Down Draft Box/Table

Part 1.

Tonight, I finished the last of my shop projects (for now ). So the next thing I do will actually be a "real" project.

With the recent addition of a DC in my shop, I decided to make a down draft table. Seconds after coming up with the idea it hit me, I don't have room in my shop for a table. Still wanting a down draft for sanding, I came up with this..... a down draft box that sits on my workmate. To set it up I remove the center piece of the workmate's top, set the box in place. Then I hook up the 4in dust hose to the port on the bottom of the box. when I am done, The workmate folds up and the box can be put in a corner out of the way.
(Pictures 1 & 2)


On to how I made it....

Esentially it is a pine box held together with pocket screws. There is a upper support structure to support the table top, and a lower support structure to support the plastic dust port. The dust port is a 14in square table saw dust hood from Rocker. To fill the space in between the dust hood and the sides of the box, I used aluminum flashing that I cut to size and screwed in to the box and support structure. I sealed the seams of the flashing with duct tape. The top is peg board, that is attached with screws. I drilled out roughly every other hole on the peg board to 3/8in. When I initially fired it up before enlarging the holes, the small peg holes made a loud whistling sound. As soon as the holes were enlarged the whistling dropped right off.

Edit: I do have to say that I used my new "Super Sled" for a good portion of this and it worked great! I used the extended stop block, and it worked exactly as designed. I also used the Super Sled to cut all the dados seen in this project. It really helped keeping everything exactly the same.

Hey Sean!

That's a nifty invention! You are sure good at homade tools!

DT

Part 2 - just a few more pictures

I ran my random orbit sander on a few different pieces of wood, and no noticable dust.

I turned the DC off and tried it again, and there was some dust left sitting on the top.

I have a router mat that I am going to put on the top to keep the work pieces from moving around during sanding. I am also considering using this with my router for anything not done on the router table.

Don Taylor said:

Hey Sean!

That's a nifty invention! You are sure good at homade tools!

DT

Click to expand...

Thanks Don!

I know I could have bought one (Delta makes one that hooks up to a DC). I generally prefer to make jigs and such if I can. I get alot of enjoyment out of it. Plus it let me put the Super Sled through its paces!

Steve Clardy said:

Looks good Sean

Thats something I want to incorporate into my new assembly bench [if I ever get roundtoit]

New bench will be 4x12, with maybe a 2x4 end of it used for sanding.

Whats the size of your box?

Click to expand...

Thanks Steve!

The top of the box is 24in x 24in. The dust hood that I used was 14in x 14in. I could have gone smaller (Rockler has a 12 1/4 x 12 1/4in)..... but whats the fun in that?

If I was going to make it 24in x 48in, I would consider putting in more than one dust hood in the bottom. Maybe 3 of the 12 1/4 x 12 1/4in. That way there would be enough suction for the entire 48in length.

Steve Clardy said:

My collection piping is under concrete.
I have a port right there where my bench will sit. Never used it yet, I just put an extra there just in case.

I will probably just make a slanted box inside the bench, as you have, and funnel everything down to that one port.

I'm still scratching my head as to how to put a blast gate there on the floor, and access it when the bench is sitting over it

Maybe have a high 4" toekick under the bench, and put a push/pull stick on the end of the blast gate.

Click to expand...

Steve, if the push/pull stick doesn't pan out, maybe you could find something like an old lawnmower throttle cable and mount it on a pivot arm, (to give it enough movement to completely open and close the gate. At least with this kind of setup, you could mount the cable anywhere that would be in easy reach.

Anyhow, just a thought. I will have one (when I ever get around to the Dust Collection project) that I have been toying with using some pulleys and nylon cord attached to a lever that I can mount where it is accessible.

Sean, that downdraft looks good. One thing you can try to help keep the peices form sliding on the table is to glue strips of sand paper on the table top.

Al killian said:

Sean, that downdraft looks good. One thing you can try to help keep the peices form sliding on the table is to glue strips of sand paper on the table top.

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Thanks Al,

The sand paper is a good idea. I was thinking of using the router mat because it is perferated and would allow the dust to be sucked through it.

The strips of sand paper might be a better choice as it will not compress down like the router mat will when putting pressure on a work piece with a sander. I have a belt that has a rip in it that I have been holding on to for some reason, maybe I will give it new life on the down draft table.

Hey Sean,
Great downdraft table. I've been meaning to build one for years, but never got around to it.

The router mat under the piece being sanded is a good idea. I always use that. Only thing (and maybe with your downdraft you won't need to) is to shake it out between grits so you won't be rubbing the old coarse grit back into the piece when you shift to the next finer grit.

You should submit some of your projects to the "tips" section of the woodworking mags - I'll bet they would win.

Jesse Cloud said:

You should submit some of your projects to the "tips" section of the woodworking mags - I'll bet they would win.

Click to expand...

Jesse,
Thanks for the compliments!

Most of the shop stuff I have made is based on other people's ideas. I try to make the modifications that I feel would best serve my needs. I would have a hard time taking credit for an idea that I "borrowed" from someone else.

Although just yesterday I did a quick count and came up with 14 shop items that I built. Most of them since joining FWW While some are small, they all serve a distinct purpose in my shop. Not to gloat... ok, well maybe just a little bit

Why a blast gate?

Steve,

Instead of all that, make two tops. One for use when sanding, and a second for use when not sanding. The second would be solid and act as a gate. It also keeps small pieces from falling down thru when you work close to that area at other times.

Steve Clardy said:

My collection piping is under concrete.
I have a port right there where my bench will sit. Never used it yet, I just put an extra there just in case.

I will probably just make a slanted box inside the bench, as you have, and funnel everything down to that one port.

I'm still scratching my head as to how to put a blast gate there on the floor, and access it when the bench is sitting over it

Maybe have a high 4" toekick under the bench, and put a push/pull stick on the end of the blast gate.

Click to expand...