Dust hose adaptor problems - be gone!

[Farmer Giles]

Like most people on here, getting the various bits of machinery to mate up with vacuums and dust extraction systems can be a real pain.

Adapters cost a fortune and rarely work, although some vendors kit does share similar hose sizes, not all do, and the flexible stepped adapters don't always stay put or fit.

So, now having the use of a 3D printer, I thought I would have a look what is already designed and out there in Thingiverse, this is a where most people post their designs for 3D models for 3D printing..

I found a useful post here, however most of the 1545 remixes of the original design were named after the machines they are used on, some very obscure, at least over here. These are "stl" file that you can load into a slicer to create gcode that you can print from.

However the original design is a SCAD file, named after OpenSCAD, which I believe stands for Solid CAD, for modelling solid objects, ideal for 3D printing. I knew nothing about Open SCAD but evidently it comes with a Customizer so if the model has parameters, you can change them, and the original modeller had enabled this.

So I downloaded OpenSCAD, its not a big program, opened the SCAD file and et voila, you can change ID and OD of both ends of the adapter, and add retaining rings and specify wall thickness. If you look below on the right you can see that I wanted an adapter with 47mm ID on one end and 43mm ID at the other. You can change Inside to Outside if you wish. I set the wall thickness to 1.8mm then hit Design -> Render, wait for it to finish then File -> Export to an STL file.

Once you have the STL file, if you have a 3D printer then its pretty standard, just open the slicer of your choice to create the gcode, load it to your printer and print.

Here it is in progress

finished product, took about 3 hours and took 28g of PLA filament, its about £20 a kilo so only about 60p worth.

And in place on the Bosch mitre saw. I made this an external fit as I wanted to maximise airflow, they are not known for their dust extraction ability at the best of times so every little helps.

Now I will go through my botched adapters and create better ones, when I get chance. And no, I am not doing requests! But if you know somebody with a printer, its relatively easy.

Cheers
Andy

 

[DBT85]

I've done the same Andy for my Makita mitre saw though I drew that from scratch and even managed to add the hole for the screws. In fact it was part of the reason I dropped the £200 on the Ender 3 Pro. The variance in all the tools is absurd.

I've also seen young Marius Hornberger print whole parts for his DX system like a moveable hose for use around things like drill presses. He also made a whole Y piece. Also did a bunch of other bits for all sorts of things.


The power is there to make some useful things, its just that so many don;t have the time to learn the software. Without that knowledge a 3D printer is a nice ornament for many!

 

[Farmer Giles]

I keep intending to learn CAD fully but never seem to get around to it. I've modified a few designs but not created my own designs, yet.....

However my two daughters, 11 and 14, are picking up CAD quickly so maybe I'll just outsource design to them

 

[Fidget]

This is my pet peeve at the moment

I too have 3D printed some adaptors, some of which I designed myself using the free version of Fusion 360, it's not too difficult once you get your head round it

I have also printed a couple from the Thingiverse, one of them for my Kapex saw which works very well

I also saw an adaptor designed by ScaredyCat there who might just be the same ScaredyCat who is a member here (I don't believe in coincidence)

 

[gregmcateer]

That's a lovely adapter!
I'm jealous as ****. And also know I'll never learn enough about CAD to justify a printer

 

[clogs]

as gregmcateer says, but for me I'm just to old....
have made a couple of attempts with some cad stuff, just drawing but in the end the RED mist came down....hahaha...
so for my special adaptors are bit's of ply and cut up and glued sealant tubes and what ever else is laying around...they aint pretty but the do the job....
tend to keep em on the shelf in one place, people that visit think I'm storing rubbish......hahaha....

 

[HamsterJam]

Been 3D printing extraction adapters for a while now. Made some to use an ex-Dyson cyclone in line with my shop vac to save bags

 

[pe2dave]

I feel sure there's a small business opportunity here, dust (and other?) connectors
with a fair profit margin.
Thanks @Farmer Giles

 

[DBT85]

There are people that will print to your specs but I think charge £10-15 per adapter.

 

[Lons]

However my two daughters, 11 and 14, are picking up CAD quickly so maybe I'll just outsource design to them

Clever girls but they might quickly recognise an opportunity and it could become expensive.

 

[pe2dave]

Clever girls but they might quickly recognise an opportunity and it could become expensive.

It could become a good career, it's a niche programming world with good pay, interesting work and growing.

 

[transatlantic]

I've done the same. You can also get flexible material that gives you a little play to account for minor measurement inaccuracies. Although I tend to introduce a slight narrowing between diameters which also does the same job.

 

[robgul]

My adapter frustration was eased by my brother and his 3D printer - making a complete set for all my machines and tools with dust extraction ports. He found some existing files to tweak but we did have to make a few prototypes for fine tuning.

... and I made blast gates to fit my waste-pipe ducting.

 

[segovia]

I can feel the purchase of a 3D printer coming on , any recommendations that won't break the bank ?

 

[Farmer Giles]

Mine is a Creality Ender 3 Pro, cost just me just over 200 quid with the glass bed cover and 2kg of PLA filament delivered from Germany. I believe they are in the process of upgrading the boards to 32 bit and upgrading the stepper motor drivers so check which model it is. I thing the Ender 3 now has a v2 and has the new board and drivers. Not too sure about the Pro version yet, but there's not much difference. I ended up buying an after market 32 bit main board for mine main board, about 30 quid, but if your not into messing with tech I would get the v2 one so you don't have to. Mine is much quieter now and I don't suffer from lack of memory when adding accessories.

There are others but I only have experience of the Ender 3 Pro.

Cheers
Andy

 

[pe2dave]

Yes, very tempting @segovia - I looked over them.
Buy Ender-3 DIY 3D Printer for House/Home/Cosplay | Creality – Creality3D Store® Official Store for Creality 3D Printers and Accessories seem to get very good reviews.

 

[DBT85]

My ender 3 pro cost me £195 from banggood, but was a UK location so was here in 2 days unlike most stuff which comes from China. Had to buy filament with that. Excellent results without faffing with anything. I've got some mounts for the motors to redduce the noice a bit but enver got around to fitting them (requires removing the press fit pinion).

The most important thing is that you have the time or patience to learn something like Fusion or another applicable application to a basic level. There are lots of things to print on thingiverse, but unless you can create your own, you'll find it limiting.

 

[pe2dave]

The most important thing is that you have the time or patience to learn something like Fusion or another applicable application to a basic level. There are lots of things to print on thingiverse, but unless you can create your own, you'll find it limiting.

Is it a case of learning to use the application, or is there a CNC class of programming language to learn please?

 

[pcb1962]

Is it a case of learning to use the application, or is there a CNC class of programming language to learn please?

You don't need to learn a language, but it helps to understand a few elements of GCode. After the CAD program you use another bit of software called a Slicer to convert your model file to the GCode which drives the printer. In the slicer you can tweak things as much or as little as you like to vary the GCode that is produced, but you shouldn't need to do that initially, only once you're up and running and you want to fine tune things.

 

[DBT85]

I've printed a fair bit and never even looked at any gcode. Download or make a model, import to Cura, slice it into layers and export that gcode to the sdcard.

If you only want to be able to print simple adapters I or Andy could upload (assuming there isn't one) a file that can be very easily modified to your specific dimensions in something like fusion. You literally type in the diameters and lengths you want and hit export. The parametric nature of the software updates the model to the parameters you input.

Little use if you need an extra flange or screw hole or something though.