Drum Sander Dust Hood Upgrade

[James Baker SD]

Trying to protect my lungs, I have long wanted to upgrade the dust collection hood on my Performax 44/22 drum sander. I finally got around to starting it this weekend. I had ordered a 6" Nordfab Quick Fit cut-in with a 6" diameter curve to the sheet metal some time ago for this purpose. In case I wanted to restore the machine to its OEM condition, I bought a replacement OEM dust hood from Jet (now selling the same sander) to work on.

First picture shows my pieces. The cut-in, the dust hood with much of the center cut out (this pretty much corresponds to the inside opening of the cut-in, and two end pieces to support the cut-in and seal the air between the plastic hood and the cut-in. I cut the acrylic pieces on a bandsaw after marking the shape of the plastic hood with a profile gauge.

Second picture is the main pieces epoxied together. I used plastic epoxy on the plastic to acrylic joints and metal epoxy on the metal to acrylic joints. I had some metal epoxy left over so I doubly sealed the welds between the metal parts.

Third picture is the painted hood, I tried to get close to the original color. I left the end bare as I am sure the clamp connecting it to the hose would scratch the paint.

Fourth picture is the hood installed on the Performax. I re-installed the catch separately from the opening knob as the angle between the original hood and the cut-in was too great for a single screw to hold both securely.

Fifth picture is just another view, but it shows the acrylic piece filling the space between the cut-in and the OEM hood.

Sixth picture is looking down the throat of the new hood showing how much larger the opening above the drum is. It also shows a brace that I made from the scrap of one of the end pieces as the hood become a little flimsy with the original 4" port removed. This was an after thought so it did not get into the first picture.

All the seams were sealed with silicon as an added protection against leaks.

It will eventually connect to a 5' flex hose dropping down from the ceiling blast gate. I cannot report on how well it works because some stupid person forgot to order a 6" clamp to attach it to the hose. The clamp is on order and I will report back on how well it works when I can try it out.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Turned out great James, much better than my hack job!

[Mike Wilkins]

Please let us know how it works. I have a 25" dual-drum machine and dust collection is lacking. What kind of DC do you have? I believe my problem is the DC system I currently have; Delta bagger, and not enough moolah for a cyclone upgrade.

[Chris Padilla]

Fantastic work, James! We need more folks to show these improvements. I still cringe when I see machines coming with 4" outlets! It just means I have more work to do on the equipment.

[Jim Andrew]

One thing I would have done is to mark inside the fitting where your picture shows the hood clogging up part of the opening, and trimming it off before fastening the fitting on. But great idea! Guess I'm not the only one who tries to improve dust collection on my machines. Tempted to do some work on my thickness sander. It has a 5" opening, which should be 6", or maybe larger.

[Michael Dunn]

Looks great man! I did a similar mod to my WM-718. I used a sheet metal HVAC duct register.

Pics are already on this site somewhere. It works pretty good. It doesn't look as pretty as yours though. Mine has HVAC tape all over it.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Use a zip tie instead of a clamp to hold hose. Works for me.

[Jeff Monson]

sweet upgrade!! gets the angle of the hose where it should be to start, with instead of sticking straight out. On my list now, thanks.

[James Baker SD]

My 6" clamp arrived today so I was able to test the new hood.

First new photo shows the flex hose connected to the quick fit cut in of the new hood. Hose has a quick fit hose adapter installed.

Second new photo shows the flex hose connecting to the overhead ducting and blast gate.

I started my Dylos meter when I went out with the clamp and it was reading around 650 smallest particles. I started the DC running with a still unused blast gate open (destined for a miter saw connection) and the blast gate for the table saw as well. As I prepared for the test, the DC pulled the particle count down to around 340. I opened the sander's blast gate, closed the others and ran 3 passes through the sander with board about 10" wide and 2' long. One pass near the center of the drum and one at each edge. I watched the Dylos as the sander made noise, and in all three passes it continued to drop slowly ending up at about 280 particles.

Not a thorough test I know, but all in all I am pretty pleased with the results. I don't have written records to compare, but the sander with the 4" port used to send the Dylos into orbit.

James