Router dust collection

[Rich Torino]

What router for hand held use has the best dust collection??
This weekend I had to do a bunch of dado's and rabbits in some 3/4" ply for some cabinets I'm making. I used my PC 7529 plunge router and while it has a dust port I had hooked up to a shop vac I still ended up ankle deep in chips..
Is there one out there that really does a good job other then the Festool???

[Steve Clardy]

Not that I know of.
I just let them chips fly.:)

[Bob Noles]

You may want to check out the Dewalt either 621 or 625, (can't remember which) but I have heard it has decent chip collection.

Routers are messy no matter what :eek:

[Brian Knodel]

I have the Dewalt 621 hooked up to a shop vac and am very pleased. The Dewalt 621 was rated pretty high for dust collection not so long ago in the one of the WW magazines.

Brian

[Julio Navarro]

I made my DC "hood" for my Hitachi router with lexan and pvc 1-1/2" pipe.

I hook it up to my shop vac and get almost no dust.

Both sides of the router base are covered with a lexan shield that I molded to the routers shape. I cut the shape for the lexan with the BS using a card board template.

46694

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I used "locktite" epoxy to attach the PVC to the lexan, thats the yellow stuff.

I think I could make a cleaner version but this works.

One of the PC routers is very similar to this Hitachi model. I am sure a DC hood could be made for it.

[Jesse Cloud]

I have the DW 621 with its internal dc ductwork, hooked to a shop vac and I have a bosch 1617 with the optional dc adapter, also hooked to a shop vac. Both make it a little better, but still I wind up covered in dust and chips. There's gotta be a better way. Not sure the Festool is there yet either.

Here's an opportunity for somebody to rethink the router and get rich!!

[JayStPeter]

The Bosch 1617 has a bunch of optional DC fittings that make it similar to the Festool. However, both the Bosch and Festool only work with certain types of routing. Sometimes it's near 100% and sometimes collects very little. Otherwise the DW621 looks quite nice (I've never tried one though).

[Alan Turner]

The new Triton 2.25 hp router has good shielding on the top for DC. You might want to give it a look.

[Rich Torino]

Thanks for all the input.. It sound like I shouldn't get rid of my dust pan and broom just yet..
I've also heard about an attachment that Leigh makes for DC that seems to work pretty well on edge cuts.

[Mike Kelly]

The Leigh dc attachment works well when you keep the plastic out of the router bit. And only on edge cuts like you said. Difficult to mount on some routers I think. I use it on an old PC 690 and it does real well aimed at the chip stream. The hose goes straight up so I suspend it loosely from my ceiling. Keep your dust pan and broom!

[Sam Chambers]

Doesn't Porter-Cable make a dust collection attachment for their routers? I've been thinking about the same issue, and if the PC version works, I may have to buy one for my 690.

[Howard Rosenberg]

The two-base kit came with a small dust sheild that's designed to be screwed onto the base. It exits to a cylinder to be jammed into a shop-vac hose.

It works fairly well.

BUT - because the 11-series routers were designed to be 100% compatible with P-C 69X accessories, P-C's external dust shield works GREAT on this router when I use it to contain dust from edge routing.

A masterful combination if you ask me.

Howard

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Doesn't Porter-Cable make a dust collection attachment for their routers? I've been thinking about the same issue, and if the PC version works, I may have to buy one for my 690.

They do. I'm using the 39690 attachment (http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=3399&p=3875) with my 690 router, and I find it quite effective.

The attachment works in two modes: For edge routing, a cup with a vac port mounts below the baseplate. For dados, etc, the cup detaches and there's a another port that extracts through the baseplate. I also use the through-the-baseplate collection when the router is mounted under my table.

[Frank Pellow]

The dust collection on my Festool 1400 EQ router ranges from good for some operations (such as cutting dados) to non-existent for others (such as those using very large router bits).

[Sam Chambers]

They do. I'm using the 39690 attachment (http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=3399&p=3875) with my 690 router, and I find it quite effective.Thanks, Kent. I've seen the attachment in the stores before, but wasn't sure if it was worth the money. You're the first person I've heard of that uses one, so I appreciate the feedback.