Well, the saga of the dust collection upgrades seems to be forever on going. Most recently, it has been attacking difficult to collect dust from machines, and to top it off, I am needing to do this on a shoestring budget. Simply put there isn't enough money left over after each payday to even think about buying new dust hoods and such... (You really don't want to get me going on the current economic junk... But let's just say I don't see it improving from where I stand).
Well as I had noted previously, I have finally been able to give my router table / extension wing a good workout, and it works well, but has some, uh, shortcomings, which will be addressed later on, but for now the one shortcoming I CAN address is the under the table dust collection.
I have had an old plastic cat litter tub, the kind that you buy 40lbs of cat litter in, sitting in the corner of my shop for a few years now... Empty of course... Well it is finally time to do something about this tub! This is a multi stage process mind you, but for now, I have cut my door opening, port opening, installed it to the bottom of the table, and fabricated a hinge for the "door" out of duct tape (not the permanent situation, but work with me here a bit...) I still need to silicone in a 4" S&D nipple to serve as a port, and then install the router / bit and test, test, test... IF the test is succesfull. I am going to remove the "door" and bulid a plywood frame around the door opening, and a plywood door for better durability, and less redneck like construction qualities... Yeah, I am sure Bubba would approve of this project!
With more finesse than the router table shroud, I have also built a floor sweep, 18" wide, 2.5" tall opening, and 6" deep out of scrap 1/2" plywood, and saved from the garbage S&D cutoff pipe. Joinery is rabbets and glue.
Along with those improvements, the sliding compound miter saw is proving to be, even with the Thien / shop vac connected to the dust port, a nightmare. It's too bulky to constantly drag outside, and dust collection is dreadful. I am NOT ready to build a full on miter saw station quite yet, and I am not sure exactly WHAT will work for this, so before I go cutting any plywood, even scraps, it's cardboard and duct tape to the prototype rescue!
Yep, you heard me right. I am prototyping various hood ideas using cardboard and duct tape. So far I have found 4 different ideas that fail on one account or another (2 simply don't catch enough dust, and 2 I kind of didn't compensate for the slide rails).
Once those are handled, I am wanting to upgrade dust collection hoods for the following machines...
I am thinking for most of those hand held tools a downdraft box is in order... Another project to do! I have ideas for the Ridgid Sander, and drill press. No clue what to do for the lathe...
Well as I had noted previously, I have finally been able to give my router table / extension wing a good workout, and it works well, but has some, uh, shortcomings, which will be addressed later on, but for now the one shortcoming I CAN address is the under the table dust collection.
I have had an old plastic cat litter tub, the kind that you buy 40lbs of cat litter in, sitting in the corner of my shop for a few years now... Empty of course... Well it is finally time to do something about this tub! This is a multi stage process mind you, but for now, I have cut my door opening, port opening, installed it to the bottom of the table, and fabricated a hinge for the "door" out of duct tape (not the permanent situation, but work with me here a bit...) I still need to silicone in a 4" S&D nipple to serve as a port, and then install the router / bit and test, test, test... IF the test is succesfull. I am going to remove the "door" and bulid a plywood frame around the door opening, and a plywood door for better durability, and less redneck like construction qualities... Yeah, I am sure Bubba would approve of this project!
With more finesse than the router table shroud, I have also built a floor sweep, 18" wide, 2.5" tall opening, and 6" deep out of scrap 1/2" plywood, and saved from the garbage S&D cutoff pipe. Joinery is rabbets and glue.
Along with those improvements, the sliding compound miter saw is proving to be, even with the Thien / shop vac connected to the dust port, a nightmare. It's too bulky to constantly drag outside, and dust collection is dreadful. I am NOT ready to build a full on miter saw station quite yet, and I am not sure exactly WHAT will work for this, so before I go cutting any plywood, even scraps, it's cardboard and duct tape to the prototype rescue!
Yep, you heard me right. I am prototyping various hood ideas using cardboard and duct tape. So far I have found 4 different ideas that fail on one account or another (2 simply don't catch enough dust, and 2 I kind of didn't compensate for the slide rails).
Once those are handled, I am wanting to upgrade dust collection hoods for the following machines...
- Ridgid Oscillating Sander
- lathe
- drill press
- hand held router
- hand held drill
- hand tools such as planes, hand saws etc...
I am thinking for most of those hand held tools a downdraft box is in order... Another project to do! I have ideas for the Ridgid Sander, and drill press. No clue what to do for the lathe...
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