Question on Vacuums

[Jim]

My WD-1 will probably be delivered next week. I've got the computer ready and work bench set up in a spare bedroom which brings up a question. I'll have the vacuum shoe on the machine but I'm wondering about what vacuum to use. I do have a 7 gallon shop vac that works very well, however, the noise level is very high considering it will be in the house.

I was told to consider a Festool or Fenn but each of these machines is very costly. Does anyone have any suggestions on brand/model that is quieter than the Shop Vac and doesn't cost $300.00.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Jim

[taconick]

You could use a dust collector like the 1hp models from Penn state or even harbor freight, they are about $100-150, and much quieter than a shop vac. They just might be a little more dusty.

[bobbo]

Hi,
My machine will be on it's way in a few weeks. I've been looking over everything I'll need - the list gets longer every day - anyway on dust collectors check out the following site to make your own cyclone seperator - I plan on building one myself.

www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

Bob

[brucemoore]

A few comments on dust collection.

I've gone through a few trials and errors on trying to set up good dust collection. Bottom line is; it' hard to do with this kind of machine. High speed routers tend to through things at fairly high velocities.

There is a big difference in the strategy that you have to use when you are talking about a vacuum and a dust collection system. The vacuum is low volume and high pressure while the dust collector is high volume and low pressure. The vacuum will work better with a dust shoe where it can sit down low and have minimal air gaps between the shoe and the work. The high pressure will keep a high air velocity across the small openings. When you start moving to a dust collection system you will need to move the capture opening away from the work and allow more air to move for the higher volume fan that does not have the ability to create the high pressure (suction) you need to draw through small spaces. It all comes down to trying to keep the velocity of the air at the escape points higher than the velocity of the wood chips that are flying around. If you can maintain that high velocity near the cutter, you have it made.

So far I’ve tried a few different designs of a dust shoe, a moving hood, an enclosed box, and now I use a large 4” open flex hose attached right on to the side of the router with its opening right at the top of the bit. Of all the methods I’ve tried, the current one is the cleanest. The suction comes from a Grizzley cyclone. It moves enough air across the work to keep everything clean.

Whatever you decide to use, be sure it keeps the chips off of the Y axis rails. That is the biggest problem I had with enclosing it all in a box. Dust stayed in but chips got on the rails and caused some stalls.

The separator you show in the picture may actually work well for a CNC machine. It is fairly effective for larger chips or shavings. Just don’t rely on it for sanding. It will not capture the fine dust. Especially that dust that is hard on the lungs.