Delta 43-355 Shaper

[Brian Peters]

I recently picked up this machine after seeing on craigslist with a feeder. It was a good deal, even though slightly less powerful than I wanted. I really needed a dedicated shaper with a feeder for doing small moldings and that's about it, so it's a great fit for that. US Made, it's simple but well constructed.

Anyhow, the only thing that throws a wrench in it is the dust collection. Either the engineer that designed it and didn't know dust collectors existed with this narrow chute or they had other ideas. The only thing I can find is an expensive vintage attachment, upon which is for a 5" diameter hose (who the heck uses 5" hoses)? and then you have to get a 5" to 4" reducer, all of which is expensive and adds around another foot of unnecessary depth to the machine. So I will just rule on the part that it's a rough design.

Has anyone seen any rigs for this machine and a 4" dust hose? I was at home depot imagining some ducts and vents that I could cut up, but I am not much of a metal fabricator. Thanks! I've attached a photo I found on vintage machinery for this machine.

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[Brian Peters]

For further clarity, this is the only one I could find in google (an irs auction photo). Anyone reckon that this is a standard HVAC part that I could purchase, or perhaps this was just fabricated for the machine?

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[Jeff Duncan]

Doesn't have to be metal....you can make up anything you need with a little scrap plywood. I've done several machines with custom boxes to route the dust to the duct.

As far as who uses 5" hose....I do! As well as 3",4", and 6"! You use what you need to move the cfm's the machine requires;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Peter Quinn]

Both my shapers and my planer use a 5" hose, they make way too much chip volume for 4". But that little shaper probably doesn't need 5" to clear what it can make. I'd take the hood to an hvac fabricator if you plan to keep this shaper, or as Jeff suggests make something from wood. One of my shapers had a huge hood with an open back, and a 13" opening at the front, so I made a wooden box angled to the back which goes under the hood, provides a dust port at the rear, and reduces the opening I have to suck so the chips pull better. A little 1/4 birch ply and some silicone goes a long way.

[Michael W. Clark]

Yes, 5" duct and hose is readily available. If you can find a local HVAC supplier, they can form you a fitting (square to round) to go from the fence opening to 4" or 5". Otherwise, as stated above, plywood can be a good option.
Mike

[Eric D Matson]

I have the exact same shaper. I cut a hole in the top of the chip chute. I rolled a piece of metal with the ID of my collection hose. A few welds around the adapter and a piece of metal cut and welded to seal the bottom of the chute off and finally powder coated and this thing will collect and dust and chips made. It almost looks like it came factory too.