Thread: Router Table Dust Collection

I think the fence and the cabinet. I dont get very good extraction from my triton in the table - It is very good when used upright.

Definately fence and Triton.

Read this thread from #214

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...=48663&page=15

Thanks guys. Wongo, it was because of your thread that I asked the question. So that's one vote for either strategy. Any other views or alternatives out there?

Cheers.

I use all three, cabinet, Triton and fence. When I built my router table I initially left the undertable area open As I wasn't happy with the dust collection from the Triton only, I then decided to enclose the undertable area. The link (from post 16) shows how I have done that. I have the Incra jig with the Wonderfence and now have the choice of 3 dust connections. The big 4" cabinet connector is always used, as is the 2 1/2" connector that goes to the Triton, this is the setup used when I do not have the fence in use, such as template routing. If the fence is in place I can swap the 2 1/2" hose to the fence or I can connect the Shopvac hose (same size) to the fence. It depends on what bit I am using which option I take.

No worries Pete.

This is what I think.

In the picture it shows that there is only a small amount of air get into the cabinet from the top. Little air flow means only small amount of dust goes into the DC.

Dust in the cabinet then becomes airborne. The motor pumps the air/dust into the router and out again.

Last week I used my Makita (hand held) for the first time. It was in the cabinet for only a couple of weeks before I switched to the Triton. When I turned it on I could see dust coming out of. It was pretty obvious.

I did a fair bit of test with my Triton and fence combination (with the cabinet door removed). I looked inside the cabinet while cutting some rebate on a piece of MDF. (I did it in the safest possible way of course). Cutting MDF produced a lot of dust but I saw no dust in the cabinet at all. I have done a lot of cutting since and there was no dust left in the cabinet. I am convinced.

If you have an air vent opposite the inlet at the top you avoid Wongos problem, get better dust extraction and the router will run cooler.

One of the UK magazines recently ran an article on a cabinet mounted router table where and covered the issue quite well. The triton will give best clearance using a shop vac. The 4" dust extractor work best with a good air flow. A vent allows this and the high volume airclearance takes the dust out.

I agree Pusssr, that is the reason that I used the cable collars in my cabinet (see link above) and gave myself the option of connecting the Shopvac to the router. The Shopvac hose plugs straight into the 2 1/2" connector.

Throttling down a 4" DC hose to 2 1/2" is not very efficient, as I have found on my tablesaw guard.

This is what I reckon... (and I'll get round to it one day...)

Attachment 64681

And can someone tell me how to attach those big images...
Damien

Big Shed,
That's a very good point about routing without the main fence. I will be doing some of that as well using Mr Gifkin's little jig. Your setup is excellent and I will seeing if I can use some of your ideas in my table.

Damien: That design looks like it would keep the router cool but I don't think that the DC would catch all the dust at the top and I think that it would not take long for there to be a buildup of dust at the bottom of the box.

I like the way you think guys! Hope to hear more.

Cheers.

I have a home made table with a Triton router. Dust is extracted from the fence with my 1200cfm dusty and from the router with a shop vac.

Originally Posted by Packrat Pete

Damien: That design looks like it would keep the router cool but I don't think that the DC would catch all the dust at the top and I think that it would not take long for there to be a buildup of dust at the bottom of the box.

I like the way you think guys! Hope to hear more.

Cheers.

Good point. My box has the extraction at the bottom so I don't know why I drew it up the top... But the rest is absolutely BRILLIANT

Thanks for the input guys. I think I know what the plan will be now.

Cheers

Pete.