Miter saw dust collection

[stan shields]

There is an endless supply of pictures on the web of shopmade hoods and various contraptions people have cooked-up to deal with miter saw dust. I'm building a new shop and the miter saw station will need to be against a wall with almost no space behind the saw. I'm considering putting a big gulp dust hood under the saw as far to the rear as possible. The saw is the Bosch CM10 and I enlarged the dust scoop behind the blade per Dan Pattinsons excellent tutorial so it works OK. I'm wondering why I don't see more pics of under-the-saw-hoods? ANy reason not to do this? Seems like gravity would be helpful...

[Josh Kocher]

Is that the CM10GD? aka glide?

I have that saw too. I used masking tape strips, folded over itself to enlarge the flap on the back and that made a HUGE difference in collection efficiency using just a Festool vacuum.

I don't have a dedicated station, but if I'm doing a lot of cutting, I'll also position a hose from my DC slightly to the side and as close possible and it seems to do a pretty good job taking care of most of the rest...

I think it could work okay and you'd see some benefit with the inlet right under the saw, but it's the stuff that goes up into the air you really want to catch and the closer you are to the source, v the better...

With your station with a wall immediately adjacent, where the dust gets directed that could help bring it down... I would say closer is better though...

[Jim Becker]

The hood more or less helps to control the 'splash' of dust and chips that fly off a miter saw. I see no issue with where you'll mount the pickup, but you really still should have that hood to help capture the "splash". My miter saw for many years had under-unit collection along with the standard blade pickup, but without a hood and the mess was amazing, even from just a few cuts. I recently installed a hood that I had previously avoided and it's "night and day" better all around.

[stan shields]

Yup, it's the Glide saw, love the saw but it sure makes a mess :-)

[stan shields]

Is that 6" pipe up on your ceiling? So maybe I need a hood of some sort to knock the stuff down and put the big gulp under the saw to attempt to pull it down. I should be able to fit a hood in behind the saw I just won't be able to get a duct or hose back there. Part of the appeal of putting the suction below the saw is I can sweep into it.

[Jim Becker]

Stan, my DC system starts at 7" from the cyclone and has a 6" main to just beyond the "big machines" where it then drops to 5". The drop to the miter saw is 5".

[Carl Kona]

I think the best approach for MS DC is to focus the air by the blade. The hoods try to contain the flying dust but the approach of closing the hood around the blade like Jay Bates shows here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5tOIBfA8V8 and another guy 'Tyme' did the same but uses a clear vinyl curtain to obtain the same result.

[Monte Milanuk]

Any chance of a link to the latter? Not finding much in a search there...

[Carl Kona]

Here you go Monte, it is about the 4:00 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZgFRvm7cLM

[Monte Milanuk]

Ah. Thanks for that. Wasn't quite what I was hoping for... Looks like its basically a stationary version of the FastCap ChopShop dust hood, which I got last year for an ongoing flooring/trim project throughout the house. It works... okay... with the saw upright @ 90/90. Pivot it to either side... dust collection is noticeably less effective. Lay it over to either side to miter flat stock... then I have to start fighting with the frame, moving part of it out of the way, again, the effectiveness plummets noticeably. Now granted, it is better than nothing, and given that it has effectively no suction - everything is just gravity fed to a bag/bucket underneath, it doesn't do too bad. I've thought about cutting a hole and putting one of those molded plastic pieces that go on the bottom of contractor table saws to hook it up to the dust collector while down in the shop at least. I bet that *would* work pretty well. I'm just trying to find something that works better for on-site work.

I'd seen some people rigging up some sort of plastic sheeting around the back side of the saw and either using the existing vacuum port, or added a full-sized 2-1/4 hose port right behind the blade. With the relatively high air speed and suction pressure, they seem to do a decent job of grabbing *most* of the crud right as it comes off the blade, before it has much of a chance to hit anything else and scatter. For now, though, I'll probably just 'suck it up' and make a few hundred more trips outside, down the stairs to the shop, and back to cut the flooring and trim for the second half of the current remodel project...

[Josh Kocher]

I am surprised you have such a mess with your Glide saw.

I have found my 10" Glide to be very well contained dust-wise compared to its predecessor, 12" Ridgid scms.

What have you been using with it before you start your station/dust hood? A vacuum? A reduced run from your DC?

[stan shields]

Well, I did the Dan Pattinson mod to the blade-scoop right away because it seemed like a no-brainer. I connected my Fein turbo vac (an older model) to the Bosch dust port using the Rockler hose kit intended for portable sanders etc. This kit, BTW, is excellent quality. It worked OK but still not great. Adding the 45 deg angle automotive hose helped (and allows the motor to come all the way up which the Rockler prevented, but the big win with that was the ability to just stick the Fein hose into it. The Rockler hose had to be connected back at the Fein itself which will be too inconvenient once the saw is ensconced in it's new table. It's OK now but the saw still makes a mess requiring vacuuming after a modest project...

[Ole Anderson]

I use the stud cavity behind the saw as a scoop, with the 6" main at the bottom:

[stan shields]

very cool. so there's a 2X4X16 column?

[stan shields]

<p>
So I am closing in on a design concept. I will have a 6 inch duct coming from under the saw, I am considering connecting that to a wye with one leg mounted under each side of the saw just to the rear of the fence. I will install a curved back to contain the spray. What do you think will work better: a 6X6X6 wye or a 6X4X4? I guess it is a volume vs. flow rate question?</p>