planer dust collection

[Glenn in Winnipeg]

I just bought the Delta 12-1/2" planer at Can Tire. Works great. However, it creates ALOT of dust and shavings.

Does anyone have any pictures of their dust collection techniques on a portable planer they would be willing to share, particularly the Delta?

Very much appreciated.

http://www.paskaruk@escape.ca

[Dan Madill]

Hi Glenn...I also have the 12 1/2 planer from Delta...Mine came with a dust hood , did yours??..Anyways I have a central DC System so I just hook the 4" hose to the hood and the stuff dissapears Pronto!!..hope this helps...Dan

[Mike King, Sherwood Park,]

Once you get the DC hood that Dan mentions, and if you don't want to lay out more large chunks of cash, and although it's not the end-all/be-all in dust collection, I've used an old vac tank converted as a precollector and Sears screamer shop vac to do my collection. I reduced the 4" dust hood down to 2 1/2" using a plastic cup and a plastic mustard bottle fitted together and cut away to fit the 2 1/2" vac hose. It does a fair job of picking up the chips. Lee Valley also has a garbage can lid cyclone collector that some have found useful- get the 4" outlet size for your future DC.

'Real' dust collectors work better- sometimes with heavier cuts, I get little dents in the wood from planer shavings being caught under the rollers. This is purely from borderline chip collection. I'm building a cyclone DC using a 2 hp blower/fan unit which I expect to cure the chip denting problem..

[Dave]

Hi Glenn,

I have the older model of Delta planer. Follow the URL below to see my version of a homemade boot.
I have a 1 hp dust collector connected through a pre-separator (45 gallon drum with a cyclone lid from LV.) The total run of 4" is about 16 feet.

This system works great as long as I don't let the drum fill more than about 3/4's full.

If you need any info, let me know,

Dave

http://http://community.webshots.com/user/emeryd

[Dave]

Sorry for the improper URL
Below is the correct one.

http://community.webshots.com/user/emeryd

[Gord in Montreal]

Hey Glenn, congrats on the purchase.
I bought the delta this summer and it came with a dust hood attachment. When run without it....make sure you have a broom for the chips, but I never had much dust at all. If you can purchase a dedicated hood for your machine, I think its worth it.
My dust collection is a 6.5 gallon shopvac (man it fills fast, but really packs it in there) the exhaust gets vented thru the basement window via a home made adapter into a clothes dryer type flexible ducting. Its a simple solution because when I'm done with running the shopvac, I simply colapse the hose and store it. This really helps keep whatever dust is left over from being blown all over the place. The shopvac came with a smaller diamater pick up hose maybe a 2" so I blew $18.00 on the larger diam. There is a little less suction power, but a heck of a lot more volume. Works great on the planer and table saw.
Enjoy.
PS. One of my kids have a pet rabbit so when ever I plane pine....the chips find a good home. Waste not want not.

[Richard]

Hi Dave,
The 1 HP unit you mentioned , do you find it sufficient for your shop or would a 1.5 or 2 hp DC make it better ?
Just wondering as I was considering to purchase a 1HP unit for my garage workshop.
Richard in Kanata.

[Chester Van Ness]

Glenn:You can build your own hood using an end boot for heating and ventilating and modifying it .The basic rule to remember is that if the manufacturers hood has a four inch outlet then yours shoiuld also use the same size. Don,t make it smaller and do hook it up to a dust collector
not a vac. A 1hp dc will can handle up to a 13" planer quite nicely aslong as it is close to the planer. But in dust collectors bigger is always better.Chester.

[Dave]

Hi Richard,

I will try and describe my layout.
From the dust collector, I have a short run of 4" up the wall to a "Y" fitting(#1). From one leg of the "Y", I have a short (6")piece of 4" spiral pipe run up the wall to a blast gate. Then continue up the wall to approx. 6' off the floor, 1 90 deg. bend, and about 4' of pipe to another "Y"(#2) fitting. At one branch of this "y", I have a 45 deg. bend, a short drop of 4" pipe to a blast gate, reducer to 2" flex approx 24" to pick up my mitre saw. From the other side of the "Y"(#2), I continue the horizontal run about 6'to a 90 deg bend, down the wall at the end of my miter saw bench to a blast gate, reduced to 21/2" flex hose for pick up on my band saw or disc/belt sander.(most of my equipment is on wheels so I just wheel them in place for hookup)The pickup of these items goes directly to the collector bypassing the pre-separator.(fine sawdust usually doesn't stop in the pre-sparator anyway.
From the other side of "Y"(#1),I ran a short piece of flex(4") to the pre-separator then a 15' length of 4" flex with a quick connect clamp that I attach to either the planer, jointer, router or tablesaw.
Other than trying to remember to open(or close)the blast gates, this system works very well.
With that being said, I would prefer a 2 HP unit so I could run 4" spiral across the ceiling and have multiple permenant drops for the TS, router, plane and jointer. (not on my top priority list though)

Best wishes for the holiday season

Out of the country till the new year!
Dave