Chop Saw/Miter Saw Dust Collection

[Mike Cruz]

So, after a long time coming, I am at the point in my miter saw (I always call it a chop saw...don't know if there is a difference or a proper term...) table construction where I need to figure out dust collection.

I have dedicated 12 feet to the left of the saw, 3 feet to the right, with a sunken down level for the chop saw to sit in. I have a portable Penn State Ind. dust collector (1 1/2HP 850 CFM) with a 4" hose (bag to the side, not vertically) under the table.

I was going to build some sort of chute behind/under the saw so the dust would get shot into the chut, with the 4" hose somehow attached (with a screen so no small pieces got sucked into the DC). But then thought maybe I should make a hoodlike area behind/encompassing the saw to catch as much airborn stuff (not just the big stuff that shoots out the back). Then I thought, why not just attack the 4" hose to the little port on the back of the saw. Easy enough, but seems "wastefull".

Question: What do you do? Pix if available?

[Scott Hildenbrand]

I've connected a hose to the lovely port on mine and can safely say it doesn't cut it.. Well, it cuts it, but the dust still goes everywhere.

My thought would be a shroud to go behind/under the saw.

I'd often wondered if something like a modified down draft table of sorts for the saw area would work out well. Since the bulk of the loose dust gets expelled under the table.. Then just direct the back shroud so that it's curved and causes saw dust coming from the tiny 1" or so port to go down to the bottom suction plate.

[Wes Grass]

Something like this maybe?

http://store.oneida-air.com/hoods.aspx

Seems wider would be better.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Pages of interest:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=4185
http://sawsndust.com/p-miterstation.htm <-- very interesting take.

[Sam Layton]

Hi Mike,

Attached are photo's of my miter saw station. The dust collections works great. When I am making 90 degree cuts the dust hood is closed in, which gives the best dust collection. When I need to make a 45 degree cut I can remove one or both of the front closures of the hood. The two removable closures are held in place with a rare earth magnet. With the closures removed the dust collections still works very good.

I have a 6" dust collection hose going to the side of the hood. I installed a 1 1/2 inch hose from the saws dust collection port, and ran it into the 6" for about a foot. That gives the saws original dust collection port a good boost. My dust collector is a 3 hp cyclone.

Sam

[Dan Karachio]

Sam, that is awesome. Up until today I thought the only way a miter saw could be dustless and not being cocooned in a mass of plastic hooding was to buy a Kapex - and that is not in the chips for me.

Is there a way you could post larger images please?

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks Sam. That is right along what I was thinking about. And dittos on the larger images. There is a lot more detail I would like to see.

Anyone else?

[Colin Wollerman]

Wow Sam, That is unreal. Great job.

On the other end of the cost spectrum you have this...

m_megadustbag.jpg

My "shop" gets rolled around the garage. I am probably going to do some version of this until I come up with a better solution. Maybe add some sort of wings...

[Sam Layton]

Here are some more photo's and I hope larger. I installed the dust collection hose on the side only because I did not want to cut a hole in the bench. With the 1 1/2" tube inserted into the 6" hose really aids in sucking the dust in. More photo's in the post below. If you have any more questions just let me know.

Dan, I get about 100% collections with the enclosures on, and probably 85 - 90% with them removed.

Sam

[Sam Layton]

More photo's. You can see the rare earth magnet on the hood and enclosure. One one each enclosure works good.

Sam

[Mike Cruz]

Sweet, Sam. Thanks for the larger and extra pics. That gave a lot more detail. Also...VERY well done. Obviously a lot of thought went into this design. While I won't be doing that exact set up, it gives me an idea of what to do. I bet your 3 HP Cyclone and 6" pipe really helps. My portable DC that I am going to have hooked up is not nearly as powerful. But if I can collect the majority of the dust, I'll be happy. I'll tell you one thing...the 1 1/2" hose leading into my 4" pipe will definitely be done. Thanks a million.

[Sam Layton]

Any time Mike. I hope you can use some of the ideas. I have heard some miter saws have dust collections on the bottom of the saw. I don't know, my saw does not. Most of the saws natural dust is exhausted through the 1 1/2 tube on top of the blade. I got the 1 1/2" tube at Home Depot.

Sam

[Jeffrey Makiel]

That's some miter saw station Sam!

Mike...if your miter saw has a small port in the blade guard for dust collection (usually via a factory supplied dust bag), it should work reasonably well with a dedicated shop vacuum. Mine does.

Using a dust collector may result in unsatisfactory performance because this port needs low volume, high suction flow that a vacuum provides. This is the opposite of a dust collector (high volume, low suction). The alternative is to build a dust shroud as Sam has nicely done.

I bought a cheap $30 2 or 3 gallon shop vac and attached it directly to my saw with 2 1/2" hose. I also rigged up a 24V relay switch (see below) such that when I begin a cut, I depress a small 24V momentary switch on the handle at the same time I squeeze the trigger on the chop saw. The 24V switch activates a 24V relay that sends 120V to the vacuum. I bought the parts at Radio Shack for about $40.

Woodworking mailorder houses offer electronic boxes that you plug the tool and shop vacuum into. When it senses amp draw from the tool, it turns on the vacuum. I opted to not use this because both saw and vacuum use the same circuit. Instead, the circuit shown below can segregate both amp hungry tools on two separate circuits. Also, I can easily keep the vacuum running if I'm doing a lot of cuts at one time.

cheers, Jeff

[Robert Reece]

I had Sam post me a bunch of pictures of his miter saw setup back in his "Shop Tour" thread. I duplicated it - but with cardboard for now. It was just a mockup to get the sizing of the panels correct. Once I build a miter saw station (coming up soon), I'll build it just like Sam did with the rare earth magnets.
I have a Clearvue Cyclone and have virtually no dust unless both side panels are off and even then it's quite miinimal. I can not smell what I am cutting which is a sure fire way to know that you aren't collecting all the dust.

[Larry Lukens]

My Dewalt Compound Miter Saw has a dust collection port on the back. Not 100% efficient, but it leaves a smaller mess than my drill press or router table do; and my router table has dust collection, too.

I just leave a 2-1/2 inch hose connected to the saw and hook my shop vac into it.