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Those Long Curls of Wood.

Joined
Jun 6, 2018
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La Grange, IL
For some reason the forum software will not let me post a message whose title contains the word shav ings. I am even concerned about using the word properly spelled in the message text.

The above posted without problem so now I will edit and add the message I've been trying to post for two days. Hope it was worth the effort :).




I'm looking for a better method to clean up shavings from around the lathe, and I'm talking about bulky piles of long shavings, not sawdust or sawdust mixed with some shavings.

I have tried using a flex hose from the 3HP DC. The DC has cross bars at the inlets where the hoses connect and these snag long shavings, quickly clogging up. I could cut these cross bars off of one of the inlets.

Presently, I mostly use a shop vacuum. For sawdust or mixed debris that's probably best, but bulky shavings fill the filter bag quicker than I'd like, and the bag is a bit of a pain and expense to change. I could add a Dust Deputy, the 5 gallon capacity would require frequent emptying, but would be easier and cheaper, but I worry that the cone's exit is relatively narrow and would be prone to clogging.

Sometimes I resort to the stoop and scoop method. I'm not a fan of the stoop part and the scoop part kicks up dust. For that matter emptying a 5 gallon Dust Deputy would kick up dust too.
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
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Location
Bashaw, Alberta
I just use a plastic kids snow shovel and heavy duty plastic garbage bags sweep the shavings into a pile and scoop. No stopping required. I dump the shavings and reuse the bags. Some of the bags are probably on their 30th or so reuse.
Vacuuming didn't work or me and I don't have a good dust collector to even try cleaning up with it.
I leave my dust collector going and wear a respirator. If it's nice out I leave the door to the shop open.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2015
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Location
Strongsville, Ohio
A child's snow shovel acts as a great dust pan (scoop): it is both light weight and the long handle minimizes stooping. I use it to fill those large paper yard waste bags rather than filling up my dust collector bin. I probably fill up a dozen yard bags before I need to empty my dust collector bin. I always wear breathing protection when sweeping.
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
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Location
Tallahassee, FL
I do it the ol' fashion way, a long handle broom and a dust pan. Since my shop is in the garage near the bay door I just blow the remaining dust out the door.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
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Location
Novi, Michigan
Shoveling/Sweeping circulates a lot of dust into the air!!

I have a 2hp Oneida Super Dust Gorilla (35 gallon drum) and I have a length of flex hose with a Rockler quick connect handle that I use for the piles. Works great. I then attach a Rockler nozzle with a brush to go over the lathe, etc. for the final clean-up. I have done this for 3 bowls now and multiple spindles and none of the shavings end up in the filter clean-out - all in the drum.
 

Tom Gall

TOTW Team
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
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Hillsborough, NJ
Yup! Clean up at the source with a broom, large aluminum dust pan (like a snow shovel) and a couple of garbage cans. Small stuff clean up with a shop vac (if I want to get fancy). I let the DC collect airborne dust.
 
Joined
Jun 13, 2020
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Location
Jackson, NJ
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www.blacklabelwoodworks.com
I use one of those cheap orange plastic snow shovels. After a turning session coring and roughing out i end up with enough of a pile to fill a 50 gallon garbage can twice. Could not imagine sending that much through my cyclone. I do open all my dc ports around my lathe with it cranking at full power with a respirator on.
 

Roger Wiegand

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I use these https://www.rockler.com/large-alumi...LFlqQqToy-hoXIEg3fjMEc-VPag2Of1UaAiLBEALw_wcB

A snow shovel would save bending over, I'll have to think about that. The dust pan stores in less space. There are 4-5 around the shop, so I can usually find one. Unless you have a heroic system wtth 10"+ piping the long curly shavings are great for creating the kind of blockage in a DC system that requires serious dismantling of the pipe. DAMHIK.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
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Location
Eugene, OR
I use the bigger metal short handled scoop shovels, and the 55 gallon contractor grade black plastic bags. The scoop shovel fits easily into the big plastic bags. I prefer to let the shavings dry for a day or two before scooping up, so some times I am up to my knees in shavings if it is winter rain season. This can make a weight difference of 50 to 75%. In the summer, I will push them out the door to dry in the sun, and it takes just a day for that. I do use the DC to vacuum up the small chips. If the shavings are dry, I do wear a mask unless I am outside and it is windy. There is a lot of fine dust in the shavings when dry... I did try big heavy duty trash bins, and the shavings would tend to get packed in and then when I tried to empty them, they didn't want to come out. Never had that problem with the plastic bags. If you get the contractor heavy duty bags, they can be used many times before they have too many holes in them. Extended exposure to sun light will make them start to fall apart... I have found a bow rake handy for getting shavings out from behind the lathe if they are stacked up deep...

"You know it is time to clean up the shop when you have to get down on your knees to turn." from Roger Michaelson, a turning friend who passed away some years back...

robo hippy
 
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
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Location
La Grange, IL
I don't have any grating in my DC system and I can still plug up my collector. I have had to clean them off the impeller as they wrap themselves up tightly when I run a lot through it. I have started cleaning those wet/long shavings by broom and dustpan. Good luck finding a way to stop it Mark.

John, do you have a cyclone separator on your DC?
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
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Location
Novi, Michigan
I use these https://www.rockler.com/large-alumi...LFlqQqToy-hoXIEg3fjMEc-VPag2Of1UaAiLBEALw_wcB

A snow shovel would save bending over, I'll have to think about that. The dust pan stores in less space. There are 4-5 around the shop, so I can usually find one. Unless you have a heroic system wtth 10"+ piping the long curly shavings are great for creating the kind of blockage in a DC system that requires serious dismantling of the pipe. DAMHIK.

Good point about the blockage risk. I should clarify that my DC (cyclone style) piping run is only 17ft long and a straight shot to my tools, no bends, with the lathe being at the end of the run (7" straight pipe out of the DC for 5' and 6" pipe for the remainder). My piping is the clamp together style, so easy to drop out a section if it gets plugged.

I'm also just a hobby turner, not generating the volume that most of the folks on here do so I can see where the shoveling is the only alternative for many.
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2015
Messages
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Location
Springdale, Arkansas
I sorta kick and shuffle the curls into a floor sweep and this is where they come out.
DSCF7202.JPG

Its a little bit amazing, the chips going in are long curls but by the time they go through the fan they break up into little chips which only take up about 10% of the space.

My only mistake was using 4" pipe into the floor sweep. Sometimes long curls will clog the inlet but its easy to clear. If I had used 6" pipe I don't think there would have been a problem.
 
Joined
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La Grange, IL
There are natural differences in all of our circumstances. Like Rob, I am not producing piles of long shavings every day, or even every week. This does not mean that I won't whine about these piles when I do make them or that I won't look for an easy way out that doesn't involve shovels and dust pans. Points about letting wet shavings dry and about clogged DC pipes are well taken. I use transparent flex hose so it would be easy to see the block, but maybe difficult to get to. Based on present experience the clog point is the cross bars at the DC inlet, so the idea of cutting those off is still percolating in my brain. I'm not seeing a downside, but wondering why they are there in the first place? It sounds like a Dust Deputy will be quickly overwhelmed.
 

Randy Anderson

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I've found a broom and a snow shovel or wide flat regular shovel the only way to really deal with them. Scoop up, pitch into a wheelbarrow or big trash bag. Get most and vacuum the rest with at least a 4" hose. Smaller and it will constantly clog. Trying to vacuum that knee high pile of curly shavings is a pain and whatever it's going into will fill up and need emptying constantly. I took the grating off of the 4" input onto my dust collector since it will clog in just a few minutes. I have a 30 gallon trash can top separator so very few get to the motor impeller and if they do it's steel and doesn't seem to matter.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
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Location
Kennedale, Texas
I bought a large dust pan at home depot that has a long handle so I do not have to bend over. They are nice since they stand uprght. Have several since they are great for leaves, cleaning up after 2 big dogs, etc.
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
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Location
Cameron, Illinois
I use a pitch fork and leaf blower twice a year. Makes great cushioning for the feet. But then my shop is also in a machine shed with a dirt floor. If I start getting too tall, I'll fork stuff out of the way into a big pile and let it sit until I get time/energy to haul it into the woods with a wheel barrel.

I say all of this tongue in cheek, as I know my situation is vastly different from most of you, but for shoveling out large piles of wet shavings, a pitch fork works wonders for the bulk of the mess.
 
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
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Location
Windsor, Pennsylvania
when my house was built, there was a gully running across the corner of the yard, about 4 ft deep. All the rocks picked out of the yard, Yard waste, wool clipped from the sheep, and wood shavings go in that gully. It is now only a few feet across and about a foot deep, instead of ten feet across and 4 ft deep.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
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Location
Novi, Michigan
clog point is the cross bars at the DC inlet

No cross bars on the Oneida - the impeller is in a separate chamber above the inlet port so it can't get a direct hit from anything in the input stream. I'd cut them out if you have a similar design.

My Laguna 18BX has those cross bars in the dust ports - I plan on removing them.
 
Joined
May 6, 2004
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Location
Sonoma, CA
Short Aluminum snow shovel and a garbage can. Does not get plugged up......but does fill up.
Makes great mulch. Pile it up in the yard and let it sit for awhile.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2009
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Location
Rockingham, Virginia
I use a Delta 1.5 hp DC with 1200cfm, and have a 31 gallon metal trash can with a WoodCraft cyclone separator lid on top. I have a 4" Dust Rite flex blue [slinky type] hose and a Dust Rite 4" vacuum connector with handle on it from Rockler with a 48" long 4" diameter wand. I also have the Dust Rite connectors for all my machines so I can move that hose from machine to machine as needed. It works very well, and in my tiny shop with all my equipment, it is the only way I can suck up shavings in and around/behind heavy machinery. The DC has two ports, and I have one line hooked up to a 4" pvc pipe all the way to the other end of my 14x20 shop, and have one branch line from a "T" fitting off that for dust collection at my other large lathe. When that is not needed, I close the blast gates for maximum suction to my cyclone trash can line which is on the other port to the Delta dust collector.

I have no problems sucking up shavings anywhere in my shop using this setup. Even for my router table at the far end, or dust at the other lathe when sanding; provided I have the line not in use blocked off at the blast gate. My larger shavings collect into the trash can, which I empty when full, and only the dust gets pulled into the clear plastic bag on the bottom of the dust collector.
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
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Eugene, OR
I did have a big ball of shavings plug up my impellor once. It didn't go down into the cyclone and my air flow went to about 10% of normal. Took a while to figure out why it wasn't working... This was with a 3 hp Oneida system.

I have had neighbors who wanted my shavings for years. Not turning as much any more, so I can mulch my yard now. I have about an acre. If I need to get rid of it, it seems to find a way to go...

robo hippy
 
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