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Thread: Dust hose for cabinet saw, 6" or 4"

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    9,879

    Dust hose for cabinet saw, 6" or 4"

    I have a Delta 12/14 cabinet saw that I finally moving into the shop. Think a slightly larger Unisaw. Plan is one dust hose to the base cabinet and eventually a smaller hose to the blade guard. The blade guard hose will probably be at least two years into the future and a new house. My 2Hp cyclone has a 5" inlet which I run a 6" main trunk off of.
    So should the hole in the base be 4" or 6"? I figure 6" for now and it can be necked down to 4" when the upper hose ends up being attached. It is much easier to reduce a hole that size in the heavy base metal then to enlarge it if needed.
    i plan the upper hose to be 2-3" hanging from the ceiling.
    Bil lD.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Central WI
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    5,666
    If your 12/14 is similar to mine, there is no hose to a shroud near the blade, just a hole in the side. My saw didn't even have a bottom. DC will be bad and 6" is needed. I mput some foam between the table and the base and plugged some holes in addition to adding a floor. I used to open the door and vac the inside often because even my much larger DC didn't keep the inside clean. Dave

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    I removed the plinth and bolted the cabinet to a welded mobile base. I sandwiched a piece of plywood under the saw and I need to block off the front opening louvers. Removing the plinth gained 5" so I could make a good heavy base on big wheels. The weird two piece plinth would have been awkward to attach a dust hose to.
    Bil lD

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,685
    If you can retrofit the connection to the cabinet, quite obviously the additional air flow that the 6" connection can provide is going to be an advantage. One thing, however..."blocking off" all the openings is counterproductive. You need incoming air in order to collect the dust. It's the moving air that moves the material, not "suction". Dust collection is high air volume, low pressure. So be sure to do some reasonable calculation about how much air is going to come in from near the blade as well as from under the table before you start blocking off all the other air sources. You need at least the same physical area as a six inch circle to provide your air and also can benefit from strategically planning on the "where" so that incoming air directs falling dust and chips toward the DC port for best results.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
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    Sep 2016
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    Modesto, CA, USA
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    The motor cover has a hole in it about 5" so that and flow around the adjustment handles should be at least equal to 6" diameter. I will leave the louvers open and see how it works.
    Bil lD

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    On my old Unisaw, I built a box over the motor that takes a 12x12 furnace filter for air intake. If you don't block up every little hole on the front, some sawdust will get thrown out. Since I took this picture, I have changed the blue tape over the tilt slot to a couple of pieces of magnetic sheets. 3hp DC, 6" line, and 4" overarm gets all the fine stuff. Some of the heavier particles get thrown on the top at the ends of cuts. Sawdust does build up inside the base, but it slopes down to the 6" port on the front, so it never bothers anything. We use it inside houses, and there is never fine dust on anything.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Tom M King; 11-25-2019 at 9:17 AM.

  7. #7
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    Tom with a 6" and 4" hose running simultaneously how much DC do you have ?
    Bill D.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    3hp 4 bagger, for the portable stuff. It was the largest one I could find, on wheels, that will roll through regular house doors. It is usually also hooked up to the 6" jointer, in the background of that picture, with no blast gates needed. My experience says that anything less than 3hp is wishful thinking.

    There is not much of a run of ducting. The DC unit has a 10' 6" flex hose on it, and it gets switched to what machine we're running. These are always temporary (a year or two) setups in old houses.

    edited to add: This specific one. I like their bags better than others I've used, including PM, and Grizzly, and these are better. No room for cyclones to be easily portable. My helpers roll it outside when they need to empty the bags. Part of the setup cost charged to these jobs includes new bags. They work great for a couple of years, but I don't like them after they've gotten dirty on the outside. If you set up a Pro account with Woodworkers Supply, you get a good discount. This is the regular price. Probably not the best choice for a stationary setup, but it works great for a portable one.

    https://woodworker.com/3hp-dust-coll...su-961-339.asp
    Last edited by Tom M King; 11-25-2019 at 11:22 AM.

  9. #9
    I originally plumbed my Unisaw with 6" and reduced down to 4 " to the standard Unisaw port that came with it but I was not 100%happy with it. I wanted 6" all the way to the saw for more airflow volume. I ended up drawing what I wanted in Sketchup and had blastgateco.com build it for me. Works great. Cost me $91.

    WIN_20191015_16_26_15_Pro.jpg Uni1.jpg Uni2.jpg

  10. #10
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    Sounds like the consensous is drill the 6" hole and try it that way. I have a 6" hole saw already, not sure if I own a 4" one or not.
    Bil lD

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    Sounds like the consensous is drill the 6" hole and try it that way. I have a 6" hole saw already, not sure if I own a 4" one or not.
    Bil lD
    My Unisaw came with a DC hole that is 8"x4". A radius edged rectangle. Roughly the same area as 6"diameter. No need to cut a hole when the existing hole is sufficient. What was needed was an appropriate fitting.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    Western PA
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    My Powermatic 72 is similar to your delta. Have you considered retrofitting a shroud under your blade and running 4” line straight to the blade? I did this by cutting up a 90 degree elbow and attaching it to the chip defector direction under the front of the blade. Works decently well. The problem on just about every saw is the cabinet doesn’t allow for much DC below the blade at a full bevel. The best designs are the older machines with the cast shroud that beveled with the blade and had a port directly behind the saw. On those you could run a 5-6” hose to if you wanted. Even on the 72, a 4” hose inside was really pushing it. I had to jerk around with the connection a lot to make sure I could do a full bevel. These 50-60 year old cabinet saws are pretty awful with DC. I’d take a contractor saw over these.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    North Dana, Masachusetts
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    486
    I use 6" and 4" lines under the rip saw, and a central vac set up in the guard. The crevice tool intersects the blade from above, catching the spray. I usually just use the 6" line and vac. The 4" line is connected to a smaller 3 hp dust collector, the 6" line is connected to a large dust collector. The central vac collects the dust I really care about, the dust that goes airborne. If I were going to hook up anything first, it would be the central vac catching the spray off the top of the blade.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Rochester, Minn
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    228
    Another thought. I'm 6'1" and like my tools a little higher. I built a small platform which has the Delta Unisaw and HD shaper on it. (The shaper acts as an outfeed table 95% of the time). Use 2x4 or 2x6 on edge. Then I took the floor out of the Uni, shaper didn't have one, and have a square 8" hole in the platform, with a sliding door of scrap 1/4 ply as the blast gate. The dust pipe comes into the side of the platform at a convenient spot. The floor isn't perfect so I tacked on 1/4 round to better seal the base. Four 3/4 by 3/4 by 1 foot scraps are screwed to the base, inside the Uni cabinet, and keep it from wanting to move.
    I really, really like having the saw higher.

    Terry T.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Fairfax, VA
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    71
    OK, I just picked up an old Delta Unisaw(early 60s I think, is there a way to know for sure?) , and plan to add it in as the 2nd saw for Dadoes only. Since Dadoes, I dont think I will need an overhead DC connection on this one. But there is NO port for the base, just the big louvered door on the front. Anyone got suggestion on best way to add/attach a port? Was thinking about maybe rigging up some sort of shroud that maybe fits into the door and hooked up to a verical upfacimg facing shroud of some kind, but assume I am not first one to retrofit a unisaw, and would rather not try and reinvent what someone much smarter has already done. Ideas? TIA! Dave

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