super deluxe dust collector that actually works?

[groomden]

hi there,

i've had my machine running for about 2 weeks now and i have to say that my basement is a major dust zone now this is even after ditching the shop vac in favor of a delta 4" dust collection system with 1 micron bag. the problem is definitely in my strategy at the router. i think that the fan from the router is pushing the dust away from getting to the vac hose, which is in front of my k2cnc router bracket. i am pulling a lot of dust in, but an awful lot is also flung out through any crevice available around my dust collection hood.

with that in mind, does anyone have a decent solution to the dust collection blues running a porter cable 690 router? i actually talked with a guy in town today with a shopbot and was looking at the dust hood it uses -- i'm going to try to buy just that clear plastic hood and maybe then everything is gonna be allright.... but if someone has a good homebrew solution please let me know. thanks!

[jsheerin]

There's a thread floating around somewhere where someone designed a dust shoe that the cutting bit went through. It isolated the cooling air from the router from the cutting surface. This let the vacuum hose capture more of the dust. This is how I made mine, but I haven't actually mounted it on my router yet to try it out. Here's a picture:



It will attach to my z-axis at the back. There will be bristles or plastic sheet hanging from the sides. The vacuum hose connects in the large front hole. The router chuck goes through the small center hole. The center cutout will (hopefully) direct the air from the router back up and around the router body.

[groomden]

will that plate move up and down with the z axis or is it at a stationary height?

that's fairly similar to what i have now -- mine moves up and down with the router. i'm thinking the way to go is going to be a stationary suction where bits can pass through. i just bought a piece of lexan and some bristles today so hopefully things will go swimmingly and i can post my results in a couple days.

[jsheerin]

Stationary, but adjustable for different material thicknesses.

[BobF]

Here is my dust collector. It mounts on a K2 mount. The stud is a 1/2" bolt with the head cutoff. Its made of 1/2" cast acrylic. I cut it out on the machine it serves. The vinyl skirt is cut from a piece of one of those vinyl strip doors. I bought a single strip from Mcmaster. There are 3 holes. 1 is the mount for the stud. 2 is the hole for the bit, cut just large enough for the collet to fit with a small amount of clearance, but small enough that the air through the motor is mostly deflected. The last is for the vacuum. Cut it to fit your system. 2 1/2" for a shop vac, or 4 for a dust collector. Mine is 2 1/2.
The skirts are held on by velcro. I made 2 - 1 about 1 1/2 inches for short bits, and a second about 2 1/2 inches for longer bits. Just peal it off and install the other.

Some pics. One shows both skirts.

[Pplug]

I made one for my first machine that uses a Hitachi router. it is made from extruded urethane left over from another project. I mounted it to the router itself by a collar from the same material. the collector can be adjusted vertically by loosening a screw. I created a space so the router's fan would escape from the sides and not push the dust from the bottom. it even works when the dust collector is not on! the dust pretty much just lays down where it is cut. One cool thing I did do was to make it rectangular so I can slide the strip brushes out of the channel and replace them with longer or shorter ones depending on the length of the bit.