DC connection in cabinet saw

[Bob Riefer]

These questions do not pertain to overhead/guard collection.

The portion of the DC setup that disappears into the cabinet... Is that just laying on the ground inside the cabinet and picking up whatever lands there? Or, is it attached to a funnel type of attachment underneath the blade to collect the dust before it can fall? Does that funnel have any effect on pulling dust through the insert plate?

If a funnel setup, do you have a picture or can you explain how that connection is made?

Thanks!

[glenn bradley]

Both types exist. If there is a "blade shroud" it generally terminates in a port at the base of the saw. This port can look just like the more general types which are usually at the base of the saw with a ramp inside the cabinet making chips move in the general direction for pickup. Blade shrouds are more sexy but, I am not sure that all designs allow for chips that miss the shroud. I believe the new Delta Uni does. For adequate collection you do not need to have a spotless cabinet interior. Chips will "snowdrift" into certain areas and create a natural path to the port based on your collector and the design of the interior. Both types work well if you have an appropriate collector for the type of collection used.

[Bob Riefer]

Thanks Glenn, your posts are always very informative and I appreciate it.

I have an older Grizzly 1023. Inside the cabinet, it's just straight down until it reaches the floor. Sounds like a simple ramp towards a central point, a point where my DC pipe would be directed, would work just fine (as opposed to trying to get fancy and build a shroud/funnel type of solution).

[Lance Norris]

Bob... I have a Delta cabinet saw that has the simple ramp to the dust port in the cabinet. I was having trouble collecting all the dust and chips until I added a second, seperate 4" line to my dust collector. A single 4" hose into your saw will give unsatisfactory results. Many people increase the port to 5" or even 6". They also run that 5-6" pipe size to the collector. Heres a link to the thread I posted about my saw.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?76571-Cabinet-Saw-Dust-Collection-Dramatic-Improvement&highlight=cabinet+saw

Just something to think about...

[glenn bradley]

Sounds like a simple ramp towards a central point, a point where my DC pipe would be directed, would work just fine (as opposed to trying to get fancy and build a shroud/funnel type of solution).

Yep. That oughta do it. My Orion/C-man zipcode saw is very much like the one pictured in my previous post with a simple ramp towards the port area. As Lance says, a 6" opening will move more air and avoid some snowdrifting if that is your goal. My DC does OK with the one 4" and some closing off of some of the places where the air gets in around the table and the hand wheels (leave at least as much area open for air going in as your DC can take out). When I get around to changing out my outfeed table I will probably open the tablesaw up to 6" as well. For right now, all is well (its just that we always seem to want to make things a little better . . . not a bad trait ;)).

[Chris Parks]

I think a lot of saws have collection problems due to restricted air flow and by that I mean the air entering the saw cabinet. Best to put a six inch line on it or two four inch but what you must have is enough air entering the cabinet for it all too work. Build the ducting into the cabinet and start up the extractor then remove the lines from the cabinet and listen to the extractor motor. If the RPM's change then there is not enough air flowing through the cabinet and you need to create inlets to allow more in. I would suggest an adjustable inlet of some kind to get it just right would be ideal. I suppose you will never collect all of the saw dust but if there is enough air flowing through the cabinet then most of it should be collected.

[Joe Leigh]

I think too much is made of a small amount of dust collecting in the cabinet. I own a PM2000, pictured on the right above, which has a dust shroud. The dust collection is light years ahead of the older type saws without a shroud but you will always get some residual dust and chips inside the cabinet. There is no getting around it. The real question is so what? If it's inside the cabinet it's not airborne. Once every few weeks of use I simply open the hinged door, reach in and vacuum out the cabinet. If you're in the market for a new cabinet saw, get one with the shroud, you"ll be glad you did.