My NEW Unique Blast Gates

[Jameel Abraham]

Just finished these up today. Thought I'd post some pics. I originally found a pic of these gates here at SMC, and through some diligent web searching, found the original designer, Mr. David Buchsbaum of Beacon Custom Woodwork (http://www.beaconcustomwoodwork.com/) . He was kind enough to help me a bit with my own gate project, since my ductwork didn't quite work with his original gate design. These gates are great. They work very well, and allow a high gate position near the main branch while allowing access within an easy reach. Got a higher ceiling? Just use a longer rope. There is a gasket on the side faces of the outer two members to allow free movement, but provide for a seal as well. I bought the gasket from a supplier to the CNC vacuum clamping industry.

[Brian Weick]

Those blast gates you made are really nice- very well done- I like your innovation and idea- that must be so much easier than the metal or plastic standard blast gates. - Very well thought out and great job on the finished product- my hat goes of to you on this Jareem-:)
Have a great weekend
Brian

[Greg Cole]

Jameel,
Thats like cool n stuff....:D
Seriously, neat & nice job.

Greg

[Kent Parker]

Very nice design and great timing on the post. I just bought a dust collector and will be running ducting this weekend!

Cheers!

KP

[Rob Will]

Very neat. Congrats on a great job.

Rob

[Bart Leetch]

Very nice Jameel, what did you use for the intake & output tubes?

Here are a couple of pictures of gates I made. I found the I could cut a joint coupler in half & put one half on each side of the blast gate this makes hook up easy. I don't have high ceilings & have to mount the blast gate on the machine & with the longer handle I can tuck it in behind with the handle sticking out or back a little from the front of a machine. The the first picture shows on the one that opens & closes the gate behind my CMS. The second shows the gate that goes on the right side of my Unisaw both handles are easy to reach.

[Doug Shepard]

Cool. I was real interested in making those after seeing one small fuzzy pic here but couldn't find any more info or better pics. Ended up just spring loading LV blastgates instead with a pull chain to reach from below
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58586

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Jameel!

[Steve Clardy]

Well done:)

[David Duke]

Nice work Jameel, simple but very effective.

[Bruce Page]

That's cool Jameel!

[John Schreiber]

Very nice. That goes in the scrapbook.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Just finished these up today. Thought I'd post some pics. I originally found a pic of these gates here at SMC, and through some diligent web searching, found the original designer, Mr. David Buchsbaum of Beacon Custom Woodwork (http://www.beaconcustomwoodwork.com/) . He was kind enough to help me a bit with my own gate project, since my ductwork didn't quite work with his original gate design. These gates are great. They work very well, and allow a high gate position near the main branch while allowing access within an easy reach. Got a higher ceiling? Just use a longer rope. There is a gasket on the side faces of the outer two members to allow free movement, but provide for a seal as well. I bought the gasket from a supplier to the CNC vacuum clamping industry.

Nice work on the gates. Seeing the green pipe though concerns me. Have you made provisions to ground your systems from static? I used some green pipe a long time ago and saw how static would effect the exterior of the pipe when you see dust starting to accumulate on it. I bring this to your attention to make sure your system is safe from static explosion. Please do some research on it (grounding) to make sure you stay safe in your shop.

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks everybody.

Don't worry, Michael, the grounding is the next step. Thanks! :)

[Charles Wiggins]

Makes me wish I has a DC system so I could make some.

[Bob Slater]

Nice system. Just curious, how are you supposed to ground plastic pipe?

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks everybody.

Don't worry, Michael, the grounding is the next step. Thanks! :)

I'm not worried just want to make sure you have EYES:eek:WIDE open.
Here is a link that goes into more detail...

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/PVC_for_dust_collection.html

Some claim to never have had a problem, others have. IMHO, Is it worth the chance?

This is what I have on my CNC's. It is great to be able to unclamp anywhere when you need to reconfigure or clean out the cartridge filters behind the Cyclone.

[John Schreiber]

I really liked this design and did some Sketching Up to see if I understand it fully.

75579755807558175582

Just for fun, I tried to lay out the pictures just like in the original post. Thanks for sharing your design with us Jameel.

What kind of gasket material did you use. Is it a smooth plastic or a felt?

[Eric Gustafson]

Nice system. Just curious, how are you supposed to ground plastic pipe?

That is a very good question! I have read opinions to run a wire either inside or outside of the pipe. I have also read where either is ineffective. As I understand static accumulation on noncoductive surfaces, one solution is to make the surfaces of the nonconductor conductive. This could be done with metalized paint, carbon impregnated paint, or conductive solutions. Conductive solutions are stuff like fabric softener or spray static guard.

[Doug Shepard]

Nice system. Just curious, how are you supposed to ground plastic pipe?

I picked up a tip on another forum about using copper foil tape
75587

Picked mine up at
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding/Conductive_Copper_Tape.html
There are cheaper alternatives but I'm not sure there are easier ones.

[Jameel Abraham]

I really liked this design and did some Sketching Up to see if I understand it fully.



Just for fun, I tried to lay out the pictures just like in the original post. Thanks for sharing your design with us Jameel.

What kind of gasket material did you use. Is it a smooth plastic or a felt?

Nice Sketchups John. I used CNC spoilboard gasketing material from All Star Adhesives. It's 1/16" thick, medium density. I bought it by the foot. It cost me about $40 for 6 gates. Not exactly cheap, but my gates are air tight.

[Bart Leetch]

That is a very good question! I have read opinions to run a wire either inside or outside of the pipe. I have also read where either is ineffective. As I understand static accumulation on noncoductive surfaces, one solution is to make the surfaces of the nonconductor conductive. This could be done with metalized paint, carbon impregnated paint, or conductive solutions. Conductive solutions are stuff like fabric softener or spray static guard.

Mythbusters tried this & it didn't work.

[mark a stephens]

Hi Jameel,

Don't know if you are still "out there", but I was wondering how those unique blast gates are working out? Any problems with clogging? Has anybody else implemented this design and what were the results?

thanks!
mark

[Jameel Abraham]

Still use them about every day and they still work and seal like the day I installed them. Very satisfied. Hank Knight just finished an install with them, and incorporated some micro-switches to turn the DC on/off. Don't have a link handy. You can search for them here I think. He may have also posted about them at the Woodnet forum.