Router Table Dust Collection

[Jack Hogoboom]

The post on the Festool CT22 got me thinking (glad something did :) ) about dust collection. I have a Jet left tilt cabinet saw (the one that came with the Bosch router and Jessem router lift and fence (a great deal, by the way!!)). I have never hooked up any dust collection to the router fence because the hole is the wrong size for any of my hoses and there don't seem to be adapters that are the right size either.

Any suggestions as to how to solve this problem (either home-built or commercial solutions) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jack

[Steve Clardy]

What size hole is on your fence Jack? 2 or 2-1/2?

[Jack Hogoboom]

Steve,

I'm not home and can't remember. I think the problem is inner diameter versus outer diameter. My shop vac hose is too big to go inside the hole.

Jack

[Steve Clardy]

Ok. One little trick is too take the hose end and fence end and cruise your hardware store. Check the PVC fittings out. You may find a couple that will work.
Cheaper and quicker than trying to find an actual collector adaptor and waiting on it to arrive in the mail.
Grizzly, Lee Valley, and other places usually carry adaptors. But it's usually better to be able to stand there and actually see if it will fit.
I've done a lot of that with 4" fittings and usually found some kind of an arrangement that would work.
Also if they stock a lot of shop vac accessories, you might find something there.

[Tyler Howell]

Jack you're off to a good start with my man Steve's advice. Couple more that worked when those didn't or I didn't want to buy another gizmo. Shave the inside or outside of the PVC pipe (Belt or small drum sander) is great to get a close fit. Along same lines I have heated up PVC and ABS pipe to get a fit.

One last move when a coupling took up too much space, cut small kerfs in your female section of DC plumbing, squeezed the male section in (usually you have enough momentum to get a reasonable overlapping of solid material) calk or mastic on the mating sections to seal. Hose clamp and or SM screws for a secure mechanical conection and of course our beloved duct tape.
Good luck.
I just can't shut up:o ! A couple turns of duct tape on the male section can increase its' size slightly for a solid fit on the router fence.

[Tyler Howell]

Hey Steve!

Do you use 4" or 6"..... plumbing with that monster blow gun of yours:confused:
TX

[Dan Gill]

To be honest, you don't need a terribly tight fit. I have a shop made router fence, and I just got as close as I could to the outside diameter of my shop vac nozzle with a hole saw. It's really quite loose, but the dust goes up the hose. My only problem is it's a small hose (1 1/4?) and the chips clog it fairly often.

I'll be fixing that soon with the dust collector I bought. (No gloat, just a 2HP HF at the internet price.)

[Betsy Yocum]

I had the same problem until I found the right adapter - a friend told me to use a beer kuzzie - cut out the bottom - and insert into the hole - worked great as a temporary fix - but think the other guys solutions are probably better ones!;)

Betsy

[Steve Clardy]

Hey Steve!

Do you use 4" or 6"..... plumbing with that monster blow gun of yours:confused:
TX

Good to see you survived the WOOD SHOW SPREE you had.:)

I heard that some guy with His hat on backwards was there cruising the aisle's using His plastic so hard that it disrupted the whole system.:eek:
Was that you? Lol:)

My main ducts are 6", branching off to 4" and 5".
Hope to redo some of the branches to 6" one of these days. If I do it's liable to suck something through I rather not have it to. Lol

Have a slight problem with it now though.:o My system blows all chips and dust outside into a trailer. The outlet pipe is about 6' above the floor of the trailer. Can't get any chip's to stay in the trailer.:eek: They hit the floor and bounce over the side onto the ground. Now I need to put some sideboards on the trailer.:o

Steve:)

[Hoa Dinh]

Jack,

I think the Jessem fence can be modifed to downdraft dust collection. I had my doubt but I was amazed as how effective it is. I hope my setup (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=203c&.dnm=3e7c.jpg&.src=ph) gives you some ideas.

-- Hoa

[Jim Becker]

I use the same method as Hoa on my router table...which I first learned about from a fellow known as Dizzy. He (and Hoa) did it with the Incra fence, but mine is a traditional split face fence with a low box that extends out from the back of the fence to provide a channel to the hole in the table no matter what the fence setting is. No hoses to muck about with and effective collection. I also calculated the area of the hole to be complimentary with other air access to the router cabinet so that the 4" duct connection could reasonably expected to have adequate air supply for effective collection without driving the SP up. The neat thing about this setup is that you could also make a collection hood that is usable for bearing guided routing even when the fence is not in use...a couple threaded inserts in the table to hold it (and a guard) to the table is all that would be required.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Jim,

Didn't you buy the same Jet package I did? I guess I'll go over to your site and see if I can figure out what you did.

Hoa, your setup is very nice, but looks more involved than I think I need to get with mine. I also have a plexiglass piece that comes off the back of my fence (which is drilled for the DC connection) and I don't remember seeing any way to take it off. I think it is molded into the fence, not screwed in.

Jack

[Jim Becker]

Jack, my Jet LT saw was purchased in early 2000. No router in my saw and I could not accomodate that in my shop. I have a separate router table (24" x 36") that is at the same height as the saw and doubles and triples for extra infeed/outfeed support as well as additonal assembly space

[Jack Hogoboom]

I guess it's time to get out the silicon....

[Donnie Raines]

I hope that I am not being redundent(I did not fully read the others).

But you need to catch the dust from the bottom as well. Granted, most of the dust can be captured from the top...but some of the cuts that you make will force the dust downward. i am working on a "set up" that catches the stuff from the bottom as well....pix will be posted in do time.

I have a set up similar to yours.