Hooking Flex to my Rube Goldberg ducts ?

[Doug Shepard]

Looking for some ideas for hooking Flex hose onto the Rube Goldberg duct downtubes
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=62995

I'm looking for another quick connect (tool-less) idea to plug a flex hose into the 6" and 4" SDR fittings on the end of my downtubes. My thinking is to leave a flex (or in some cases a PVC then flex) hose connected to machines and run the flex to the downtubes to plug it in. Not sure I can leave anything connected to the TS due to the fold-down roller table, but I think the Disc/Belt sander, the router table, bandsaw, and maybe the drill press and jointer could have something attached. The planer is also out as I couldn't fold up the extension tables and store it that way. Does metal ducting fit in the SDR fittings? I'm wondering about a short pigtail of metal duct on the end of the flex for plugging into the PVC. My flex is the Wynn stuff that I think other threads have mentioned wont fit over the S&D for a pigtail. If metal duct is too small, what about gluing an O-ring onto it to slip into the SDR fitting to grip and seal it?

Any thoughts?

[Jim Becker]

One of the easiest ways to adapt the flex hose to your PVC really is to use some sheet metal (either from flat or from a piece of snap-lock) so you can insert it on the inside of the PVC duct to create a nice landing for the flex to slip over. Quick, relatively easy and cheap.

[Matt Meiser]

I did what Jim is suggesting with snaplock pipe from Lowes. Make sure you buy the heavy gauge stuff. Some of mine is even stove pipe which is really heavy and comes in short ready to use lenghts. It will fit into the S&D pipe and the flex will fit over it.

There's a discussion on this exact topic in Wes's thread on PVC duct work. Someone mentioned that Lee Valley hose will go over the S&D pipe.

[Doug Shepard]

Thanks. I did see a couple of the other PVC topic threads but I was laser-focused on sticking something directly in the PVC fitting (couldn't see the forest for the trees) and didn't want to hijack with an unrelated question. I ended up at Lowes yesterday for some hooks and took PVC measurements along to check their metal duct. Quickly came to the realization that it wasn't going to work direct to the fittings but that something like Jims suggestion would probably work. Thanks for getting me back on track.

[Matt Meiser]

What I did where I had to transition from fitting-to-hose (as opposed to pipe-to-hose) was put a really short section of pipe into the fitting, then put the snap lock pipe inside that.