Dust Collection for Your Lathe

[Jim Young]

I have discovered that when I sand my turned projects I really make a mess, so I need to fix that. I am getting ready to run a DC line to my lathe this weekend. Everything will be hard piped except the small portion from the wall to the lathe. I plan on putting some form of intake on a stand that can be moved and possibly raised and lowered. I would like to get an idea of what others have done. Running the pipe is a no brainer, but that last little section to the lathe needs to be right and efficient.

[Roger Bell]

I have 5" flex hose attached to a 10" to 5" reducer (sheet metal). That reducer is attached to a wood scrap. The wood scrap has some rare earth magnets imbedded in it. That allows me to move the reducer anywhere along the lathe bed just below and behind the turning or anywhere on the metal lathe stand. It is easy to move around, easy to place, and easy to get out of the way entirely.

It is a quick and dirty solution that is quite good for sanding and fine dust.

[Dennis Peacock]

Jim,

I haven't really fussed with dc at the lathe. I've tried and nothing satisfies what I would like to do. One thing I've found out though is that you need a lot of CFM of air movement to mean much of anything for dc at the lathe. I decided to forget it and use my Trend. But I will admit that something for dc at the lathe is better than nothing. :)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim, I use a Jet 650 DC and use bungee cords to attach the 4" hose to the tailstock or lathe bed - depending on where the DC is needed. Works great for me - especially while sanding.

[Pete Jordan]

Jim,
I use this for sanding and it works well.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5854

[John Shuk]

I think the only way you might get some satisfaction is to focus on the sanding dust. You'll just have to live the larger chips and curls. The best thing I have seen it the use of curtains that help contain the mess. I also suggest keeping the area around the lathe fairly clutter free so clean up is easier. Mind you I find it pretty hard to follow that suggestion but I thought I'd pass it along. I've been using my Dust Deputy for cleanup and it definately has helped.

[Bill Boehme]

You will do much better with a DC with plenty of CFM and the nozzle/scoop should have a relatively small cross sectional area in order to maintain a high air velocity in the near-field area. You will also need to be able to position the scoop very close to your turning. And ...... as already mentioned by John Shuk, concentrate on sanding dust and forget about curlies which have too much velocity flying the other direction to be able to catch.

Bill

[Gary Herrmann]

Jim,
I use this for sanding and it works well.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5854

I've got the same collector hooked up to my Dust Dog and it seems to work just fine for sanding.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I have discovered that when I sand my turned projects I really make a mess, so I need to fix that. I am getting ready to run a DC line to my lathe this weekend. Everything will be hard piped except the small portion from the wall to the lathe. I plan on putting some form of intake on a stand that can be moved and possibly raised and lowered. I would like to get an idea of what others have done. Running the pipe is a no brainier, but that last little section to the lathe needs to be right and efficient. Jim I have been messing around with mine as well and as I experimented I found that the dust followed the spin of the piece. Because of that I have mounted my DC 4" duct to the back and bottom of the spin and I can really see a difference. I watch the dust follow the spin and go right into the DC. I'm still working on it but will probably follow this line of thought on final setup. It also catches a surprising amount of small chips.:) I know it looks pretty unpolished but I'm still testing.

[Jim Young]

Jim,
I use this for sanding and it works well.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5854That's kind of the path I'm headed on at the moment. I've seem some other similar designs over the years and thought they may appear in this thread.

[Bill Wyko]

Here at my car stereo shop we have a swamp cooler set up so the exhaust goes to a box with cooler pads as a filter and where the pads are supposed to be, there is an enclosed table with a shroud at the back of the table with the air inlet at the back. The cooler has a huge amount of cfm but it's a large contraption. We use it to exhaust fiberglass when we're sanding. I'll draw a diagram if you think it might help.

[Mark Pruitt]

Here is a simple yet brilliant solution that I learned from someone today. Take a length of T-Track appropriate to the length of your lathe, and attach it to the back of your lathe. Then, run a T-track bolt through a scrap board and attach a DC hose or hood to that board. IMHO the best choice is to run dryer hose off the end of the DC hose, since dryer hose can be "bent" in whatever direction it needs to go to pick up the most dust. The T-Track allows the hose to be positioned anywhere along the ways.

I have tried this device (http://www.grizzly.com/products/G2754) which is similar to the Woodcraft stand mentioned earlier, and I have been largely disappointed with it. A waste of money IMHO.

[Andy Hoyt]

Here's what I have rigged up. Seems to work about the same with or without a hood at the end.

55034

[Dominic Greco]

Jim,
I think everyone has pretty much said it all here. There is no way you're going to suck up the big stuff flying off your lathe. It's better to "contain" it within an area and then shovel it into a trashcan. I "used" to have old shower curtains arranged around the perimeter of my lathe (until I pulled a bit too hard and tore them down). Chips would hit them and gather at a pile near their base. At the lathe I had a shop built dust shroud to catch the fine stuff. This is especially useful (and IMHO necessary) when sanding.

Over the holiday break I purchased a PSI dust picker (http://www.pennstateind.com/store/dpick.html). My old dust shroud used the 4 wheeled base of an office chair and was constantly getting in my way. This dust picker arm mounts to the ceiling and can be maneuvered and locked into just about any position. So far it's worked out great. And for the price, it couldn't be beat. (It would take me close to a week to fab out my own version).

I ended up installing this dust picker and was so pleased that I started tweaking the entire DC system. Now I have to be more careful when sanding. The suction tends to grab small bits of sandpaper right out of my hand!

[John Hart]

I'm just spit-balling here...because I just use my shirt to collect all the dust:rolleyes: .....But what if you attached a post to one of those shop-vac attachments that look like a toolrest, and then mount the attachment to your banjo while sanding? Seems like it would be in the perfect position, yet out of the way. Just wondering.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jim I use the dust hood like Pete has but I have mine screwed to the bench next to the lathe. It doesn't do well with chips but does a pretty good job when sanding. I also use the PSI air cleaner hung from the ceiling which turns the air every 8 to 10 minutes along with my Trend facesheild. All of this has decreased my dust problems by about 85 to 90 percent.

[Jim Young]

Lots of replies. I am really only concerned about the sanding dust. The chips are not a problem since they hit the floor right away. The dust is the nasty stuff that like to travel thoughout the shop. I may try to mount something to the lathe itself. If I get lazy I might just buy the stand from WC.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Jim, I have a 3hp collector and it works ok, but the cheapest and most effective thing that I ever did was to cut a square opening through my outside wall, right next to my lathe and install a 20” box fan. Whenever I’m producing dust, I turn on the fan. It moves enough air the keep the shop air relatively clean. I still use a mask at times (but not always depending). The box fan, at about $20 last about a year. Of course in the winter time, it also sucks a lot of heat out of the shop; that’s when I use my air helmet much more. This is probably not practical in a lot of situations because of the mess outside of the shop, but it’s worked for me.

[Jim Sample]

I just went tto the shop for a quick photo at half tme of the game by the lake. This is a Rockler dust hood and their bracket to attach it. The PM 3520B has both sides of the bandjo slotted for a 1/4 " bolt/nut. I attached a piece of angle iron I had in the shop. 2 1/4" bolts with lock washers in the bandjo, a 5/16" bolt with a wing nut for easy removal, attaching the DC bracket to the angle iron. It does a nice job on the dust caused by sanding, I sweep up the chips. (My first photo post)

I can not get the photo attached from a Mac, trying to follow the instructions.

Jim Sample

[Pete Jordan]

I just went tto the shop for a quick photo at half tme of the game by the lake. This is a Rockler dust hood and their bracket to attach it. The PM 3520B has both sides of the bandjo slotted for a 1/4 " bolt/nut. I attached a piece of angle iron I had in the shop. 2 1/4" bolts with lock washers in the bandjo, a 5/16" bolt with a wing nut for easy removal, attaching the DC bracket to the angle iron. It does a nice job on the dust caused by sanding, I sweep up the chips. (My first photo post)

I can not get the photo attached from a Mac, trying to follow the instructions.

Jim Sample
Hi Jim,

I am Mac guy.
click reply and then go to manage attachments. Choose file and then upload. Close window and submit. One reason it might not work is because of the size of the file. I use Photo Elements to reduce everything.

[Jim Sample]

I just went tto the shop for a quick photo at half tme of the game by the lake. This is a Rockler dust hood and their bracket to attach it. The PM 3520B has both sides of the bandjo slotted for a 1/4 " bolt/nut. I attached a piece of angle iron I had in the shop. 2 1/4" bolts with lock washers in the bandjo, a 5/16" bolt with a wing nut for easy removal, attaching the DC bracket to the angle iron. It does a nice job on the dust caused by sanding, I sweep up the chips. (My first photo post)