Grizzly dc port design 15" planer

[Erik Christensen]

don't know how to weld - probably a good thing as I have read that sparks & sawdust do not play well together - but I did learn how to mold pvc from bill pentz's site.

so this is how i converted my 15" planer with a factory 4" dust hood to take a 6" dc pipe

[Leo Graywacz]

Did it improve pickup? Looks like the exact same casting as I have on my Jet 15".

[Erik Christensen]

Leo:

I don't have a way of answering that - never tried it with a real DC to the stock 4" hood pickup. I used it a few times when it first got delivered to make sure it turned on but it was connected to my shop vac and that was basically non-functional. Even a light pass on a test 2x4 would clog the dust hood. So I left it idle till I got my 5 hp dc built & connected with 6" to every tool.

I can say that with the current setup I can put things through that planer (has their carbide helix head) till it starts to bog down and never see a hit of chips on the outfeed - UNLESS i am an idiot and let my DC bin over-fill

not to hijack this thread but did the same for jointer & drum sander

[Leo Graywacz]

Apples to oranges, I have a straight knife machine. Thanks.

[Mike Cruz]

So, Erik, how much do you want to charge for forming one of those for me?

[Erik Christensen]

mike -

it is very easy to do. just wear a GOOD respirator with a carbon filter as PVC off-gasses some nasty stuff when heated & leather gloves. I used 6" light weight ASTM 2879 so it was very easy to shape.

use any high output heat source - i used an outdoor propane cooking burner, gas grill would work too - some use large torches like for sealing roofs. I make a plywood mold of the basic desired shape - heat the pipe till it starts to get soft & jam it over the mold - not hot enough to deform - put the heat back on - repeat till you get the pipe to the mold insertion dept you are shooting for - hold on mold till it cools - a nice mist from a hose speeds the cooling greatly.

take your new molded pipe end - cut to length & trim the end to get the fit you want.

I'd do it for ya but you really want to do it at the machine so you can test the mold rough & finished pipe so it can be re-heated if necessary.

from what i have seen of the general skill level of those who hang here I believe this is a simple process that anybody could do & get good results 1st time.

check out bill pentz's site - he has a much more detailed set of info & it was where I got the idea to try this

enjoy

[Mike Cruz]

I kinda knew/was afraid that would be your answer...

I guess I'll have to give it a try. Unfortunately for me, schedule 40 is what is readily available here...without going and getting a 13' green S&D for more per foot than a 10' schedule 40. Plus, good or bad, I started with schedule 40, so I'll have to continue with it. Thanks for the info. I'll check out the site, too.

[george wilson]

Mike,I will have to get back into posting pictures. It's been so long I've probably forgotten how.

A thought: Why wouldn't it be possible for Grizzly to design a side discharging hood that can be mounted left or right. It's been some time since I had the hood off of my planer,but it seems to me that a piece of sheet metal with screw holes could be made that would screw onto the edge of the hood. The hood would have corresponding threaded holes for the screws to thread into. The piece of sheet metal would be 4 or 5" wide,or whatever it would take to span the gap from the hood to the machine.

I can't recall off hand if there is anything(like a bent flange),or whatever on the bottom of my hood to lock it into the machine. If there is,maybe it,too,could be detachable,and use the same set of threaded holes that the "spanner" piece used.

I can see that a one direction only hood would not fit everyone's shop.

What I did for my planer hood was to simply take a piece of ductwork that is about 8" or 10" long,and is made to slide inside the longer ductwork pipes to connect them.( I can't recall what this short piece is called,senior moment!!). I squeezed one end down oval and traced it against the rather floppy hood. Then,I cut away the 4" hood exhaust pipe,and trimmed it out to fit the 6" pipe. Then,it was tack welded onto the hood. Fit pretty well,since the thin metal of the hood could be bent to fill up any gaps. Doesn't look bad,either.

[Erik Christensen]

mike -

see if you can find a supply of 6" ASTM 2879 - it is MUCH thinner than even the green S&D and is white to match the sched 40. My pipes are all ASTM 2879 with sched 40 fittings and they work together with no problem.

I can get a 10' stick of ASTM 2879 for about 13$ but it took a bit of searching to find a local retailer - plumbing shops here don't carry it but irrigation suppliers do

[Paul Johnstone]

Did it improve pickup? Looks like the exact same casting as I have on my Jet 15".

This is a similiar experience, but not exact. Maybe it will help.

I had the Jet 13" planer/molder. It came with a 4" dust port, which seemed to be adequate, but I converted it to 6" (using a HVAC metal "funnel") It's hard to tell if that was really worthwhile to do, as the 4" hood always seemed to work well.

Now I have a 20" Jet planer with a spiral head. It came with a 5" opening. I ran my 6" ductwork to the planer and then reduced right at the opening.
It is working fine, so I am really hesitant to modify the hood.

Same with my 8" jointer. Came with a 4" opening, I changed it to a 6" opening. That was considerably less effort, so I don't regret it. Did I see a change in performance? I don't think so.

Ok, but here's another caveat.. if you plane really soft wood like basswood with straight knives and take deep passes, I've noticed that you can get long shavings which can clog things up. If you do a lot of this work, I think bigger ductwork is a good idea.. Even with 6" ductwork, I try to take light passes to avoid this problem.. But overall, I mostly plane/join oak and maple. I don't think planing/joining produces a lot of fine dust. But this is purely my opinion.. I am not sure that it's necessary to modify the port on a planer or jointer. I really respect Bill Penz's work, I am just questioning modding these machines, as it is a considerable amount of work.

Now modding a tablesaw, sander, etc for larger ductwork is DEFINITELY worthwhile.

Just my opinion/experience.. maybe it will help.

[george wilson]

Paul,those LONG SHAVINGS are exactly what I think the problem might be for a 4" opening. As I said,we had regular trouble at my old job with the planer clogging,even when planing 12" wide wood. Especially cypress,which gets so electrically charged that it sticks like crazy to everything. Out atmosphere was pretty dry. I had a 8" swing open door added to the dust hood on that planer. I just didn't want to wait and find out later that the 4" might be too small. I am sure a side discharging port would be better. The chips would hit the back of the hood,and exit the port parallel to it rather than crossways.

Now,with the very short chips made by a spiral head,I don't think a 4" would be any problem.

[Mike Cruz]

Scott, I was looking at another thread yesterday about a 20" Grizzly planer. The OP was asking about a couple of used planers and one that he linked to showed the side port that you THOUGHT you were supposed to be getting. I know your planer is a 15, not a 20, but when I called Grizzly, they had some of the side discharge dust ports available. I ordered one. Not positive it will fit, but it looked like it would. AND it was only about $25! You might want to call them to see if any are available for your 15".