Best Dust collection + Dust Boot Setup for 3D Carving

Hello Carbide3D community!

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m currently in the process of upgrading my Shapeoko 4 to improve both the experience and safety. I plan to add the HDZ, VFD Spindle, and an enclosure soon. In the past, I worked with the machine without any dust collection or enclosure, just using a good dust mask and a loud shopvac to clean everything after the machine finished. But as you can imagine, that setup isn’t sustainable in the long run, and I want to avoid potential health issues like respiratory problems, hear loss, cancer or even all of them together.

Since I mainly work on 3D carving (6-8 hours run projects - 1.5" material), the Sweepy 2.0 Dust Boot isn’t an option for me. Being mounted to the router/spindle, it doesn’t provide enough clearance for cutting at depths of 1.5”. So, I’m considering using a “Z-independent dust boot” like this one:

Tube Bundle (Shapeoko 4 HDZ)

However, I’m not sure what type of dust collection system would work best with this setup.

One option I’m considering is the DEWALT Stealthsonic Quiet 12-Gallon 5.5-HP paired with the Oneida Air Systems Dust Deputy 2.5 Deluxe Cyclone Separator Kit ($259). I love that it would be a quieter, cost-effective combo, and they seem to be highly compatible. However, I’m concerned about whether it would have enough suction power when working 1.75”-2” from the material, then imagine 3"-4" at the end of the job.

Another option is the Dust Cobra 17 Gal. Full-Unit HEPA Cyclonic Dust Extractor ($1,499). While this is nearly as expensive as my Shapeoko itself, I’m willing to make the investment for my health and peace of mind. It’s designed to run for extended periods, and I could also build a sound enclosure to reduce the noise if necessary (At least I guess I could,) but of course, same doubt.

Maybe you just can’t have good dust collection for 3D carving. I also feel that using a VFD spindle without dust collection is a fire hazard, since at least the router had some air flowing out during the cuts, but with a VFD spindle I would be cutting the small chips again and again.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences with these dust collection options! This will be my final purchase to complete the setup, and I’m excited to get back to using my machine safely. Thank you so much for your time and input! :slight_smile:

Best regards,
Bryan

No responses after 6 hours? This is bad.

I use a 6 gal Stealthsonic, a 4" hose, a Mullet cyclone and deep Sweepy on a 65 mm SP5.

All good unless you are getting a lot of strings, then you need to watch.

I am currently cutting a 3.5" deep pine down to 1.75 max depth using a 1/4 Extended upcut from Cadence mfg. I have to watch it for clogging up due to not complete dry pine.

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There are plenty of posts about dust collection if you just search the forum.

I have my SPROXXL in an enclosure & use a speed controlled Shopvac - I turn down the shopvac speed so it’s just using 500-650W as my setup is on a single circuit. Without a canister filter(but with a bag filter), a cyclonic chip removing garbage bin & exhausting the air outside, I have no issue keeping my CNC workspace clear of fine particulate dust. Doesn’t always pick up the bigger chips but those you can’t breathe in & are easy to vac up after a job is completed. I also haven’t done any really deep carving so I’ve never looked into Deep dust boot solutions.

For carving operations that produce really fine dust, as long as there is a good airstream moving past the spindle, most/all fine particulate dust should get caught up & sucked in by the vac. The fine particles don’t have the mass to fly far from the spindle & are readily caught up by a fast moving air flow. Having an enclosure helps immensely as any dust which is initially missed but hangs in the air will eventually get sucked up as it can’t go anywhere else.

The Stealthsonic vac is quite a good shopvac - I wouldn’t have any concerns about it not moving enough air unless you want to run 3"-4" vac pipe. Then you’d need a much greater amount of air volume to be moving. The only downside I’ve found to them is that they don’t have a dedicated exhaust port which I find very useful for directing exhaust air outside.

For noise dampening, I highly recommend Rockwool Comfortboard80 inside the enclosure & as a ‘seal’ around door seams.

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I am considering the tube bundle from PWNCNC as well. I have the 12 gallon Stealthsonic and it is great.

I use a cheap cyclone from Harbor Freight and a cheap bucket. No real need for the expensive Dust Deputy. However, note that the lid which comes with the HF cyclone does not fit the HF bucket. I bought a lid from Lowes and had to cut holes in the right spots.

I have a large Clear Vue cyclone for all the other tools in the shop but I don’t like running it for the extended times on the CNC due to noise and extra wear.

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I ended up purchasing the Tube Bundle for Shapeoko 4 HDZ, DEWALT Stealthsonic Quiet 12-Gallon 5.5-HP and Oneida Air Systems Dust Deputy 2.5 Deluxe Cyclone Separator Kit. Lets hope it works well. High hopes now, thanks for your comments.

Let me know how that tube bundle works. My only concern has been ease of bit change and the relatively thin air passage.

There is a big difference in noise level between the regular and deep sweepy. The regular has a hard angle and is much much louder so curious what you get with this one.

I use exactly what you describe, a VFD spindle, StealthSonicd and Oneida Dust Deputy, also do some 1-1.5" stock. As you I decided not to have a spindle fixed dust shoe, and therefore I bought the same tube system as you did. I do not use the expensive tube and the MagLock adapter any more although I bought it, just some connectors and a hose holder what in the original system holds the clear tube. The vacuum tube diameter is quiet unusual, I inherited the same from an Inventables dust collection system. PwnCNC has the clamps etc somewhere little hidden in their shop, but one can buy and return easily, the people there are nice and understanding.
Now that all works fine together, excellent stuff from PwnCNC. Unfortunately they focus more on their spindle systems, and do not re-stock their dust system items any more as it appears to me. But all the files can be obtained for self 3d manufacturing.

However: there is one thing: the spindle mounted dust shoe closes the system to the top, there is no way air can enter the suction space.

That is different with a Z-independent system. The bit / collet nut / spindle-unit dives through the upper closure, the acrylic “collar”. PwnCNC offer different diameters. The wide one is wide enough that the spindle easily can pass for bit setting and to dive into thick stock. Then the “roof” of the sucking space is tight enough that the air only enters through the curtain, and can be caught with the exhaust. BUT! with the bit / collet nut barely diving deep during the first rounds that opening is very wide, so that air enters through the roof of the sucking space, rather pushing chips to the ground instead of catching it to the exhaust. I hope I could explain what I mean. It does not help that the spindle -or router, they do it the same way- blows its air downwards, so that the chips are pushed to the curtain from the inside, and if the air that is sucked towards the exhaust is not strong enough there because the most air comes from the ceiling the chips stay where they are, in the cut or on the stock.

I think the suction of the vacuum is ok, I am as happy as I could be with that combo as you describe it. I am not sure whether the spindle air blow is to blame for the poor performance, since trying to replace my spindle with a water cooled is too much money and work for me, and I am also convinced that the effect of the poor tightening of the “roof” of the sucking space has the most effect on the not really convincing system for thick stock.

To be clear: for cuts where one can use the smaller roof opening for stock not that thick, up to 1/2-3/4", the whole thing works like a charm. So the boot system is just fine. If one could invent a kind of a variable top opening towards the spindle: lets see it. I think of a kind of a circular brush construction or a elastic kind of a silicone collar or something like that.

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Thanks for your response! Oh well, at least this system would be the best I can do for this scenario in particular, it’s a difficult problem and there are not many options available.

I think of something like that:

don’t know where to get.

Maybe here:

or

The problem is that those sell in bulk on most websites.