Grinder dust collection and other questions

[Brian Effinger]

Does anyone have their grinder hooked up to a shop vac? I have the 8" delta slow speed model (like in the attached photo), and it has a dust port at the bottom of each shroud, and I'm wondering if it is worth the effort to rig something up to attach a shop vac.

Also, what height is your grinder set at above the floor? We talk about comfortable spindle height of our lathes, but what height works for the grinder. It should be high enough to see what is going on, but also comfortable to use my wolverine platform, v-arm and vari-grind. I have to build a shelf a few steps away from my lathe, and as usual, can't figure out where to set it.

Thanks everyone. :)

[Michael James]

Mine sits on an old Kitchen cab made mobile which is a little higher than elbow. I do not have a D/C port but I usually vac after use as the grinding remains fall directly down and Im in and out of those drawers. I should have started with the lathe, rather than "last in"...the layout would have made way more sense!

[Peter Fabricius]

Brian;
I watched a video of Alan Lacer presenting his sharpening methods... He noted that his grinder is set at elbow height, that is, the centre of the grinder spindle is at that height.
hope that helps. Note: The Wolverine also has a specific heigth to set the holders relative to the grinder spindle centre, it is in the instructions.
Hope this helps.
Peter F.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Brian - I just shop-vac when I clean the shop at the end of a turning project. No sense having to rig something else up that I have to step or work around.

I built a platform for my grinder so that I can use it without bending over. The center of the wheels are at 51" and I guess I am around 5' 10" - if that helps give perspective.

[Brian Effinger]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Right now the grinder is mounted to a plywood board, with the jig, so I don't have to mess with that, just get a height for the shelf. I think I will stick to elbow height or slightly above. I'm a few inches shorter than you, Steve (5'-7"), so I won't go that high, but maybe 46" or 48". I had a friend of my wife's buy a small cheep shop vac for $20 last black Friday, with the intention of using it only for the grinder so there would be no sawdust mixing in with the sparks. The plan was to mount it below the shelf so that it is out of the way, as the pipe/hose would be. I think that it is not so much the metal shavings that get everywhere, it is the stone dust when I dress it that drives me nuts.
Oh, well, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks again. :)

[David E Keller]

I'd love to have dust collection at the grinder, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth for me at this point.

[Wally Wenzel]

I would be a little leary of a dust collector hooked to a grinder, there is the chance of a hot spark or small ember going into a dust cloud in the container, dust can make a pretty loud explosion and resulting fire.
Wally

[Brian Effinger]

No explosions here. My wife wouldn't go for it.

The vac will be dedicated to the grinder, and nothing else.

[Don Geiger]

I have the Delta 23-725 1725 RPM grinder. It has two dust ports facing each other that are integral to the guards. If yours has this configuration, you can attach hoses with hose clamps and join them with a tee and then to a shop vac. A really great feature would be to install a valve on each line so you can shut one off at a time, thus creating the maximum velocity of flow through one wheel guard at a time. Someone already mentioned that the shop vac should not have any combustible residue in the tank. This is probabaly a good idea.

Is the grinder in your photo a 6" or 8"? What speed and model number is it?


Don Geiger



Does anyone have their grinder hooked up to a shop vac? I have the 8" delta slow speed model (like in the attached photo), and it has a dust port at the bottom of each shroud, and I'm wondering if it is worth the effort to rig something up to attach a shop vac.

Also, what height is your grinder set at above the floor? We talk about comfortable spindle height of our lathes, but what height works for the grinder. It should be high enough to see what is going on, but also comfortable to use my wolverine platform, v-arm and vari-grind. I have to build a shelf a few steps away from my lathe, and as usual, can't figure out where to set it.

Thanks everyone. :)

[Steve Campbell]

There's no way I would even think about sucking hot sparks into a plastic shop vac hose. The tank of your shop vac is probably plastic as well.

Steve

[Brian Effinger]

I have the Delta 23-725 1725 RPM grinder. It has two dust ports facing each other that are integral to the guards. If yours has this configuration, you can attach hoses with hose clamps and join them with a tee and then to a shop vac. A really great feature would be to install a valve on each line so you can shut one off at a time, thus creating the maximum velocity of flow through one wheel guard at a time. Someone already mentioned that the shop vac should not have any combustible residue in the tank. This is probably a good idea.

Is the grinder in your photo a 6" or 8"? What speed and model number is it?


Don Geiger
I have the same grinder as you do, Don. I was thinking of attaching sch. 40 pvc to the ports with half of a fernco fitting (half on one side, half on the other), then using a tee to join them, and then another short length of pipe, to which I would attach the vac hose. A pvc ball valve would probably be a good idea. I could try fitting everything up, without the valve, try it out, and try it with the valve to see if it would work. Thanks for the idea.

As for the combustible material - this vac will be dedicated to the grinder, and nothing else.

Brian
Pembroke Woodturning Guild
Western New York Woodturners