Shopsmith Forums

Quick question about dust collection. I have the Shopsmith DC3300 dust collector hooked up to my Mark 7, but after just a few cuts on the table saw I have a pile of sawdust under and all over the machine. Is this normal? I've never used any other small-shop dust collectors (just an industrial version at a big shop where I used to do some work), so I don't know if this is just a fact of life in a home-based shop or if I'm doing something wrong. The dust collector seems to have good suction because I put the brush on it and use it to clean everything up after I'm done, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to be pulling in the dust while I'm cutting. Seems like maybe I have the blade cover adjusted wrong or something.

That's normal. It's not a lack of dust collecting power. It is all the gaps in the lower saw guard. The biggest source of escaped dust is top dead center of the lower saw guard between the guard and the bottom of the table. Then the right side of the guard (as you stand in position to operate the machine) and the bottom of the table. I find that opening the lower saw guard as wide as possible helps a little. Others close it down as much as possible.

You can make temporary or permanent modifications to the lower saw guard to add deflectors to close off the gaps that let that sawdust escape. You can search the forum and will find several threads discussing the issue. If I can find the links, I will post them here.

EDIT: Check out this one.

http://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/gener ... 5-s10.html

Thank you! This is a great tip... I'll try to make a deflector like the one in your link before my next project!

I am thinking about buying a Mark 7 but for me the go/no go decision will ultimately be based on dust control because of health concerns.

There is a demonstration scheduled at the Expo Center in Chantilly VA March 23rd through the 25th. I plan to attend to see the machine in action but also I hope I will be able to get an idea of how well dust collection works in the various operations.

I've never seen a Shopsmith in person other than one owned by a former customer of mine who had bought it when he was a teenager in the early 1950's ( !!) and still used it as of about five years ago. I never thought about it at the time but now I wish I had asked him for a demonstration.

Algale, Thanks for the links to the videos. That has given me a good start as I take a look in to the topic of good dust collection.

I see you are close by, like kkoyle I am in Loudoun County VA.

Rob

Good luck!

[quote="RCZ"]I am thinking about buying a Mark 7 but for me the go/no go decision will ultimately be based on dust control because of health concerns.../quote]

No dust collection system will be perfect, and as you can see from the OP in this thread, dust collection around the Shopsmith saw guard leaves a lot to be desired. Homemade seals can do a lot to improve this, but if you have serious health concerns about sawdust, then I would also consider wearing a full face respirator mask. 3M makes one that's a LOT cheaper than any one micron dust collector machine. It's comfortable to wear and has the bonus of providing face protection that is way superior to safety glasses.

If you have health concerns then I would consider a much higher cfm dust collector than the DC 3300. Also keep in mind that no DC system will eliminate all the dust. I use a Trendaire unit which like the 3m system eliminates almost all the dust and also fills the need for a face shield. The other thing I would consider is locating the DC unit on the exterior of your shop to eliminate whatever dust makes it through the DC filter.
Paul

Thanks for the input guys. I have a high cfm dust collector already (Clearvue cyclone) so my interest is seeing in person how the various dust collection points of attachment on the SS work. The demonstration at the Dulles Expo Center is three days long, so hopefully I will be able to see all the features in use on the SS. I also contacted Doug Reid to request notification for his next webinar.

It doesn't look like you have extended the lower saw guard all the way out to mate against that vertical plastic piece with the wing nuts.(1st pic)

There are 2 knurled round knobs that you loosen, then push the lower guard out to bump against that vertical piece, then they are tightened down.

b