TS Overarm Dust Collection - Build or buy?

Brent Dowell

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I look at something like this, and I become convinced it can't be that hard to build one.

Just wondering what the collective has to say about it. I'd sure like to have some overarm dust collection, but don't really want to dump hundreds of dollars into it. Or should I?


t10113.jpg
 
My 2 cents, but I find those things get in the way and then they don's get used. Waste of good money. I have a deflector that sends the dust downward. I get a little on the table but not enough to get my knickers in a knot. Butchered the manufactures guard. Add a piece of plastic shaped like a hot dog.

I have a picture somewhere but not on this computer, if you are interested.
 
My 2 cents, but I find those things get in the way and then they don's get used. Waste of good money. I have a deflector that sends the dust downward. I get a little on the table but not enough to get my knickers in a knot. Butchered the manufactures guard. Add a piece of plastic shaped like a hot dog.

I have a picture somewhere but not on this computer, if you are interested.
Very interested in a picture. I find mine sends a buch of dust over the top, and I'd like to catch it, or do something with it.
 
I'll see if I can get a picture or a link to the article. I have a Woodsmith book about table saws and it has what looks to be a real effective dust collection system that is simple to build. It looks like it would seldom be in the way as well. It's my next project !!!

If I can't figure out how to get a link to you I'll photocopy and mail/fax it to you.
 
I do almost all of my ripping on the Band Saw now. For me an 8 ft board is a really long one.

The overarm DC that I tried for the Table Saw bugged me. It was too awkward, restricted my vision, and took up a lot of room. Rockler, graciously took it back. That made a lot of points for Rockler in my mind.

I know that Glenn uses his (PennState I believe) some of the time. However, I am not sure what for.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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Well, lets try some pictures.

Hot Dog Guard 1 resized.jpg

Hot dog guard 2 resized.jpg

Hot dog guard 3 resized.jpg

I took the factory guard and removed the plastic shroud. Then I cut half the metal off the back end. Then I cut a piece of 3/8" Acrylic [that's what I had on hand] and screwed in on the top of the metal piece. I also added a rubber bumper [I think from Radio Shack] because it wanted to bounce. That dampened that. I replaced what ever hardware there was on it and added a machine screw and plastic knob [from Rockler likely]. I can flip the thing up to get at the bolt to loosen it to remove the thing.

It simply deflect sawdust downward out of my face. That was the goal. With DC on the saw and even a zero clearance throat plate, almost all of the sawdust stays below the table. I am not so fastidious that I am trying to make a surgical theatre of cleanliness. It IS a shop and I am happy with this low cost, dirt simple solution.

A friend named it the hot dog guard because she saw the plastic as hot dog shaped. Works for me. ;)
 
your little solution is what I was looking for for a long time.
I hated cutting any lumber on the TS, especially PT pine as it shot the dust right into my face.
I was wearing the trend mask all the time and it started to become a real headache.
Just diverting the dust back down to the table is a great solution.
 
Carol,
That's a pretty clever device... I probably wouldn't use it myself... my little table saw is not much good for any real cutting... and anything that obstructs my view of the blade is to me dangerous... I have a very serious respect for the table saw and do not want anything to get in my line of sight to the spinning blade..... so I just take most of my cutting over to my friends house and have him and his fancy and much more precise table saw to fix anything I would just mangle anyway.
 
I like the Uniguard . I started out with a factory made guard then mounted the tube to the ceiling & then later added the different parts in place of the guard & later a clear guard over the top fastened to one side allowing one side or the other to be raised.
 

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Lots of great ideas... I think the first one I should look at is pulling my factory guard out of the dust and seeing exactly how it works.

Since I still have to move my saw around in the shop, I think I'll look at one of the cantilever designs.

But my existing shield should let me know if a simple deflector like Carol recommends would work for me.
 
Reason I replaced the original plastic shield was the sides of the thing were troublesome and the whole thing was harder to see around. Also the hot dog plastic is a bit wider than the factory plastic. FWIW.
 
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