I got called a clean freak today and that’s a big compliment. For $79.00 plus tax I bought a wall mounted shop vac from Home Depot. It comes with two long hoses for a total of about 20 feet. I mounted the thing to the wall and hooked it up to the planer…no dust. I then modified my palm sander and belt sander to attach to the hose. I’m very happy…I heard that I can use pool cleaning hose if I want more length…
Well done Stingray,
What sort of capacity does it have? How often do you have to empty it?
Make sure you ground the hose, run some thin wire along the outside and put it to ground because the bits flying inside the hose causes static and will give you a zap when you least expect it!!!
cheers
Hicksy
Hey Ray! ,… I ment that you are a clean freak compared to my disorder messy way of doing things…I hope you don’t get a complex…that shop vac is pretty cool.
To Shipman: The clean comment was taken as a huge complement. I know I go over board…Labeling everything ,sweeping every 5 min ,ect…I’m taking my daughter surfing at the “secret spot” in Carlsbad tomorrow around 9:30am if you are out cruzing the coast.
To Hicksy: Didn’t think about static or grounding. Good idea. I have the hose draped over a rafter above the work area. Do you think this will do the grounding?
If it’s metal, that will help, if it’s wood it’ll act as an insulator run the wire from the planer to something metal in your shed.
cheers
Hicksy
The rafters are wood. I’m going to ask around with all my construction friends about the grounding.
The vac has 5 horse power and a 4 gallon capacity
Hey sting…I need one of those badly…what brand and model number?
My approach was to create a similar planer/vacuum attachment system to the one the Clark Foam sells.
see page 93-94: http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/pdf/blanks/FSBlankCatalog.pdf
my system:
I used 2" PVC, a couple 90 deg turns, a coupling to connect to the shop vac, some size converters and the vacuum attachment hose that FoamEZ sells. http://www.foamez.com/store/productDetails.cfm?prodID=349&prodIDCat=24
I started setting up a similiar system to mecrafty’s over the weekend. My only concerns are
a. how often will I be emptying out my 4 gallon vac and
b. Won’t the filter get trashed by the dust? Will I be cleaning it every 10 or 20 passes?
sorry mecrafty… 4est’s set-up.
Moose
yooow ! thats very nice 4est…
I’ve set one up similar to that but I put the waste bin (44gal size wheelie bin) between the planer and the vacuum. Nothing ends up in the vacuum cleaner it all goes into the bin.
Put the suction from the vacuum up high away from the planer outlet so they don’t act as one.
cheers
Hicksy
Man thats cool…I bought the unit at home depot yesterday so I’ll be implementing a similar setup. How do you handle things getting stuck inside the PVC pipe? Those 90 deg bends could be a problem…
man thats awesome i wish i had somethign like that i am not allowed to shape in my garage beacue of the dust and i can comne in till i sam clean and i can get cold in MD int he winter thats nice have fun
Dust control. I’ve been using vacuum systems for at least 20 years. Sears 32 gal. vacuum is a grade A tool. Industrial grade allows you to run the machine for long periods. I use 2 1/2" hose with my cord tied to the hose with zip ties. I reconstructed Hitachi planer years ago, with a 2 1/2" shop vac attachment on the very top of the tool. Installing that feature allowed me to kick the handle back approx. the same angle as my old Skil planers. Got the cord coming out of the top of the handle. This makes for a very well balanced tool. The new version Clark Foam tool is a nice uprade, but mine is way more pro-style. I use 2 planers, one with cutting blades, the other with the Pleskunas grinder attachment made for the Hitachi planer. The machines are instantly interchangeable, with the cord on the hose, you just plug them both in and go. I take the big bites with the blades, and do most of my shaping with the grinder planer. With the lightness and speed of these machines, I can just fill that big vac up. The big hose never clogs up. The only other shaper here that uses this system is R. Brewer, whose machines I made for him. I got tired of wallowing in foam dust years ago. Most guys either enjoy the stuff, or aren’t clued in. I like it clean. Aloha…RH
What about the $149 porter cable 1HP 650 cpm dust grabber bag unit they sell?
was that unit too big?
Been thinking about that with an inline 33 gal garbage can to keep things clean but I haven’t seen the size of that porter cable unit yet.
Porter Cable/Delta
1 HP, 650 CFM Dust Collector
Model 4255568
1 HP motor, 650 max. CFM.
• 1 HP motor
• 650 max. CFM
Price: $149.00/ea
Trash Can Cyclone Lid
Improve your single stage dust collector’s efficiency by converting it into a 2-stage unit with this lid and a common trash can! The Cyclone Lid lets you collect the larger and heavier shavings and dust before they reach your impeller and dust collection bags. This lid features a foam gasket for a superior seal and an elbow fitting under the inlet side to induce a cyclonic air flow inside the can for increased efficiency. Accepts 4" hose. Fits standard 30 gallon metal trash cans.
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Thanks for the feed back everybody ,
I’m still learning to shape… This is what it took to fill the shop vac…
One 27" foam blank for a clock,
One four foot practice board ,two sanding blocks, one “Fred tool” from the shaping video, vaccumed part of the floor, the shaping rack and the shop vac was full. The filter was clogged and needed to be cleaned. Works great for a small garage operation…
Stingray thats great, Im in a similar stuation, I’m in the middle ot setting up a workshop, but extraction was too expensive and my operation too small to justify it. I was going down the line of and industrial vac, I saw one for £49.00 in my local hard ware store, I thought about making customised resepticals to collect the waste, basically 3 plastic storage boxes each with a smaller filter, like the bin idea.
Yo Rick.I always wondered about those small hoses.I saw a pictures of Terry Martin in the shaping room and he was using the big hose as you described.Micky Munoz had the same type set up.Since you have the cord tied to the hose what do you do about twist?Also I was wondering if the planer cord is cut short so you can plug it in to the cord on the vac.I am thinking about buying a big two bag vaccum so I can use it in my wood shop also.Welcome to Swaylocks. RB
Aloha! Correct on the planer cord. I use about 8"out of the top of the handle, with a male plug on the machine end. Weak points are the point where the cord comes out of the handle, and the wires where they meet the plug. It’s easy to make a new length and just replace it, when the piece wears out. Twist is really no problem, after awhile you just learn how to dance with the thing, and you can just spin the tool around to straighten it out. The best part is you’re not tripping over the cord. Also, I hang the hose assembly from the ceiling with bungee cord so it’s nice and springy, and with the vac pressure, it sort of holds itself up. The overall balance is insane. I’ll send some pictures as soon as I come up with a camera. Aloha…RH