Dust Collection Advice

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

My "shop" is 1/3 of a small single-car garage. I have room for my lathe, my sharpening stand, my dust collector, and not much else. I initially bought one of these hoods to attach to my 4" hose: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/208...tion-Hood.aspx However, after a few months, the hood has cracked to pieces under the weight of the hose (also, the magnets were never strong enough to support the hood--I wound up using a c-clamp to attach it to the banjo).

I thought about buying a hood / stand unit: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...ith-Stand.aspx However, it would not fit between the wall and the lathe. Unfortunately I just don't have the room to move my lathe out any farther from the wall.

So, I've been considering one of these articulating arms from Rockler: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...3&site=ROCKLER and suspending it from my ceiling.

Does anyone have any experience with these? There are only two reviews posted on the item. I called my local Rockler, but the sales assistant who answered sounded like he was a high school student and had never heard of the item.

The other option I'm thinking about is bolting some 4" PVC piping on the wall between the lathe and the dust collector (they're side by side) and rigging up a dust collection hood myself. The only draw-back is that the house's electrical panel is between the lathe and the dust collector, so I'd have to bold the piping up pretty high (or fairly low).

Any advice?

Noah

[Richard Allen]

If you found the first collector effective then you should be able to make that collector out of 1/4" plywood fairly quickly. You never gave a picture of your shop layout. You only say it's small. A picture or a drawing might help us understand your dilemma with regard to space and machine configuration.

We make round stuff and you should be able to make a square funnel that connects your 4" hose to a square fitting. Attaching 1/4" ply to that fitting would let you build any shape hood you like.

[Fred Belknap]

It is difficult getting the dust and shavings from a lathe. I finally went with an Trend Airshield Pro. It has been a real help keeping the dust out of my nose and lungs. I have a pretty good dc with a 6" pipe close to the spindle and an exhaust fan right behind the lathe, these all helped but weren't good enough.

[Roger Chandler]

I made my own out of a roller stand and a big gulp hood.......it slides forward and back on a tongue and groove joint, and is adjustable up and down with the roller stand...........

IMGP2377.JPGIMGP2378.jpg

Sorry for the last pic....the software does not seem to want me to delete it even though I tried!

[Jamie Donaldson]

Investigate your options with heating/AC ductwork that will do the job very nicely. I have been using several different return collector boxes for years, and you will find them readily available and quite reasonably priced.

[Noah Barfield]

Thanks all!
@Richard--Good point--I'll post a picture this evening after work.
@Fred--I bought a 3M Airstream earlier this year (although I would have purchased the Trend if it fit me). I'm interested in reducing the amount of dust in the garage
@Roger--I really like that idea! I may have to rig up something with L-brackets though since the garage is sheet-rocked.
@Jamie--That is a cool hood! I also like the attachments that you have on the side. Is it attached to the wall or supported from the floor? If so, how?

[Baxter Smith]

I use a cardboard box that I stick on to the end of 6" hose when I sand. One flap of the top goes under the turning across the ways, and the ends are cut on a curve so it fits around the headstock spindle and in a similar fashion on the other end to allow access to the inside of the bowl. It doesn't look nearly as nice as what you have seen here, but the more you can direct the airflow past your turning and into the pipe, the greater percentage of dust you will collect.

[Jamie Donaldson]

It's mounted on an old microphone stand that I can move at will, and an old tire wheel with welded pipe upright, or bucket filled with concrete will do the same.

[Will Winder]

When sanding I just wedge the 4" hose from my DC unit between the tool rest and the bed and point it at my work. This setup is surprisingly effective no matter how I am sanding.

[James Roberts]

I have c-clamped a piece of 3/4 board about 3 to 4 feet long to a joist in my basement, letting it hang down, and attached my DC hose to that, you may need a longer or shorter piece depending on ceiling height. Hope this helps.

[David E Keller]

Why not turn a funnel? Most of us here have done it a time or two unintentionally, so it shouldn't be too tough.

[Tom Wilson66]

I've had the articulating arm like you show from Rockler for about five months, and it seems to be a sturdy piece of equipment. It can be a bit of a pain to get it into the right position to collect the dust from a turning, but once there it stays put. MOst of its movement is parallel to the lathe bed, so you won't need much space to move it parallel to the bed, but as you go left and right, the dust port moves in an arc, so it has to be raised and lowered to match the centeline of the turning. Like I said this can take a littletime. I think it works just fine for my shop, and my shop about the size of an 1/3 of a garage. I also have a small table saw and a 14" bandsaw in there, so it is quite cozy.

[alan miller]

I use a shop vac floor attachment at the back of the lathe.Use a 2 1/2 to 4in adapter.I also use a modified pipe hanger to hold it up.

[Noah Barfield]

Hi all,

I promised a picture of my shop earlier today. Here's a quick shot from my phone.

NoahLathe Set Up.jpg

[Reed Gray]

The more enclosed the piece you are turning and sanding is, the more dust you collect. Hose attached to the bed with a bungee cord does okay, maybe 50% of the dust. The big gulp type of hood, maybe 60 to 75%. Card board box like Baxter, or this one, 80 to 00% of the dust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZsVc...18AUAAAAAAABAA

It doesn't take much, and it doesn't have to be fancy.

robo hippy