Replies

1. 
   bsutton12 | Sep 04, 2003 09:25pm | #1

   I haven't connected it yet, but I recently bought one of those dust collection attachment that go on the bottom of the contractor saw cabinet.  It may not be as efficient as the system described in FWW, but it occurs to me that most (>90%) of the sawdust produced by my contractor saw falls though the bottom onto the floor below.  Granted this does nothing for any fine dust, but I would be happy just to reduce the housekeeping.  I am not sure that the table saw creates large quantities of fine dust anyway (as compared to a bandsaw or planer).

2. 
   johnnyd | Sep 04, 2003 10:55pm | #2

   FWIW, I just screwed a piece of plywood to the underside of my old craftsman TS, cut a hole to fit in one of the attachments from my shop vac, trimmed another piece of plywood to fit on the motor side with slots to avoid the belt...wedges in with shims...and have a zero $ DC for the TS.  After the corners in the bottom fill up a bit, no leaks and the humble old shop vac picks up at least 90% of the dust.

   Just in case anyone wants to spend DC $ on other tools.

3. 
   Robbie | Sep 05, 2003 02:15am | #3

   Mike:  That was a very good article.   I constructed the device as described.

   For years I was frustrated with the dust collection achieved by only adding the commercially available black plastic baffle with 4" cutout.  I had it hooked to a Delta 1.5 hp collector.  It was better than no dust collection, but I still got a lot on the floor and out the back.

   The template they include in the article was really simply to construct with a large compass and a jigsaw.  The only part that didn't fit right and required multiple adaptations was the section at the top of the template that comes in contact with the rear trunnion bolts.  Trial and Error and it comes out ok.

   If I had it to do over again, I would have had it fabricated of thin stainless steel and attached adhesive backed magnets so the back could be easily attached and disconnected.  The other reason for SS would be to be able to easily attach a large rubber magnet to occlude the holes tha t one must cut into the template to allow the motor to tilt.

   Overall, it significantly improved the DC capability.

   Of course, I sold the whole thing 6 weeks later to prepare for a Unisaw.

1. 
   TomFerreira | Sep 05, 2003 04:25am | #4

   Here is what I did with my Onieda 1.5 and my Grizzly contractors saw. it worked great.

   TDF

   
1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 03, 2004 01:54am | #5

   Tom, can you elaborate a little on the flashing in the back that covers the empty space there?  I see a curved slot for the cradle bars to move through.  How 'bout the belt?  It appears that the whole shebang is 2 pieces of metal, right?  or more??  Thanks!forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

1. 
   TomFerreira | Jan 07, 2004 05:03am | #6

   Jamie,

   I don't know why I missed this reply until now but I appoligize for not answering sooner.

   the slots for the belt are there they are hidden behind the peice which is mounted to the cradle bars. Yes, this is just two pieces and the slots are cut in the piece fixed to the cabinet. It worked really good while I had it. I just went down to Home Depot and got a couple of pieces of flat sheet metal stock in the stove pipe section.

   TDF

   TDF

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 07, 2004 06:44am | #8

   Thanks, Tom.  I made a very weak stab awhile back at designing a masonite plate to close off the back of my saw.  When it wasn't as easy as I was expecting (projecting where to cut the path for the belt and the bars) I went on to something else and never looked back.  Your post is encouraging me to go back and try again.forestgirl Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)  you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

2. 
   Jeff | Jan 07, 2004 04:32pm | #9

   Hi FG

   Saw your post and thought I'd comment.

   On my old contractors saw, I also was planning to make some masonite covers for the rear.

   Being smart, I cut out some card board for a template.  Made the modifications to the cardboard again till it was correct.

   Found out the cardboard worked so well, I never made the masonite cover.

   Used duct tape to hold it on.

   Jeff

3. 
   TomFerreira | Jan 08, 2004 03:54am | #11

   Jamie,

   The slot for the belt is not real hard. In fact it is one big slot and the carriage plate covers that hole fairly well. The position shown is with the blade at 90 degrees which offers the most coverage. The hole in the back gets a little bigger as you angle the blade. Masonite sounds like a good choice. It is easily cut and very smooth. the only concern I would have is it's thickness may make the mounting tricky. Especially on the motor carraige spindles. The bottom plate where the DC is connected is simply a 5" roof vent stack mounted unside down.

   Good luck!

   TDF

2. 
   billl6 | Jan 14, 2004 04:00am | #16

   Found this thread perusing posts with attachments. I don't have a picture, but I made a back for my Rigid saw using hard board after getting the design worked out using cardboard pieces. It took a lot of careful measuring after incremental elevations of the blade and incremental tilting of the blade through their full range of motion to get the slots correct for all positions. after I got the hardboard pieces cut , I glued some strips of packing foam over each slot and slit it down the middle of the slots. The foam seals the slots but allows the motor rods and drive belt to still move in the slots.

   If you want let me know and I can post a picture or two.

   Bill

4. 
   SCFrankland | Jan 07, 2004 06:12am | #7

   Mike I but a new cabinet for my saw to sit on. Where the saw sits there is a ramp that runs from the front to the back and tappers in on the sides to come to the DC port on the rear. This way all the sawdust falls to the rear of the saw were it is picked up by the DC.

   Scott C. Frankland

   Scott's WOODWORKING Website

   "This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"

   
1. 
   MNScott | Jan 08, 2004 10:09pm | #13

   Scott,

   That looks like a great idea, especially with the outfeed table basically built right in. Did you design it yourself, or did you find an example or plan somewhere else? Is the top just laminate?

   Thanks,

   Scott

1. 
   SCFrankland | Jan 09, 2004 04:11am | #14

   Scott I seen a picture, got a idea and it went from there. The top is 6' wide by 4' deep and is made of one sheet of 3/4" melamane with 1 1/2" birch edge applied to dress it up and little. the cabinet is 3/4" birch plywood trimed out with birch. Never did get around to building doors for the front but maybe some day.Scott C. Frankland

   Scott's WOODWORKING Website"This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"

5. 
   tucsonreddog | Jan 07, 2004 09:16pm | #10

   I ran into this guy's web page a while ago, and he seems to have some good ideas for improving woodworking machinery, including contractor saw dust collection. I modeled my set up on his, attached it to a 1 h.p. Delta dust collector, and it collects some dust.

   http://home.pacbell.net/jdismuk/sawdust.html

6. 
   logsend | Jan 08, 2004 03:57pm | #12

   Does anyone remember the issue of FWW the original article is in?  You all have peaked my interest into pulling out the issue and giving it a read.  Thanks.

   Randy

1. 
   firemarshalmike | Jan 09, 2004 05:14am | #15

   Issue No. 145. pg. 64. I havn't gotten around to installing the dust collection ystem yet so I don't know how well it will work.  I will probably use some variant of the design in the article or some of the other folks ideas. I'm sure it will be adequate for my needs. Good luck.

   Mike

7. 
   LegalEagle | Apr 21, 2013 04:34pm | #17

   Contractor Saw Dust Collection with Outfeed

   Ages ago I read an article which described a retrofit to a contractor’s saw which provided excellent dust collection. A box enclosed the motor with air inlets that prevented overheating. The top of the box served as a short outfeed table. I removable outfeed extension was described.

   Does anyone know in which issue I could find the article? I am finally ready to build it!

                                                                                      

8. 
   LegalEagle | Apr 21, 2013 04:34pm | #18

   Contractor Saw Dust Collection with Outfeed

   Ages ago I read an article which described a retrofit to a contractor’s saw which provided excellent dust collection. A box enclosed the motor with air inlets that prevented overheating. The top of the box served as a short outfeed table. I removable outfeed extension was described.

   Does anyone know in which issue I could find the article? I am finally ready to build it!