Felder KF500 - Round peg, square hole ?????

[Greg Parrish]

What the heck. The dust hose inside my used Felder saw was rotted away. I ordered an adapter from Felder to get round hose onto square chute. They sent me a piece of hose and then indicated the parts diagram didn’t really show an adapter but rather the hose forced on. They indicated if I square the hose wire and clamp it should fit back the way the piece I removed was.

Well, try as I might, I can’t get this darn thing to fit on the end given the two tabs that poke out to hold the hose I presume. If there really isn’t an adapter from the factory that turns square to round, how do I get this 100mm hose on there? I’ve been fighting and bending and getting no where other than a big knot on my shin when the pliers slipped and I smacked myself so hard on the side of my shin, between bone and muscle, I thought I might throw up. Must have hit the nerve. LOL. Ouch.

Any tips rips or anyone with similar saw have an adapter that mine is missing? Thanks.

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[David Stone (CT)]

Ha ha. Sorry to laugh but I can relate. The hose on my Hammer K3 -- which appeared to be made of the equivalent of vinyl flex like the type sold for el cheapo dryer venting -- disintegrated after around 15 years. That original stuff was so flimsy and flexible that it was easy for the factory to fit it around the squared-off dust shroud that encases part of the blade without an adapter (I assume your Felder is basically the same design). But when I went to replace it with much better flex that I had left over from hooking something else up to the DC, I found it incredibly difficult to get that vastly stiffer material to distort into the shape of a rectangle to the point where I could hook it over all four edges of the dust shroud, even though the ID was the same. After an hour or two of repeated failed attempts, skinned knuckles and some bad language, I finally got it on -- just barely -- and was able to advance it up enough to get a hose clamp around to secure it. It's not the prettiest, but it has held up for a couple years now. ...I am betting that Hammer / Felder does not have an adapter, so my plan is someday to make something -- probably from layers of Baltic birch -- that would form a collar to go around the dust shroud but also hold a plastic male adapter to transition to round and let me hook the hose to that. May have to take the saw apart to get that done though -- it's not exactly fun to wiggle inside the access door on the back or try to reach down from the top.

[Greg Parrish]

Yeah, I pulled the chute out. Still can’t get it. I have a knot the size of half a grade a egg on my shin bone now. Ugh.

I wondered if if one of the fernco adapters might fit. Not sure. The hose Felder sent me is about twice as stiff as what I use around the shop. May have to try one of my spare pieces next. Thanks.

[David Eisenhauer]

Would heat from a blow dryer applied to the flex hose soften it enough to get it pulled up over the end of the chute? Or heat to a PVC collar so that the collar could be formed square on one end?

[al heitz]

I was thinking along these same lines. Not knowing exactly what you are working with, what about soaking it in very hot/boiling water to soften it up? Add a thin film of dish detergent to it or to the stub-out when you try to connect it. I've often used dish detergent as a lubricant when I needed to force a fitting.

[Greg Parrish]

Well, that was the task from hell. The devil wouldn’t even wish that torture on someone. Got it on there but I had to cut the wires on both sides and bend the tabs on the bottom of the chute. Even then I almost didn’t get the darn thing on there. Hopefully I left enough hose. Seems to pivot to 45 and go up and down okay. The hose is very stiff. Not taking it back off unless there is a problem though.

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[Steve Eure]

I too, was thinking on the lines of a heat gun or hair dryer set on high. It would probably help if you had someone to help you while doing so, so that one can be applying heat and the other forcing it on. Wear leather gloves while doing this. A heat gun can blister and burn skin. Hair dryer shouldn't get hot enough to burn, but just as a precaution, I would still wear leather gloves.

[Richard Coers]

Typical European engineering. Dust hose on the table saw section of my Minimax Lab 30 has to fit over a long thin rectangle. PITA

[Rick Potter]

Did the old one have wire in it like your new one? I had a KF700 that got clogged too often.

[Greg Parrish]

Yep, and the wire was all that was left. LOL. Plastic was in shredded pieces in bottom.

Im sure with a hydraulic machine/press and the right jigs you could stretch it to the perfect shape but I didn’t have anything available like that.

[David Stone (CT)]

Congrats! And best wishes for a speedy recovery on the bump on your shin.

[Greg Parrish]

Thanks David. Swelling already went down a good bit. Sucker hit just the right spot though.

[Martin Wasner]

Cut the wire a few inches past where you want to clamp and remove the wire from that section completely.

I just had to do this recently, I don't remember on what though

[Greg Parrish]

Thanks Martin. I actually tried that but couldn’t get the wire to pull out. That said, I got it on there for now. Thanks.

[Michelle Rich]

do you turn or know someone who does..it would be pretty simple to make your own adapter. Other choice might be to check out round to other shape STOVEPIPE Adapters at a woodstove store.