Time to upgrade

[pelligrini]

Duct tape, a couple worm screw hose clamps, and a couple thin strips of wood will make a good connection. The clamps and strips of wood is to keep the joint from pulling apart.

A Y fitting will flow better than a T.

[Cochese]

I looked at Lowe's and Home Depot, and was dissatisfied with what I saw and the prices I found. The only real savings was in the duct/pipe.

I chose the T-fitting on purpose. The port at the back of the saw typically sees the dust be propelled out it by the action of the saw blade, so suction there isn't a huge deal. What's more important is trying to get the dust shooting out of the guard through the about 10' of duct and two 90º bends, so I'm going to orient it where the most suction is straight from the top ducting. It will be easier to show than explain, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

[pelligrini]

Understood on the port of the saw, it'll probably work.

I believe the big thing with a T fitting is the turbulance caused from an airstream hitting another at a 90 degree angle. Also, if those two 90's from the guard could be wider radius curves you'll get better flow on those over a hard 90 degree fitting.

[dbhost]

I love my Shark Guard, but I honestly can't live with the dust volcano it is compared with the stock guard. I need to do an overarm dust solution, but it seems like the outlet on the 21829 isn't what I expected. My 2.5" vac hose fits snugly inside the port, but the port is the exact same OD as this 2.5" T-fitting, and the connectors that Rockler sells doesn't fit over it.

Not exactly sure what to do here. I know what I want to do, but don't know what to buy to get there. My PVC shopping turned up exactly nothing - none of it is the right size.

What's wrong with your Shark Guard that you are getting a "dust volcano"? Do you not have the port hooked up to dust collection?

[Cochese]

What's wrong with your Shark Guard that you are getting a "dust volcano"? Do you not have the port hooked up to dust collection?

I've never had it hooked up, which is what this is trying to solve.

[Cochese]

It's all installed. I'll get better pictures when I hook it back up (was tuning up the shoulders on the stretcher tenons for the workbench project), and I have a couple here that I'll attempt to attach via my phone.

I purchased three 3' sections of 2.5" clear tubing (rigid), three 90º bends, a rubber hose connector with clamps, several hard plastic hose connectors and I had the T-fitting and a few more plastic connectors already.

After trying to Dremel down one of the plastic connectors to fit on the back of the saw, I remembered I bought the rubber one. Doh. Fits great. I hooked the T-fitting up to the back of it, with the middle connector directed to the saw. On the right side is the vac hook up, on the left is the route to the right of the saw. I used the 90º fitting to go up, but used a section of flexible 2.5" hose I had lying around to make the transition back horizontal above the saw. Had some issues when the guard lifted up when stock passed under it. Used a weird fitting from Rockler for the transition from the 90º to the Shark Guard, I would have to look at what it was again.

To facilitate airflow, I modified my vac setup. I had been using two full-length Ridgid hoses, I think these clock in around 7' each. One from vac to separator, one from separator to a tool or the floor for cleaning. If you recall, I'm using a Woodstock lid separator on a 5-gal bucket, and it's worked decently. In fact, Wood compared it to the other cheaper separators and cyclones and found it on par with the Dust Deputy. So 14' plus the separator is a lot of length to get stuff out. I took one of the hoses and cut it into a couple of smaller lengths. One now serves as a direct shot from the vac to the separator, a distance of about 3'. Another goes from the separator directly to the new saw hookup, a distance of about 2'. So 14' to 5' in length. I also decided it was time to check the vac, as I had not done so since I made the extension table. It was filled with debris and dust, and the filter was caked.

Now, some might see that as a ****ation of the separator. I don't. I have processed all the boards for my workbench since then, and a bunch went through the little bucket. I've emptied it a dozen times just in the last three weeks, and I did the extension at the end of March. Four+ months. I just need to remember to check it, and more importantly, the bucket on a regular basis. If it gets too full, anything that gets sucked up will go straight to the vac. In this respect, a baffle like a Thein is a better design.

After I emptied the vac and cleared the filter, I was afraid. If I held it too close, I was in real danger of having my face sucked clean off. That's the suction I remember. Before this I got some decent clearance from the overarm setup, but now it really sucks it off the table. I made a little video I'll try to post as well. Testing it out, I get very, very little dust and debris that is left on the table or in the air now. Everything cost $55, but I have a few things I can return to get it back around $45. It would probably work even better with smaller diameter duct, but I didn't feel like fabbing anything up in the middle of this workbench project.

I cut the last three boards I needed for the top after I hooked this up, and it would have worked well if I didn't struggle so much getting the board through the blade. Even after three weeks, this thing was still super moist. The boards actually developed a bend in them ten seconds after they went through the saw. In having to push the boards so hard, the saw moved and disconnected the tubing. Otherwise, it worked great on boards I didn't have trouble with otherwise.

Super happy. Also, cleaning the saw and cutting down on the excess vac hose between the vac and the separator helped me get almost all the chips and chunks off of the planer when I ran the boards through.

My saw upgrades are almost complete. I'll refine the extension table, add a hard point for the overarm to attach to on the right side, and add a miter slot, but it's just about done. I think whenever I get a bigger shop I'll upgrade to a hybrid, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[Cochese]

(click for the vid)