I’ve been shaping for about a year and a half now, and I finally broke down and set up a dust collection system for the planer. I read a lot of posts on how guys are running hoses and cords, and came up with the idea of having the pipe/hose on a swing arm that would swing into the bay for shaping, and swing away when not in use.
So here is how it’s broken down.
My dad built me the collection system. He used an old vacuum he had laying around, and plumbed it into the storage tank. From there the vacuum hose runs up the wall. I switched to schedule 40 PVC where the hose would go horizontal. From there, the PVC elbows down and out onto the swing arm. The last elbow points down with some PVC running vertically down into the shaping area. This allows for something firm to grab onto when swinging the arm back and forth. All the PVC fittings are glued together with the exception of the one elbow above the hinge on the swing arm. The dry fit on that one allows the system to pivot.
The swing arm itself is made from plywood and lumber, hinged with industrial hinges.
The last section of hose is slinky hose. With the arm extended out over the bay, I can reach both end walls of the room with the slinky hose. The room is 14’ long. To plug the planer in, I ran an extension cord with the vacuum line back to the switch. The planer is plugged in to trigger the vacuum. I haven’t shaped a board with this system yet, so I may change up the way the cord is running depending on how it all works.
So when the planer is not in use, the whole contraption swings out of the way with no hoses or cords to clothesline yourself with. I’m pretty stoked to try it out.
Oh, and I got a new Makita KP0810 planer in the process. I was using an old Makita 1902. The whole thing is a huge upgrade for me.
Well done, nice set up. This is one to copy. I think I'd set the horizontal section to run downhill to the vac for clog preventer and ease of use. Way better than a pulley system. Nice going. Is the fitting that pivots lubed?
Looks good. The only question I would have is how effecient the collection is at the end of the line. If it doesn't seem as effecient as you would like; You might try raising the vacum above your collection barrel. Otherwise, well done. Do you have a switch on it that turns on the vacum when you trigger your planer?
I haven’t shaped a board yet with the system. When I turned it on prior to hooking up the planer, the suction was more than I thought it would be. I’m not sure how changing the vacuum orientation would change anything since the CFMs and point of entry/exit doesn’t change. And yes, the planer and vacuum are switched together, as I mentioned.
Thanks for the reply and info. Nicely done. Did you have to glue the 1&1/2 flex hose to the reducer? If so, how and what glue?
I think what M'Ding was alluding to was that if the vac is higher than the Venturi, then most of the waste will end up in the primary bucket and only the "fines" will make it up to your vacuum thereby giving the vac a longer lifespan and help the filter out. Less changing/cleanings. Not putting words in his mouth but this is what I think he's talking about.
I have a zipline going across my barn. The hose hangs from a rope. It’s very rudimentary, but it works perfectly. Yours looks much nicer and more professional, you clearly put a lot of thought into that. I’ve been trying to post a pic right now but my phone is being weird. I found with extra hose length, as long as the seal is still good throughout the pipe, you can still keep a very good amount of suction; more than enough needed to remove all the foam
Nice job, Jc. Looks like a really well thought out system.
I have a similar but more temporary system. Its an industrial workshop vac which has a 7 foot long 4" diameter hose (never clogs!) with a reducing nozzle taking it down to 1& 1/2" hose about 3feet long which although designed to fit onto my table saw (I'm a carpenter/joiner) fits perfectly onto the outlet of my 3blade Wolf planer. I just gaffer tape the electrical lead of the planer to the smaller 3 foot section of vacuum hose & hook it up on a rope that hangs off one of the roof trusses above the shaping stand so the workshop vac is on the floor well away from the shaping stand & the vac hose & electric lead are up above me & not in the way. Then when I'm not mowing foam, about 2mins. & a pair of scissors takes the whole thing apart till I'm needing it again.
I bought the slinky hose that Surf Source has on their website. That hose fits perfectly inside a 1-1/4" schedule 40 PVC fitting without glue or tape. When you slide it in, just twist it. So far, through swinging around and normal movement, it doesn’t come out. Once I get foam dust and hours of use out of it, things might change. But for now, it looks like I won’t have to use glue or tape.
I am building a new shaping room as we speak and have been thinking about a Vac. This set up looks pretty good. I think the input from the others was excellent. I saw some photos of Reynolds Yater’s shaping room and he had an overhead wire that the hose and cord hung from.Looked like he used ideas from sailboat pullys and cables. I think the article was in Surfers Journal?? Can someone post pics of this???
The one thing that I should mention is that the arm does NOT move back and forth as I use the planer. It only opens 90 degrees, and with the dry fit not lubed on the pivot elbow, it stays put while the slinky tube stretches. So in essence, it’s like having your vacuum stub and slinky tube over your bay, just mobile when you want it out of the way.
I haven’t planed with a vacuum line and slinky tube before. That, coupled with the weight of my new planer, it’ll take some getting used to.
I like that. A lot. It shouldn’t be too hard to make it fully swivel. I might do something like that in mine. I have the vac, but it is kind of a pain dragging that hose wrapped around my arm. If it’s not the middle of summer, I just open the fan flaps and start mowing. That overhead swing arm is much better. Thanks for sharing.
I used to have a shop vac xact like yours about 30+ years ago !! I named it R2 D2 and used to drag it from machine to machine in my shop. That was back before dust collectors. R2 D2 died a long time ago ! How old is your Vac ?
I asked my dad, and he said that 30 years sounds about right. He had it under is radial arm saw until he plumbed his whole shop into a central dust collector. He recalls agonizing over dedicating a shop vac to one use 30+ years ago. Now his tool buying addiction has him buying Fein vacuums that cost more than his whole shop did back then!
Well thanks for the idea! i just finished mine… I used a fishing weight and pullies so my wire stays off board. also got my vac out side the room so the noise is out side. had to modify the planer a little . put the port on top and redid the handle so wire comes out on top . then shortened the wire so it is just above the handle for quick change if i choose to… thanks
