Cuesmith Dust Collection Box

sileighty_guru

sileighty_guru

5A Grade Wood Pecker
Silver Member
So after dealing with many different halfassed ways of trying to collect dust and chips while tapering or cutting down stock...I finally decided to mock up a test box...










The box was then assembled using .220 Acrylic for visibility into the box and aluminum. Keep in mind this is build around the Hightower Deluxe Cuesmith.

Keep in mind this was just a prototype box that I was making for myself to control fines and chips. But once it was done I was quite impressed how it came out and how well it worked! The box is designed for best results with the flow of at least 180CFM (most shop vacs can produce this!) I currently have it hooked to a 5hp Rigid (that I picked up 4 of on Black Friday for $20 each) also attached is a 5 gallon cyclone bucket (Dust Deputy). I am in the test phase tonight and this weekend to be sure that it can hold up to everything shaft tapering and stock thinning. I will take a couple videos of it at work as I tested it last night and was impressed that my input vs output calculations worked pretty good as to say the only thing that was escaping the box was large chips when taking a deep cut. With a little masking tape around the stock holes I was able to get 99% for shaft tapering! (Again I never expected it to work that well! But for some reason it did). I don't have a huge machine shop or the tools needed to make it uber fancy I do most all of my work with hand tools!

The top is a 2 piece sliding window per-say the foam strips are removable to accommodate different routers, at least until I can source an alternative material. I am also looking into grommets for the shaft/dowel holes to tighten those up!
Once I finalize and get version 2 built I will be making them available to the public!!

Pricing will depend on the cost of supplies/time invested and how many produced, so if anyone is possibly interested please PM me so I can know if this is even worth while or I should just continue to use it myself.

More details to come! Here are some prototype photos...













Video link....
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...713021&ref=m_notif&notif_t=video_comment&_rdr
 
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It looks great. Sealing around the holes is always the sticky part.
One recommendation concerning safety would be to use lexan instead of regular plexi. It's a bit more money, but it's shatter-proof. If a cutter either falls out of the router, or a cutter breaks up, it won't go thru the lexan, whereas plexi tends to shatter.
Dave
 
Dave38 said:
It looks great. Sealing around the holes is always the sticky part.
One recommendation concerning safety would be to use lexan instead of regular plexi. It's a bit more money, but it's shatter-proof. If a cutter either falls out of the router, or a cutter breaks up, it won't go thru the lexan, whereas plexi tends to shatter.
Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up Dave! I haven't been lucky enough to experience any of those first hand so they weren't on my mind ;) That's what Version 2 will cover!
 
I have look every where I can think of and I cannot find that router. I thought is was a Bosch and I was told that too.. I can;t find it in their products list. It looks like one of the new Porter Cable or Dewalt with out variable speed.

Can you help me out with the make and model number???


thanks

BTW..... nice job on the dust collector....

Kim
 
whammo57 said:
I have look every where I can think of and I cannot find that router. I thought is was a Bosch and I was told that too.. I can;t find it in their products list. It looks like one of the new Porter Cable or Dewalt with out variable speed.

Can you help me out with the make and model number???


thanks

BTW..... nice job on the dust collector....

Kim
Click to expand...


That would be my bad! I was having a moment.... it's a PC (PCE6430) the Bosch is mounted to my router table! I have had trouble with the older PC's on my table aND the Bosch has lsated the lonest for that work. This one came from Chris with the lathe and I haven't had trouble yet "knocks on anything within reach"!
 
sileighty_guru said:
That would be my bad! I was having a moment.... it's a PC (PCE6430) the Bosch is mounted to my router table! I have had trouble with the older PC's on my table aND the Bosch has lsated the lonest for that work. This one came from Chris with the lathe and I haven't had trouble yet "knocks on anything within reach"!
Click to expand...

No problem.... confused me ....

I saw that router on a Deluxe at the SBE. All the brand name stickers were missing,

I was interested because it mounted with one screw like the old 7310,

I went to a Rigid but had to buy a CNC mount and then make my own angle mount for the cross slide. The rigid blows the old routers out of the water...

I might try the one you have next.

thanks

Kim

 
Tis a thing of beauty.
Thank you for sharing the information with the group.
Dust collection is always something we all deal with and I am always looking for a better way.
Great job.

Willee
 
Thanks for sharing your collector. A long time ago I brought some sheets of Lexan. Not as clear as acrylic though, and it does scratch easy. The sight side could have acrylic sacrificial panels on the inside , so when they eventually get micro pitted, you can change it out for a new clear insert.
Neil
 
I have been looking into different options to lexan due to the visibility difference like you state. One option it to layer the pieces with the same film used to keep automotive windshields together in an accident. One replaceable panel sounds interesting though!
Thanks
 
Hoping that the parts will be in by the end of the week for the assembly of the final version! Then it's on to more testing...

I will be doing monitoring for airborne particles throughout 2 days of non stop work with the dust box/shop vac, there will be 10 vacuum pumps with particle monitors attached running 8 hours each day, the 20 samples will be sent out for analysis. There will also be a 8 hour day of normal atmospheric readings for baseline comparison.

Some of the benefits of the box so far include no dust entering the router intake or any of the other mechanical/electrical parts of the lathe (cabinets can't provide this), accessibility to all the the functional controls, clear box to see the work field, easy to clean (soap and water), hopefully less than 1% cleanup on final version, and full sweeping over 30" with long centers. One of the hopes is to help people work with Cocobolo who can no longer use it due to reactions with skin irritations/reactions. eliminate the exposure and eliminate the problem (at least with tapering)!

Downside for me is sourcing materials that will provide the flexibility along with the ability to seal around objects over and over again... But I'm looking into alternatives!
 
Dave38 said:
It looks great. Sealing around the holes is always the sticky part.
One recommendation concerning safety would be to use lexan instead of regular plexi. It's a bit more money, but it's shatter-proof. If a cutter either falls out of the router, or a cutter breaks up, it won't go thru the lexan, whereas plexi tends to shatter.
Dave
Click to expand...

I bought a box of very cheap 2" paint brushes a number of years ago from Horrible Fright. I just cut off the wood handles and screwed the brushes around the ports on the box. They close the holes rather nicely and just move out of the way when there is something between centers.

Dick
 
sileighty_guru said:
"I will be doing monitoring for airborne particles throughout 2 days of non stop work with the dust box/shop vac, there will be 10 vacuum pumps with particle monitors attached running 8 hours each day, the 20 samples will be sent out for analysis. There will also be a 8 hour day of normal atmospheric readings for baseline comparison."

I don't want to hijack your thread but can you describe the vacuum pumps and particle monitors you will use, and the sort of analysis you are having done?

I am sensitive to wood dust and monitor my work area constantly (24/7) with a Dylos DC1100 air quality monitor with the .5um option and I'm curious about other monitoring techniques.

Robin Snyder
Click to expand...
 
This really looks good. Just a few minor tweaks and you will solve a lot of peoples dust problems.
 
carguy said:
sileighty_guru said:
"I will be doing monitoring for airborne particles throughout 2 days of non stop work with the dust box/shop vac, there will be 10 vacuum pumps with particle monitors attached running 8 hours each day, the 20 samples will be sent out for analysis. There will also be a 8 hour day of normal atmospheric readings for baseline comparison."

I don't want to hijack your thread but can you describe the vacuum pumps and particle monitors you will use, and the sort of analysis you are having done?

I am sensitive to wood dust and monitor my work area constantly (24/7) with a Dylos DC1100 air quality monitor with the .5um option and I'm curious about other monitoring techniques.

Robin Snyder
Click to expand...

Robin I will look into the brands and company we send our test samples out to... not currently at the office so I don't have access to that info right now and will be out until the 11th! We used to use the "instant reading" meters however there rate of bad readings were troubling as their accuracy was not always acceptable. We need accurate readings from an industrial standpoint we have switched to a monitoring pump system with the results calculated by an outside company. As from a personal level I am not as worried about it however if selling a product I need to have a firm base to stand on to make the claim of 99%! :)
Click to expand...
 
Been working on the CAD files for the final version of the dust box collector, these will be based on the Hightower Deluxe setup but can be modified for almost any "small" platform cue lathe! Box will mount like a spacer on the cross slide. Designed to be used with a vertical mounted router. Once the demo of the final version arrives and is tested I will start taking producing units for the public!

I will be away for the next two weeks and am hoping to have everything in place to demo when I return.

If your interested boxes will be $250.00 assuming they pass the testing! I will be offering the first 10 to sell at $200.00. If interested let me know and I will put you on the waiting list!

All acrylic parts will be laser cut and sealed 100%, stock holes will be sealed with a three layer rubber fan blade sweeper (will seal at 95%), and the top will be dental rubber which will seal around your router and maintain flexibility. All hardware will be stainless steel or aluminum (except for the cover mounts) they need to be magnetic to latch.

This box will accept stock up to 1 1/2" round without issues!

More details to come just want to give people a chance to get on the list!


Feel free to check the facebook page to see the current list!
https://www.facebook.com/doubleacues/
 
dust monitoring

sileighty_guru said:
carguy said:
Robin I will look into the brands and company we send our test samples out to... not currently at the office so I don't have access to that info right now and will be out until the 11th! We used to use the "instant reading" meters however there rate of bad readings were troubling as their accuracy was not always acceptable. We need accurate readings from an industrial standpoint we have switched to a monitoring pump system with the results calculated by an outside company. As from a personal level I am not as worried about it however if selling a product I need to have a firm base to stand on to make the claim of 99%! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one concerned about dust load...I hear we will not be issued replacement lungs soon.

I wonder what others do to monitor in-shop dust loads?

Robin Snyder
Click to expand...
 
A few years ago I borrowed a buddies handheld unit from his work. It showed fairly high amounts floating in the air most of the time. That is when I bought a canister type .3 micron filter for my dust collector, made a separator stage for it, and also installed a hanging air cleaner that has a .3 or .5 micron filter. even on low speed it changes the air like 20 times an hour. Dropped the particles down almost immediately. I haven't checked it since. Those monitors are a bit on the pricey side just for occasional use.
Dave
 
Boxes will start assembly on the 22nd, I have 5 on hold now and five still available if anyone wants to get on the list!
 
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