Dust Collection Idea

[MunchyMonster]

Right off the bat I apologize if this idea has already been implemented and found lacking, but it seems like a good idea to me.

Has anyone built a dust shoe that directs a stream of air inbound at the endmill as well as using the standard vacuum attachment configuration to suck up dust/chips? The concept (at least in my wee little head) is that the stream of inbound air would help direct chips and dust toward the suction head, and may have the added benefit of clearing away loose chips from a multi pass cutting operation.

Does this provide any benefit or will the "blower" just throw dust and chips even further from the vacuum?

-MunchyMonster

PS - Be gentle its my first post.

[ger21]

Does this provide any benefit or will the "blower" just throw dust and chips even further from the vacuum?

My next router will have a compressed air line to blow the chips out of the cut. As long as you have a powerful dust collector, and a good seal on your dust shoe, you should be fine.

However, I've also read plenty of posts from people complaiing that the routers exhausted cooling air blows dust around. Imo, that's due to an inefficient dust shoe.

[Fastest1]

I am late too. Did you ever test this? I thought up the same thing a couple of days ago. Seems like a large naca duct or funnel on a vacuum and use the exhaust stream from the vac as your blower.

[PaulRowntree]

Patrick (blackToe 2x4 v4.0) has an interesting idea on his dust shoe. From the description, the downward rush of air is directly shuffled into the vac system without blowing onto the work piece, and the vac separately pulls the dust from the cutting area. By uncoupling the cooling requirements of the router from the vac aspects of the dust shoe, the chips are more likely to go where they should.

Even as I write this, I wonder why the router cooling air has to be directed into the vac system at all? Why not divert it away from the working surface into the shop, and separately pull the dust up from the cutting area with the vac? A two-level dust shoe, with the top level freely exhausting the router, the bottom level being pulled by the shopvac.

Comments?
pr

[grumpygeek]

Originally Posted by PaulRowntree Patrick ( Even as I write this, I wonder why the router cooling air has to be directed into the vac system at all? Why not divert it away from the working surface into the shop, and separately pull the dust up from the cutting area with the vac? A two-level dust shoe, with the top level freely exhausting the router, the bottom level being pulled by the shopvac. Comments? pr

I just built one just like this: grumpygeek.com » Blog Archive » Of vacuum shoes and coat hangers. It worked pretty well, but I ended up adding a shroud to the bottom to help keep the dust in range of the suction from the small vac I am using.

Besides using the air to clean out cut, I wonder if you could direct air around the outside of the shoe to act as an 'Air Curtain' like those air blowers they use by doors in the winter to keep cold air out of buildings, though this is probably just over complicating things.

-GrumpyGeek

[PaulRowntree]

So I guess it was not as original an idea as I had thought. I like your sandwich construction, and will try same. Did you cut a taper to hold the vertical vac tube? If so, how would you do this ?
Cheers!

[James Marshall]

Seem's to me that you are getting too complicated. I admit I do not have a dust shoe set up on my small machine. Having said that I do have a kick butt dust collector. One of you mentioned "Ihave it hooked up to a small vac". Thats the problem. My cyclone I built from reference at Bill Pentz site uses 6 inch pipe and easily pulls 1200 CFM. That is what u need to get all of the realy fine dust, and it will suck all of the chips too.
Bill's Cyclone Dust Collection Research - Home Page
This site, in my opinion, is a must read for anyone creating dust in a shop!!!

[grumpygeek]

@James Marshall
Too complicated indeed. A bigger Dust collection system is on my list of things to acquire, but the small shop vac and the DIY cyclone have served me well so far. There is no dust shoe on my first machine, just a pipe near the bit, works great even with the wee vac, but it can get in the way sometimes.

I have read Bill's site before a lot of good stuff there.

@PaulRowntree - Don't worry, it's not my original idea either, but I can't find the site I first saw it on. I have had lots of 'original' ideas that I later found on the internet, kinda disheartening but you get use to it.

I did not do any tapering for the vac tube, just cut the holes a wee bit smaller than the pipe diameter that would be at the top of the fitting, I guess I could have also done that with the lower piece as well, just didn't think of it. If I were going to do it again, I would make the bottom section detachable to allow for easier bit changes. At some point I am going to make one that is fixed to the machine and does not move with the Z if possible.

[James Marshall]

Just a side note my craftsman router blows a lot of air from the cooling fan down at the work. This blows chips away and is counter productive. I built a perimeter dust collection on my machine. Works okay. Only temp until I build a larger machine this winter. What direction do you're routers blow?

[PaulRowntree]

My MasterCraft (Canadian Tire) and CraftMaster (Sears) routers blow air from the motor to the work. The other direction would be pulling work dust up into the motor (bad idea!) so I expect that the downdraft is universal.

[James Marshall]

You would thing. All though I have head that some routers have the ability to collect dust. Must suck air dome how.

[grumpygeek]

The Rigid R2400 I am currently using vents downward which is why I made the dust shoe with a deflector. I think the Dewalt DW660 cut out tool I used on the first machine vents outwards above collet/bit area thru horizontal slits.