Dust Collection with Table Saw

[Scott Welty]

I pulled the trigger and bought a Powermatic Dust Collector. It's a nice piece of equipment and went together easily with good directions. I've got it hooked up to my main dust generator - Jet table saw. The table saw has a 4 inch port off the back end and the dust collector is also 4 inch. I've connected them with rigid 4 inch duct work. With the saw on and collector running it basically collects zero dust. It looks as if the air flow into the tube has set up eddies in the chamber which guide the dust to the corners and mostly to the front of the saw AWAY from the collection tube to spill out the slot for blade tilt. Waiting to hear from Powermatic but wondered if others here have had the same experience.

[Rod Sheridan]

Scott, assuming that your dust collector is sucking, the issue is with your saw, not the dust collector by the sound of it.

Unless the saw is designed for dust collection with a shroud around the blade, the cabinet will fill up to a certain point and then no more.

When I had a cabinet saw it would fill the corners about 4 inches deep and then stabilize.

For dust collection on a table saw you also need collection above the blade through the saw guard as a lot of dust comes off the top of the blade.

Regards, Rod.

[Tom Ewell]

Same experience here as Rod, I occasionally open up the saw for maintenance and clear out the excess dust
I've not, however, had it spill out once the dust buildup inside has stabilized, from there the dust gets sucked out of the saw.

[Martin Wasner]

The cabinet will fill to a certain point and pretty much stay at that level for a long time depending on what you're doing. It more or less will make it'its own channel out of dust for the site to flow.

I actually prefer the cabinet to fill this way, depending on what's going on I'll empty the saw out as needed. I feel it's easier to pick it up off the floor after pulling the dust out than empty the bags on the collector more often. If I had a system where emptying the dust collector meant picking up the phone and having a dumpster hauled away I'd probably just push it all to the port when necessary.

[Ole Anderson]

Yea, don't worry about the dust in your saw, worry about the dust in the air and on the table, and on the floor. Watch where the blade spits out dust and rig a cover for that escape route. But don't completely starve the cabinet for air either. On my G1023 it was between the table and the cabinet as well as the slot that the crank needs when you tip the saw blade. I cover that one with an old magnetic sign sheet with a slot in it.

[mike mcilroy]

I put a fitted piece of 1/4" ply in the bottom sloped toward the port and flush with the port's bottom. I don't get any build up but I have a 6" port maybe moves just a bit more air to make the difference? If it bugs you its cheap enough to try.

[glenn bradley]

I agree that some spoil will snow-drift into areas and remain. This is a free and automatic customizing of the interior shape of your saw's cabinet. Once the odd voids are filled, collection should perform as normal. That machine is rated with a 6" duct so I am not sure of the flow you are getting with a 4". Powermatic is premium-priced so I would want to get all I could get out of that machine. Many folks have claimed great improvement when converting their tablesaw to a 6" collection port. Having come this far, this modification seems like a good next step.

[Terry Hatfield]

Lots of good info here so far. I'll also vote for changing the cabinet to 6". It makes a significant difference even though there is still some buildup in the corners of my cabinet. Also agree that closing up some of the gaps in the cabinet and adding something over the blade is necessary if you are going to have good overall collection. I built a modified version of the overhead guard from Wood magazine. Works like a champ. I have 6" to the cabinet and 4" to the overhead.