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Thread: My CarveWright Automatic Dust Collector

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Tuscaloosa, AL
    Posts
    25

    Default My CarveWright Automatic Dust Collector

    I want to share with everyone a little device I built for my dust collector connected to the CW that has made carving more convenient. This article may be a little long but please bear with it.

    The truth is you need some sort of dust collecting system connected to your CW either it be a Jet, Grizzly, Harbor Freight or a Shop-Vac, that keeps the CW dust free and clean while carving. I have found that the CW performs better and the spindle bearings and bit will run cooler as air is drawn through the machine. Then you need some sort of an attachment hood or vent between the CW and the DC in order to suck out the dust. There are many designs that can be mounted in front of the CW, on top, side, bottom or a combination of both front and bottom as I have configured. They are all good attachments; it’s a personal preference as far as I’m concerned.

    So, how do you turn on your dust collector?

    Do you manually flip the switch when the CW starts carving?

    Do you use a remote control?

    Do you leave your DC running all the time even when there is nothing to collect?

    Do you often leave the CW unattended as I do just to come back and find it stopped half an hour earlier perhaps with a “Check Cut Motor” fault?

    What if you didn’t have to do anything with the DC and it would automatically start as your project begins carving and stops after the CW stops.


    The little device I built for my DC connected to the CW, I named it the, “IamDave DC Controller”, or DCC for short,is an Automatic Start and Stop Controller that requires no user interaction. There may be something similar to my design for the CW on the market but I have not checked and if so, I am reinventing the wheel. And by the way I have built electronic gadgets since I was in high school so I have decades of parts on hand and I only had to purchase a few special components to build this one and the most expensive part was of all things; the enclosure. The DCC has no microcontroller in it; the control circuit is just a few simple inexpensive electronic components. There are numerous ways to electronically accomplish this but the circuit I designed and have used for some time now has performed flawless for me.

    The attached picture is the actual prototype of my, “IamDave DC Controller”. There are no special wiring connections needed like tapping into the CW internal electronics or cut motor circuit.(However, this would have been the easiest way but perhaps LHR would not see it that way.) Simply plug the DCC into a 120VAC 20amp outlet, mine is a GFIC for safety as should be used with any power tool. Plug the CW into the CW 120VAC receptacle and the DC into the DC 120VAC receptacle. That’s it! That is all the connections needed to Automatically Start and Stop the DC. No tapping into the CW electronics. Prior to use there is a simple one time calibration procedure performed that takes only a few minutes and once set I have never adjusted it again.

    When carving a project I often leave my CW unattended. (Do this at your own risk according to the Forums.) I normally do not have a lot of free time so I often design a project at night and set the machine up the next day after I get home from work. While the CW is carving I will move on to other things that need to be done around the house. Now I can do projects much faster by not second guessing or continuously checking if the CW has stopped for a bit change or has completed the carving project. Now I know for sure when the CW and DC are both quiet, attention is required. A remote pager device could easily be added to the DCC to notify you when the CW has finished or is waiting to change a bit. In the past it was often hard for me to distinguish if the CW had stopped while the DC was still running.

    Thank you CarveWright community for letting me share my DCC project. Like I said earlier there may be something similar to my design for the CW on the market and if so, I am reinventing the wheel. It would be really neat if perhaps in the future LHR would simply program this in the controller code and have an external output relay contact available to do the same thing. The simple thing about my, “IamDave DC Controller” is that it will work with existing CarveWright machines in use today with no modifications to the machine.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    DCC Sequence of Operation:

    · Plug DCC into power 120VAC outlet.
    · Plug CW into receptacle.
    · Plug DC into receptacle and set DC power switch to ON position.
    · (Once all are plugged in there is no need to unplug them from the DCC.)

    · Load your CW project.
    · DC will not start when bits are loaded and the cut motor briefly turns on.
    · Project starts, cut motor running, the DC automatically turns on 15 seconds later.
    · CW cut motor stops for a bit change or the project is complete, the DC stops after 25 seconds.

    Some might be thinking I should spend more time carving and little less time tinkering with the machine. I can’t help it. I like to see how things work.


    Thanks,
    IamDave
    Tuscaloosa, AL

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,691

    Default

    Great idea Dave. I use an item called the I-socket. It does the same as what you built and it really does a nice job. There is a thread on here some where that was posted a few years ago. I think I got mine from http://www.acmetools.com and was some where around $40.
    Thanks for sharing your idea.
    CarverJerry

    ver. 1.188 Win 7- 64b with 6 GB ram @ 2.8Ghz and dual 1Tb hard drives. Rock Chuck & Ringneck vacuum system hooked up to a Harbor Freight large vacuum. Center line text, conforming vectors.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Western New York
    Posts
    899

    Default

    Thanks Dave for your input. Very timely as I am just setting up my dust collection system. Also thanks to Jerry for the link. I just placed my order.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Tuscaloosa, AL
    Posts
    25

    Default

    Thanks CarverJerry,

    I looked at this I-socket and it is similar to the one I built. I did a little research and found this product turns on the DC when the load reaches about 5.2 amps which is perfect with the CW cut motor running with no load around 6.0 amps.

    Anyway my reinvented wheel works for me. The evening I spent building my circuit I could have spent carving and purchased the $40 one.

    Thanks,
    IamDave

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    NE PA USA
    Posts
    9,984

    Default

    If you use the iSocket I recommend that you use a Wall Wort little Radio Shack transformer to activate a heavy RELAY. The weakness to the iSocket is the little transistor on off switch that is very similar to the Cut Motor on off Q1 Transistor. In the iSocket they mount the Transistor or SCR or TRIAC to a metal heat sink to keep it cool. As a Shop Vac can draw a lot of current.

    Using a Relay lets you operate a 220 volt Dust collector too... or 115 VAC.

    I have tested my iSwitch and it does work well... I like that it shuts down the dust collector a short time after the Cut Motor shuts down.

    Nice project,

    AL

    I only see ONE down side to this iSocket... Last winter my 115 VAC Dust Collector... I pressed the start switch and it just HUMMED... NO START... I was right on top of it and turned it off... BUT had I left it HUM.... Could have been bad.... The START CAPACITOR had gone bad.... Had to replace the Start Cap....
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSC01996_WEB.jpg   DSC01998_WEB.jpg  
    Last edited by Digitalwoodshop; 11-03-2013 at 07:24 PM.
    Favorite Saying.... "It's ALL About the Brass Roller"..... And "Use MASKING TAPE" for board skipping in the X or breaking bits.

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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    White Oak , PA>
    Posts
    196

    Default

    Here is the i_vac switch that is setup really well...

    http://www.amazon.com/M-Bright-iVac-...+Vacuum+Switch

    Lot of great features.

    Amazon has the best price and this item has Free Shipping...
    Custom Built Quilt Hangers and Quilt Racks.




  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Wylie, Tx
    Posts
    1,680

    Default

    I too have the I socket and have been using mine for quite a few years. I bought mine at Rockler and it works great. However, I was thinking about the CW and how it has in OPTIONS that it can be set to turn off after so many minutes when motor stops running. It would be great if that could be integrated to work with a A/C socket that could be added to the back of the CW or something. Then this would serve the same purpose of the ISocket switch, but would just be built in to the CW. Just some food for thought.
    JerryB:.

    CarveWright START U Team Member
    Using 1.187, Conform, PE/Probe, Centerline.

    "Let's start sharing PTNs instead of MPCs so ALL SW versions can view & share"

  8. Default

    Sears makes a similar system ( $16 at the time ) that didn't seem to work to well for the carvewright but worked great for everything else. I have it on my table saw, band saw and spindle sander with two SHOPFOX downdraft sanding stations.
    Last edited by TerryT; 11-04-2013 at 07:56 AM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Tuscaloosa, AL
    Posts
    25

    Default

    AL is right, the i-socket's output capacity could easily be increased by driving a relay or contactor from it's output.

    MY DC Controller has an output load capacity of 30 amps at 120VAC if connected to a 30 amp breaker. Likely the i-socket uses a solid state triac output and I use a commmon inexpensive appliance /HVCA relay rated 30 amps at 220VAC.

    I just like automated stuff.

    IamDave

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    NE PA USA
    Posts
    9,984

    Default

    30 Amp HVAC Relay... "I LIKE IT !!!!"

    Good Job !!!!

    AL
    Favorite Saying.... "It's ALL About the Brass Roller"..... And "Use MASKING TAPE" for board skipping in the X or breaking bits.

    Follow ME on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Accoun...50019051727074

    www.PoconoDigitalWoodshop.com

    www.AccountabilityTag.com


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