Rousseau Downdrafter

[Dave Malen]

Has anybody tried this product on their
CSMS? I have an Hitachi 10 inch saw. I'd love to here what you say regarding whether this product is worth the cost ($139 to 199)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Dblended%26field-keywords%3Drousseau%252520downdrafter%26store-name%3Dall-product-search/104-0987345-3915131

Thanks
Dave

[Wes Bischel]

Dave,
I don't have experience with this product, but have read a number of posts on it in the past.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=19936&highlight=Downdrafter

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=12992&highlight=Downdrafter

http://www.woodshopdemos.com/nprod-4.htm

FWIW,
Wes

[Jamie Buxton]

Dave --
I haven't tried that product. I was initially very interested in it. A compound miter saw throws lots of dust in the air, and is a big challenge for dust collection. The thing which stopped me on the Rousseau is that it is mounted to bench, not to the saw. That is, you must manually move it every time you change the miter angle. That seemed like too much trouble to me. Since then, I've found that simply connecting a vacuum hose in the port where the dust bag connects works surprisingly well. It catches maybe 75% of the sawdust on my Hitachi SCMS. More important, it seems to catch a much larger proportion of the fine dust which normally hangs in the air for many minutes. With the vacuum approach, I don't feel like I need to wear my respirator to avoid choking to death.

[Dave Malen]

Wes - thanks for the links. I read the Shop demos which was very imformative. It seems most people think it works pretty good. The biggest drawback is the price :( . Jamie - I'll bet you can hook up the hood so it could move with the saw.
Appreciate your responses,
Dave

[Christopher Kochan]

Dave,

There was a thread on Woodnet for a beautiful system of hooking up a big gulp to a CMS (not sliding), that followed the saw nicely through compound miter rotation as well as horizontial rotation. I don't have web hosting, but saved the pics on my computer as I plan on making one for my Dewalt 705 (one of many projects on the back burner).

If you're interested, PM or e-mail me with a contact e-mail and I'll be happy to forward the pictures.

Best,
Christopher

[Jerry Bittner]

I checked the Rousseau unit on Amazon and could not find the dimensions. However, it appears the "mouth" of the unit is equivalent to the opening of a large type industrial garbage can. Ergo, buy a can, cut it in half, build a stand and fit it with a dust collection port and you can probably end up with less than half the cost compared to the purchase price.

Another project awaiting.

[Don Dean]

Dave you can build your own a lot cheaper. You can start with the Table-Top Dust Colector ($24.99 at Woodcraft), hose, and a stand.

[Jerry Bittner]

Dave you can build your own a lot cheaper. You can start with the Table-Top Dust Colector ($24.99 at Woodcraft), hose, and a stand.

Good idea for a standard MS but the size -- roughly 16" x 12" -- will not work too well with a slider MS. I have a 12" Ridgid CSMS and it has a fairly wide spray pattern -- Thought I need something about 20" wide.