Scroll Saw Dust Capture

[rfielder]

What is the general consensus on scroll saw dust capture?  Do they work well enough that you always use it?  Does it get in to the road of the blade chucks when doing top feeding?

I see that new scroll saws have something under the table to capture dust, and the ability to use a shop vac or dust collection system with adapter to suck away dust.

My  Excalibur EX21 was built before these existed.  There is a fair bit of dust falling down, which would be nice to pull away.

However, there is also dust put into the air above the table.  Does the modern dust capture systems change the above-table dust at all?  This would seem to be the dust we would end up breathing in, rather than the dust below the table.

[KCSteve]

My 18" Jet is designed for dust collection.  My ever-indulgent wife got me the small dust collector Seyco sells (Steve has a link over to Seyco on the blog).  I went ahead and got it with their universal adapter which would definitely work for you.  It's just a small vacuum nozzle (the wide flat kind) on a flex arm.  You plug the hose into it, use the attached clamp to attach it to your stand, and then position the nozzle under your table where it can suck in the dust without being in the way.  I wound up switching to using my built-in setup by simply wrapping enough duct tape around the end of the hose to make it fit my saw's connector.

The vacuum is one meant for copier repair guys - it's scary powerful.  The included cyclone gets almost all of the dust and I seldom have to change the small bag in the vacuum.  It is a bit noisy though - I wear ear muffs while working.  But that's partly because I have some hearing damage from sitting next to dot-matrix printers in the 1980's and the small amount of noise a scroll saw makes is similar enough to the noise from a dot-matrix printer to cause me problems.  If I want to shoot video, or demo to someone I just turn the vacuum off.

It does make a huge difference in dust levels!  I can always tell when the bag is getting clogged (never gets full, just gets clogged with the stuff that's fine enough to get past the cyclone) or when my inlet gets plugged with the small bits that fall down by how dusty my car is getting.  I set up in my garage right in front of my car and normally it's just a little dusty from what gets blown off the top of the wood.

Yes, there will be some dust that escapes the system.  Steve runs a woodshop air filter that hangs up near the ceiling and collects all the suspended dust.  I'd like to, but no space or funds.

Hopefully some of the others will chime in with their advice and experience.

KCSteve :->

[Gary Beasley]

For doing it on the cheap a box fan with a filter taped to the front can trap a lot of dust that floats in the air.

[rfielder]

For doing it on the cheap a box fan with a filter taped to the front can trap a lot of dust that floats in the air.

Thanks.  I have one of those, and it works.

My question was about the dust collection built into modern scroll saws.  What I really want to know is - will upgrading to a new saw make a difference to the dust in my shop?

[rfielder]

The vacuum is one meant for copier repair guys - it's scary powerful.  The included cyclone gets almost all of the dust and I seldom have to change the small bag in the vacuum.  It is a bit noisy though - I wear ear muffs while working.

Wearing ear protection while scroll sawing is something I would avoid.  I also have hearing damage, from working in foundries when I was young, and I have hearing aids.

It does make a huge difference in dust levels!  I can always tell when the bag is getting clogged (never gets full, just gets clogged with the stuff that's fine enough to get past the cyclone) or when my inlet gets plugged with the small bits that fall down by how dusty my car is getting.  I set up in my garage right in front of my car and normally it's just a little dusty from what gets blown off the top of the wood.

That is what I was wondering!  Thanks for confirming!

[KCSteve]

I have my setup mobile - built a cart loosely based on the one Steve has provided a video link to.  That means my dust collection has to be part of the cart.
If you have a normal shop you can use a bigger/better dust collection setup where the vacuum isn't two feet from your head and there is no noise problem.  But that does point out one thing for your shopping - check the noise levels.  If possible see it live where you can hear how loud it is.  I don't need to cover up for a few minutes work but after a while it gets to be problematic.

If I win the lottery I'll get an actual shop and it will have a dust collection system with noise abatement so I only need hearing protection when I use a noisy tool.

KCSteve :->

[rfielder]

I have my setup mobile - built a cart loosely based on the one Steve has provided a video link to.  That means my dust collection has to be part of the cart.

My "shop" is a one car garage.  Everything is on wheels.  Which makes it interesting when changing projects.  On the other hand, all the carts have drawers, so it was an amazing increase in storage space.

If you have a normal shop you can use a bigger/better dust collection setup where the vacuum isn't two feet from your head and there is no noise problem.  But that does point out one thing for your shopping - check the noise levels.  If possible see it live where you can hear how loud it is.  I don't need to cover up for a few minutes work but after a while it gets to be problematic.

I have a DeWalt shopvac.  By itself, it is not too bad, but when combined with any other tool, hearing protection is needed.

If I were to upgrade to a newer scroll saw, I would need to upgrade to a MUCH quieter shopvac in order to take advantage of the dust collection.  The new shopvac would need to be considered as a required part of the purchase.  That is why I was wondering if the upgrade would make enough difference to be worthwhile.  My 11 year old EX-21 works well enough that it does not need to be replaced.

If I win the lottery I'll get an actual shop and it will have a dust collection system with noise abatement so I only need hearing protection when I use a noisy tool.

If I win a lottery, a new home with a shop, and lots of new tools to replace the ones that are barely "good enough" would be in order.  Isn't day dreaming fun?   

[harpolemond]

For doing it on the cheap a box fan with a filter taped to the front can trap a lot of dust that floats in the air.

This is a pretty awesome idea. I have large Delta that removes the debris and fine dust particles, but still some gets into the shop.  I needed a simple solution that would fit in the shop and was mobile  and I do believe if I put a furnace filter on the front and back of my box fan it will pretty much do the trick. So thanks for the heads up. Nice idea. What my Delta misses I suspect the fan filters will pick up.

[rfielder]

This is a pretty awesome idea. I have large Delta that removes the debris and fine dust particles, but still some gets into the shop.  I needed a simple solution that would fit in the shop and was mobile  and I do believe if I put a furnace filter on the front and back of my box fan it will pretty much do the trick. So thanks for the heads up. Nice idea. What my Delta misses I suspect the fan filters will pick up.

The filter on fan trick does work.  I used to set the fan in one corner of the garage and just let it run every time I was there - and the air did feel much better.

At this time, I am using duct tape to hold the filter on.  That works, but will need to be replaced with something a bit sturdier and a bit more airtight eventually.

[Norm Fengstad]

I have a Seyco and with the cyclone dust collector dust control is quite good, yet I still use a dust mask and hearing protection