Thread: Ducted System from a Shop Vac Mk II

In order to get the best extraction I can, I have now incorporated using the Festool Vac in conjunction with the 2HP generic Dusty which is located outside the shed.

Here is the shed "at rest" (because I have to move machines around to use them):




By putting all the machines together I have liberated much needed space up the workbench end, and it also means that the 5" hose from the big extractor doesn't have to be moved very far from one machine to another:



The pipe coming on from the left is the "Table" selection on the blast gate, and the grey 36mm hose plugged into it goes to the Circular saw underneath the table. The pipe coming out from the MDF joiner goes to the blade shroud on the top of the saw. The other side of the joiner goes to the 5" hose:




This is the blade shroud I made to replace the supplied one:



Compared to the previous, the suction and air movement is now fierce. I haven't done any deep cuts with it yet, but putting a 16mm piece of MDF through there is virtually nil dust left behind. This also encourages me to think that I am trapping more of the invisible dust as well.

I may have to make some shaping modifications to the bottom of the shroud - round off the leading edge so the timber can pass under it and lift it up.

At the same time I made a low profile fence extension from spalted Crow's Ash:




The complete CMS set-up:




Under the table there is a joiner to link the hose from the saw to hose from the duct:

The Drill Press has now got a REAL nozzle for extraction:




Some major mods to the router table have improved the DE outta sight:



I made a new fence with a 50mm hose port which works wonderfully well (so far - haven't use a bigger bit with it yet ). The black hose goes to the base of the router, and previously it had one of those 27mm connectors squeezed in. Now it has a bare 32mm hose so the opening is probably 200% or more.

The top grey hose on the right sits on the other side of the base, the thinner 27mm hose is just to pick up the loose chips, and the 50mm hose behind it goes up to the fence.

The three grey hoses go to a port for the 5" DE hose to attach to, and the black hose goes to the Festool Vac through a separate port:






Interesting to note that a $4 garden hose holder makes an excellent restraint for a 5" DE hose. It fits snugly in, but is very easily removed:

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

The, what looks like a granite slab, has me intrigued. Whats it for Brett?

Originally Posted by cava

The, what looks like a granite slab, has me intrigued. Whats it for Brett?

It's one of the most useful bits of kit in my shed George.

There are two granite slabs there - one has a green cutting mat over it. I use them for flat sanding (PSA glue a strip of abrasive down), aligning joints or two surfaces, glue up of panels (sheet of baking paper underneath), and I used to use them for scary sharpening.

For glue ups I can put the second sheet on top of the panel (if it's the right size) to keep them flat.

Before I started to PSA the abrasive strips down I use to clamp them on the sides - there is a 6mm nut buried inside each of the holes that run right around the top and sides of the timber strips. Just run the strip over the edge and bolt into place with a little strip of Spotted Gum. The only problem with that is the the cloth abrasive would stretch a bit after a while, although it's easy enough to relieve the pressure on the timber strip and stretch the cloth tight again.

I can also put a fence onto it if I want to sand a right angled face.

I was so glad when I finally found a use for two of the eight slabs that I have carried through eight house moves in the last twenty years......

Are you sure this is a WORK-shop or are we looking at a MODEL WOODWORK SHED??????

Great work Brett. Those MDF blast gates are the ducks nuts too!

Heh heh, your old bandsaw didn't escape either Peter. I've attached a very simple bit of drainage pipe underneath the table to hook the 5" hose onto. There isn't even any dust left on the ledges around the base of it now. Haven't checked inside yet, but I'm not expecting much to be there.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

It's one of the most useful bits of kit in my shed George.

There are two granite slabs there - one has a green cutting mat over it. I use them for flat sanding (PSA glue a strip of abrasive down), aligning joints or two surfaces, glue up of panels (sheet of baking paper underneath), and I used to use them for scary sharpening.

For glue ups I can put the second sheet on top of the panel (if it's the right size) to keep them flat.

Before I started to PSA the abrasive strips down I use to clamp them on the sides - there is a 6mm nut buried inside each of the holes that run right around the top and sides of the timber strips. Just run the strip over the edge and bolt into place with a little strip of Spotted Gum. The only problem with that is the the cloth abrasive would stretch a bit after a while, although it's easy enough to relieve the pressure on the timber strip and stretch the cloth tight again.

I can also put a fence onto it if I want to sand a right angled face.

I was so glad when I finally found a use for two of the eight slabs that I have carried through eight house moves in the last twenty years......

It is so satisfying to use something that you just know one day will come in handy for something


Pete

Originally Posted by pjt

It is so satisfying to use something that you just know one day will come in handy for something


Pete

Indeed Pete, but it wasn't too satisfying carrying the sodding things around for 20 years....

Just got to find a use for the other 3 or 4 that I have.

Great pics - thanks for posting FF.

Thats a really nice setup! The blast gates switching between streams is a very good idea I will be pilfering for my shop vac setup

Originally Posted by wobbz

The blast gates switching between streams is a very good idea I will be pilfering for my shop vac setup

Cheers wobbz.

That's why these things get posted.

I must say that I owe BobL for this setup - he showed me how to make the blast gates, talked up the pipe to 50mm, talked down the Y front at the front of the vac, and so on. That is to say that if it wasn't for Bob the system wouldn't be as good as it is - and it's bloody great!

Big thanks to Bob . He cops his share of "Dust Nazi" accusations, but he's right, absolutely knows what he's talking about, and has our welfare at heart.

Pete