hanging up!)

Better view of the mitre saw box

 

[AndyP]

The sliding panel idea, I think, was Keith Brown? - I looked at it but it was a bit clumsy.

The other thing you should consider is an air cleaner - the Record AC400 seems to be the beast of choice (also available rebadged from other brands) - mine sits in a cradle attached to the ceiling, works with a remote controller (as does my Henry on the dust extraction)

A few pics (which have appeared here beore) might be useful:

View attachment 132238
Home made blast-gate - polyprop sheet and a cut down 40mm waste pipe connector

View attachment 132239
Henry, cyclone and dust catching box (I tried a plastic drum but had trouble with it collapsing)
View attachment 132240
Air filter (grey shrouds are my push-bikes hanging up!)
View attachment 132241
Better view of the mitre saw box

Thanks for sharing the pics, glad you mentioned the plastic container collapsing. I like the idea of building my own bin as I can make it fit into an odd shaped corner so that has made up my mind. I will have a think about the air cleaner, good point, it's easy to think the hazard has gone when you stop cutting!
Out of interest this is the sliding door cabinet I watched probably doesn't give much advantage other than making access for cleaning a bit easier maybe.