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Thread: My Table Saw Dust Collection Solution(LONG)

  1. #1

    My Table Saw Dust Collection Solution(LONG)

    I have a Craftsman Jobsite table saw. I really like this table saw. Sometime I would like to upgrade it to a cabinet saw, but for now, it does the jobs I ask of it well. The one job that it does NOT do well, is to collect the dust it makes. It has a stock dust port, but that only gets about 80% of the dust. The rest of the dust escapes around the blade guard and out the bottom of the saw.

    In order to improve the dust collection on the saw, I needed to seal up the “cabinet” of the saw, and collect the dust at the source, from around the blade. <O

    The first step was to seal up the “cabinet” of the saw. To do this, I took the saw off of it’s base and cut a piece of ½ inch plywood to fit the base. The next step was to seal up the rest of the cabinet. The top of the saw has about a ½ inch gap between the table and the cabinet. To seal this gap, I used a generous amount of duct tape. I used duct tape, because I was not sure how it would work. It worked great! If the tape starts to fail, I will use the foam insulation sold in cans. Any opening in the saw was sealed with duct tape.

    Finally, I cut a 4 inch hole in the plywood and attached ½ of a blast gate to the bottom of the plywood. To that, I attached 4” flex pipe. There is a TON of suction down through the insert in the table. I am really happy with the suction. <O

    You can see the back of the table saw here. If you look closely, you can see the 4” hose running out from the bottom of the saw.

    Last edited by Jeff Sudmeier; 02-15-2005 at 8:33 AM.

  2. #2
    In the above picture you can see the next part of the dust collection solution. The second part of the solution is to collect the dust from around the blade, that is not sucked down through the table.

    To do this, I decided to try using the stock blade guard, before I spent time and money on buying a guard or building one. To get suction to the blade guard, I had to build a connection to the guard. The connection is just a piece of 2x4 with a 2 ¼ inch hole cut in the top of it, to fit a shop vac hose. The bottom of the piece of wood is cut out about 1 ½ inches wide by about 3 inches long. I cut the top of the blade guard in the same size rectangle. The piece of wood is attached to the guard using 3 screws and the hose is press fit.

    In the picture below you can see the Hose going to the guard and the high tech hanging method. I nailed one end of a bungie cord to the ceiling and I hook the other end around the hose.



    Last edited by Jeff Sudmeier; 02-15-2005 at 8:33 AM.

  3. #3
    In the first picture, you can see the two blast gates that control the dust collection from the table saw. When I want more suction through the blade guard I open the blade guard gate all the way. When I want more suction down through the table, I open the other one all the way and close the blade guard gate some.


    In summary, I am VERY happy with this solution. In multiple cuts, about 20, I have had only a tiny amount of dust escape my collection. I have run dado cuts and all of the dust is drawn down through the table. I have done rip cuts and all of the dust is either drawn down through the table or up through the guard. I even ripped off 1/8<SUP>th</SUP> of an inch off of a board, the hardest cut to collect dust from and all of the dust was collected. </FONT>

    I am VERY glad that I have went to the effort to collect the dust from my table saw. Don’t dismiss your stock blade guard as a dust collection method. The best part is that the total cost for all of this dust collection was $00.00. I had all of the parts I needed on hand collecting dust. (Pun intended).

    Sorry for the long post, it was a lengthy project, but one that was very successful.
    Last edited by Jeff Sudmeier; 02-15-2005 at 8:34 AM.

  4. #4
    Nothing like feeling good about completing a project! I know this might kill your budget on this upgrade ($0.00), but if you ever want to tilt your saw blade, it looks like you'll have to remove the tape from the front of the saw. A recomendation would be to use sheets of flexible magnets (they come in sheets like paper for craft projects). That way it is easy to move when needed.

    Again, good show on reminding us that everything doesn't have to be done with expensive parts and material.
    Dan

    There are three ways to get something done: Do it yourself, employ someone, or forbid your children to do it.
    -Monta Crane

  5. #5
    Thanks for the tip! This would work great for me, but my table saw base is made of plastic, not metal Would work great for others though!

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