DUST COLLECTION

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ken

ken

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Joined
Feb 25, 2009
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Winchester Ky.
Has any one came up with a good dust colletion system for a cut off saw.
I have tried vacum line on the discharge port on the saw and a large chute behind the saw. No luck on either? Just curious if anyone has better luck?
 
If you've got a big chute back there, and it's as close as you can get it, then you need more suction!

We're talkin' 4 inch hoses here, and at least 1200CFM. Which means about 1.5HP driving a good sized rotary turbine. All for a little cut off saw, that's what it takes to just kind of keep the worst of it under control. It doesn't seem fair, but life rarely is.

When I was using the Phaedra, the initial top-of-the-line ShopVac setup was almost a joke.

It is also useful to have a two stage setup with one of those garbage can stages in between the saw and the filter bags. You can buy covers for 30 gallon metal trashcans that this easy to do. Keeps the suction from degrading so fast and gives you more time between cleaning the bags.
 
I have been using a shop-vac attached to the exhaust on the saw.

a week and a half before Christmas, my DeWalt saw that I'd been using for 7 years died.
I ran home and got my "cheap" Hitachi and hooked it up.

About 2 weeks ago, on the recommendation of Winnie at Clearmount, I bought a Makita.

Dust collection ...

DeWalt ... moderate to bad. Ok when there was a fresh bag in the vac, but quickly got poorer as the bag even slightly had dust in it.
Hitachi ... WORSE than poor! Even with a fresh bag, just didn't work well!!!!
Makita ... Started with a half full bag ... seems to be working VERY well!

The exhaust design on the Makita is just better than the others. I've been coveting a "real" dust collection system for a while, but I think with the new saw I'm going to be completely satisfied with the makeshift one I have.
 
Of course the best dust collection system is to have a room dedicated to sawing operations, in addition to some sort of vacuum system.

The air flow in the shop should be adjusted so air doesn't flow out of the sawing room and into the rest of the shop. An exhaust fan in the windows of the cutting room is one way to do that, doesn't have to be on all the time.
 
You can get a cheap dust collection system from Grizzly for a couple hundred now.

It'll save your lungs....and be worth every penny. Nothing else is really adequate.
 
Cliff Wilson said:
The exhaust design on the Makita is just better than the others. I've been coveting a "real" dust collection system for a while, but I think with the new saw I'm going to be completely satisfied with the makeshift one I have.
Click to expand...

Which model Makita is that, Cliff?
:cool: Rick
 
Was just at Lowes, noticed they have a Porter Cable dual bag system on sale for $239. 1hp, 650CFM, separate filter and debris bags, 4" hose, 115V. Might do the job with the right saw. Are those sales nationwide?
 
I have a 2hp. Vac system that works great on everthing in my shop except for my dewalt cut off saw that is my deciated frame saw. I guess my question is do you use the exhaust port on the back of the saw or a chute poistioned behind the saw. Which works better for you.
 
What Janet said, Grizzley. If nothing else it'll give you some ideas, looking at all the stuff they have for dust.

I have a dedicated, 2 stage, economy, systom in my studio, in the basement, with pipes and blast gates for each machine, and every machine has had modifications to the factory hoods to make them more efficient. You can probably get away with a shop vac if the hood or shroud is efficient. I use PVC pipe, wood, and on my shaper, 2 lines, and an old T shirt that drapes over the gap between the power feeder and the dust hood, all to make the collection efficient. But I make a lot of dust.
 
how do you clean the bags & how often?
 
Gumby, not sure who this question was being asked. My 2 bag system is just fabric bags. The top one is on a hanger system on the vac. The bottom is where the sawdust collects. I empty it a couple times a year. To clean when emptying I just whack them with moulding scrap while the vac is not running. No work involved other than the wind that will whip up when you empty it into the dumpster.
 
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