Unisaw Dust Question

[Wallis Hampson]

I found a motor cover for my unisaw thanks to everyone's feedback. The last thing that I need is a "duct" for the space under the shelf as seen in the pics. It is about 2" X 16" and I would prefer that it transitions into a 4"-5" round for my collector. I have Googled until I'm delirious and havent found something even close enough that I could bend to fit. I might could buy a piece of sheetmetal, some tin snips and 3 boxes of bandaids and give it a go making one but I'm hoping someone has a better source. Thanks to all!

I included a few pics of ones that obviously wont fit (or I wouldnt be bothering y'all) but is sort of what I am hoping to find.





73401

73402

73403

73404

[Cary Falk]

would something like this work?
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0322a.jpg

[Jim McFarland]

Wallis, photo shows what I use on a 1999-era right tilt Unisaw. Sorry, I no longer have the receipt, but I believe this is Delta part 50-243. This one fits 5" duct.

Update: After enlarging your photo it looks like the top flange of 50-243 is not likely to fit under your saw shelf bracket....if this is removable, then you can probably slide the flange under the bracket to attach....if not, then maybe still need the tin snips!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Wallis,
I don't remember Delta ever offering a fitting to get from that slotted chute to a round duct. My memory goes back to the late 1980s. But Jim may have corrected me. Also, I never seen anything offered by aftermarket manufacturers.

I made my transition duct shown below from solid wood and plywood. This is my second version because I wanted to add the cabinet (partially shown on the right in the pic below) which required that the transition fitting also drop down. If you don't need anything special, a modified HVAC duct boot as mentioned earlier is probably the easiest solution.

More recent machines (post 2000) have gotten smarter with dust collection capability, but they still lack effectiveness on keeping things clean.

As far as adding a plastic port, it will probably work like mine with limited success. It's awfully hard to evacuate all the dust from the bottom of a cabinet saw because it acts like a settling chamber for dust. The velocity of air flow within the cabinet is too low to keep the dust particles in suspension within the airstream.

Even if you have an internal ramp inside the cabinet (like my Delta), the angle of the ramp is too shallow. The best you can hope for is to prevent excessive build-up that would hinder the smooth operation of the trunnions and blade raising mechanism. On the positive side, a dust port will help create a negative pressure environment within the cabinet to help lessen fine dust from spewing at you from the blade slot. But this seems marginal.

An overarm dust hood is the best solution, along with a port on the cabinet, to help keep your older machine cleaner, and your shop cleaner. I'm beginning to see new machine designs that now have a shroud tightly around the lower part of the blade mechanism to help improve the below-table dust collection. This seems to be the most efficient way to collect dust from the tablesaw. Unfortunately, that doesn't help you or I.

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/DSCF10231280x960.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/MyGuard1.jpg

[Jim McFarland]

I second Jeffrey's recommendation of overarm dust collection. I use this all the time (material height permitting). I only open the cabinet dust port to clean it out on occasion. Probably served as well by plugging the cabinet collection and emptying the cabinet from the insert opening with a shop vac!