Shopsmith Forums

I have repeatedly not been passing the dust test after working in the shop. Blowing the nose produced a fair amount of sawdust. This is because even though I promised myself I would only power up tools with the dust collection system on, there were too many times when I left it off due to the fact it sucks all my A/C air out of the shop in minutes and the temp in the shop goes up into the 80’s very quickly. To solve the issue I used one of the 20% off coupons and bought another HF 2HP dust collector. I installed it in the shop at the opposite end of the system from the outdoor one and indoors. I also bought a 1 micron filter bag for it from Powertec. This will hopefully give me better air quality without losing my cool air during the summer months. I also ordered a 30 micron bag for the outdoor unit to help increase air flow. Just for fun I turned them both on and the cfm/suction was crazy.
Paul

I don't have dust collection issue per se but I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a top filter bag for a DC 3300 that will block particles down to the 1 micron range.
Bill V

wa2crk wrote:I don't have dust collection issue per se but I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a top filter bag for a DC 3300 that will block particles down to the 1 micron range.
Bill V

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... rhoods.htm The 42" does 1 micron.

I am very unsatisfied with the Shopsmith dust collection especially after comparing it with what other people have in their shops. I think that the ports are too small and leaky (table saw). The vac doesn't move enough air volume and air speed, and the filter passes to much fine dust back into the shop.

I am in the process of collecting parts to build a Pentz Cyclone and then I will modify or rebuild the table saw port and others to at least 4".

t3steve wrote:I am very unsatisfied with the Shopsmith dust collection especially after comparing it with what other people have in their shops. I think that the ports are too small and leaky (table saw). The vac doesn't move enough air volume and air speed, and the filter passes to much fine dust back into the shop.

I am in the process of collecting parts to build a Pentz Cyclone and then I will modify or rebuild the table saw port and others to at least 4".

Good luck on that endeavor. I have spent a lot of time trying to maximize dust collection while using the Shopsmith lower saw guard. I have had only minimal success.

Study the system that you are using (while making saw dust) to determine where the dust is escaping. You will most likely be surprised.

When I first did this, I took movies from different locations just to watch for the dust. As I said, you'll be surprised.

Agree with Dusty. The lower saw guard on the SS is problematic. I have a 510 that is dedicated to a sliding table and it just leaks sawdust in large amounts no matter how many cfm put to it. At this point it is 4” ducting right up to the saw guard and about 3000 cfm between two HF dust collectors. I doubt it is actuallly getting that cfm due to the 4” ducting but it is getting a lot. The next time I take the sliding table off my plan is to use copious amounts of silicon caulk and just seal it up completely.
Paul

In my own experiments, I discovered most of the dust actually escapes between the table bottom of the table and the top front of the lower saw guard. A few of of us have rigged various dust "deflectors" that partially sealed that gap, and the other lesser gaps. There's a lot of moving parts to this, literally, between making sure you can still tilt the table to cut bevels and open up/close down the lower guard to accommodate wide dados or moulder heads and table tilt. There isn't an easy engineering solution that maintains all the functionality of the table saw, which is why I suspect Shopsmith hasn't offered an improvement (although if they would offer an upper saw guard with a dust chute a la the Sharkguard, that would help!).

Shark Guard makes one for the Shopsmith.
A long time ago, I gave up on DC for the Smith. I got a couple large tubs (33gal.,I think) and, stuck them under the saw. Then, took the lids and placed them in the tubs, tilted. They catch most of what would go on the floor. A Shark Guard would help, though.

Gene Howe wrote:Shark Guard makes one for the Shopsmith.
A long time ago, I gave up on DC for the Smith. I got a couple large tubs (33gal.,I think) and, stuck them under the saw. Then, took the lids and placed them in the tubs, tilted. They catch most of what would go on the floor. A Shark Guard would help, though.

A Shark Guard makes a huge difference. I have one of the first ones he made for the SS.

I was hoping that having a whole lot more airflow might make up for the really bad lower saw guard/dust collector design.