Shop Made Blast Gates

glenn bradley

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Disclaimer: I have been trying to resist posting things as I am between shops and hate to start threads that won't finish for an over-long time . . . I just can't hold out any longer; give me a break man, I'm bored to death :)

Thanks to all for their shop made blast gate threads. My version-1 will use 1/8" tempered hardboard for the slider and 1/4" material for the body. If initial testing proves successful I will forge ahead. Otherwise I may have to adjust.

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One of the nice things about making your own is you can customize them to your needs. A fundamental design element in mine is that most of the 6" gates will connect to 6" ASTM-2729 on the DC end and connect to 6" hose on the machine end. You can see the couplers in the background that will be crosscut in half to make the 'pipe' side connector for the gate. This first ramble is about getting the hose connection point right. I figure out how much to remove from a section of 6" pipe using a flat tape, piece of wire, sewing tape, whatever to size it to fit the hose. I mark it and using what is left of my sawing skills, I take out a section. *** remember *** I have NO SHOP. I was lucky to find the hacksaw :giggle:.

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I double stick taped the cutout to a block of scrap and sanded the inner profile to be less interruptive. Luck of the draw, I can reach and plug in my shop vac and my edge sander :giggle:. The outer profile will be close enough to use as my 'seam reinforcement'.

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I proceed to make a mess with the primer, do a better job of adding the cement and attach the strip.

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I attach the loose end and clamp it for a bit.

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The inner wall looks acceptable. Especially as this surface will be the first thing the air flow hits coming out of a corrugated hose.

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When attached to the gate this nipple will be about 2" long. Plenty of room to slip the hose on and band clamp it.

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The fit is snug but, not a battle to get on. I don't know that I can (or have the will) to get to the tools to crosscut the coupler. I certainly am not setup to cut the other gate parts yet so this thread may hang for awhile . . .
 
I came across this YT where he built his own as well, but did use parts from some existing gates. He's got a a little flap of tape/cardboard that sucks down over the hole on the side to help seal it off. He also added little microswitches on the back to toggle on/off the dc.

As he shows on the connection to the SDD to the wall duct. I'm doing the same and using the quick connect fittings to just slip into the end of the elbow, they fit quite snug and hold quite well.


I kinda wish i had seen it before last weekend. I like the way he's hung the DC on the wall and added the Super dust deputy. I was planning to do the stove pipe mod to my HF unit, but I may have to consider doing it wall hung instead since I've got higher ceilings to allow for it.
 
One comment on his auto on setup.. if you could add a shutoff delay I think that would be a good idea to avoid short cycling the system. Maybe like a 2-3 minute shutoff delay. I'm thinking a simple low voltage time off time delay relay in the circuit might be a reasonable addition if you can find/cobble together one for a reasonable price.

That lock line is some sweet looking stuff as well, looks like it goes to 2.5".
 
As cool as the auto on thing is, I have developed good habits using a few remotes placed at strategic locations around the shop. Right now I plan to continue this method. I am a little bit of a gadget-guy but, learned long ago that the less moving parts, the better. If things evolve to where the additional hardware would earn its keep I will jump in with a micro-switch thread ;-)
 
If things evolve to where the additional hardware would earn its keep I will jump in with a micro-switch thread

So starting from scratch.. naively.. it would seem easier and possibly cheaper to DIY with switches in parallel to a relay? I'm not sure though because some of the wireless stuff has also gotten pretty cheap.
 
Resurrecting this thread as opposed to starting a new one. Just making more gates. The reason for the revival of the thread is in the hope that anyone not sure if they want to make their own gates or not will see how easy it is. They don't have to be pretty, they just have to work well.

Grab some parts and scraps out of the overhead.
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I cut sections of material with a 10TPI or greater blade at the bandsaw. The pipe end of the gate is made from a 6" PVC coupler sawed down the middle. This gives me two receiver blanks. Other scraps are shown in this pic too.
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The hose end is made from 6" pipe with a section cut out to reduce the diameter and then PVC cemented closed at the new diameter.
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I used an awl to place scribe marks on a circle cutter to make doing this next time (which is now) faster.
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I cut holes in the both side pieces of the gates blanks. In this case three for hose and three for pipe.
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Duty calls me away. I'll be back.
 
I used an awl to place scribe marks on a circle cutter to make doing this next time (which is now) faster.
Side note that most combination squares have a hardened scribe in the 90/45 head. My dad had been using a square for 30 years and didn't even know it was there and had a bit of a revelation when I pulled it out (it's hidden in the little round ended thing on the back of the head).
 
Toni, as usual you are too kind. Thanks! I know no one needs a dozen pictures about this but it helps me keep plugging along. The grips and stops are made from small scraps. Once cut to general size they are grooved. I use a FTG blade at the tablesaw for this.
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Cutting all these circles leaves some odd spoil.
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I use a hand plane and cut some curlies a bit thinner than a sheet of paper. I glue these strips onto the spacers like wallpaper to provide just a smidge of clearance for the gate slider.
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I shellac and wax the surfaces that will come into contact with each other.
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Glue and clamp the halves of the body together.
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I use a round over bit to make the pulls and stops a little more comfortable to handle.
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I used one piece of scrap that had voids. I thought it looked cool. I now realize it is a splinter and catching hazard so I am filling the void with epoxy.
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BTW, people hardly ever use mail scales anymore. You can pick them up used for a song and they make mixing epoxy quick and confident.
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I should finish these up tomorrow after transplanting some plumerias for LOML.
 
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