DC3300 dust collection system

[Thleone]

Does anyone have issues with the dust collection spitting out the front and piling saw dust on The tool bench below? Wondering if mine is installed incorrectly. I am. It to impressed thus far with SS dust collection system if this is standard mode of operations. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[rjent]

I would think you have a leak somewhere on the pressure side (bag leaking). Mine doesn't do that. I have used SS bags and yard bags with success.

I would look for a hole in the bag, or the seal at the top of the bag leaking.

[algale]

Can you clarify.

If you mean sawdust is escaping when in table saw mode, and the sawdust is landing on the carriage and tubes, yes this is a common problem and is due to the design of the lower saw guard needing to accommodate different widths for different accessories and of the tilting table. In a nutshull, the geometry down there is complicated and there are many places for sawdust to escape, although the majority escapes in the gap between the front of the lower saw guard and the bottom of the table. There are a number of us who have rigged ways to improve sawdust collection, but none are perfect. There's a loooong thread showing some of those improvements. http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maint ... -s120.html Even still, the collector gets most of the dust. Do an experiment with and without the DC3300 hooked up and you will see how much it gets.

If you mean sawdust is spewing out of the DC3300, then that indicates a malfunction.

[Thleone]

Can you clarify.

If you mean sawdust is escaping when in table saw mode, and the sawdust is landing on the carriage and tubes, yes this is a common problem and is due to the design of the lower saw guard needing to accommodate different widths for different accessories and of the tilting table. In a nutshull, the geometry down there is complicated and there are many places for sawdust to escape, although the majority escapes in the gap between the front of the lower saw guard and the bottom of the table. There are a number of us who have rigged ways to improve sawdust collection, but none are perfect. There's a loooong thread showing some of those improvements. http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/maint ... -s120.html Even still, the collector gets most of the dust. Do an experiment with and without the DC3300 hooked up and you will see how much it gets.

If you mean sawdust is spewing out of the DC3300, then that indicates a malfunction.

This is exactly what's happening. Sorry for the lack of clarification. Yes it is I n the table saw mode only dc 3300 is fine. Will check out the home remedies and hopefully be able to keep it off my feet and shop better. Wish I wouldn't have deleted the pics I had that I was going to send to SS. Then I joined the forum! What an awesome place this is! Thanks to all you gurus. Looking forward to years of sawdust and with retirement just around the corner the saw dust will like high no doubt.

[Bruce]

If you have the 510/520 lower guard, after lowering the table onto the blade, loosen the front and rear thumb screws and slide the guard out until it closes the gap on the right side of the blade, then re-tighten the screws. In my experience, leaving a gap there lets a lot of dust escape.

[jsburger]

If you have the 510/520 lower guard, after lowering the table onto the blade, loosen the front and rear thumb screws and slide the guard out until it closes the gap on the right side of the blade, then re-tighten the screws. In my experience, leaving a gap there lets a lot of dust escape.

Just for clarity, slide the guard IN to close the gap. I always open the guard all the way when changing blades. It makes it easier. I always close the guard as far as possible for the blade in use. However, if you leave the guard open all the way and lower the table first the guard will hit the table shroud and not allow the table to be lowered. I close the guard before lowering the table. Besides it is easier that way.

[algale]

If you have the 510/520 lower guard, after lowering the table onto the blade, loosen the front and rear thumb screws and slide the guard out until it closes the gap on the right side of the blade, then re-tighten the screws. In my experience, leaving a gap there lets a lot of dust escape.

Just for clarity, slide the guard IN to close the gap. I always open the guard all the way when changing blades. It makes it easier. I always close the guard as far as possible for the blade in use. However, if you leave the guard open all the way and lower the table first the guard will hit the table shroud and not allow the table to be lowered. I close the guard before lowering the table. Besides it is easier that way.

I agree it is important not to have the saw guard extended so far that the table the tie bar hits the lower saw guard; this can cause the the entire lower saw guard to lean/cant which will put the splitter/riving knife out of line with the blade. However, closing the guard all the way (i.e. more than needed to clear the tie bar guard) will partially choke the the lower saw guard exhaust port and make dust collection less efficient. I generally try to open the lower saw guard up as much as possible without it interfering with the tie bar.

[jsburger]

If you have the 510/520 lower guard, after lowering the table onto the blade, loosen the front and rear thumb screws and slide the guard out until it closes the gap on the right side of the blade, then re-tighten the screws. In my experience, leaving a gap there lets a lot of dust escape.

Just for clarity, slide the guard IN to close the gap. I always open the guard all the way when changing blades. It makes it easier. I always close the guard as far as possible for the blade in use. However, if you leave the guard open all the way and lower the table first the guard will hit the table shroud and not allow the table to be lowered. I close the guard before lowering the table. Besides it is easier that way.

I agree it is important not to have the saw guard extended so far that the table the tie bar hits the lower saw guard; this can cause the the entire lower saw guard to lean/cant which will put the splitter/riving knife out of line with the blade. However, closing the guard all the way (i.e. more than needed to clear the tie bar guard) will partially choke the the lower saw guard exhaust port and make dust collection less efficient. I generally try to open the lower saw guard up as much as possible without it interfering with the tie bar.

I have never had the saw guard hit the table tie bar in any position or having it mis-align the spliter.. As I said it will hit the plastic shield on the table if you leave it fully wide.

As far as too narrow and restricting dust extraction, I don't think so. Look as the design. There is a tapered half pipe molded into the sliding part that leads directly to the dust port. Most of the saw dust comes down on the operator side and is directed to the port by the DC air flow to the port. There is very minimal restriction to the back side of the port from closing the guard to minimum and the design compensates for that. A pretty cool design actually.

[algale]

Plastic shield is the tie bar, per the parts diagram.

[jsburger]

Plastic shield is the tie bar, per the parts diagram.

OK,sorry. I certainly would not call a piece of plastic in this case a tie bar. I still stand by my previous post. The SS saw guard will leak saw dust as ALL blade guards will.

My Powermatic PM 2000 table saw has a 4" dust port. Guess what, the dust collector under the blade (It is not a blade guard since the blade is inside the cabinet) has a 2 1/2" port and hose to the outside cabinet 4" dust collector port. It is just like the SS except the width is not adjustable. It leaks all the time. The difference is that the saw dust is all inside the cabinet instead in the shop. Every few months I go in and suck it out with the cyclone.

I also have a Shark Guard upper saw guard for both the PM 2000 and the SS. They have 2 1/2" DC port on top (or optional 4" port). IMO the upper guard DC port makes all the difference in the world. You get no saw dust on top and you get less saw dust down below.