show me your miter saw dust collection pics

[Alan Schaffter]

I have a 6" DC port below my bench mounted mitersaw similar to what others have shown, but also have a shopvac piped via 2" PVC to overhead the saw where it connects via flex to the small dust port on the guard.

One note about the semi-automatic shopvac control system shown at the link to another post. When I use the mitersaw, the motor is on for so little amount of time (quick on quick off) it would be useless to make the shopvac operate the same way. It should be on before you start and stay on after you are done to prevent backups. A shopvac couldn't even come up to speed during a quick cut. Just use a separate on/off switch (full 110V or low voltage and a relay if the shopvac is remotely located) is all that is needed. There is no need for a switch on the handle. My entire DC system is fully automated (machines automatically operate the blast gates and DC) - but not the miter saw port.

The DC blast gate and shopvac are controlled via the lock on/lock off button below the outlet, the DC starts whenever any blast gate is opened. It is turned off (and can also be started) via the STOP/START buttons to the left of the outlet. Everything is low voltage control.

[mike graveling]

thanks for all the good pics and the help, this gives me some good ideas

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks for all this post. I can use it!

[Kent A Bathurst]

Mine is similar to those shown above - I boxed it in, making the box just large enough for full L-R-Tilt travel. My Delta has a collection port on the back of the saw, so I have a hose off that prort, out the top, and connected via "Y" to a 7" x 12" hood that sits @ 45* behind and below the saw.

3 observations:
> I think for a CMS, it isn't dust "collection" so much as "containment".
> I like Bill Arnold's down-draft catch-box design.
> In a previous life, I used a dust-system engineering/design firm a lot ($300K - $1.5mm systems). I twisted their arm for CMS ideas, and one sugestion was to enclose the table UNDER the saw, and drill holes thru the table. This collects the dust that exits down thru the table. I haven't done thsi because I only run a shop vac on the CMS, but if I ever get around to piping over from the main DC, I would do this, and then build something like Bill's.

[Bill Arnold]

Kent,

Thanks for your comments. In my previous shop, I only had room for a combo of a small hose on the back of the saw and a hood with 4" hose to help contain the dust. I really wanted more than that when I started planning my new, "real" shop.

Before I installed my cyclone in my new shop, I ran a 4" hose to the DC outtake on my new setup and it worked just fine. I now have a 5" duct running to the DC port and can feel the "breeze" from its suction when I stand at the saw. I know nothing is perfect but I get as close to 100% containment as one can expect with my arrangement.

The only additions I'm planning is a diagonal chute in the lower chamber to force the chips toward the DC port (a small amount of material collects in the lower left corner) and a baffle about 2" wide set back from the front edge of the upper box.

Mine is similar to those shown above - I boxed it in, making the box just large enough for full L-R-Tilt travel. My Delta has a collection port on the back of the saw, so I have a hose off that prort, out the top, and connected via "Y" to a 7" x 12" hood that sits @ 45* behind and below the saw.

3 observations:
> I think for a CMS, it isn't dust "collection" so much as "containment".
> I like Bill Arnold's down-draft catch-box design.
> In a previous life, I used a dust-system engineering/design firm a lot ($300K - $1.5mm systems). I twisted their arm for CMS ideas, and one sugestion was to enclose the table UNDER the saw, and drill holes thru the table. This collects the dust that exits down thru the table. I haven't done thsi because I only run a shop vac on the CMS, but if I ever get around to piping over from the main DC, I would do this, and then build something like Bill's.

[Cliff Holmes]

What are the measurements of narrow opening at the bottom of your dust port?

7/8 x 34, I designed it to match the cross-sectional area of the duct. That's the reason for the tapered rectangle design, to keep an approximately constant cross-section and keep airspeed up. Seems to work fine, dumping large handfuls of sawdust is leaving little to nothing on top of the intermediate braces.

[Mike Cruz]

I like (and also thought of) the idea of a chute below the table. My challenge with it was that I often have little pieces fling from the saw...some I need, some I don't. Either way, I wouldn't want them going into the dust collector. So I thought I would put some mesh or something down there to catch small things. That lead to me seeing myself contorted in funky positions, throwing out my back to retrieve a useless piece (or very imortant one) from under the table. I still like the idea, just haven't totally committed to how I will finish mine. Thanks again to all who have posted pics...it really helps.

[Bill Arnold]

I like (and also thought of) the idea of a chute below the table. My challenge with it was that I often have little pieces fling from the saw...some I need, some I don't. Either way, I wouldn't want them going into the dust collector. So I thought I would put some mesh or something down there to catch small things. ...

OK, now you got me to thinking! The opening behind my saw could be covered with 1/4" hardware cloth to catch small pieces and not interfere with DC. The opening is about 27" wide by 17" front-to-back and something of a "V" shape. Catching the small pieces at that point means no bending over!

[Kent A Bathurst]

The only additions I'm planning is a diagonal chute in the lower chamber to force the chips toward the DC port (a small amount of material collects in the lower left corner) and a baffle about 2" wide set back from the front edge of the upper box.

Diagonal chute is good idea. I don't understand the 2" baffle - where? why/what?

Also - re: hardware cloth - man, I dunno 'bout that - seems like you will spend a bunch of time cleaning out the waste chips that will collect. For the few times I do this, I just shut off the DC and eat the dust from those small cuts.

[Bill Arnold]

Diagonal chute is good idea. I don't understand the 2" baffle - where? why/what?

Also - re: hardware cloth - man, I dunno 'bout that - seems like you will spend a bunch of time cleaning out the waste chips that will collect. For the few times I do this, I just shut off the DC and eat the dust from those small cuts.

Adding a baffle will effectively reduce the area of the opening around the saw. The upper box around my saw is 1/2" ply. Adding a 2" wide piece across the top of the opening and on each side should help containment a bit more. It's probably not necessary, just one of those rainy day projects.

I'm kinda "iffy" about the hardware cloth, also. It's something I can try, then yank out if it's a problem. Placing it where I'm planning puts it on the same horizontal plane as the saw. Anything less than 1/4" will go through it. I can reach the remainder of the material my hand or with a shopvac.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Adding a baffle will effectively reduce the area of the opening around the saw. The upper box around my saw is 1/2" ply. Adding a 2" wide piece across the top of the opening and on each side should help containment a bit more. It's probably not necessary, just one of those rainy day projects.

I'm kinda "iffy" about the hardware cloth, also. It's something I can try, then yank out if it's a problem. Placing it where I'm planning puts it on the same horizontal plane as the saw. Anything less than 1/4" will go through it. I can reach the remainder of the material my hand or with a shopvac.

OK - I get in now - thanks. Re: hardware cloth - I just realized - with a single-stage collector, the fragments/chips might not be a good thing for the impellor. I use an old craftsman vac right now, so I don't care, and my main DC is 2-stage, cyclone, separate filter bag station, etc - so impellor is safe.

[Alan Schaffter]

My DC has a steel impeller so I don't worry about chips, nuts, bolts, small animals, etc.

Probably the best mitersaw enclosure (and overall shop in general- serious $$$ too!!!) I have seen is one that was on the Laguna Tools site. This guy has an out-of-this-world shop full of Laguna, Festool, etc. and multiples of everything- see if you can count the number of (electric and pneumatic) ROS or cordless drills he has. He has two side-by-side miter saws on sliding shelves. They slide back, out of the way when not in use (mine does also). They have partial solid enclosures, but . . . what distinguishes them from all others, are dust curtains made from poly or vinyl sheeting. Here is the link to the video. The mitersaw dust collection segment is at 7:08.

[Bill Arnold]

My DC has a steel impeller so I don't worry about chips, nuts, bolts, small animals, etc. ...

I have a cyclone, so I'm not concerned about small junk getting to my DC system. There's an occasional cutoff that's a few inches long that could get sucked into the duct and get stuck at a 90*.

[Rod Sheridan]

My DC has a steel impeller so I don't worry about chips, nuts, bolts, small animals, etc.

Allan, if you have a steel impeller with a single stage collector, that's exactly when you don't want a steel impeller and nuts and bolts in the debris stream.

If you have a single stage collector and expect to have a nut or bolt in the debris stream, you need a plastic or non ferrous impeller.

Of course if you have a 2 stage collector, the impeller material doesn't matter.

Regards, Rod.

[Alan Schaffter]

Allan, if you have a steel impeller with a single stage collector, that's exactly when you don't want a steel impeller and nuts and bolts in the debris stream.

If you have a single stage collector and expect to have a nut or bolt in the debris stream, you need a plastic or non ferrous impeller.

Of course if you have a 2 stage collector, the impeller material doesn't matter.

Regards, Rod.

Rod, I have a steel impeller in the blower which is connected to a 3D (Pentz design) cyclone in a "push-through" configuration- so stuff does hit the impeller before entering the cyclone!

I've have used this "push-through" cyclone configuration with no problems for almost 10 years since the early days of Jim Halbert (if you remember him), Bill Pentz, and the Wood Magazine cyclone. I am not worried about explosions or fire from sparks caused by metal fragments- first, the dust density in the system is insufficient and the velocity way too high for the moving dust to ignite or explode- this only (and rarely) happens in bag house and other commercial dust collection systems where there is a VERY EXTREME density of dust and then only when the air mass is slow moving or stagnant and there is a good source of ignition. There is a very remote chance of ignition of the dust in my discharge bag (I connect a plastic bag directly to the bottom of the cyclone, don't need a fiber drum, easier to dispose of, just carry the bag to the curb, the reason for building a push-through cyclone), but it would be slow burning and I would smell it since the filtered air is returned to my shop (cyclone is outside). I do a lot of metal work too, but in 10 years have not had one ignition. (photos and brief description of my DC system in this article)