Thread: Dust extraction on a drill press

There was a thread or par there of where FenceFurniture uses a hose next to the piece that he drills a hole. I think it is not fixed to the table but attached to an arm and it is moved to where the drilling is.

G'day Trav

Well there's a thread title that was always going to get my attention! You may find something of value in these two threads:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/wo...omised-158214/
which might show a bit more clearly some of the aspects



Something different? Ducting a SHOP VAC – one happy chappy
which is a thread about ducting a shop vac, but the emphasis is on the drill press end of the ducting.

I have changed things since then (over a year or so of use) and the end of that thread will reflect that. The main change is that I have done away with the fixed arm holding the vac hose, and now just use a handheld hose because the arm was a pain in the butt (although useful). You can only use a freehand hose if the job is securely clamped of course, and my saviour there was the new Bessey Toggle clamps that have the capacity to clamp thicknesses varying by 25mm with nil adjustments to the clamp (they are wickedly good).

All I can say is DO IT! It will speed up your drilling process quite considerably.

Cheers
Brett

Originally Posted by Trav

I've seen john Samuel's big gulp system, which seems pretty good.

Trav,

Very soon I am going to replace the big gulp with a bell-mouth. BobL gave me a few ideas and I have confirmed them with a little reading. It seems a good bell-mouth gives the negative pressure bubble a more elongated (towards the work) shape, making it more effective.

The current plan is to have a shortish (don't yet know how to define shortish - trials needed) length of flexy with a thermoformed PVC bell mouth inlet at the end. This in turn will be connected to the drill press with a flexible arm. Did a trail with a flexible lamp arm, and that worked OK ... but looking around to see if I can find anything better. I want to be able to adjust the height of the inlet to keep it aligned with the cutting/sanding edge, and I want to be able to adjust the distance between the inlet and the drill/sanding drum.

I too thought about a fence. I have a 6 inch inlet connected to a fence for the moulder, and it works well, but am concerned that a fence might get in the way on a press. Maybe I should think that through again, but am bearing in mind that the bell-mouth seems to give the best bubble shape.

Cheerio!

John

Thanks all. Some interesting stuff there.

Brett - I'd missed your whole thread when it came through originally. Great, innovative stuff. I really like host he base moves on the x and y axes. I've got a mortiser that does this and I love it. My solution to this is a very simple clamping system - kreg have recently released some new clamps that slot into a track and auto adjust so they can clamp workpieces of different heights without adjustment. See http://www.kregtool.com/Automaxx-Lar...-Prodview.html

Not as elegant as a moving table, but hopefully should be very easy and quick to reposition the workpiece.

Back to dust extraction, I'm interested in views on the merits of connecting the drill press to a full dust extraction system vs a vacuum. I've got an Aldi vac connected to a dust deputy, which I find works very well. In due course I plan to duct the vac as you've done Brett (I've read that read a few times now), but I want to get my proper dust extraction done first.

Setting aside the likely fine dust that is emitted from the vac, is there a strong reason to connect to a dust extraction system rather than the vac? For example, while a dust system would move much more air, two vac lines could get much closer to the action (embedded in the fence and a mobile point near where the chips are emitted).

Grateful for any views. This is fairly fundamental to me, as it defines where in the workshop my drill press will live. I have sort of segregated it based on dust emissions. Major emitters up one end to be ducted into a full dust extraction system, and the others up the other end, where they can be connected to a vac. (Ducted eventually).

Trav

Originally Posted by Trav

Back to dust extraction, I'm interested in views on the merits of connecting the drill press to a full dust extraction system vs a vacuum. I've got an Aldi vac connected to a dust deputy, which I find works very well. In due course I plan to duct the vac as you've done Brett (I've read that read a few times now), but I want to get my proper dust extraction done first.

Setting aside the likely fine dust that is emitted from the vac, is there a strong reason to connect to a dust extraction system rather than the vac? For example, while a dust system would move much more air, two vac lines could get much closer to the action (embedded in the fence and a mobile point near where the chips are emitted).

Trav,

There is not likely a right answer, because everyone uses their press differently. I experimented with a 2 HP shop vac on the press, and it did a pretty good job of grabbing the chips providing the nozzle was very close to the cutting edge ... in some cases (depending on bit size/type and drill speed) better than a 6 inch duct. Given the vac was under a hood outside, there was no need to worry about the fine dust it produced, and it produced plenty.

But my major concern was not the chips, it was the fine dust. BobL's data shows that drilling is not usually a big producer of fine dust, but it can be occasionally. In my shop, I regularly use a shop made sanding drum on the press to sand small radius curves. The vac was hopeless, so a 6 inch duct is used.

So, I guess the decision is a function of how much fine dust you produce on the press. If you are nearly always boring such that you produce chips rather than fine dust, a vac will likely do a reasonable job. If, like me, you produce a fair bit of dust, a different solution may be in order.

Cheerio!

John

Cheers Trav. Bear in mind that when you have two hoses with their intakes very close together you can create a neutral zone. There is no question that two hoses work better when using larger bits like forstners, but you can still get a good result with one. If you are using two then one of them must be freehand IMO so as to avoid the neutral zone.

One of the difficulties of having the extraction point in the fence is that the height may be difficult to alter (satisfactorily). This is why I didn't go that way, although it is very easy to set up (for a fixed height). You could mount the ext.point in a slider, but that may pose it's own difficulties, and you need to have a tall fence. Of course with a travelling table it's pretty much impossible (or useless) to have it fence mounted.