Dust Collection-Doesn't appear to make a big difference

[peter_l]

Hi All,

I just spent the last hour or so adding dust collection to my CW.

I cut open a hole in my stand to accomodate the 2.5"wide slot at the bottom of the machine.

Attached a 4" dust collector hood and attached a 4" DC hose.

I also hooked up a 1.5" hose to the built-in dust port on the CW.

Just did a quick project on MDF, and I still had a ton of dust on the inside of the machine and on the project itself.

To be honest, I could not see a difference in the amount of dust with or without the dust collector mods.

I will post some pics of the mods tomorrow, but was just curious if anyone has found a real succesfull DC set-up.

Now, the project I did was on a 12"x12" piece of MDF, so most of the machine was covered.

Pete

[supershingler]

peter


what did you use for you dust colllection

i started with a shop vac and have graduated to a dc unit.
i didnt notice a big difference until i started blowing out the unit . i have a hvlp finish gun ( i take the gun off and just use the air pressure) that i use to blow out the machine instead of my air compresser just because it blow air that doesnt seem full of moisture like my ac did. i still use the ac for cleaning out the chuck and thourough cleaning after the carve.

the dc unit did a lot better job of dust collection, but you have to blow out the unit during the carve. with the dc i dont stop the machine just stir it up the hvlp and the dc does the rest. very little cleanup after the carve is done and i dont have to stop the carve to vacuum out the machine



kendall

[peter_l]

Gees, i feel dumb, left out one of the most important things.

I am using an HF 2 HP dust collector that has been converted to a Wynn canister filter. It has plenty of suction.

Thanks

Pete

[bjbethke]

The CW Downdraft port and your stand top need to be air tight at the port. The machine has feet that hold it ¼ inch above the stand top for cooling the CW unit. I have my blower built in my stand. I use a four inch hose through my shop wall to exhaust the saw dust. My unit works great. You will get more dust with wider boards. Board width 10 inches or less only collects dust on the ledge under the cover window and I just lift the cover and push off that dust and check my bits to make sure they are still tight. Mine works great.

[rjustice]

The key here is that the workpiece was 12" wide. It does cover amost the entire gap between the belts therefore not leaving much room to get a volume of airflow to carry the dust away. You will find that your narrow projects will be greatly improved just as you have it.

If you add just a tiny amount of air blow to help the dust to the back of the machine it will make a huge difference. You can use some 1/8 vinyl/rubber tubing attached to your flex shaft, into a copper tip attached to the head, blowing towards the tip of the tool. Put a small regulator on it and 3-5 psi makes a ton of difference. if you pinch the tip of the copper down to make it a narrower opening it increases the velocity of the air comming out and helps as well...

Happy Carving,

Ron

[Kenm810]

Gee Ron, that sure sounds familiar
and yes it really does help on wide projects.

[rjustice]

Ken,

Ive never been very good about taking pictures, I just knew you would jump in there and share yours!!!

By the way, congrats my friend, on being featured in the "spotlight" from CarveWright. You work has always impressed me, and has continued to be an inspiration to all I am sure!

Happy Carving!!

Ron

[cncjunky]

hi compucarve lover i know you love this machine but one thing we commondly not happy with this machine is it build up so much dust after 5 min of working. i am working on idea to modify the curent dust collector to work more efficenly. i am in half way modify it. so far i test it work very well, now i just need more time to work on an improve redesign. i post it up with picture as soon as i have it up on runing...

[Kenm810]

Hi cncjunky,

Like most folks I'm always interested in new or better ways to control
the dust and wood chips these machines produce.
Please keep us up to date on your progress and if you have time post a few photos.

Thanks

[CraigBrownDesigns]

Cut a T piece if PVC in half along the top and seal the half moon ends. That will give you a good seal along the length of the CW for suction. Work for me and minimal clean up.