Thread: TR12 Dust Collector Adapter

Thanks for the idea Glen, I also have a TR 12 - great machine - - not a problem in the table but when used handheld the dirtiest machine in the shed.

How and who bent your perspex bits and where did the bits come from?

Does the dust hose cause you any problems?

I have also been playing around for a little while trying to acomplish the same thing - only my efforts so far have been much cruder and not totally successful - obscuring the bit is a problem as is the plunge tube but I think I'm getting closer.

I have just bought some new bits to play with which consist of 2 x 100mm PVC pipe lids. My thoughts were to "open mouth" the sides of the lids and to join the lids together with a piece basically only the height of the 2 lids. The catcher would be attached to the TR12 by 2 aluminium rods through the guide holes [using the existing wingnuts] and the dust pickup hose will be vertical and hook onto the handles. The dust hose will join into an overhead pickup - I thought that this would save me trailing or chasing the hose over the job.

I would appreciate it if you let me know what you think.

Regards,
Bob

Glen, I take it that the gold threaded rod and nuts are the fine adjuster.
As an idea if you use it under a table, get a long tube spanner that fits the nut and crush it a bit, then wedge the nut inside. An old door handle the other end will make under table adjustment easy. I did something similar to my old Bosch. Instead of teh door handle I origanlly had an old spark plug spanner, that acted as a winder

Glen,
thanks for posting this as I had read your text description in the old posting but needed the photos to get my visualisation right. I can see now how you secured it as well to the router base which was one of the items I was puzzled about.
Much appreciated as there were heaps of posts about dust collection from under the table but very little about collection from a handheld router.
Paul

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the comments. I don't mean to brush you off, but I don't have enough time to explain how it's made at the moment. I'll get back to it over the weekend. Just quickly, for Bob, I made the whole thing at home, it was quite easy.

Catch ya later,

Glen.

Hi Guys,

The top piece of the adapter is made from 3mm perspex. You will need to make a die to bend it. Just glue two pieces of 90x45 pine together, then cut out the die on a bandsaw.

Cut your perspex to the correct width, but make it longer than required (trim to finally length after bending). Heat up an oven to about 200 degrees. Put the perspex on an old tray or piece of alfoil and chuck it in the oven. KEEP AN EYE ON IT. It will only take a few minutes, then lift it out. The perspex should be as pliable as a rubber sheet. Place it square on the lower half of the die, fit the upper half and squeeze them together. If the perspex doesn't mould easily, it isn't hot enough. Don't force it, heat it up some more.

Aft the top has cooled, use it to trace the profile onto some 5-6mm perspex to form the sides. Cut them out and finish to the exact profile of the top.
Make the end pieces, then cut the top/sides to final length.

I used 'super glue' to glue the perspex pieces together, and the hose fitting end is just screwed to the perspex.

For Bob, yes the hose does get it the way some times. You could use a 90 degee fitting and suspend the hose from the ceiling of the workshop. Your other idea is similar to the Leigh dust collector, Try Carbatec P/N LGH-RVA-1.

For Brian, yes the gold thread is for the depth adjuster/travel limiter. I did make an adjuster like your, however I didn't like using it because it takes too long to adjust. I use my router more often in the table and I made an external adjuster. Also for precision depth cutting, I adapted a 1 inch micrometer barrel to use in conjunction with the normal depth gauge.

This dust collector still doesn't pick up every thing when edge routing. I would make/buy a Leigh type collector and use them together. It does however work very well when routing trenches.

Hope this helps,

Glen.