Aluminum or steel?

[Greg Urwiller]

I'm in the process of building my own overarm blade guard/dc setup. I've built the blade guard based on the plans on Badger Pond/Woodcentral. I've seen some other setups, and some use aluminum for the pivot mechanism and some use light gauge steel. The overarm leg will be steel. Will it be overkill (weight wise) to use steel on the pivot portion, or would it be better to lighten up everything and use aluminum? I plan on using a wye in the DC line below, reducing it then down to shop vac size, then running shop vac hose along the arm over to the blade guard. Thanks. Greg

[Bill LaPointe]

I used 1X1 and 3/4 X3/4 steel tubing from some retail store displays that I had left over from another project. Looks nicer and I think that it is stronger.

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[Greg Urwiller]

So, it looks like you went with the same plans too! But, it looks like you used the sq tubing all the way around for the pivot mechanism and just notched(?) it out instead of using flat material, right? Does that work pretty well? I might try that instead of the flat I was thinking about. I don't see any arm in the pics, so you must have gone with the ceiling mount too. Did you go with a 4" hose? I know the original plans call for 3", but I figured I'd just use shop vac hose which has a 2 1/4" diameter end and just cut that size hole in the guard and use the attached hose end inserted instead of a coupling. Greg

[Bill LaPointe]

it looks like you used the sq tubing all the way around for the pivot mechanism and just notched(?) it out instead of using flat material,

Yes. Drilled a 7\8 hole in the 1" tube with a unibit and squared with a file.

I don't see any arm in the pics, so you must have gone with the ceiling mount too.

Yes. Used the same tubing.

Did you go with a 4" hose?

Yes. Used a 4" adapter that I had in the junk box.

I can take close ups of tube, and I have more tube that I can ship you for the cost of postage. PM if you want some.

[Greg Urwiller]

Thanks Bill, but since I'm going to build mine with an end mount overarm, I think I'll stick with the smaller size hose. I think this should be good enough to pick up whatever comes off the blade. I like the looks of your sq tubing, I'm going to have to see if I can find any plated stuff like yours. If not, I'll just have to paint it. Greg