Minimax sliding saw dust collection above saw blade

[Frank Martin]

I have a Minimax CU300 Smart with a 5.5 ft slider. Really like it with one exception; above blade dust collection through the supplied blade guard is not sufficent and results in a lot of dust escaping behind the saw blade.

I use an Oneida 2.5 hp cyclone and believe that is not the limiation.

I am curious to see if there are owners of this (or similar machine) who have made modifications to improve dust collection.

Previously, I had a Unisaw with a sharkguard and it was much better in collecting dust at the blade.

[mreza Salav]

Without seeing it I suspect the blade guard is narrower with smaller hose; that doesn't work well with a DC. You either should use a shop-vac for a narrow guard/narrow hose or you should use a guard with a bigger hose. The static pressure of small diameter hose is too much for a DC to have enough air volume.

[Jim Becker]

The standard over-blade guard with collection is stopped down pretty severely and as you note, doesn't provide great collection...I honestly don't use mine much for that reason, but plan on making a replacement that hangs down from above and is independent of the riving knife. That way, I'll get better collection and can leave it in place 100% of the time while at the same time improve my ability to see the cutting action. There are many machines that have the same issue...it's not a unique feature of the more modest Minimax machines.

[john lawson]

I have the exact machine as the OP and have the same issue. I use a 4" drop for my dust collection but the hole size in the blade guard is just too small. Jim, when you make your replacement be sure to post pictures. I need some good ideas, I'm not that good of a designer. I just made a zero clearance insert and the problem got much worse.

[Bill Adamsen]

As others have indicated ... with a small inlet and body, the static pressure of the collector is simply too great. I use a vacuum on mine (somewhat similar Knapp slider) and that works. The other option is to upgrade to overhead dust collection with a larger body/inlet and less resistance. When cutting sheet goods especially, mine with the small head/inlet and vacuum significantly improves dust collection.

[Chris Parks]

It should be noted that when the blade is in the guard a considerable amount of inlet opening is blocked because the guard is so narrow. It is narrow for one reason and that is to allow the crosscut fence to be as close to the blade as is practical and a wider guard would have to sit above the cross cut fence unless the clearance between the end of the CC fence was increased considerably. All this adds up to the narrow guard which is supplied with sliders and to overcome the small inlet area the more expensive saws have guards which are much longer. Of course if you allow the guard to ride directly on the material being cut then there is a whole lot less airflow happening.

it has been found with some testing that if trimming wood and just taking maybe the width of the kerf off then the dust gets blown sideways and then lays on the table, I have tested this and if a piece of wood is laid close to the guard's length the problem dust is trapped and mostly picked up by the overhead guard. it has also been found that on cabinet saws leaving the back of the guard open to the atmosphere the dust collection is always improved.

Another big problem on the Hammer saws and maybe the MM is hidden and that is they cheaped out on the cabinet dust collection. I have no way of knowing but the EU equipment all have 125mm ports so I guess it is a regulation. What hammer did was use a 100mm flex hose from the port to the under blade collection chute and that chute is too narrow restricting air entry anyway. Between the two issues the DE on this style of saw can be marginal. I drive my DE with a Clearvue and I always have debris in the cabinet. I know of another user who got sick of it and pulled all the under guard collection out of the saw and built his own and that fixed the whole problem.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, my MM S315WS has a 120mm port and that connects directly to a hood that surrounds the blade in the cabinet. Under-blade is pretty effective...it's just the small overhead collection/hood that doesn't perform well, at least for DC. It's certainly qualified relative to the safety reason for the hood/guard.

[Chris Parks]

Mine has a 12mm port, it is what leads from the port to the under blade chute and including the chute that is the problem on mine. I don't even think it is 100mm more like 90mm hose which is ludicrous and and cheap arsed attempt by Hammer at dust extraction.

[Frank Martin]

Looks like it is time to look for an alternative guard / hood. Other than Sharkguard, are there any options that may directly be installed to the riving knife on MM300? Specifically, are there guards / hoods made with a larger port made for euro machines?

Regarding below the table dust collection, I am actually not thrilled with it either. I end up with bunch of dust inside the cabinet. I tolerate it a bit more because dust is contained inside the machine and less of a health hazard. When I had a Unisaw with a Sharkguard I had little dust inside the cabinet and above the blade was near total extraction. This was with the same Oneida cyclone.

[Orlyn Gaddis]

The original dust collection hood provided by MM didn't work very well. I replaced it with a Sharkguard and it works great for my MM SC4 Elite unless I'm cutting very narrow pieces. Don't think anything will solve the problem with narrow pieces. My under blade dust collection works fine as is. The Sharkguard has the added advantage of covering the scoring blade which is a very good safety feature.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, the ideal replacement is going to be an overarm guard, not one attached to the riving knife. The reason is clearance with both the miter fence and the rip fence when it's in "high" position. Adjustable height independent of the blade allows much more flexibility.

[Matt Mattingley]

Static pressure and cfm work hand in hand when trying to move dust or lift a bowling ball, no mater what the diameter is.

My dc has a high water column and high cfm and I am going to try a 2” reluctantly(20” and 1900cfm in 6” pipe.) https://www.convertunits.com/from/Water+Column/to/psi . With out a high water column and you restrict diameter, cfm goes way down. This is where a shop vac comes in. Shop vacs have high water column in a 2” dia. Most 80 to 120” with 300 cfm ish.

[Frank Martin]

Frank, the ideal replacement is going to be an overarm guard, not one attached to the riving knife. The reason is clearance with both the miter fence and the rip fence when it's in "high" position. Adjustable height independent of the blade allows much more flexibility.

Jim, great point. In my case, it would have to be ceiling mounted. Of course I can make something myself, but I was hoping for a direct bolt-on solution. I will see if I can come up with something that is not very hard to make.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, I also have to go with "ceiling" mount with the additional challenge of that ceiling being sloped because it's the bottom of a stairwell.

[Chris Fournier]

Please show me the stock guard/collection unit on your machine. I designed and with the help of a talented friend created a proper unit for my Minimax 410 Elite. I may be able to help. I'll get images on the weekend.