Dust collection system

[dlambers]

I worked out a system that handles the dust pretty well. I built a box plelum to go under my machine that I can connect my shop vac to. The plelum draws the dust down through the slot in the bottom of the machine, keeping 99% of it out of my shop. The shop vac is augmented with a Onieda Dust Buddy which saves alot of time, effort and filter life. The small hose replacing the motor exhaust filter is a pool filter hose from Lowe's and directs the dirty exhoust in to the plelum. Anyway, it works for me and keeps the better half of my *** about the dust coming in the house.

[lynnfrwd]

Very innovative, however....it concerns me that you are using the muffler port in the back as that sucks the dust across/into your electronics.

[dlambers]

Not really. The hose redirect the exhaust from motor to the plelum. This puts a negative pressure at the exhaust port, improving air flow through the motor, allowing it to run cooler. The electronics aren't in the flow pattern anywhere.

[bergerud]

Actually, the exhaust port is not cooling air from the motor. That air is channeled up and over the inside of the cover to blow down behind the keypad and keep the dust away from the brass roller. There are two fans in the motor. The air coming out of the exhaust actually comes from inside the machine. There is a square intake up behind the back roller a little right of center.

[mtylerfl]

I worked out a system that handles the dust pretty well. I built a box plelum to go under my machine that I can connect my shop vac to. The plelum draws the dust down through the slot in the bottom of the machine, keeping 99% of it out of my shop. The shop vac is augmented with a Onieda Dust Buddy which saves alot of time, effort and filter life. The small hose replacing the motor exhaust filter is a pool filter hose from Lowe's and directs the dirty exhoust in to the plelum. Anyway, it works for me and keeps the better half of my *** about the dust coming in the house.

I would like a better look at your setup. The photos are extremely small...can you repost with some larger photos, please?

[Digitalwoodshop]

If you have ever use a old electric drill and you see the SPARKS at the Brushes.... That very same thing is going on inside the CUT Motor...

And like above, the cut motor has 2 parts to the fan. One part sucks air inside the cooling slits next to the brushes and all the way through the the motor. The other half does that cooling thing mentioned above... The problem is that the sparks from the brushes are normally not a problem but IF..... Fanned like a Boy Scout trying to start a FIRE by blowing on the glowing embers... Sucking the embers into your dust collector.... ???? I have seen MANY here that have done this with down draft setups.... I have mentioned this in the past but never heard of any fires except that guy that has a clear plastic collector and came home after leaving the machine cut in his outside shed to find the Fire Dept just leaving.... a Total loss.... I suspect it was the clear plastic and static electricity... but never heard for sure.

And the pictures are SMALL but you need to ONLY be sucking AIR from the open slot... IF you Suck Air from the larger louver area you are now dragging dust past the electronics that LHR is talking about... A Coating of fine DUST on the Power Supply or the X Termination Board is a FIRE waiting to happen...

I am not a big fan of the Down Draft... That 90% is a little high in my opinion... A Top Mounted Collector is really the best option... You can see from the dates on the pictures, I made one of the first top collectors. I did a dual suction at the time but no only use a top collection.

Good Luck...

Don't be mad as we have your best interest in mind..... My Collector used a FOAM seal on the downdraft and a SLIT in my upper collector to hang on the top sealed with foam but I lost suction due to it... I now use a ALL METAL Ringneck Blues collector.

AL

[fwharris]

Nice start on controlling the dust. Your idea on venting the cut motor exhaust into your down draft system is a good one. That is still on my add on list. Right now I have a 2" hose in place of the cloth bag with a normal vacuum filter bag on the end of the hose.

The down draft concept for for dust collect was one that a lot of carvers started with. I started with a box made of 2"x6" lumber with a shop vac for suction. I soon changed out to a regular dust collector for better air flow. I still use the down draft set up when doing pierced carvings and cut outs.

The main down fall for a down draft system is with caving wide boards that do not allow for any dust collection as the board blocks the air flow to the bottom vent. Most have added on a top mounted dust collection attachment for collecting the dust as it is being carved.

[badbert]

As Floyd tries to be humble!! LOL Floyd is the inventor of the DC-insert! He is "The man" when it comes to dust collection for these machines! Like he said the downdraft works as long as you are going through the board. But it has little effect on a surface carving of a wide board. The exhaust port idea was covered awhile back. Someone Tee'ed into the exhaust with a fish tank tube and directed it (using small copper tubing) to blow air towards the tip of the bit. I always thought this would be ideal. Since it would serve two purposes. 1.) It has a cooling effect on the bit. 2.) It helps to lift the dust off of the board and into the negative airflow of the DC.

[mtylerfl]

I think Jeff Birt was the first to rig up the air blowing piping. I always thought that was a good idea too, but seems to me Jeff ultimately abandoned the idea. Not sure if he still uses that or not.