Questions about enlarging ducts to Sawstop TS

[Brian Tymchak]

We have 2 Sawstop ICSs at the furniture bank where I volunteer. Next year we will be moving into a new shop with an industrial DC system. Before we have the engineers in to design the duct system, I want to kick around the idea of running larger ducts to our Sawstops. We currently have about 15' of 4" duct ( which runs to a 6" branch then to 8" main) to match up with the 4" ports on the saws. I think larger ducts to the saws could help us a lot to capture dust above the blade and from the cabinet.

I recall reading that some have enlarged their ports to 5" or 6" to match up with larger ducts. Sawstops have a 4" flex hose from the the shroud below the blade to the port. So, here's the question - how have you replumbed internally to match up to the larger port? And a secondary question - are you doing anything differently internally to keep the bottom of the cabinet from collecting a big pile of dust?

Thanks!

[Bill Dufour]

Seems like 4-6 inch duct is more then enough for the base. Most dust down there stays put. Add above blade dust collection to reduce dust thrown into the air that you breathe.
BillD

[glenn bradley]

Here's what I did. I used a jig saw to increase the size of the opening. I attached the shroud hose to the edge of the new opening and trusted to the remaining open area of the 6" port to capture things the shroud did not. I epoxied a section of 6" pipe to a plywood plate and attached the plate to the saw.

New Shop (441).jpg . Saw Stop Maint 20221120 (5).jpg

Definite improvement. Here is a pic of the inside of the cabinet after a year of use.

Saw Stop at 6 inch and 1 year.jpg

[Aaron Inami]

Enlarging duct size is a balancing act. If you have a duct that is too large, you run the risk of not having enough velocity to pull the dust through the duct. Then dust and debris will start collecting inside your duct and possibly create a fire hazard.

A 6" drop will be fine for two 4" hoses (if both hoses are open and pulling air at the same time). I would not run a larger drop than this.

[Patrick Varley]

We have 2 Sawstop ICSs at the furniture bank where I volunteer. Next year we will be moving into a new shop with an industrial DC system. Before we have the engineers in to design the duct system, I want to kick around the idea of running larger ducts to our Sawstops. We currently have about 15' of 4" duct ( which runs to a 6" branch then to 8" main) to match up with the 4" ports on the saws. I think larger ducts to the saws could help us a lot to capture dust above the blade and from the cabinet.

I recall reading that some have enlarged their ports to 5" or 6" to match up with larger ducts. Sawstops have a 4" flex hose from the the shroud below the blade to the port. So, here's the question - how have you replumbed internally to match up to the larger port? And a secondary question - are you doing anything differently internally to keep the bottom of the cabinet from collecting a big pile of dust?

Thanks!

Since the shroud has a 4" opening that is non-modifiable, you're always going to be limited by that as it relates to airflow through the shroud. If the concern is dust in the base, I'd be tempted to run the 6" duct right to the back of the cabinet then split it off into 2 x 4". One to the native port which goes to the shroud, and then cut a second 4" port in the bottom cabinet to collect everything else. May even help to consider adding small ventilation holes to the front of the cabinet to promote airflow across the bottom of the cabinet and into a dust port. Similar principles to how people have described dust collection in enclosed router tables.

That being said, are you using above the table collection? I think adding that first would give you the most improvement.

[Brian Tymchak]

That being said, are you using above the table collection? I think adding that first would give you the most improvement.

Yes, both saws have stock blade guards with DC.

[Brian Tymchak]

Here's what I did. I used a jig saw to increase the size of the opening. I attached the shroud hose to the edge of the new opening and trusted to the remaining open area of the 6" port to capture things the shroud did not. I epoxied a section of 6" pipe to a plywood plate and attached the plate to the saw.

New Shop (441).jpg . Saw Stop Maint 20221120 (5).jpg

Definite improvement. Here is a pic of the inside of the cabinet after a year of use.

Saw Stop at 6 inch and 1 year.jpg

Thanks for the pics Glenn. Exactly what I was wanting to see. Your cabinet base is cleaner than ours are after cleaning! 1 more question comes to mind. Did you have to modify the cabinet in any way to allow for make up air?

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for the pics Glenn. Exactly what I was wanting to see. Your cabinet base is cleaner than ours are after cleaning! 1 more question comes to mind. Did you have to modify the cabinet in any way to allow for make up air?

Mine is a PCS so the cabinet config may be different. My tilt handle clearance slot:

Saw Stop DC (1).jpg

The holes for the factory mobile base on both sides:

Saw Stop DC (2).jpg

Around the motor cover and all around the underside of the table to cabinet junction seem to provide adequate return air. With the DC on I can easily remove the ZCI. That is, there is no great amount of suction as if the cabinet is starved for air.

[Alan Lightstone]

I find that the cabinet on my ICS does accumulate dust. Every once in a while, I take out the ZCI, turn on the dust collector, and shoot compressed air into the cabinet from the top. The dust collector seems to get all those particles out then. This is despite a 5HP Oneida cyclone.

I've thought of enlarging the opening, but considering that the 6" run is split into two 4" ducts (one for the Sawstop Overhead Collector with a skirt that I attached) as well as the stock one on the ICS, I thought this would just detract from the Overhead collector, so I never did it.