Dust collection "hood" for a lathe?

[James Baker SD]

I originally posted this over in the workshops forum, but not getting any replies, so I will try here.

What do people use to capture the dust from a lathe, especially when turning a long spindle? Thanks.

James

[Thom Sturgill]

I have one of the 'big gulp' hoods attached to a channel that mounts to the headstock on my Jet 1642. This will pull dust from about a 12" wide area. The mounting arm is slightly adjustable for length.

Robo Hippy has a you tube video of his hood.

[Marvin Hasenak]

My neighbor was throwing away a small canister vacuum cleaner, the collection end has an opening of about 8 by 10 and is about 8" deep. I kept that part and hooked it up to a shop vac just for the lathe when sanding. Lightweight and I can put it anywhere I need it.

[Jonathan Clement]

I use a WoodRiver dust hood (essentially a Big Gulp) which is attached to an adjustable stand. Got it from Woodcraft. It doesn't pick up many chips and shavings but seems to collect a lot of the dust when sanding. I have it attached to a 6HP shop vac.

[Matt Newton]

I saw something in a turning magazine recently. I can't remember the issue, maybe someone else can help. It was basically a piece of 4" drain tile PVC ( the kind with the holes in it) laid behind the ways and your dust collection system hooked up on one end and the other blocked off. As I don't turn big spindles, I didn't spend the time to read the article, but this might be the thing you are looking for. Won't really work for bowls though. Good luck

[Greg Just]

I do the same as Thom.

[chuck vernon]

The latest issue of woodcraft magazine has an article on a lathe dust collector. Simply put it is 4 in sch 40 pvc the length of the bed of the lathe with two rows of 1/2 in holes lengthwise. Than two 12in pieces were split lengthwise along one side as sliding covers to cover the holes not being used. This was mounted to the bed of the lathe. It can be hooked to a shopvac or dust collector system.

[Harry Robinette]

I use two 4" flex hose's. I have one in front and one in back of the lathe they move very easy and I can pick up dust for about 6" to 8" at a time. The 2 hoses is so I can pick up from bowl work inside and outside.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

James
Reed Gray had thread here he uses part of a plastic 55 gal barrel connected to dust collector. Tom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZsVc7qVx7A

[James Baker SD]

Thanks Thomas, that is pretty cool. It's the fine dust I am worried about. I can sweep up the big chips if I have to.

James

[Matt Mackinnon]

The hardest part about dust collection at the lathe is how to make that air bubble so that you can suck enough air from around the lathe so that the dust goes into the DC and not over to you. I have looked at Reed's idea, and as long as you have a big enough CFM to get a negative pressure in the 55gal drum, then you are getting all the dust and not breathing it in. This is the one area of lathe work that doesn't get talked about all that much and it the most dangerous part of turning. We all want that ultra smooth finish on our work and to get there we go down to very fine grits. Far more than most will on flat work, yet we are hindered from wearing a proper graded respirator as we are dealing with a spinning object and want to wear a face shield as well.

I have one of the Trend airshield pro untsi, and it is a concern when I look at the filter and see the amount of fine particulate that the filter captures. I know that this only gets some of the very fine particles that are produced from ultra fine sanding. Really you need a vapour level mask to get the worst of the worst if you cannot get all the particles at the source. To get everything at the source, you are going to need 600-800 real cfm with an enclosure like Reed shows.

Us turners tend to use woods that are far more dangerous that we give credit for. Spalting is a live mould. We turn many exotics that are known carcinogenic .

[Hilel Salomon]

I remember seeing the youtube and thinking how neat it was. Just yesterday, I lamented having forgotten the site. What a happy coincidence. I use the hood stand and a vacuum dust collector in both my shops, but they don't catch enough. I'll be shopping for those barrels soon enough. Thanks for the question and thanks for the replies.

Hilel

[Hayes Rutherford]

James, i have tried a number of different ways and until something else comes along, this has been working pretty good. The angled box wedges in between the ways and was modified to allow access by trial and error. The upper pipe is simply stuck there by friction. Both parts can be put it place in seconds even when the tail stock is being used and the banjo is in between the headstock and tailstock, (which is often the case for me)
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[Bernie Weishapl]

I just have two 4" hoses on either side of the lathe. It collects sanding dust rather well. I don't worry about chips.

[Chris Studley]

I wonder how well the equivalent of a down draft table mounted vertically behind the lathe would do. The small pegboard holes should create the equivalent of jets in reverse. One could get creative with baffling inside the frame for Bowl Vs Spindle turning in order to make best use of the suction. I plan on trying this myself. I figure that you could also make a block of wood with hooks for a clip light and this would allow for mounting a light where ever is best for the piece you are working on.

[Reed Gray]

Heck, a cardboard box, long rectangular, would work for a vent. The idea is to get as big of a hood as possible, and to enclose the piece as much as possible. I was doing a bunch of rolling pins once, and took the sanding hood off my 22/44 Performax drum sander, and that worked great for hand sanding. I basically hung it off the back side of the lathe near the wood. You could try a 'Sono Tube' that you can get from a big box hardware store in the concrete tool section. They are cardboard tubes for pouring concrete cylinders. Chip collection isn't worth the effort, but getting the fine dust out of the air is. Some day, I intend to get a 300 gallon plastic barrel, and make a hood that stays in place, and I can put baffles inside depending on what I am turning.

robo hippy

[Marvin Hasenak]

I wonder how well the equivalent of a down draft table mounted vertically behind the lathe would do. The small pegboard holes should create the equivalent of jets in reverse. One could get creative with baffling inside the frame for Bowl Vs Spindle turning in order to make best use of the suction. I plan on trying this myself. I figure that you could also make a block of wood with hooks for a clip light and this would allow for mounting a light where ever is best for the piece you are working on.

I saw one on Craigslist that had an opening on the top of a cabinet that had a Jet Mini mounted on it. The opening was covered with large hail screen, on the side of the cabinet was a connection for a duct collector. The seller claimed the chips fell to the floor of the cabinet, and the dust was collected by the dust collector.

[Rich Harkrader]

One of these days I'm going to build something like this:
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/72268

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I don't have a 'hood', but I use this little system to position a collection port close to what I'm doing. With a 2hp DC at the other end, it seems to get most of the sanding dust. A strong magnet to hold it wherever I need, a couple of sticks, two knobs and a couple of carriage bolts. That's flex hose just because I had it handy, a clamp for 4" hose that allows me to twist the port from vertical to horizontal. It's really simple and works pretty well. When it's not needed I just push it out of the way.
Sorry about the mess - been roughing a bit.
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Haven't quite figured out why photos from my iPhone come in rotated when they appear correct when viewed on my laptop...

[Dennis Nagle]

like Thom, I have the Big Gulp. It works really well if it is so tight against the piece it scrapping. I think it needs more walls like Reed's.

[Reed Gray]

The one that Rich shows up above is what I have had in my head for a couple of years, even to the fold down clear panel in front. Got to get round to it.

robo hippy

[Jamie Donaldson]

There are many candidates for a collector hood in the heating/AC hardware sections at the big box stores or specialty dealers. I have adapted a return box that works very well with my dust collector system, and at very reasonable cost.

[James Baker SD]

thanks for all the ideas. I've got some mental material now to work with as I try to create something.

James

[John Teichert]

On YouTube, a fella modified a Big Gulp for his lathe. It might do what you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEhzV7Xl-v8

JT