Vacuum systems...?

[karossii]

I just purchased a carvewrght today, and am eagerly awaiting its arrival! I have downloaded the demo software and played with it for hours... it is easy to use and I have a dozen projects ready to try out as soon as I get my unit in!

I started reading these forums, and have had a ton of new questions raised... but not seen an answer to the one question I came here to find an answer to. That is, what is the best way to set up a vacuum system for this machine? On a ton of reviews elsewhere on the web, the main point stressed in both negative and positive reviews alike was that a good vacuum system (downdraft) be used at all times for optiml performance and longevity.

So... is there some default system to use? Do I need to build it myself? Can it be portable, if I want to move my carvewright a lot? (I plan to hopefully set up a booth in the local flea market, taking the CW with me to do custom orders on site each weekend.)

I can't afford much more, after having just invested in the carvewright, router bits, scanning probe, and a few other goodies... but I want to make sure I set this up in the best possible manner to help ensure mine is never a bad review in the future! I am so excited about this and ready to get going... I so hope I won't be disappointed by a ton of maintenance issues; and plan to do everything I can on my end to prevent anything going wrong!

[Kenm810]

A Down Draft System, in my opinion is definitely the way to go.
To make it a little more movable or portable, I built my DD System into a three compartment cabinet on casters.
I picked up a free 1200 cfm 3 speed used furnace blower from a local Heating Company that throws away 4 or 5 a week.
The filters trap the dust and chips in one compartment, while the blower is in the second,
and the third is the DD chamber that makes up the top of the Cabinet.
The DD System is nice and quiet and can't be heard when the carver is running.
If you do a Forum Search on "Down Draft Systems" you'll find a ton of info and photos to help you along.

[Jeff_Birt]

While I broke down and bought a moderately priced dust collection system for the sole purpose of my carver I now would not want to do without one while using any tool, period. My only regret is that I went so many years without one.

We all tend to think the main job of a DC/Downdraft system is to get rid of the large amount of sawdust that accumulates and they do a good job of that. One of their greatest unsung benefits is filtering the VERY fine dust that woodworking. This fine dust is not good for your lungs and in some folks can cause serious problems.

I have found that using the dust collection on the table saw, CarveWright, etc, keeps my shop (1 car attached garage) much, much cleaner and I'm not allowing the fine dust to get into the house either. And, as I have mentioned before there is no more 'sawdust snot' at the end of the day.

While some folks have had good luck with homemade systems in the machines cabinet I wanted to have a dust collection system that I could use on all my equipment. I also wanted to ensure that its filtration was fine enough to catch the VERY fine dust and not simply blow it back out into the air. I wound up buying a $270 system from Grizzly and am very pleased with it. I started a write up about it here: http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=3704&highlight=automatic+air+blast.

[AskBud]

Here is a link to two posts where I show my stand and then add my vacuum.
AskBud
STAND Instructions:
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=6429&highlight=movable&page=2
Photo:
http://forum.carvewright.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10107&d=1204731372
Vacuum:
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?p=74983&highlight=stand#post74983

[twinpeaksenterprises, LLC]

Karossi,
Yes this has been a hot topic in the past so the info is there. When i retired my old dust collection system (800 CFM) for a larger one i dedicated it to my carvewright. After doing this sometime back i realize i would "never" go without one again. I may be wrong but i would think a vacuum or shop vac would overheat or get hot runnning on an hour or two hour carve. Also if your not using a downdraft but just hooking into the dust port you will only get a small amount of the dust out of the machine compared to the down draft. Although im no expert i would reccomend looking into down draft. Matt

[PlateCarver]

I have attached my shop vac to the bottom of the table and created a DD system that is great at taking out the "dust" and makes life a lot better. The only thing is that the shop vac is almost as loud as the carver.......... would a stand alone dust collection system be quieter? any ideas as this is in my garage workshop and pretty noisy......

[AskBud]

I have attached my shop vac to the bottom of the table and created a DD system that is great at taking out the "dust" and makes life a lot better. The only thing is that the shop vac is almost as loud as the carver.......... would a stand alone dust collection system be quieter? any ideas as this is in my garage workshop and pretty noisy......

WE are not speaking about a Wet/Dry "Sweeper" type unit (at least not me).
What I have is a "Dust Collector".
AskBud

[Kenm810]

Here's just one of many ways to solve some of the dust and chip problems.
Fine dust filters with a quiet negitive pressure blower.
Lots of different Folks equals lots of different ideas and solutions
Look around the Forum to see which suites your needs best. http://forum.carvewright.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[fwharris]

Karossii,

I started out with just using the shop vac to suck out the dust, built a DD system with the shop vac and then bought a 650 CFM dust collector for the DD. The dust collector by far is the better system. Like Jeff said it sure improves the amount of dust that gets into the air and your lungs. Plus the DC is a lot quieter than the shop vac.

My long term project is to do a box like Kens. Then my DC will be more available for my other tools.

[cnsranch]

Just make sure that the area the dd system is pulling from is only the open area under the CW. Don't allow it to pull from all around the machine - that will affect the computer jazz in the machine (like my technical jargon?)