Disassembly is a good idea

[brady.schwyhart]

Hey all, I recently prepped my machine for storage. I removed the top cover and both sides to give it a thorough cleaning and WOW!!!! I thought my machine was semi clean to begin with. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! There was a massive amount of accumulated dust inside the sandpaper belts. It was unreal. I figure that since I don't use a downdraft table(have been too lazy to build one) this is probably the cause. When I am able to set back up and start carving again, the first order of business will definately be a downdraft table. But, I will also be pulling the sides off every so often to do a double whammy on keeping it clean.
Brady

[Tom75]

i found that out with thw dust in the sand papper belts when i had to re place them . i remove every so offten to give a good cleanning . good luck with work and come back safe . have a good night

[sweliver]

Downdraft vs vacuuming every 20 min.

I have a good downdraft setup...just no dedicated dust collecting system. Running the shopvac nonstop while carving is no better than a periodic pause during the carve and vac'ing. I've done both and feel the periodic stop and vacuum is adequate.

I've put over 30 hrs in 2 weeks (a 5 gal shopvac full of sawdust) on the CW for Christmas gifts and it's down for a thorough cleaning...I can't wait to see inside and how well I've dusted.

The downdraft table is now cleared of the CW and set up for sanding all these projects.

I've found that frequent vac'ing during a carve, a shot of air here and there, more vac'ing, wiping down the rails and posts with dry lube, a shot of vac to the down draft, keeps me happily carving.

sw

[TerryT]

I like to do both. I have a very good downdraft table AND stop every 20 to 30 minutes to vacuum.