Routing DC ductwork...

[dbhost]

As I get closer and closer to the point where I can actually install the DC plumbing and move off of one long hose.. I am considering where the best mounting location for the DC ducts is...

I see three options.

#1. Run the duct along the ceiling, and drop to the tool, with the blast gate about halfway down the wall, transitioning to flex hose. The biggest problem I see there is getting to the table saw. How do I deal with getting to the underside of the saw?

#2. Midway down the wall, with a simple Y, then blast gate to flex line... Drop to the floor to go to the TS. The duct on the floor is a tripping hazzard.

#3. On the floor, again, go accross the floor to the TS, again duct on the floor is a tripping hazzard.

What is the best way to deal with this?

[LarryG]

Well, the best way, for a slab-on-grade building, is to think long and hard about where you want the table saw to sit and then jackhammer up the slab and bury the duct and get it out of the way for all time. Put the electrical in the same trench while you're at it.

But I realize you don't really want to do that. (And neither would I, which is one reason the new shop building on which I'm about to break ground will have a wood floor.)

In my last shop, which was on a slab, I carefully worked out where all the tools would go. I looked mainly at infeed/outfeed requirements and work flow, but I also considered where on-the-floor dust collection piping would have to go. To some extent the arrangement I settled on was chosen to minimize the inevitable tripping hazards. The jointer, in particular, did not end up exactly where I would have preferred it. But the location I chose was the best overall compromise.

I think a similar approach is probably the best you'll be able to do ... look at where you want to put your saw, and consider whether there's not a slightly different arrangement that you can live with while minimizing the tripping hazard as much as you can.

[Eric]

What I had done before is run it along the ceiling then drop it down to the side of the saw, then put in a wye which one leg went to the sharkguard and the other to the back of the saw.

This kept the hoses out of the major walk way, and I had an outfeed table behind the saw so it fit pretty neatly between the saw and the cabinet for the table.

Making cuts that went beyond the width of the tablesaw was kind of a pain but I could either pull the hose away and block it so it wouldn't interfere or disconnect the hose so I just had the DC running to the sharkguard. Worked out ok.

[jackellis]

I block the port at the bottom of my saw and periodically clean it out with a shop vac. Dust collection is limited to the shark guard, but that's a lot better than no dust collection.

[phi1l]

Here's another one you don't want to hear. .. I run the hose along the ceiling, except of the TS. I have a separate dedicated shop-vac under the TS table extension with a very short hose. That keeps tripping hazard to a minimum.

[newood2]

Some pictures of my ceiling drop. Another idea to draw from I guess.
Howie