A very unexciting project..........

[ynneb]

You can probably take these things too far but what the hell.

Nah never, putting down ideas in text is fun and real easy. We will probably do a tenth of the ideas, but I love exploring new concepts.

Keep the ideas coming in.

EDIT: I wonder if this qualifies as "Open source brainstorming" ? That section is looking quite lonely.

[sol]

This is the result of much trial and error.

A unit that only used air jets and vacuum required too much pressure and vac to overcome the chip throw of the bit. A physical barrier was needed to stop the heavier chips...brush bristles worked.
The vac's suction needed to be as close to the bit as possible to take advantage of, rather than fight, the router's exhaust, and to keep the footprint of the unit from being clunky.
With this set-up the exhaust actually helps to drive dust up the vac port, therefore the vacuum motor can be slowed way down to a purr rather than its normal scream.
Parts are off the shelf 2" and 1-½ " DWV plumbing fittings and 1-½ " vac hose with attachments.
The hose swivels from the ceiling....
The assembly is easily removed from the router by loosening one wing-screw, and the brush snaps off so the cutter/bit is visible for job set-up.

Works well so far....

[Macaba]

As regards to the post earilier about keeping dust off camera lenses, there is a very effective method which is used to keep water off lenses, and it may work equally well with dust.
Its a spinning perspex disc which is placed in front of the lense in a sealed unit. When particles (water and maybe dust) attempt to land on it, it gets instantly flung off.
Rather clever idea.

[sol]

Re: post 14
Okay, more trial and error.
Just an update on a new vac offset, works better, looks nicer.
Show and tell here
http://solsylva.com/cnc/9bcnc54.html

[ViperTX]

The problem with any item...especially plastic rotating in the air charges the surface and dust is attracted to it....large particles are flung off, but the dust builds up.

[ynneb]

Sol, I take my hat off to you in.
You went to much effort to make that design.
Even thought it is a simple idea, I can see you have put a lot of thought into it.
I had forgotten about this thread, thanks for reviving it, I think I might change the title of it to reflect more about what it is.

[trilect]

Originally Posted by ViperTX The problem with any item...especially plastic rotating in the air charges the surface and dust is attracted to it....large particles are flung off, but the dust builds up.

This might be a silly idea but why couldn't a person make a positive or negative ion charger to charge air and blow over the static problem surface to cancel out the static charge?

[tauscnc]

Hey Sol,

I just started looking into dust collecting systems and am really impressed by the moulded tube. Great job on the fiberglassing!

taus

[Dave's_Not_Here]

... track. Smaller diameter creates greater velocity to overcome the vortex created from the router. Compare the velocity of a 4" dust collector opening to a 1.5" home vacuum cleaner opening and you will get the picture.

you can still create a plexiglass housing with the bristles along the edges and use 4" tubing from your main collector but reduce the diameter to about 1.5" at the housing (near the bit) and you will achieve great visability of your actual cut along with sweeping action and surface contour compensation.

Locate the vacuum attachment to the direction that the chips fly from the cut and it will also increase your collection efficiency since the chips will fly toward the vacuum rather than away... which seriously reduces the force that has to be overcome since you are not changing the direction of the propelled chips but rather increasing their evacuation velocity.

Love to see what you have designed... great thread...

[ger21]

Unless all your cuts are in the same direction, it's impossible to orient the vacuum in the direction the chips fly.

Imo, you'd be better off with a larger housing with a longer brush. THis gives you a better seal against the work, and the bigger housing will keep the brush out of the bit.

Our router at work has a dedicated 10HP, 4000CFM dust collector, and if I use longer tools so the brushes aren't down against the workpiece, I've seen a 3ft roostertail of chips flying out. And this is with a 4" hose that sucks a lot harder than a good shop vac. The key is getting a good seal to the workpiece.