Following the “jumpstart” project that builds a drop tray, I had everything moving along nicely during setup of my S5P. After the initial install I moved the spindle all over the table, carefully observing that the dust hose from my DeWalt Steathsonic shopvac that was suspended from the ceiling using one of those suspension rings from the C3D print library didn’t interfere with the carriage. Everything looked good. I set up the workholding for my stock, fed the project to CM, did the zeroing and fired it up. It was really awesome to watch everything “just work”. When the spindle started up followed by the shopvac turning on, though, the hose suddenly shrunk like 12-18" inches and was really pulling on that suspension ring. After completing the first pocket, when the spindle lifted and moved to start the second pocket, as it plunged, it pulled just hard enough on the hose to snap suspension ring and the hose crashed down onto the gantry. That was bit – startling (to say the least) – but I was standing right at the computer and was able to immediately pause the job. I was able jury rig something to keep the hose out of the way and finished the rest of the project without any further excitement.
But, that said, I was completely unprepared for how much the suction from the shop vac was going to try to collapse the dust collection hose. Is this unusual to my setup? Is this common? What are the countering strategies?
I hang mine from a storage rack above the machine with a bungee cord.
A static line, rope, string, strap would work too, just adjust it with the vacuum on.
I ruined a cut doing the same thing.
I had checked the movement, but did not consider the hose collapse.
I had to create larger “loops” to allow the collapse without yanking the hose connection loose.
I tested it by removing the sweepy and placing my hand over the hose to force a collapse and check the tensions. Hardly scientific but it worked.
A deep Sweepy is quieter and does not restrict the air flow as much.
12-18"??? Wow thats not normal. My stealthsonic hose doesn’t “shrink” at all. Is your hose blocked inside? Even then it shouldn’t shrink that far, the vac will just get noisier and won’t suck anything up. And certainly a shop vac doesn’t have the power to snap a suspension ring.
Unless you are saying it moved 12-18 inches when you started the cut…maybe if the hose was pulling too hard because there isn’t enough slack in it to follow the spindle around…
Post pics so we can have a look at how you are setup
My shopvac hose doesn’t shrink at all. I think having it move around would be a Bad Thing (as you discovered I guess). I threw my hose (about a 15 ft long 1-1/4" hose I had around the shop) over a rafter almost centered on the table. It pivots from a high enough point (maybe 5 ft above the table) that it can reach everywhere on the deck without overly tugging on anything. I first used a bigger, 2-1/2", hose but experienced clogs in the sweepy, probably due to the lower velocity of the air stream. I haven’t had a clog since switching to the smaller hose.
The three attached pictures are the S5P with the vacuum off, the vacuum on, and the vacuum on and engaged with a workpiece (which I simulated by just putting a post-it note over the bristles of the Sweepy). The bungee cord suspension from the ceiling is what I rigged up after the printed suspension ring snapped. The ring was like the one attached to the wall at the back-left.
Upon reflection, the original ring snapped when the spindle retracted from the first pocket cut, moved to the second one, and plunged into the stock to start the second pocket.
You are using a “flexible” vs “rigid” suction hose. That hose is designed to collapse somewhat, I have the same type hose in my shop. I use the rigid hose from the shop vac itself and it does not exhibit the behavior. It’s ok to use this hose for the cnc, you just have to take into account the length change one the dust collection is on.
I would say that 85% or more of my “crashes” happen because of dust collection - either the Sweepy contacts a clamp, the hose gets trapped between the rail and Z, or the hose gets caught on the back of the gantry.
My hose comes off an arm at the top right of the machine…and I’ve remedied most of the problems with strategic positioning of baffles for the hose - but I really should have the hose come more from the center on top.
The other thing that would really help is the “Frame” command (requested for CM) - to move the gantry around the perimeter of the project to show you where contact might be made with clamps.
