Dust collection

[dougmcd]

I am looking to upgrade to new saw and would like some opinions on which models offer the best dust collection ports. My saw will be in my basement not far from my furnace area.
Thanks for any help.
Doug

[oaklysawyer]

Doug. I read in another site a few weeks ago to only get a saw like a Dewalt 788 or a Delta P-20 where the blade can be fed from the top for best sawdust removal. I think the P-20 also has a dust collection port right on the saw to hook to a dust collector or shop vac.
Apparently the sawdust blower can be placed very close to the blade and work piece with those two because it doesn't have to be lifted up to feed through holes in the bottom.
The Pen State Industries one mentioned also looks like a good source for a dust collector or air filter.
Fred

[Rick-H]

The Delta P20 and the newer 16" are the only saws that come with a dust port that I can think of right off. I have both saws but have never used the ports, so I can't really say how good they might work. It seems that none of the saws were ever designed to make a good dust collection system. Even the ports on the Delta saws only takes care of the dust on the bottom of the table. Just about as much will be on the top of the wood too. A blower as has been mentioned will only blow the dust off the table and into the air, not collect it. At one time someone had designed a collector, home built, from PVC pipe. I have not heard anymore about it in the last year or so , makes me think it didn't workout as planned or nobody was interested.
Building some type of tray under the saw and a dust collection system could get rid of the under table sawdust. But the table top dust is going to be hard to capture. An air filter system would get most of the airborn dust. I have a shop built airborn collector that if I turn it on will keep about 90% of the airborn dust controlled. If I don't use the air filter the table behind be will be covered in fine dust up to 10 feet away from the saw, with the filter on there is very little dust in the area. It is shown on my web site, built from a old furnace fan and furnace filters. The sawdust I just let hit the floor and clean it up from there.

[urband]

I have the 30" Excalibur saw which has no dust collection port. I am in the process of building a 2-part dust collection system for the saw.

The first part is complete which is simply a plastic tube that runs under the saw table from right next to the saw blade to my shop vac. It catches about 98% of the dust coming off the bottom of the saw.

The second part will be a "T" off the tube under the table that goes to the right side to catch the dust from the dust blower.

I will be happy to share a picture when I'm done, it I can figure out how to do it. Someone else shared a picture of their dust collection setup a little while ago which was made of pvc pipe if my memory's correct. Can't exactly remember who or what thread it was part of.

Dan

[3_M]

Hi Doug,

I pushed the wrong button but here is the web site again from Penn State:
http://www.pennstateindustries.com/ For the overhead air filter.
Very nice people to do business with.

Mike M

[jttheclockman]

Well I would like to go on record here to contridict a few things that were said. One is all scrollsaws can be hooked up with dust control Some takes a little imagination. There are many other saws on the market that have dust ports on the bottom. RYobi, Crafstman, Hegner, and Delta, and Dremel and think even Rigid does. Now how well they work that is something else. I know the one on my hegner I just swing out of the way and do not use it. The Dewalt plan that Rick refered to was a method someone devised and is out there. If I can find the link I will post it. It is not a case of not working Rick it is that someone other than Dewalt came up with the idea and is not a comercial thing.

Doug, please and I say this with great sincerity do not base your purchase of a saw on dust collection.

As far as collecting dust on top of the table this can be done several ways also. Like I said it may take a litle imagination. First you can adapt a hose or pipe to catch the dust by having it attached to a pipe or something that extends over the table much in the same manner as a tablesaw does with the dust collector over the blade. Also like a router table does. Another way is to let the dust in the air and collect as Mike suggested with a room air cleaner. I have this and it works great but no matter dust will still get on things. Third is to use a dust collector that is small enough and placed near the saw. Some people have made box fans with filters on them to do this or there is manufactored ones out there that work great. Delta has these 2 type which are portable
A lot of people use this one made by Shop-Vac So there are ways to capture dust at any machine. Now the thing you have to ask yourself do I want another noise thing running while scrolling. I know definitely I do not want the wine of a shop vac running. People here again have put mufflers on them to quiet them. But I scroll too much and the wear and tear on a universal motor is too much. My point though is any saw can have some sort of dust collection hooked to it.

[jttheclockman]

Here is a link to the guy who made a dust collection system for his dewalt 788. Like I said a little imagination you can do this to any saw.

http://www.geocities.com/ddemerath@s...creations.html

[Old Mooner]

My RBI Hawk has a "dust port" (hole) immediately below the bottom arm where a vacuum hose can be inserted if the owner desires. It really sucks the dust out rapidly if you use a good shop vacuum.
Moon

[CanadianScroller]

I use the port on my Ryobi. A good thing I do since I was cutting out over 500 snowflakes from 110 lb card stock. White dust everywhere.
As far as the dust above the table, yes it still gets there, an airborne filter would help.
I built a small dust collector for my old Delta that worked a charm,
It is an old plastic pail with a filter on the exhaust.
The blower is one I got from a garage sale but a bathroom fan would work great,
High volume low pressure.

[Capt Weasel]

Has anybody any experiance with the Delta AP-100 that is pictured in clockmans post? I was thinking about getting one but would like to know if they were any good or not. Amazon has them for $179 I think. I'd like to have one but its that or a jointer.