Replies

1. 
   colebearanimals | Aug 02, 2007 10:52pm | #1

   Hi Ryan,

            You can even make one out of wood. The key is to make any transitions on the inside as smooth as possible with a big outlet. A center located outlet is probably the best location. I don't know your dust collector size but it's very easy for the planer to produce more chips than the collector can handle. At that point it's better to just let the chips fall and sweep up later than take apart the dust hood every 2 minutes.

                                                      Paul

1. 
   Ryan1 | Aug 02, 2007 11:08pm | #2

   Thanks for the reply.   I had thought about cobbling one up from some scrap 1/4" ply, but I could never really come up with a good way to handle the transition to round part or smooth the square corners.    Bondo maybe?   Could be more trouble than its worth...?

   Those obstacles left me pondering the hvac duct or pvc pipe...

   I appreciate your help.

1. 
   colebearanimals | Aug 02, 2007 11:37pm | #3

             What brand and size planer do you have? If you know what the dust hood looks like that the manufacturer sells for your unit, that might be a good starting point in designing your own. Maybe wood ends with a sheetmetal shroud. If the outlet is to be at one end then PVC could work  provided it's large enough, with a section removed, to completely cover the exhaust area. The fact that a planer has the potential to produce large amounts of chips it's very easy for it to fall behind. So, with a dust hood, bigger is better. Give the chips plenty of room to make it to the outlet. I know this isn't very specific but I hope it will give you a little insight for a successful design.

                                                          Paul

    

   ps   Try making one out of cardboard, tape it on , and give it a test run to see how the chips behave.

2. 
   Piccioni | Aug 02, 2007 11:44pm | #4

   I've made one for my Unisaw out of sheet metal.

   I just made a template out of cardboard first. Figuring out how to cut a 5"dia hole in a 5 sided, tapered box was a bit challening, but I muddled through. Works great.

1. 
   Ryan1 | Aug 03, 2007 12:14am | #5

   colebearanimals, my planer is a Makita 2012NB, and another reason for wanting to make my own is that the Makita dust shroud for this planer has a 3" hole and I'm looking to make something with a 4" hole.

   I just wonder which would be the better performer between the hvac duct and the straight 4" pvc with a big slot cut in it to catch chips?

1. 
   colebearanimals | Aug 03, 2007 03:43am | #6

        I think either material will work fine. The most important thing , though, is the design. Again, don't be stingy with the room inside this thing with no shoulder or flat spot around the transition to your collector hose.

                                                   Paul

1. 
   zolton | Aug 03, 2007 03:56am | #7

   I rigged one up out of a right angle HVAC duct "boot" for my Makita 2030 jointer/planer combination machine. It has a 3x16 inch rectangular opening on one end and a 5 inch round port on the other. I cut vertical slits down the sides of the round port and squished it a bit to make it a 4 inch port, and now it fits onto the 4 inch duct hose; a hose clamp holds it all in place, though not very well.

   The hard part is hooking the duct boot to the machine. I'm in about my third version of that. Getting closer but it still needs work. At present there's a lot of duct tape - maybe a little too much. Maybe this winter...

    

   Zolton  * Some people say I have a problem because I drink hydraulic brake fluid. But I can stop any time I want.

1. 
   Ryan1 | Aug 03, 2007 04:04am | #9

   How to attach the hood was already starting to run through my mind...

2. 
   Ryan1 | Aug 03, 2007 03:56am | #8

   Thanks for the help.