Sawstop Overarm Dust Collection

[Rich Adamo]

I was on the Sawstop website and I see they now have an overarm dust collection accessory and I believe the price is around $199. Has anyone order this accessory and if so what are there thoughts. Has anyone build their own overarm dust collection to capture the dust from the sawstop blade guard.

Thanks
Rich

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I just upgraded my ICS to the new DC setup, but I didn't buy the overarm DC accessory ... yet. I'm thinking about it, it looks nice. But from the photos it looks like the overarm tube is the same length for the 36" and 52" rail tables. I wonder if you could cut it down to fit the 36" table better?

I was on the Sawstop website and I see they now have an overarm dust collection accessory and I believe the price is around $199. Has anyone order this accessory and if so what are there thoughts. Has anyone build their own overarm dust collection to capture the dust from the sawstop blade guard.

Thanks
Rich

[james bell]

i purchased my sawstop a few months ago and was disappointed they did not have an easy method of attaching the saw guide to a collection system.

i had an excalibur on my unisaw, so installed this on the sawstop but removed the head, and with pvc couplings and mini-shop vac tubing, made something that worked.

sawstop should include something with the saw - pure profit grabbing/gouging. i will purchase from most vendors again based on service and what they provide. not thus far from sawstop.

[Will Overton]

... sawstop should include something with the saw - pure profit grabbing/gouging.

Nobody, even if they say "included free" is giving away anything. While you would be happier if they forced you to buy it, I'm happy that I didn't have to pay for something I don't want.

Marketing is an effective tool.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

If they had been offering it when I bought the saw back in Nov '09, I would surely have paid for it. Now that I've had the saw assembled and working for 8 months...with a home-made set-up that works just fine and uses twine tacked to the floor joists above...I have lots of other tools and accessories competing for the next $200 of my shop budget. I would think those of us who purchased the PCS before the accessory was around should have been offered it direct from the manufacturer with a discount.

[Joe Jensen]

Felder has an over blade guard that has a dust collection port integrated and it mounts nicely on the SawStop riving knife. I used one for 3 years when I had a SawStop. Felder sells the guard for around $40 plus shipping from the east coast. I think it was around $50 delivered.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I just have my dust collection ducting running overhead, with a flex hose hanging down to the blade guard.

I'm surprised to hear this is such a problem for people...

Frankly, I'd think you could design something yourself for much less than $200 and only an hour or two of work.

[Christopher Dopp]

I went to my local Woodcraft to order the Overarm Dust Collection accessory for my PCS expecting to wait a while for it to be shipped. I was surprised when they said that one was just delivered to the store and I walked out the door with it. (After paying of course.)

I installed it last night and I'm pleased with the results. It's a bit expensive ($199.00) but is well constructed and works well. The main tubes are a very heavy gauge metal and mount to the rear fence support with a couple of strong metal attachments. The upper tube has the SawStop logo on it as well. The connection to the 4" dust port has the smaller port offset to one side instead of in the middle like I have seen on other adapters. There are a couple of flexible hoses that attach from the 4" dust port to the metal tube and from the other end of the tube to the blade guard. Everything fits together well and is very sturdy.

I have a 36" PCS and shortened one of the dust hoses a bit as it is designed to fit the 52" width as well. The accessory comes with additional brackets that are used only when installed on the contractor saw.

I was running without dust collection on the blade guard since I bought the saw and the difference with the overarm collection was very noticeable.

I had been waiting for this accessory to be announced for a few months since I heard that it was coming out. While I am sure I could have put together something similar for less money, I don't think the end result would look or work quite as well.

[Dave MacArthur]

can you post a pic please? I haven't seen it, and have a new SS that needs one! thx!

[Christopher Dopp]

Here are a few photos I took of it.

sawstop_dustcollection_1.jpg

sawstop_dustcollection_2.jpg

sawstop_dustcollection_3.jpg

sawstop_dustcollection_4.jpg

In the picture with lower dust collection only the splitter is included. The hose clamp and attachment below are part of my dust collection system.

sawstop_dustcollection_5.jpg

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Nice review Christopher ... I just bought one myself and I am also very pleased with it. I didn't realize that the arm swings freely and can also be removed just by lifting up on it. That's a very nice feature. Now I'll just remove the whole arm and set it aside when doing dado's. Also I thought I was going to have a problem when I noticed the bottom tube was going to interfere with my out-feed table. But I solved that by installing the brackets upside down. It lowered the arm a few inches, but it also made the bottom tube (mostly) miss my out-feed table. Flipping the brackets over sure beats drilling a big hole in the out-feed table and wrecking the integrity of it.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Mark, I'm considering an overarm guard and am curious as to why you stated you would remove it for dadoes, is there an issue with the guard?

Thanks, Rod.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Hi Mark, I'm considering an overarm guard and am curious as to why you stated you would remove it for dadoes, is there an issue with the guard?

Thanks, Rod.

Yeah the blade guard is attached to the table so you have to remove it to do dado's. You do not have to remove the arm if you dont want to, you could just unplug the hose from the arm and get the guard out of the way. I was just saying that I think it might be easier to lift the whole arm out and out of the way rather than unplugging the hose every time. I think you could probably come up with some way to hang the blade guard on the arm when not in use also. I may try to figure out a solution like that as well.

-Mark

[Christopher Dopp]

Mark,

I plan to build an outfeed table soon so that a great tip about turning the brackets upside down.

Rod,

When making dado cuts you need to take the guard with dust collection off and switch to the riving knife splitter.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks Mark, I previously owned an Excalibur guard and it could be used for dadoes, I'll keep looking or make something..........Regards, Rod.