Thread: Adapting Triton equipment to use large dust collector?

Originally Posted by bammo

Hi Guys,

I have a Triton 2000 saw and bench along with the grey fabric dust collector bag. I also have a Triton router table - all purchased direct from Hills Industries in 1998 when I was an employee. For years the only dust collection I ran on the saw was the bag + a shop vac connected to the top inlet on the safety guard of the saw. This was via a Triton filter bucket. Same for the router - the only connection was to the fence guard. As others on here have noted, this worked OK for chip collection but does very little for fine dust extraction. It also didn't do any favours to the Triton saw which basically sat in a bucket of sawdust all day long.

Now I have scored a UFO101 2HP / 1000+ cfm dust extractor that features 100mm piping I want to take a different approach. Any suggestions on how to connect the 100m incoming pipe from the UFO to both the saw and router? Open to suggestions about building an enclosure? For instance, if I scrapped the dust collection bag thing that Triton made and built a sealed box around the saw with a 100mm outlet would this mean I no longer need to have a top mounted extraction point as well?

Hoping to avoid going down the wrong path here!

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but a single 100mm inlet from any machine to that DC is still too small to grab all the fine dust generated by a machine like a circular saw.
The 1000+CFM claims by the manufacturers of all those 2HP DCs is a furfy. The 1000CFM is measured for the impeller with no ducting and no filter bags and done using an incorrect industry standard method.
A 100 mm duct connected to a standard DC only draws about 425 CFM and you need at least twice as much to grab the fine dust.
Have a read of the "sticky" in the Dust forum to see how to modify your DC to utilise 150 mm ducting.
Only 150mm (or larger ducting and a correspondingly larger DC) ducting will collect enough fine dust to make things safe.

Your suggestion of using a box is the go BUT the enclosure should NOT be sealed but have plenty of gaps so that enough air can get in to sweep away the dust and you will absolutely still need overhead extraction. To get enough extraction from the box you should use 150 mm ducting to extract the dust. I have mine extraction the machine cabinet from underneath. Remember you will need plenty of gaps to grow the air in. You need about twice as many gaps as you first think is enough.

I don't know what you already have by way of extraction on top of the blade but it is essential to have at least a 100 mm duct attached to that. Have a look on the dust forum for ideas.

With the router you can do a similar thing although a 100 mm underneath (enclosed cabinet) and a 100 mm of collection on top is usually enough. Once again have a look in the dust forum for ideas.

The most important thing you can do is locate the dust extractor outside the shed because all DCs leak and all you will end up doing is recirculating the fine dust inside your shed.
An alternative is to put the DC inside an air tight enclosure inside the shed and vent the DC outside the shed.
Once again have a look in the dust forum for ideas.

I agree with Bob maximise your use of 150mm ducting as much as possible.

However scrap the idea of building an enclosure (unless you're wanting another project to build) The enclosure does look nice once made but obviously kills the advantage of being able to use the Triton to its fullest potential ie with the saw flipped around for cross cuts.

The fabric dust shroud is great IMO, it has a massive vent situated on the bottom for dust to fall to the floor, the perfect location to stick a dust port as its directly opposite the blade. What I did was stick a "big Gulp" dust port which I had lying around into the bag and plugged in my dust extractor. I'm sure a scrap piece of timber with a 6" hole cut into it, big enough that it doesn't fall through the fabric vent would work too. Plus being a fabric bag you don't need to worry about (maybe) restricting the air flow to the DC.

I'd also keep using the top collection port, on the Triton i did find its a pain but as Bob says its essential to good dust collection.

The hard thing about dust collection is its purely physics related, so its essentially you get what you pay for.

The advantage i find the Triton has is that its mobile, so if you're working outdoors dust collection may not be as critical as those working in a small work space, your neighbors may beg to differ...

Originally Posted by tonzeyd

I agree with Bob maximise your use of 150mm ducting as much as possible.

However scrap the idea of building an enclosure (unless you're wanting another project to build) The enclosure does look nice once made but obviously kills the advantage of being able to use the Triton to its fullest potential ie with the saw flipped around for cross cuts.

I have only looked at a triton table a couple of times at the mens shed but from what I saw it looked like it was possible to fit some of the enclosure sides on hinges so that it would still be possible to get at the underside. Remember it must not be a sealed enclosure and I seriously doubt the ability of enough air to get through the cloth bag so fitting a 150 m duct to that has to stymie the air flow more than is desirable.

Bammo, if you would like to see a complete DC setup using 150 mm ducting you are welcome to come and see my setup.

Thanks Bob - I may well take you up on that offer as I am still designing the new workshop and don't lay the new slab for a while yet.

The bit I still don't understand and the reason I posted in here and not in the dusty forum is how do I attach the 100mm feed to the to top of the Triton saw? I can pretty easily mount it through the dust bag (or a vented box) but the top of the saw is where I don't quite know what to do. The UFO 2HP I have has dual 100mm ports - wouldn't connecting both ports at once (one on top and one underneath) mean I get a fair bit more throughput than the ~400cfm you mentioned above?

Originally Posted by tonzeyd

The fabric dust shroud is great IMO, it has a massive vent situated on the bottom for dust to fall to the floor, the perfect location to stick a dust port as its directly opposite the blade. What I did was stick a "big Gulp" dust port which I had lying around into the bag and plugged in my dust extractor.

Years ago I cut a plug for the bottom of the bag from MDF and fitted a (105mm?) PVC Sewer t-piece. The top went into the bag, the bottom into a bucket and side port connected to my DC.

In that configuration large splinters, etc would fall thru into the bucket while the dust was sucked out the side. By itself however, this is not enough.

I also drilled 1/2" holes in the 'upright' of the t-piece - 'twas almost a caricature of Swiss Cheese! - which allowed more air to enter the system, dramatically increasing the pick up of dust by the DC. I also spent quite a bit of time and duct tape sealing over different holes to fine tune things.

The bag did build up a thick layer of fine dust which needed to be shook loose every so often under heavy use but I can state quite categorically that it worked.

Maybe not to extract all the fine air-borne particulate, but it was certainly more efficient than the std. Triton dust bag.

And, sorry... I also ran a shop vac to the top guard.

I think that I posted pix of it in a related thread way back when... when Sturdee's Dust Bucket was still a fresh topic... but I don't recall where. I also wouldn't be surprised if they were among the lost pix from several forum updates back.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

And, sorry... I also ran a shop vac to the top guard.

Ah bugger - that's what I am trying to avoid! If I have a half decent DC system installed in a sound proofed enclosure outside the last thing I want is to have to still run a noisy shop vac next to the saw.

Originally Posted by bammo

Thanks Bob - I may well take you up on that offer as I am still designing the new workshop and don't lay the new slab for a while yet.

Shoot me a PM and we'll set up a time.

The bit I still don't understand and the reason I posted in here and not in the dusty forum is how do I attach the 100mm feed to the to top of the Triton saw? I can pretty easily mount it through the dust bag (or a vented box) but the top of the saw is where I don't quite know what to do.

Does your Triton table already have a on OH saw guard?
If so, as an interim measure you can modify that using PVC sewage/stormwater adapters piggy backed on on top of the other to get it up to 100mm.

The reality os that I have seen very few OH guards that do a good job and long term you need to make a dedicated OH guard that can utilised the full 100 mm ducting and this will sweep away all the chips and dust - there are some good examples on the dust forum if you hunt around.

The UFO 2HP I have has dual 100mm ports - wouldn't connecting both ports at once (one on top and one underneath) mean I get a fair bit more throughput than the ~400cfm you mentioned above?

If each one of the 100 mm ducts was to carry 425 CFM you would think together they would carry 850CFM ?
Unfortunately not so!
The two 100mm ducting connections at the intake of those 2HP DCs is a complete crock. The two air streams fight each other and generate a heap of turbulence so the maximum flow I measures is 567 CFM and that is without considering the restrictions imposed by connection to a machine and with a clean filter bags. In reality the saw cabinet and OH guard are restrictive and you end up with about 200 CFM coming from the OH guard and 200 from the cabinet - the nett result is a lot of fine dust is simply not picked up.

If you ditch the plastic Y shaped 100 mm inlets at the entrance to the DC you are still faced with using a single 125mm which in theory has a max flow of 680 CFM but 125mm rigid ducting is expensive and still does not have enough flow. It is in fact cheaper/easier/better to go straight to 150 mm ducting.

Go to the Dust forum and read the sticky on modifying the 2HP DC to make it perform better. Even after modification I would not use one but there are circumstances where power is limited where it is about as good as you can get. If you are only designing your slab you should make sure you get enough electrical power in there to run at least 2 15A machines at the same time.

Thanks Bob - I think perhaps I should point out that my workshop is a bit of a mixed-use facility. I simply don't do a lot of woodwork in there and if I am going to make a lot of mess I tend to move the saw/router/thicknesser outside on a sunny weekend afternoon. I've been doing without effective dust control for a long time so the step up to this 2HP unit is a major move forward for me as it is.

I'm off to start trolling through the Dust forum now and educamating myself...

Sure I understand. It's just that I see so many DIYers start out with an old vacuum cleaner, then a small DC with small ducting and after a while they rip that all out and eventually put in a 150mm system. I figure since you are setting up a new shed it pays to be able to make decisions from an informed perspective so you might be able to save yourself from reinventing the wheel.

My workshop is also mixed use. It started out as mostly woodwork, and a bit of metal/mechanical/electrical/electronic work In the last few years it has become the other way around so much so that the primary dust on surfaces in my shed is now grey from welding/cutting/grinding metal and I have had to extend dust collection to cover that side of things. I was so irritated having to put away my electronics projects and by dust on my electronics work I've moved that to a dedicated space inside the house.

Didnt someone years ago.....Sturdee??? perhaps build a complete wooden dust collection system for a Triton?