Dust Collector

[Richard Wilabee]

My lathe sits out from the wall about 18". If I was to take a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket and cut it to about half it's height. Then cut a 4" hole in the side and put a connector for my dust hose. Then mount it to the wall behind the lathe on some type of rail. When I got ready to sand I could move it behind the piece I was sanding and connect my dust collector to it. Do you think it would create enough suction to cause a fair amount of the sanding dust to be pulled into the bucket. My dust collector is rated at 650cfm. When I wasn't using it I could just slide it out of the way. I know they make some plastic dust collector hoods or ports whatever you call them. The problem with them is that the hose connects on the back and that wouldn't work for me. I'm just not sure if the collection port has to be kind of a funnel shape. Any suggestions. I see that some people sand inside plastic drums cut in half but I'm not really set up to do that.

Thanks

Rich

 

[Mark Mandell]

Depends on your DC, Richard. In the application you've described it'll be hard with a 4" line ( they just don't pass enough air, and CFM, rather than suction power, is what you need. If a 4" hose is what you've got to work with, I'd suggest a smaller "scoop" and keep it up close to your turning while sanding. When I had the lathe in my basement shop I upgraded my DC to a 6" system pulling 1500+ cfm. I could then use 2 4" lines, one under and one behind the lathe. I still got complaints from SWMBO about too much dust in the house, so I moved the lathe out to the garage and my dust system out there is comprised of a pair of 20" box fans that blow everything out to the driveway. Crude, I know, but I don't have to dust the furniture as the price of my hobby.😉

 

[Richard Wilabee]

Would I be better off with a large shop vac (high horse power like 6.5) and a 2 1/2 inch hose and then half a bucket as the scoop.

Rich

 

[Mark Mandell]

Would I be better off with a large shop vac and a 2 1/2 inch hose and then half a bucket as the scoop.

Rich

No. Wrong direction. Shop vacs work on air velocity (good for picking up screws and water) rather than CFM. Your DC will be better for pulling dust out of the air. The problem you face is the fast drop-off in air movement the further you get from the end of the DC hose; your bucket scoop just makes that situation worse. Bringing the hose end up close to where you're sanding is the best method. A scoop that flares out not more than say 8-10" and tapers back to the hose rim will probably probably be your best compromise as it will still have some air movement to work to pull the dust stream away from the spinning wood surface.

 

[Richard Wilabee]

Ok Gotcha. I'll have to see what I can come up with. To bad I can't find a scoop with vacuum fitting on the side. Well maybe I can try a right angle connector on it.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Ok Gotcha. I'll have to see what I can come up with. To bad I can't find a scoop with vacuum fitting on the side. Well maybe I can try a right angle connector on it.

Consider this http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005206/173/Table-Top-Dust-Collector.aspx

I got one for my rig. Wound up trimming it back to that 10" dimension, and then mounting it on an articulated arm attached to my lathe so I could move it in close for sanding and push it away when doing other things. Again, it wasn't the ultimate solution but it did help (just not enough 😉)

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

I bought a roof vent flashing boot at the hardware store for a couple of dollars.
I cut the rubber gasket back so that I could 'screw' it on to my 4" dust collector hose.
It sits in the bed gap or I use the banjo reversed behind the bed to hold it while sanding.
Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. Might try some magnets

 

[Bill Boehme]

Would I be better off with a large shop vac (high horse power like 6.5) and a 2 1/2 inch hose and then half a bucket as the scoop.

Rich

As Mark said, you need a huge volume like what you would get with a large cyclone DC. View horsepower ratings on a shop vac very skeptically ... actually view as a bald faced lie ... and even then you will be very generous (it wouldn't be a Sears vac by any chance, would it?). Other than a Fein or Festool, I doubt that any shop actually is more than 1/4 HP. My Fein might be 1/2 HP at most. But it is not going to do what you want. A shop vac has a range of two or three inches to grab a reasonable amount of airborne dust. I have moderate success when sanding if I put a small scoop from my Fein almost touching the turning while sanding. I have also used cardboard and duct tape to make baffles while sanding.

 

[Ron Rutter]

Richard. Get yourself & heat & vent system 6"x10" end boot with a 6" diameter outlet & reduce that to 4". This will give you a lower velocity air flow which picks up fines better. More compact & easy to relocate. Ron.

 

[Mike Brazeau]

This is the approach I have been using for a dozen years or so and it works fine for me. No need for any funnel effect. I just move the collector inlet to the area the dust is being created. The flexible aluminum dryer tubing has a 1/2" hardware wire filter on it to prevent large shavings getting sucked into the collector. The simple wooden arm allows me to move wherever I want it. This photo was taken years ago on an old bowl lathe but works well on my Oneway 2436. I have some other stuff on upgrading a basic 1 HP collector that have been working for me for a long time at the Picturetrail link below too.

 

[Mark Mandell]

This is the approach I have been using for a dozen years or so and it works fine for me. No need for any funnel effect. I just move the collector inlet to the area the dust is being created. The flexible aluminum dryer tubing has a 1/2" hardware wire filter on it to prevent large shavings getting sucked into the collector. The simple wooden arm allows me to move wherever I want it. This photo was taken years ago on an old bowl lathe but works well on my Oneway 2436. I have some other stuff on upgrading a basic 1 HP collector that have been working for me for a long time at the Picturetrail link below too.

Think you have the principle down well in keeping the hose close to the turning. Doesn't have to be pretty. Pretty is as pretty does. 😉

 

[robo hippy]

The dust plume from sanding can be pretty big. Simply, a hose gets some. A big gulp type cup gets more. A hood that almost totally encloses the piece will get 99.9% of the dust. Heck, a card board box will make a good hood, it just isn't very pretty. I did see one turner who took a bowl that had a big hole in the bottom, and he turned that into a vent.

robo hippy

 

[John King]

Mini Gulp Dust Hood

Check it out at http://www.ptreeusa.com/dustFlangeHoods.htm#459. Works great for me. - John

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Ok Gotcha. I'll have to see what I can come up with. To bad I can't find a scoop with vacuum fitting on the side. Well maybe I can try a right angle connector on it.

No . do not use right angle bends in dust collection , it will reduce air flow. I use a wooden scoop attached to a multi jointed stand so I can move the scoop where ever I need it. There is no way to collect all , just get the scoop as close to sanding point as possible. This is my 3rd or 4th set up arrangement and is much more flexible. Got the Idea from a poster on this forum.

 

[Steve Worcester]

The more resistance in flow, like ridges in the hose, or right angles, the more loss of suction. Hose length as well.

If it rolls, a simple plywood arm on a hose, as large as the input to the collector has, and without size reduction would be the best. Shorter hose is better.

 

[Mark Mandell]

I've seen one set-up where a set of bristles were attached to the top of the scoop/hose-end to break the tendency of the dust stream to follow the rotating form. Guy insisted that it worked well, but I had me qualms for 2 reasons. 1. It (the bristles) would tend latch onto grit and interfere with the change to finer grit paper. 2. I don't like anything touching a spinning form except e of my tools that I control. The guy did have a very clean shop; especially for a turner.