John Coloccia
11-05-2009, 9:07 AM
The other free DC fittings thread reminded me to post this. If you're using 6", thin walled PVC for dust collection (some refer to it as S&D Solid...definately not SDR 35. This is the white exterior, black interior stuff), I've found that standard HVAC and Stovepipe fittings fit almost perfectly. They're certainly flexible enough that they will go in with very minor squezzing.
There are actually male and female size fittings. The males have the edges fluted. The females don't. The male fittings fit the pipes perfectly. Sometimes, though, you want to get a male fitting to fit so that you don't have to use a coupler. For example, you can use a 6" to 4" reducer (which has a male fitting on it) by fluting the edges of the male fitting. Fluting will "shrink" the metal and allow you to get it started. A bit of light tapping with a hammer will drive it the rest of the way. Fluting pliers are available from any aircraft tool supplier (Cleveland tools, Aircraft Spruce, Avery Tools).
You can't do your whole system with these things, but they're convenient and cheap. They work especially well for terminating your connections into flexible hoses (the fit is perfect) and the fit is also perfect around the DC fittings on your tools (the male fittings fit perfectly over the DC ports). They're also available at my local Lowes.
The other thing I found is that normal pipe clamps don't work very well on spiral, flexible dust hoses. Wynn (the guys who make the filters for Clearvue) carries spiral clamps in all common sizes, and in left and right handed configurations. They also carry 6" flexible ducting for pretty decent prices. I recently ordered a bunch of those clamps from them, and they are truly worth every penny. I think they're $4 each, or something like that, but they WORK.
There are actually male and female size fittings. The males have the edges fluted. The females don't. The male fittings fit the pipes perfectly. Sometimes, though, you want to get a male fitting to fit so that you don't have to use a coupler. For example, you can use a 6" to 4" reducer (which has a male fitting on it) by fluting the edges of the male fitting. Fluting will "shrink" the metal and allow you to get it started. A bit of light tapping with a hammer will drive it the rest of the way. Fluting pliers are available from any aircraft tool supplier (Cleveland tools, Aircraft Spruce, Avery Tools).
You can't do your whole system with these things, but they're convenient and cheap. They work especially well for terminating your connections into flexible hoses (the fit is perfect) and the fit is also perfect around the DC fittings on your tools (the male fittings fit perfectly over the DC ports). They're also available at my local Lowes.
The other thing I found is that normal pipe clamps don't work very well on spiral, flexible dust hoses. Wynn (the guys who make the filters for Clearvue) carries spiral clamps in all common sizes, and in left and right handed configurations. They also carry 6" flexible ducting for pretty decent prices. I recently ordered a bunch of those clamps from them, and they are truly worth every penny. I think they're $4 each, or something like that, but they WORK.