Using benchtop machines without dust extraction kit

[billw]

Is this possible? I suspect it's not sensible, but will they clog up, or just shoot a ton of waste out the extraction port?

I'm thinking of getting a small planer, bandsaw, and thicknesser and I suspect I'll need just one piece of extraction kit to move around and attach to whatever I'm using - but until I can save up for it I was thinking of just running a hose into a bin bag. Or.....should extraction be bought ASAP?

 

[Daniel2]

I would suggest that it's more important with planer thicknessers than a bandsaw.
In a P/T, if the chips are not actively extracted they mill around on the cutter block
and leave lots of marks on the timber.

 

[sunnybob]

None of those machines have any method of forcing waste outside the machine. The planer and thicknesser will clog instantly, and the chips will stick to the blade and chew the wood surface.

Youre talking about the equivalent of building a racing car but not fitting brakes. It aint gonna work.

 

[robgul]

Agreed - I've using my P/T (the cheapie rebadge that Aldi & Lidl sell) a lot today cleaning up some pallet timber (carefully de-nailed!!) and the amount of waste material just for a light surface cut was amazing. Do not even THINK about running a P/T without dust collection - you'll be knee deep in shavings, and jam up the machine itself.

My dust extraction is home brewed with a cheap cyclone fitted to the top of a wooden box (sealed all round and toggle clamps to pull the top down) and a Henry vacuum cleaner - using 40mm waste pipe for the main run that connects the benchtop machines - the PT has a 100mm outlet and it needs it . .... I have a reducer to get down to 2m of 50mm pond hose that further reduces to plug into the 40mm pipe .... at the blast gate closest to the cyclone/box. Works a treat.

 

[samhay]

I don't disagree about the planer/thicknesser struggling without extraction, but you should be able to run a bandsaw without extraction. You will have to regularly clean it out though.
I have seen lunchbox thicknessers run without extraction. Makes a lot of mess, but might get away with it on occasion, particularly if you do so outside.

 

[MikeG.]

.......... Do not even THINK about running a P/T without dust collection - you'll be knee deep in shavings, and jam up the machine itself........

No Rob. I've never had extraction for any of my machines, other than a vacuum cleaner for my router table. The planer thicknesser works perfectly well without. You simply collect up the shavings from the floor. Can you imagine how much planing and thicknessing I did when building a solid oak staircase starting with sawn boards? My lungs, my choice........but don't tell people the machine won't work because that's just flat out wrong.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

I have to agree with MikeG. I ran my Elecktra Beckham P/T without extraction before I found a dust extractor perfectly well. Mind you it made a heck of a mess. I remodeled a cardboard box to guide/collect the chips before the DEx.
I've often used a bandsaw without DEx with no problems.

 

[MusicMan]

Indeed. My lunchbox planer works fine without extraction, just throws the chips everywhere. And note, a dust extractor is not what's needed, it's a chip extractor (high volume flow). If I put a high pressure low volume vac on it, which is great for dust extraction, it just backfills the hose and jams up. I tend to use masks/filters for my lungs rather than machines, anyway.

 

[billw]

Indeed. My lunchbox planer works fine without extraction, just throws the chips everywhere. And note, a dust extractor is not what's needed, it's a chip extractor (high volume flow). If I put a high pressure low volume vac on it, which is great for dust extraction, it just backfills the hose and jams up. I tend to use masks/filters for my lungs rather than machines, anyway.

Yeah, I wrote this before I did a bit more research and found a really helpful post on here explaining the difference between HPLV and LPHV. I've added a chip extractor to my shopping list, but it seems the biggest problem is not particularly the mess, I own a broom so I can deal with that, but more that unextracted chips may damage the piece.

It's a tiny planer anyhow, and won't be taking more than 1mm off small pieces so I suspect the mess isn't going to be horrendous. I'll give it a go without extraction first and see how I get on, if it arrives today, which it probably won't!

 

[Daniel2]

I really don't think there is any risk to the machine running without extraction.
It will be the difference in surface finish which is most notable.

 

[MikeG.]

........It will be the difference in surface finish which is most notable.

Again, not with my machine. Mine chucks the waste away from the cutters quite vigorously. Only if you really let the waste build up will it start blowing back through the actual work/ contact area.

 

[Daniel2]

Again, not with my machine. Mine chucks the waste away from the cutters quite vigorously. Only if you really let the waste build up will it start blowing back through the actual work/ contact area.

I believe you, Mike.
As with everything, different machines will have different flow dynamics.
Mine ( Kity639 410mm), is horrendous. Blemishes all over.

ATB,
Daniel
Edit; I have to add, it's the only planer/thicknesser I've ever used.

 

[spb]

My experience of forgetting to turn on the extractor with a PT260 is that I could put about two boards through before the chips built up to a point where I had to switch it off and clear them out. If your boards aren't 2m long you might get a few more at a time. For the bandsaw, mine would just build up the sawdust inside the casing. Open it up after every few cuts and vacuum it out and it's quite workable, if slow. You'll want a dust mask, though.

 

[Hornbeam]

My last planer thicknesser was a Statrite 310 with a chip chute for thicknessing only. Never had extraction for surfacing but always had the thickness table down to allow chips to drop away from the cutter block. When thicknessing the chute was very good for allowing the chips to blow out ( a bit like a garden branch chipper) so you could set it up just to blow into a cardboard box, I then made a grp adapter to channel the chute into a 4 inch extractor hoze. Never seemed to affect the finish.
Ian

 

[Daniel2]

My last planer thicknesser was a Statrite 310 with a chip chute for thicknessing only. Never had extraction for surfacing but always had the thickness table down to allow chips to drop away from the cutter block. When thicknessing the chute was very good for allowing the chips to blow out ( a bit like a garden branch chipper) so you could set it up just to blow into a cardboard box, I then made a grp adapter to channel the chute into a 4 inch extractor hoze. Never seemed to affect the finish.
Ian

It's quite possible that it's only mine that does it

 

[Trainee neophyte]

It's really boring, but buy the dust extraction before anything else. I know this, because I didn't. Horrible mess. The planer / thicknesser can (probably) work work without it, and the bandsaw can be cleaned after use, but you still need to clean up the mess somehow. Might as well bite the bullet and have a clean, dust free work environment. As an added bonus, you won't get COPD, total body cancer and galloping lumbago or similar. Apparently wood dust is horribly dangerous as well as messy.

 

[billw]

Apparently wood dust is horribly dangerous as well as messy.

Given my ability to create sawdust I think my first purchase should be life insurance.

 

[DBT85]

With a P/T I imagine ineffective extraction would cause more issues than none at all. None at all means they just end up blown over the floor as Mike says. A narrow hose or something on a bad extraction system and you'll clog up quite easily.

 

[sploo]

My $0.02... I have a Metabo lunchbox style thicknesser, that will block up really quickly if used without extraction. Removing the plastic cowl that contains the dust port will allow it to spew out chips without extraction, but you can occasionally get some caught on the rollers. I believe one of the Dewalt models has a built in fan to help blow the chips out.

A bandsaw will definitely work without extraction - though you might need to pause occasionally to clear out a build up of dust.

Either way; I'd definitely only do this outside - the dust build up in an enclosed area is probably not a great thing for your health.

 

[RueFondary]

It depends... My lunchbox thicknesser didn't come with a dust hood. It worked but made a big mess each time I used it.

I have since built a proper dust hood attached to a CamVac 4" shop vac, and there is now hardly any dust and everything works very well, even if it's not a HVLP system. I've also used the same twin engine CamVac with my table saw, jointer and bandsaw with great success. It is fairly quiet (with silencing pipes on both exhausts), and does a good job with fine dust (probably better than your typical HVLP system), while being fairly compact and cost effective. For even better dust abatement, one could have the two silencing pipes go outside of the workshop, at least in warm months, but I've yet to try such configuration.