My DIY dust port reducer

[Jim Davidson194]

I made a list of the inside and outside diameters of all the dust ports I wanted to connect my new dust extractor to. What a mess. I've seen the postings about trying to buy reducers--they never tell you if the measurements are inside or outside. And yes, I've already been burned by that. I found those tapered ones, but you don't know if they'll stay put, I would need several and would still need adapters. That also means labelling which ones go to which tool. Not satisfied, I thought, "If I could just find a way to standardize on a dust port size"...

My solution was to make a reducer from wood. It's essentially a wood circle with a hole cut out of it--kinda like a wood doughnut. The hole matches the outside of my dust extractor hose end so it's stays put due to friction. I drilled some holes in side of the tool's dust port and used sheet metal screws to hold my reducer. I decided to use plywood because the humidity is pretty low in the basement right now and was worried if the reducer swelled in the spring, it might crack some of the plastic dust ports. So far, so good. I'm mildly concerned the outside ply might separate after repeated use, but if I see them deteriorating, I'll apply a film coat to protect them (probably paint).

[Jim Becker]

I buy my ductwork from Blastgate Company and the machine adapters can be customized upon order...I just do an exact measurement using a digital caliper and use that for the order and with that vendor you specify ID or OD, depending on how you want or need it to attach to the machine port. I leave a very slight allowance in the measurement so it's not too tight to slip on and "permanently" fasten it. The machine adapters and hose adapters from their quick connect line can be used even if you use plastic or non-quick connect ductwork for connecting to machines.

[Mark Wedel]

This is one of those things I think a 3D printer might be useful for - looking at the various ways I've done connections for tools with odd sized ports. My usual method is buying the rubber sleeve compression fittings for sewage, since that comes in a decent number of sizes and with it being compression, has some amount of leeway, but feels like a bit of a hack . And in most cases, I'd rather the fitting to just increase in size to reduce restrictions.

[brad fournier]

3D printer is the way to go! I've designed and printed all the fittings for my whole shop. I also sell them on etsy and take custom requests all the time. If you don't want to get into printing on your own, have a look on Etsy there might be a solution already there. My shop is FournierWoodcraft. Or shoot me an email bradfournier AT gmail dot com . Fittings usually cost $20-30

[Doug Garson]

A plywood or MDF donut works well for me, I cut the OD freehand on the bandsaw with the table tilted a few degrees so it slides in until it fits tight, the ID is cut with a hole saw and opened up with a rasp adding a taper if necessary.