Downdraft table

Jeff Bower

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5,762
Location
DSM, IA
I've thought of building one of these for quite awhile now...read how some say they work and some say they don't work. A post by someone I follow on Instagram, @fixthisbuildthat, built one over the weekend and that gave me the push I needed to try it. I built it out of scrap MDF, pegboard and ply I had laying around so if it doesn't work I'm only out my time.

I'm not going to try it out until I get my .5 micron filter for my dust collector which should be here Friday. It's 42" x 22" simply because that was as big as I could go with the scrap I had. From google research, I think some of the pegboard holes need to be made bigger, but will wait until a trial run to see. I have about a dozen cutting boards that need to be shaped and sanded so it will get a good workout this weekend and I'll let you know how it goes. :)
 

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Oh nice, I actually just set aside a piece of peg board for this same project last night. :thumb: Looks good. I'd be interested to know if you enlarge the holes or not and how that works out.
 
Wouldn't the field area & amount/size of the holes depend on the CFM & diameter of the ducting/hose?

I think you're right Bart, if it was all 1/4" holes, it would take at least 256+ holes to equal the area of the 4" diameter hose. If they are space about 1" apart, then it would take a little over 2 square feet minimum. Now if you're working on a large flat item, it may be covering many of them holes, so something to consider I guess. I suspect the larger holes are to help with efficiency in sweeping some of the dust to the hose though.
 
Wouldn't the field area & amount/size of the holes depend on the CFM & diameter of the ducting/hose?

I think you're right Bart, if it was all 1/4" holes, it would take at least 256+ holes to equal the area of the 4" diameter hose. If they are space about 1" apart, then it would take a little over 2 square feet minimum. Now if you're working on a large flat item, it may be covering many of them holes, so something to consider I guess. I suspect the larger holes are to help with efficiency in sweeping some of the dust to the hose though.

I honestly don't think I'll ever get that technical when it comes to woodworking...but something to think about for sure. If this along with a squiral cage air cleaner will reduce the amount of dust that settles on everything in the garage I'll be happy. :) Having a 5 micron filter on the DC was causing a lot of this...so hopefully getitng the .5micron filter will help too.
 
I built a unit like that a number of years ago and hooked it to my big shop vac. It worked fine, but when I got better ROS sanders and hooked them to a good vacuum, I quit using the downdraft table. There are times I'd like to set up another one, though.
 
This is a real nice piece of gear! I've been thinking of making one, too. As i get older, workplace safety is important. Thank you for sharing this!
 
Thanks Kevin :thumb:, used is a bit last weekend and while it work pretty well, but not great. I've since drilled out about 1/2 the holes to 3/8" and will give it another go tonight hopefully sanding some cutting boards.
 
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