Down Draft Completed

[Steven Alford]

I have not had the time I would like to have to play with my new toy. There is always something else to do; mow, weed, water, feed the dogs, etc.
But finally I found the time to put my down draft together.

I bought the Dewalt planner stand and cut a slot in the MDF top that corresponds with the hole in the bottom of the CW. Then I put weather striping around the hole in the CW to help create a tight seal.

I had a piece of plastic gutter left over from a repair job on my shed so I cut a piece of this the width of the CW and glued it in place. I cut a 3" hole in the gutter and glued in a 4" to 3" reducer that is to be hooked up to the dust collector. It would have been nice to put a 4" hole in the gutter so it would have hooked up straight to the dust collector without a reducer but the bottom of the gutter is only 3" wide.

The dust collector is a mini collector by Steel City. It only cost $79. It fit perfect under the CW on the shelf below. I placed a small sheet of Styrofoam under the collector motor to cut down on the noise and vibration.

When I turn them both on (CW and Dust collector) and lift the lid on the CW, you can feel a good rush of air going into the machine and down the bottom.

Steve

[Kenm810]

Steve.

Nice job, You and the Machine will be able to breathe a bit easier.
Any system that helps control the dust and chips produced by the carving machines is a big plus to you.
You'll quickly see a an improvement in the clean up time needed after each carving project.

[TWOATLOW8]

That looks great i just completed mine this week and also have the dust colector below and am gettting a very good vibration and was going to add soem rubber bumper below......Great job....

[LittleRedWoodshop]

you rock...

Nice to see members of te TEAM succeeding. Downdraft looks great, I'll pray that you have more time to use your machine.

[LittleRedWoodshop]

you rock...

Nice to see members of the TEAM succeeding. Downdraft looks great, I'll pray that you have more time to use your machine.

[Steven Alford]

Thanks guys.
My thing now is trying to get to know this software. I don't wont to waste a lot of carving time (and wood!!) on things that I will never use or sell (test carves) so I want to make sure I know how the software works. I have been taking artwork from Lora S. Irish's book, "Classic Carving Patterns" and converting them to something that can be done on the CW. So far they are looking great. I will post a few later.

Steve

[fwharris]

Steve,
Great job! Nice compact set up. Like Ken stated you will notice the difference on your first carve. Steve, did you do any grounding of the machine for static control? just had to ask..

Looks like you had a great day in the Springs for the picture also..

[Steven Alford]

Yes, I actually bought some alligator clips with about 15' of wire on the end so I can clamp them on the machine. Just hope I remember to do it when I run another carve.

[Spanglerg@hotmail.com]

Looks like a great Idea. Do you have any concerns about static electricity effecting the operation of your machine?

[Steven Alford]

That's why the last poster asked me about a grounding wire.

Steve