Dust collection for Delta contractor saw

[Brent Romero]

I have been away from the Creek for a bit...been busy with work and hurricanes. I am about to buy my dust collection system and I am wondering what would be the best way to adapt my ole Delta contractor saw (34-670) to the DC system. My saw is LIKE the one in the link below.

Any ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

ebay item19cc259afa

[Bill White]

I have the base shroud on my 0444Z that allows a 4" vac hose. I've also closed about 1/2 of the back (will remove that cover for tilt-blade cuts). Doesn't get it all, but sure beats the heck outa having all the dust on the floor. Have not added vac above the blade yet.
Don't enclose everything 'cause ya gotta have make-up air for the collector to work properly.
I use the HF DC.
Bill

[Brent Romero]

Thanks Bill. Which base shroud are you referring to?

[Jeff Monson]

Brent you can build shroud very easily for a contractor saw. Do a quick search and you will get all the info you need. I built one for my delta and it worked great.

[Bill White]

Mine came from Grizzly. Don't know if it'll fit your saw, but check out the Grizz specs.
Bill

[Julie Moriarty]

I have a similar Delta model. I used the dust shroud in the picture mounted between the stand and the unit. There's still the problem of dust escaping from the back but it keeps most of the dust off the floor.
http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/88478-01-200.jpg
I tried sealing the back, cutting around the drive belt, but that became a problem as soon as I angled the blade.

[Brent Romero]

Thanks Julie. I may give your idea a try. The motor of my saw is located beneath the table so I should not have any problems when angling the blade.

[Mitch Barker]

Go to the roofing section of home depot and look for the aluminium flashing thing used for vent pipes that pass through the roof. Mount it under the saw, you may need to use a little plywood to fill up the entire area under the saw. Adapt the hole in the flashing to fit the hose to your dust collector. The flashing thing forms a funnel for collecting the dust.

You can also block off the back, but it inteferes when making a bevel cut.

[Julie Moriarty]

Watch out for roof flashing. It comes in rolls typically 24"x120" and is great due to its size but it's 30ga and very flimsy. You can score it with a razor knife and break it off. Duct work sheet metal is heavier gauge and some comes with a crease that forms a criss-cross to strengthen the large spans.

If my memory serves me correctly, the plastic shroud I bought from Rockler fit the opening in the stand perfectly. I also used a smaller one for my jointer and sealed the rest of the opening, making sure where the motor is was separated from the dust collection area.

The contractor's saw from years ago really wasn't made with dust collection in mind. That was when breathing carcinogenic dust was considered manly. While you can capture a lot of dust with the bottom shroud, that dust finds all sorts of other ways to escape and land wherever it wants, sometimes in your lungs. I always see some buildup right under the semi-circular cutout in front where the depth adjustment wheel is. The rest exits out the back or on top. I'd guess the bottom shroud captures about half of the dust.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a friend who has a contractor saw and made an interesting dust shroud system for it. His motor hangs out the back of the saw. He found some rubberized magnetic sign material on sale on E-bay. He cut two pieces such that as his saw blade tilts and the motor and it's mount move, they move through a gap between the two pieces. The magnetic sign material just sticks to the steel saw cabinet and is easy to remove for maintenance, belt replacements, etc. He bought a shroud as pictured in the earlier post with a 4" connection, put it on the bottom of the saw and hooked it to his DC. It works well for him.

[Jeff Books]

I got a dust collector from Penn State that has the advantage of sloping to the outlet at one edge of the saw. It makes it easy to attach the 4" hose. Still have to partially block the back.
Jeff