6" dust collection port on table saw

[Bob Johnson]

I am progressing on building one of Bill Pentz's design cyclones. All of the advice I've seen go by says to run the 6" pipe/hose directly to each tool.

I've got a PM66 with the 4" port out the bottom back. The simplest way seems to be to cap the 4" port and cut a new 6" port into the plastic motor cover - much easier than cutting through the heavy sheet metal.

How did the rest of you handle this?

[Terry Hatfield]

Bob,

Dennis Peacock has a really nice design on his Jet cabinet saw using a register boot. Here is Dennis'.

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I put mine in my Grizz in the cleanout door. I used a HVAC starter flange to increase the factory 4" fitting in the door. You can see it in this pic.

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I would imagine enlarging/modifing the factory opening or moving the opening to the rear like Dennis did would be better than putting the hood in the motor cover. Seems to me a lot of dust would get sucked into the motor if the port were in the cover.

Terry

[Bob Johnson]

Terry,

I never thought about dust being sucked into the motor. I went and checked. My saw has a 3HP Baldor TEFC motor so dust should not be a problem for it.

My clean-out door is on the front of the saw, not the best place to have a 6 inch hose. I guess I'm looking for the easy way out, but it does seem that every time I take the easy way it bites me.

Bob

[Frank Pellow]

I have seen a number of discussions about people needing to retro-fit their equipment to provide 6" ports. I will be in the market for a cabinet table saw in about a year and it bothers me to think that I might have to cut a hole into it somewhere.

Are there any tool manufactureers that have woken up and now provide an option for a 6" dust port?

[Tony Sade]

I just ordered a Jet cannister DC that I'm going to use as the basis for a piped system. I'm facing the need to expand the machine ports as well and I'm wondering what the accepted technique is for cutting the sheet metal, say in your cabinet saw, 8" jointer etc. I got a severe case of the sweats when I had to drill holes in my 1023SL for bolts to hang my miter guage on. A six inch hole is likely to put my in the hospital. So, if I'm going to take the plunge, what should I use-jig saw with a metal blade, maybe try to sandwich the metal between a couple of pieces of stock? Oh yeah, please don't tell me I should tip the saw on its side to get better access. Thanks,

P.S. That smilie was supposed to go in the test after one of my lame remarks. How do I do that-put the smilie in the text, that is? I obviously know how to make lame remarks already.

Edit #2-I just saw Terry's post below-the port for the 1023SL is below the door and I don't think there is ample room to enlarge it. Given the configuration of my shop I was thinking of making a new port in the center of the back of the saw. Any problem with that?

[Terry Hatfield]

Frank,

Not that I know of. The manufacturers/vendors are still stuck on the 4" ports. It's really not too difficult to upgrade to the 6" port especially if the saw has the factory port in the clean out door like my Grizz.

Terry

[Terry Hatfield]

Tony,

Probably the best way to upgrade to 6" is to use a 6" register boot that will fit under the motor cover where the stock port is. Dennis's solution would slso work. The jig saw with metal blade is probably the best way to cut the hole.

Terry

[Mike Scoggins]

Tony,

I attached the 6" flange to the removable dust collection port "door" on my 1023S just as Terry indicated. I just used my jig saw with a metal cutting blade and cut the 6" hole in the removable dust collection port (with the factory 4" hole). I had no problem at all; no sandwiching between boards or anything else. I used a file to smooth the sharp edges and then attached the flange. It worked fine.

Mike

[Mike Mastin]

[QUOTE=Terry Hatfield]Bob,

Dennis Peacock has a really nice design on his Jet cabinet saw using a register boot. Here is Dennis'.

<IMG SRC="http://www.terryhatfield.com/dennis13.JPG">

Dennis,

I am going to add a register boot to the back of my JET cabinet saw like you did too. I am curious as to why you installed it on a 45 degree angle rather than up and down in the back of the cabinet? Just curious.

[John Miliunas]

Bob, here's the basic configuration I did on my Bridgewood a couple months ago. Mind you, the saw was all of about a week old when I started hacking on it! Came out pretty well. The port is right at the bottom of the sloped floor, which helps assist in pointing the dust/chips to the port. he first pic is the stock port removed and an outline for the rectangular HVAC takeoff. The second is the completed install. After that, do I have a dust-free cabinet on my TS? Heck no. Didn't expect to, but it does capture the bulk of it and, more importantly, the small particulate, which might otherwise be airborne is contained. :cool:

[Steven Wilson]

I have seen a number of discussions about people needing to retro-fit their equipment to provide 6" ports. I will be in the market for a cabinet table saw in about a year and it bothers me to think that I might have to cut a hole into it somewhere.

Are there any tool manufactureers that have woken up and now provide an option for a 6" dust port?
The European combo machine manufacturers include a 120mm or 160mm port for the saw cabinet and a 60mm to 80mm port on the saw blade (cover attached to riving knife). The port on the saw cabinet goes up to wrap around the blade. With the two ports you can get atleast 650cfm from the saw which is sufficient. You'll need a 6" or 7" main before splitting off to the two ports.