What is the best way to go from 6" PVC (2729) to 4" flex?

[Jack Harvey]

I'm in the final phases of planning my dust collection setup. I'm going to be running 6" from my Harvey Gyro air along the ceiling then down into the each drop. My problem is that all of my tools have 4" dust ports. I plan to run the last few feet from 6" PVC to the port with 4" flex hose. Can someone point me to some fittings that'll work? I've been looking around but I figured I'd ask here and get some recommendations based on experience.

Thanks!

[Darrell Bade]

Rockler has a Dust Right Rubber coupling that will fit over 4" PVC and you can put a blast gate on the other side. I go 6", 6" to 4" reducer, short piece of 4" PVC, rubber fitting, blast gate, 4" hose to machine.

[Clifford McGuire]

I'm sure there are other ways, but this is what I do. I go from 6" pvc to 4" pvc to blast gate and then to 4" flex. In this picture, I am going to a bandsaw that has two dust ports, so having the 'Y' after the blast gate makes sense.

Hope this helps

PXL_20220601_022831285.jpg

[Chris Parks]

I'm sure there are other ways, but this is what I do. I go from 6" pvc to 4" pvc to blast gate and then to 4" flex. In this picture, I am going to a bandsaw that has two dust ports, so having the 'Y' after the blast gate makes sense.

Hope this helps

PXL_20220601_022831285.jpg

Don't waste money using 6" ducting if you aren't going to enlarge the machine ports to 6" as the reduction at the machine limits to whole length of ducting to the size at the machine. Get a piece of 4" ducting and a piece of 6" ducting side by side and you can see the visual difference and you will appreciate why the 6" works so well.

[Andrew More]

A couple of comments. First, 6" as long as possible, as little flex as possible. Second, 6" breaks down to two 4" ducts, area wise, use this to your advantage for tools like router tables, or table saws which have multiple places to collect from. Third, consider enlarging ports in some cases. Like my grizzly table saw came with a 4", but I could easily enlarge to 6". Same with my G0490X jointer. Finally I would strongly suggest taking whatever it is you want to connect with you to Rockler, or wherever you're getting your fittings from. Anything else is going to be guess work where a few thousands of an inch matter. For loose joints you can use masking tape to make the fit snug, for too tight you almost need a lathe or something.

[Curt Harms]

I stayed 6" flex hose right to the machine. What I remember from reading various dust collection sites is that the less distance air is traveling thru a restricted space the better. Also I recall that a length of 6" flex hose ( I don't recall the length unfortunately) will pass the same amount of air as smooth straight 4" ducting. Here is what I've done on machines with 4" ports. This also gets me an inexpensive disconnect. The PVC fitting is a 6 X 4 reducer. My 6" hose will fit inside the reducer, I held it in place with silicone and and 3 #8 bolts with fender washers and nuts. It works pretty well.

[Chris Parks]

I stayed 6" flex hose right to the machine. What I remember from reading various dust collection sites is that the less distance air is traveling thru a restricted space the better. Also I recall that a length of 6" flex hose ( I don't recall the length unfortunately) will pass the same amount of air as smooth straight 4" ducting. Here is what I've done on machines with 4" ports. This also gets me an inexpensive disconnect. The PVC fitting is a 6 X 4 reducer. My 6" hose will fit inside the reducer, I held it in place with silicone and and 3 #8 bolts with fender washers and nuts. It works pretty well.

Don't mind me, carry on and waste the capacity of 6" ducting, I can only advise what I know as good fact and no more. You have just told us that the system as you installed it is only going to flow as much as a 4" system and at a slower air speed which will result from the reduced air flow.

[Marc Fenneuff]

I used these 4" schedule 40 to DC adapters from Rockler. I chose to use shop-made blast gates behind the adapters.

IMG_8708.jpg

[Bob Riefer]

My sense is:
- 6" all the way to the tool (even if it requires modifying the tool) usually the best. My jointer and miter saw fall in this category, and it was easily accomplished.

- 6" to two 4" is also very good, and sometimes preferable... for example, I collect from my bandsaw, table saw, and sander this way... and I think all those scenarios are better off for this approach.

- 6" to single 4" is worst (but still better than nothing)... In my case, my router table, drill press, and lunchbox planer are all stepped down near to the tool... while not perfect from an engineering standpoint I'm sure, it works well enough for me.


Advice for the OP... Try to avoid the 3rd option listed if possible, but also don't get too scared off from trying/testing and being willing to test another option later.


(edit: The point being that you don't need to choose a single approach that works for all your tools.. a mix match where you try to be on the best side of this wherever possible is the most reasonable goal)

[David M Peters]

I use 6 -> 4x4 adapters from Clearvue for this task.

https://www.clearvuecyclones.com/sho...ts_filtering=1

[james manutes]

I've used a 6 x 4 x 4 "wye" from Grizzly to allow dual points of collection on a few tools . It played well with my 6" sewer/drain pipe . Part # is D4240 , made by Woodstock .

[Jack Harvey]

Thanks for all the input. I never actually considered modifying the tools for 6” ports. Going to see about possibly doing this.

[John K Jordan]

I'm in the final phases of planning my dust collection setup. I'm going to be running 6" from my Harvey Gyro air along the ceiling then down into the each drop. My problem is that all of my tools have 4" dust ports. I plan to run the last few feet from 6" PVC to the port with 4" flex hose. Can someone point me to some fittings that'll work? I've been looking around but I figured I'd ask here and get some recommendations based on experience.

Thanks!

Jack,

Sometimes going from 6 to 4 makes a lot of sense. I went from 6" to two 4" for my bandsaw, one for the port in the lower cabinet and one for the higher port, just below the table. I also split one and bring it to top of the table as needed, otherwise keep it out of the way (with a magnet) and covered. The flex is that black bend it and it stays where you put it stuff.

bandsaw_DC_comp4.jpg

The 6" to 2x4" splitter is a clear box from ClearVue. I like being able to see inside. It's visible on the left of the photo. This method, especially after I made a small box to direct the airflow under the table, works extremely well and leaves no sawdust in the cabinet.

ClearVue has a similar splitter that goes from a 6" to two 4" with blast gates. I use this at the lathe.

JKJ

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for all the input. I never actually considered modifying the tools for 6” ports. Going to see about possibly doing this.

Just for inspiration . . .

New Shop (441).jpgNew Shop (494).jpg

[Jack Harvey]

I really do wish that I'd been more aware of the difference between 4" and 6" for DC when I bought some of my tools. I would've likely made some different choices. It seems ridiculous now but when I started setting up my shop DC was barely an afterthought. I had no appreciation for just how much dust I'd be generating. I've also wasted a non-trivial amount of money on 4-inch-centric DC products. Lessons learned...