Craftsman TS Inexpensive Prep for Dust Collectiion

A few days ago I posted some information and a couple pics of my lower Dust Collection for a Craftsman TS. It was on Robert Delhommer’s Thread "Dust Collection on a Belt Drive Table Saw."

This is an expansion of that post with pics that may help some other Craftsman TS owners.

1 The Sears TS stand is open on both sides. I covered these with quarter inch ply. This shows in several pics. You can see the plastic toilet (closet flange spigot) mounting ring that I mounted on one side of the stand. Beside it is a SPA. This slips, tightly, over the mounting ring on the saw. In order to get the SPA to slide inside of the 4 inch flex duct I had to saw off about three-eighths of expanded, useless to me, ring.

2 This pic shows the flex attached to the lower plenum that was created by attaching the quarter inch plywood sheets to the open sides of the stand.

3 This is just a blah pic of the blah opposite side of the saw stand. There is nothing going on here except closing up one side of the saw stand.

4 The reason for the back panel is that the back of the saw needs to be closed down somewhat for the DC to be effective. There is one basic law that you need to keep in mind at all times with dust collection---The system does not suck the sawdust (safety glasses, screws, or pieces of your project). The system moves air. The moving air carries the sawdust through the system. If the system does not get as much air in as it is capable of moving out, the system becomes inefficient. So, if we really seal off the saw plenum we do not make a better “tight” system. We make an air starved, inefficient system.

Therefore the air entering the system through the hole where the belt goes through is not a problem. It is, instead, helping with the air flow to move your sawdust down the plumbing to the DC. You do NOT need to make a rubber, or whatever material, sheet to close up all of the hole for the belt; in fact you do not want to.

5 For clarification, this is a longer shot of the rear of the saw.

6 This is the inside of the particle board piece that fits into the back of the saw. The extra wide part of one slot is not part of a mystical method for moving air. It is a goof in measuring. It is still there because it does not hurt anything. It is not still there because I am lazy or anything like that. The two black rectangles are Velcro to hold the back up in place without riding on the motor mount. They could be half that size and work fine. (That is the kind of things that we learn that makes the next model a better thing than the first one).

7 The particle board will not fit up under the fence rails that I have, because it is too thick. The solution was to put a bevel on it. The bevel works fine.View attachment 65543View attachment 65544View attachment 65545View attachment 65546View attachment 65547View attachment 65548View attachment 65549

Enjoy,

JimB
 
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Jim, thanks for the explanation. Have a similar saw on which I am going to put dust collection after buying my own birthday present dust collector. Couple of questions: do you have any dividers behind the plywood sides to guide sawdust more directly to flange; was the bottom of your stand enclosed, and - I know this is going to be a DUH moment for me later - but what is a SPA other than a place for my wife to enjoy?
 
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