Scroll saw dust collection

[dgman]

Why? not a lot of dust to require that much over the top gear ?

when you cut as much as I do, there is a mountain of dust under my saw. There is also a lot of airborne dust. I am not so concerned about the dust that falls to the bottom of the saw or floor. As GB said, it is easy to sweep up and vac with a shop vac. I am more concerned with the airborne dust. Have you ever blown your nose after cutting for several hours? A lot of crap comes out! Can you imagine what your lungs take in? Did you know that wood dust is a carcinogen? That means that it can cause cancer! I personally know of two woodworkers that died of lung cancer. They did not smoke!
So, Thats why!

[Russ C]

Adequate dust collection is a must in any shop to protect your health. Every dollar spent will be well worth it in the long run. There are several inexpensive ways that work very well. One is an AC filter strapped to to a box fan. Also the fan/motor from a clothes dryer work well and can be vented to the outside so no filter is needed.   

[chipwood]

Why? not a lot of dust to require that much over the top gear ?

when you cut as much as I do, there is a mountain of dust under my saw. There is also a lot of airborne dust. I am not so concerned about the dust that falls to the bottom of the saw or floor. As GB said, it is easy to sweep up and vac with a shop vac. I am more concerned with the airborne dust. Have you ever blown your nose after cutting for several hours? A lot of crap comes out! Can you imagine what your lungs take in? Did you know that wood dust is a carcinogen? That means that it can cause cancer! I personally know of two woodworkers that died of lung cancer. They did not smoke!
So, Thats why!

This has been a problem for many years and if someone had a good price extraction system folks would buy it but they tend to cater for larger production businesses who can afford them not the solo craftsperson.

[Raptor66]

Thanks Dgman,  I built one just like it and man, does it help!  Between the dust collector and the air filter above the scrollsaw, and mask,  I can breath after a long day of scrolling.  Before I would cough and hack all night.  Thanks again!!!

[dgman]

Good to hear it's working for you Raptor! I gave mine a good workout today, And it did a great job!

[nickchalker]

Thanks for the ideas!!  I have been thinking/looking for some ideas for a similar set up.  I have been doing the good ol' broom and dust pan method but now that I am doing a lot more cutting, I need to set up something.  I just recently made a set up for my lathe and it works great and I made my own "cyclone" separator for my shop vac.  I needs a little tweaking but it works!
Nick

[Gabby]

Why? not a lot of dust to require that much over the top gear ?

It does add up after a while, and it's so fine it gets everywhere, any shelves, wet paint, in your lungs, in your eyes, just to name a few, and some woods are toxic so you don't want them in your body! Those fine particles drift as easily as pollen which is probably the number one cause of allergies so I think they would add to the discomfort.
Gabby

[ChuckD]

Hey Gabby, did you get the beast running (your computer)?  If so you up kind of later for a older fella, ain't ya.

[Gabby]

Chuck I'm a certified NIGHT OWL I'm up as a regular thing till 2 or 3 and some times even later.
I've always liked the night time when everyone else is asleep, no interruptions and it's quiet. I've worked nights for a good portion of my life and my last job was nights, so when I was forced to quit working the clock still stayed on a night time schedule. The boss complaines about it all the time but I'm retired so I'll do it my way!
Gabby the KNIGHT OWL
LOL

[Raptor66]

Note to self:  don't cut puzzles and push the puzzle pieces toward the dust collector mounted to the table top.  By the way, my dust collector doesn't have a chip catcher on the side so a puzzle piece got caught in the collector fan.  Unfortunately I can't use it cause it's mangled too bad.

I guess I need to install a chip catcher between the saw and the collector.  Any ideas on how to do this?

[tux_linux]

some fence should do the trick. Mine has a bag for the dust. I accidentally vacuumed some drill bits some weeks ago - and found in the bag not only those, but also some screw bits and various other things I was missing.

[dgman]

I guess I need to install a chip catcher between the saw and the collector.  Any ideas on how to do this?

Hey Chris, I have a homemade chip collector that I made several years ago. It uses a 30 gal. fiber drum. I used toilet flanges to mount the hoses to the top of the drum. You can find a parts kit here: http://www.ptreeusa.com/dusthose.htm. Here are some pic of mine.

[dgman]

You also might try one of these: http://www.ptreeusa.com/dustacces.htm#399. Scroll down to #399.

[J,Hamilton]

Those lids do work nice. They create more of a vortex inside of the drum to allow for better chip fallout.