Table Saw Dust Collection Re-thinking

[titanxt]

Hello fellow woodworkers! I hope you are having a nice fall so far. 

I have a General International contractor-style table saw. It has worked very well for me up to this point. I do not have any issues with the operation of the saw other than the dust collection features or lack thereof. I have an over the blade "Shark" guard with a 2.5 hose. I have the bottom of the cabinet sealed with a 4" flange that runs 4" out to a trash can separator. I also had to enclose the back of the saw since it is a contractor model. That is my biggest issue. Here is how I have it enclosed:



I have cut a piece of hard board to go around the motor belt and the part that connects to the blade. The problem is this is a rigid setup. I have to get behind there and pull that out to angle the blade. It then blows dust all over the place like a surfacing MDF whale... I hate the thought of upgrading to a cabinet saw (I'm lying, upgrading would be awesome), but there is little wrong with this saw. The saw is also against an outfeed/router table and to tilt the blade I have to pull it away from that as well. 

So.... what are your suggestions?? Finally upgrade saws? Reconfigure the rear of the saw's dust collection? Take up hand sawing? I will admit, I am a bit of a hypochondriac these days. I have been slow to do much wood working because of the thoughts I have on dust lately.

THank you!

Andy

[MarkSingleton]

If you tend to use the tilt feature at only one or two angles....
how about dedicated covers for them? Magnetic sheeting and/or
magnets that hold thin stock in place will work.

[fredhargis]

I did pretty much what you have, and thought it worked well. That is, except for the part about angle cuts. One day i forgot to remove the baffles and tilted the blade...be sure to try not to do that. Eventually I enclosed the whole motor with a box that was hanging on the outfeed table. Of course, that approach means putting it against the wall is really not possible since the outfeed table has to stay in place. Maybe you could make a mobile outfeed table with an enclosure that rolls up to the back of the saw when in use and seals fairly well. I sold mine and changed to a cabinet saw.

[Derek Cohen]

Build the cover from material that will remain air tight when it bends - a rubberised sheet.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[jteneyck]

You need to let air come into the bottom of the saw if you want the dust collection to work.  Covering the motor and putting vents in the lower front, like on a Unisaw door, would be one approach.  That will keep dust from blowing out the motor/belt opening, but the base of the saw is still likely to fill up over time; my Unisaw does.  Still better than what you have now, by a long shot.  A better approach would be to put a shroud around the blade like on modern saws and connect the dust collection directly to that, again allowing for makeup air. 


The more CFM you have the better any dust collection system will work.  And if you are (rightly) concerned about dust you should have a HEPA filter on your DC or vent it directly outside.   

John

[Alan S]

To close the back, first put in a rigid back piece similar to what you have, but cut out so there is a path for the belt as you tilt the saw.  Then, using a somewhat stiff but flexible material, make another piece to attach to the belt guard, and cover the remaining opening.  This will move as you tilt the blade, but can still overlap the hole, and bend aside when it gets to the table.  The vacuum will help close it, so don't worry about tight tolerances.


This will allow you to close in the back so you can decide from which direction to let in air; as mentioned above, you need airflow to carry the dust out.

Another solution some have used is to completely box in the motor, and then to make openings to direct the incoming air over the motor to keep it cool and free of dust.

The worst thing that can happen to the alignment of a contractor saw is to twist the mechanism so the alignment of blade to fence changes as you tilt the blade.  This is usually caused by someone tilting the blade, and pushing the motor into an impediment like an outfeed table.  The belt probably won't do this, but I recommend doing what it takes to design anything for the saw to be compatible with tilting the blade.

[titanxt]

Currently, The openings in that plate I put on the rear of the saw is the largest area of make up air for the DC. The bottom of the saw is enclosed and there is a 4" hook-up in the center of it that goes to the DC. Air is pulled in from the rear of the cabinet area and downward to the 4" opening. Is that enough openings for make up air?

In regards to the filter on the DC, I have a .5 micron pleated filter from Wynn.

[fredhargis]

The top isn't sealed to the cabinet is it? On mine, there was quite a bit of open space between the cabinet/top and the opening for the tilt mechanism to allow adequate make up air.

[Redman]

Hello fellow woodworkers! I hope you are having a nice fall so far. 

I have a General International contractor-style table saw. It has worked very well for me up to this point. I do not have any issues with the operation of the saw other than the dust collection features or lack thereof. I have an over the blade "Shark" guard with a 2.5 hose. I have the bottom of the cabinet sealed with a 4" flange that runs 4" out to a trash can separator. I also had to enclose the back of the saw since it is a contractor model. That is my biggest issue. Here is how I have it enclosed:



I have cut a piece of hard board to go around the motor belt and the part that connects to the blade. The problem is this is a rigid setup. I have to get behind there and pull that out to angle the blade. It then blows dust all over the place like a surfacing MDF whale... I hate the thought of upgrading to a cabinet saw (I'm lying, upgrading would be awesome), but there is little wrong with this saw. The saw is also against an outfeed/router table and to tilt the blade I have to pull it away from that as well. 

So.... what are your suggestions?? Finally upgrade saws? Reconfigure the rear of the saw's dust collection? Take up hand sawing? I will admit, I am a bit of a hypochondriac these days. I have been slow to do much wood working because of the thoughts I have on dust lately.

THank you!

Andy

I did much what you did on my 1980's Craftsman 113.xxxx table saw. I put a plywood floor in the bottom and the dust collection opening at the right rear floor where most of the saw dust goes anyway regardless of blade tilt. I was getting a build up inside the saw however and still getting sawdust in the floor. Eventually I removed the blockage across the back of the saw in order to increase airflow. Very little build up now and no dust in the floor. Works well for me.

[titanxt]

I do have some foam pieces closing the spaces between the cabinet and the underneath side of the table. I did this because it seemed like dust was escaping this area. Upon reflection, maybe it was just the front portion due to the way the blade rotates. I also covered the hole in the front of the cabinet where the tilt knob is located for the same reason.

I will empty out mu separator and play with the openings to see what clears more stuff out of the cabinet.

Does keeping the blade as low in the cut as possible help with above the table dust production?

Thank you!

Andy